A shotgun blast of short updates-no new "theme" per se

Ramblings of an over-caffeinated yet rested and generally pain-free brain:

1) Back spasm pretty much resolved after one month, relapse, chiropractic and medicinal treatment and lifestyle/stretching changes.  What I've learned:  These may get worse as I age, so proactive care will be needed.  Nothing I don't already know but need to keep doing the right things-posture, stretching, lifting and calisthenics to maintain core strength.  New tricks I learned this time around:  Heat immediately, not ice.  Stretching flat on back on a hard surface helps.  Psoas muscle as much the culprit as back muscles.

2) Diet important and getting enough calories helps across the board.  I'm less stressed, sleep better and generally healthier on a whole food diet but also need to ensure any calorie deficit is short-term and the rest of the diet is very solid if that is the case.  I have reached a new "set point" weight wise at 178-179 instead of 190-192 and happy at this weight as I start lifting again.  putting 5 pounds of lean muscle back on would be good but not essential.

3) Presidential Fitness Challenge and John Stone Fitness 1,000,000 push-up challenge are going to take a long time!  As most recently noted in this post I'm back to logging points for the Presidential Fitness Challenge.  I'm making progress, but as the awards get higher in value, the required points expand.  Getting to Silver is going to take a few more months, and then Gold and above are likely years away.  Another challenge I am doing is the 1 million pushup challenge over at www.johnstonefitness.com.  I may be the only person posting right now, and since I'm not doing a lot of pushups currently we might never make it.  Help out if you can!

Well, that's it for today, maybe some advice or work-out tip over the weekend.

Giving platelets again

I'm laying here with one armed tied to the arm of a donor bed.  I've been hooked up to an apheresis machine for exactly an hour on my way to giving 1 trillion platelets.

They look good, and I'm going strong.  This donation gets me over 32 gallons of blood product credits.  For reference, one whole blood donation is 1/8 a gallon!

Good blood pressure, pulse and hemoglobin before giving too.

Neat kitchen gadget I remember from my youth

Do you remember flour sifters from your mother or grandmother's kitchen?  I remember Mom had one that she would use baking.  Filling the sifter with floor, then turning the handle to sift the flour, break up smaller clumps and have nice uniform flour both foreshadowed yummy baked treats and looked like fun.  Getting to be old enough to use the sifter was a goal for a few months-simple but fun to use.

Via Commission Junction, or CJ now, the company that is the clearinghouse for my affiliate marketing, I received an e-mail from Jacob Bromwell Company that has been in business many years making classic American kitchen and household sundries.  One is the All-American Flour Sifter.  The company website states they have been making this sifter since 1819 and held the first patents for flour sifters.  Their sifter holds 5 cups of flour-probably close to as much as many of my foodie friends need for their recipes!  Built out of stainless steel, it is guaranteed not to rust and will likely become a family heirloom from the day it arrives at your house.



What a great Christmas present (or late birthday present) for that baker/foodie in your life.  In the sake of full disclosure, I do get a commission as an affiliate marketer for purchases made via this blog, and even more disclosure, since it's Movember I'm donating a portion of those commissions to the Movember Foundation in honor of my late friend Ed "Hoggy" Herrmann.