Monthly Archives: February 2019
Fitness and Technology
I got the Apple Watch six weeks ago and soon after Apple Airpods. I love them. The technology is incredible. It beats the hell of of my old Fitbit.
The step counter on the Apple Watch is fantastic. It’s nice to keep track as I attempt to do ten thousand steps a day.
One thing I’ve only started using seriously is Apple Watch Activity Rings.
As you can see the outside ring is how much you move. The green is exercise and the blue is how often you stand.
Along with the gym I try to close all of the rings every day. Here is today for example.
The watch reminds you during the day to stand up or get more exercise. The gentle reminder is helpful.
The airpods compliment the watch and relieves the boredom as I walk every day. Between Planet Fitness and technology I have no more excuses.
DNA
For Christmas the wife got us DNA testing kits. I’ve been interested in the kits for a while but didn’t get one due to privacy concerns. I had good reason to be concerned as you can see HERE.
Day after Christmas we swabbed our cheeks and sent in our samples. A week later we were notified that they received the sample. As it progressed through their lab we were kept updated as to the status. I have to admit I found it to be a bit exciting.
I knew my mom’s side was German and Hungarian and my dad’s side had some British. I was curious if I’d be surprised. Finally the notification came:
That was interesting. I’d love to see where the Middle Eastern and Central Asian came in. Hmmm.
Plus it shows anyone who has taken the test and shares DNA. I found a first cousin once removed (my first cousin’s daughter). Two first cousins twice removed and a slew of 3rd-5th cousins. It’s an interesting exercise. I contacted a few that are on my dad’s side.
I’m still a bit concerned about the privacy issues but found the information interesting. I’m hoping that cousins will contact me in the future from this. You never know.
Planet Fitness
When I arrived in Austin I was the heaviest I had ever been. I knew I had to do something and right after Christmas I joined Planet Fitness. They have a deal where you can join for $10 a month but I couldn’t do that. I needed to join at the Black Card level because I need to be able to go back and forth between Austin and Ohio.
I toured Planet Fitness and it was clean and everything seemed in good condition. I went a few times and just did cardio. That was great but I knew I needed more. I asked for an appointment with a fitness trainer and the next day met with Adam. He was a big dude and the first thing he did was weigh me. He looked surprised and said we weighed the same.
He set me up with proper cardio and then set up a series of machines for weight training. He set up a progressive schedule and made sure I was doing everything correctly. I did a workout and felt good.
The next day I was very sore but went back and did my cardio. Next my cardio and weight training. I’ve been doing it for three weeks and it is becoming a habit.
After the workout I often use the hydro-massage that is available to Black Card users. So far I’m very impressed with Planet Fitness.
Living in Austin
Coming to Austin was a big deal for me. Being raised by an agoraphobic and then living in a very small town for the past thirty years made coming here stressful.
I drove here right before Christmas when the weather in Ohio was pretty good. The drive was pretty easy if exhausting. I did it in two days and the hardest part was the drive once I entered Texas. It seemed like I drove forever as I headed to Austin.
My expectations of Texas are all based on cowboy movies of my youth. I’ve been told if you go north and west you’ll see cowboy movie landscapes. Austin is very green.
I’ve been here a little over a month and it took a couple weeks to get used to the heavy traffic and city life. I still can’t get used to seeing homeless people. We’ve been traveling around and seeing things and now that I’m used to it I’m enjoying the hell out of it. The temperatures have been in the fifties and sixties and this week will be in the seventies. This is a far cry from the polar vortex back home. I don’t miss it.
I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do the things I did at home but I already found a chess club and a healthy poker community. I got second place in the first poker tournament I played in here.
We are looking for a duplex and we may have found one. Even if we do we have a long way to go to get our life in order to move here. The old houses have to be emptied, clean, painted and sold. I’m excited about the future.
This blog is about my health and getting in shape so I’ll be talking about that a great deal.
Chubby For Life? 