"TLFC" exercise and accountability support!

Workout: None

Justification: Stupid gym opens late on federal holidays, meaning I couldn't wait for them before going to work.

Food: Lunch - chicken strips with rice, Dinner - pork schnitzel

Rehab: Only a week away from when I begin doing rehab exercises for my elbow tendon. Very rare to experience any pain from it now, at least when my arm is below shoulder height. If I try to grip something while the arm is raised high, however, there's still a twinge, so there is that.

Cardio: Elliptical - 50m hills (608 calories)

Analysis: I'm done fudging my 50m of elliptical time, plus 5m cooldown, as an hour. Next time I hop on the elliptical, I'm gonna record an actual 60m program for the computer to guide me through as I continue on this 3-month cardio kick.

Food: Lunch - homemade pizza, Dinner - spicy peanut chicken with rice

Cardio: Elliptical - 1hr hills (750 calories)

Analysis: Expected to wait a day before setting up my new elliptical routine, but one was open when I got to the gym so I did it today. Twenty hills, 2m work, 1m rest. Increased incline and resistance each hill from 1-10, decreased from 11-20. Only ten percent more time, but jumped calorie burn by 25%. And I'm exhausted!

Food: Dinner - chili (great for a day with wind chills expected to be pushing 30 below)

Cardio: Elliptical - 1hr hills (750 calories)

Food: Lunch - spicy peanut chicken with rice, Dinner - lasagna with side salad

Weight: Tomorrow is my weekly weigh-in. Last week my weight didn't budge, so here's hoping I see the expected drop tomorrow, especially since last weekend I didn't indulge over calories watching football.

Cardio: Treadmill - 1hr "super hill" (increase incline from 1-30 degrees and back) (711 calories, 2.76 miles, 1834 feet elevation climbed)

Analysis: Felt good to push all the way up to 30 degrees incline, but in looking back and previous treadmill sessions my calorie burn is much higher when I drop the incline and increase the speed. Need to give this some thought...

Food: Lunch - unknown yet (working from home, will likely eat lunch out with my wife), Dinner - home grilled burgers

Life: Weigh-in Friday is here, and unlike last week when my weight remained static, this week I dropped almost a full pound. This means I'm still on schedule to possibly be sub-180 when April rolls around and I switch gears from cardio-cut to lifting-bulk. Though whether it'll actually be a bulk or not remains up in the air; I may simply stop cutting and sit at maintenance calories for a while, which will still be nice compared to how many snacks etc I'm having to skip now.

Food: Lunch - chicken strips and rice, Dinner - baked turkey, brown sugar ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing, the works for a "Thanksgiving in February" night

Food: Lunch - tomato soup and grilled cheese, Dinner - pot roast

Cardio: Treadmill - 1hr hills (warmup, then incline from 10-20 degrees, x5 times) (785 calories, 3.1 miles, 2096 feet elevation climbed)

Analysis: While my RPE felt higher when the incline reached 30 degrees (and my labored breathing agreed), the treadmill rated my "calories per hour" higher at lower inclines when I could keep the speed up a tad, so that's what I did today.

Food: Lunch - chili, Dinner - French dip sandwiches

Life: Will eventually get around to watching "Quantumania" but likely wait for video or Disney+ release. I've still yet to watch Black Panther 2.

Cardio: Elliptical - 1hr hills - 800 calories

Food: Lunch - sweet and sour pork on rice, Dinner - spaghetti with side salad (no dressing)

Rehab: This morning was my first session of rehab exercises for my elbow. Kept the weight uber light, only a 3lb DB, but zero pain during and no soreness/stiffness now hours later. Over the next couple weeks I'll increase the weight used gradually. I'm thinking I could probably return to normal lifting earlier than April, but I'm gonna stick to the schedule by referencing an old adage I once heard and learned the hard way to live by: "after you think you're recovered from illness/injury, wait another day/week to be sure".

Cardio: Elliptical - 1hr hills (800 calories)

Food: Lunch - roast beef sandwich, Dinner - BBQ pork chops with potatoes

Cardio: Treadmill - 1hr hills (warmup, then incline from 10-20 degrees, x5 times) (785 calories, 3.1 miles, 2096 feet elevation climbed)

Analysis: My bad knee is starting to complain about lack of leg day lifting; had terrible knee pain before I started lifting years ago, lifting magically made it go away, but only if I kept lifting without a break. All this cardio requiring leg movement has helped, but it's not the same, and my knee is starting to figure that part out. Good thing my rehab exercises seem to be progressing nicely and I'm still on pace to resume lifting in April.

Food: Lunch - stroganoff, Dinner - spaghetti with side salad (no dressing) (my wife didn't feel up to eating Tuesday, so Thursday's stroganoff got served on Tuesday, and now Tuesday's spaghetti will be served tonight now that she's feeling better)

Life: Have a weekend work shift for the first time in ages Saturday, so will take tomorrow off.

Cardio: Treadmill - 1hr hills (warmup, then incline from 10-20 degrees, x5 times) (785 calories, 3.1 miles, 2096 feet elevation climbed)

Analysis: My son just broke up with his girlfriend, got blind drunk the other night and woke up still angry. So I pulled him along with me to the gym to get our sweat on, first by smoking him on my treadmill walk, then guiding him through a weightlifting regimen. Boy, I wanted to be the one throwing the iron around! I think it did him good, as he was calm in the hot tub after.

Food: Lunch - burger and fries, Dinner - baked chicken with buttered noodles