Some thoughts on exercise

The hard part is getting myself to the gym in the first place. This morning, I headed out when cattitude did, and while we walked through the park I was yawning repeatedly and saying "I'm trying to convince myself that the supermarket isn't very far" (the backup plan, if I wasn't up to going to the gym, was to buy groceries).

Then over the hill to Broadway, and I observed that I could get on the subway with him. I did. I ran a couple of quick errands in midtown on my way to the gym. The idea was to do a lighter than usual workout: warmup cardio rather than half an hour, lower weights, that sort of thing. In particular, any machine/exercise where I've been fluctuating between two weights, use the lighter.

It was a good plan, but I didn't follow through all that well. I did things like reduce the weight slightly, and do three sets instead of two. And there was one machine where I thought I'd been doing 50 pounds, so did two sets at that weight, then grabbed my XpressLine card and saw that it said "45" for that machine. Overall, that was a very satisfying couple of hours, and I hope I won't regret it for the next three days.

( details, mostly numerical )

Some thoughts on exercise

The hard part is getting myself to the gym in the first place. This morning, I headed out when cattitude did, and while we walked through the park I was yawning repeatedly and saying "I'm trying to convince myself that the supermarket isn't very far" (the backup plan, if I wasn't up to going to the gym, was to buy groceries).

Then over the hill to Broadway, and I observed that I could get on the subway with him. I did. I ran a couple of quick errands in midtown on my way to the gym. The idea was to do a lighter than usual workout: warmup cardio rather than half an hour, lower weights, that sort of thing. In particular, any machine/exercise where I've been fluctuating between two weights, use the lighter.

It was a good plan, but I didn't follow through all that well. I did things like reduce the weight slightly, and do three sets instead of two. And there was one machine where I thought I'd been doing 50 pounds, so did two sets at that weight, then grabbed my XpressLine card and saw that it said "45" for that machine. Overall, that was a very satisfying couple of hours, and I hope I won't regret it for the next three days.

( details, mostly numerical )

What all of us needs is an all-around duck

Or, It helps to know where to shop

After lunch today, I wandered around Chinatown a little. Kam Man (on Canal Street) for pickled ginger (this time I read the ingredients, and there's no aspartame in it), frozen edamame, and a tin of mackerel filets with ginger (it looked interesting and only cost a dollar). Then east to Mott, south to Bayard, and back up Mulberry to Canal. That route was selected to pass the Mulberry Meat Market: they sell raw meat, cooked roast meats (duck, chicken, pork), and dumplings. Today I got lucky: they had fresh ducks (as distinct from either frozen or already cooked), at a reasonable price. So I bought one, for $6.60.

Duck is easy to cook: the only complication in this was that I decided to make stuffing, which meant chopping and sauteeing and deciding what to mix in. A 4-pound duck is a fine meal for two adults and one eager cat. I may boil the carcass for stock, or I may not: we froze a reasonable amount of chicken stock last week.

What all of us needs is an all-around duck

Or, It helps to know where to shop

After lunch today, I wandered around Chinatown a little. Kam Man (on Canal Street) for pickled ginger (this time I read the ingredients, and there's no aspartame in it), frozen edamame, and a tin of mackerel filets with ginger (it looked interesting and only cost a dollar). Then east to Mott, south to Bayard, and back up Mulberry to Canal. That route was selected to pass the Mulberry Meat Market: they sell raw meat, cooked roast meats (duck, chicken, pork), and dumplings. Today I got lucky: they had fresh ducks (as distinct from either frozen or already cooked), at a reasonable price. So I bought one, for $6.60.

Duck is easy to cook: the only complication in this was that I decided to make stuffing, which meant chopping and sauteeing and deciding what to mix in. A 4-pound duck is a fine meal for two adults and one eager cat. I may boil the carcass for stock, or I may not: we froze a reasonable amount of chicken stock last week.