Ann's Immaterium

Mostly physical culture but also writing, gaming, and other dark procrastinations

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Work Outs: January 17 – 23, 2021 (Dragons of USPS, Brugger, and Marmite Peanut Butter)

I was out doing some yard early during the week in the aftermath of a wind storm that knocked out power and the internet over much of the area for most of the week.* That’s not too unusual up here in the San Lorzeno Mountains in the winter, but what is kind of unusual was seeing the mail lady pull up and start delivering mail with a bearded dragon on her shoulder!

The afternoon temperatures were in the low 70’s so she was “giving him some air,” which I thought was nice. Apparently he’ll just sit there quietly for the entire shift while his human delivers letters, packages and the like. Cute!

The mail lady said it was fine to put her picture on the webernet. Many thanks! 🙂

Sun, January 17th

Afternoon Workout

Recumbent Bike: 48 Minutes, Internal Training, Levels 10 – 16, 70+ rpm’s. I followed this video from the Vive Health channel. Coach Kim’s running commentary is fun to listen to and she makes the time go by quickly. Unfortunately they haven’t produced many recumbent bike videos so I’ll probably have to try some other sites to make the pedaling time go by quickly.

Worked the Taekwondo white belt “Jab” lesson on the Global Martial Arts University site.

I achieved a small goal I set back in October of being able to plant my foot (in shoes) flat on the floor doing the side-lunge stretch. My next goal is to be able to do this with bare feet and also to switch back and forth ten times without having to use my hands. I think the Cossack squats helped with this goal.

Calories: 2001, Protein: 161 g.

Mon, January 18th

Rest Day. My husband had the holiday off so we had fun going for a light walk down at one of the local beaches near Santa Cruz. I’ll probably put up a few pictures of the trip in the next week or two.

Calories: 2120, Protein: 116 g.

He doesn’t mind being on the internet either. Muchas gracias, pequeño dragón!

Tues, January 19th

Morning Walk: 2 miles.

Afternoon Workout

  • Standing Cable Rows (Hog Bar): 80 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
  • Cable Lat Pull Downs (Hog Bar): 60 lbs. x 12 reps, 70 lbs. x 2 sets x 8, 6 reps, 60 lbs. x 13! reps
  • DB Curls: 25 lbs. x 3 sets x 8 reps, (25 lbs. x 6 reps + 20 lbs. x 2 reps)
  • DB Shrugs: 40 lbs. x 12 reps, 45 lbs. x 12 reps, 50 lbs. x 2 sets x 12, 10 reps
    • On the last set I did each rep with a two second hold.
  • (Super Set)
    • Shoulder Internal Rotation with Abduction (orange band): 4 sets x 12 reps
    • Face Pulls: 15 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • KB Swings: 35 lbs. x 20 reps, 3 sets x 15 reps
  • Wrist Rolling (standing on 16″ box): 15 lbs. x 2 sets x 2 windings up and down
  • Twist Yo’ Wrist: (standing on 16″ box): 6 lbs. x 2 sets x 2 windings up and down
  • Seated DB Cleans: 12 lbs. x 4 sets x 12 reps
  • Dead Bugs (2-ct): 25 reps
  • Full Squats: 30 reps
  • Walk holding Fitness Rock Overhead: 4 rounds of 20 seconds each with 10 seconds rest between rounds.

Calories: 1892, Protein: 148 g.

I have owned one lonely, red 15 lb. (6.8 kg.) kettlebell for many years and like using it for swings. It has also seen a lot of honorable service as a door stop, pressing tofu, holding down warped piece of linoleum in an apartment I used to rent, and so on.

I finally decided I wanted to swing something heavier so I’ve been grabbing onto one end of some of my dumbbells and swinging them like kettlebells. This worked well at first but I’ve noticed that as I use heavier weights it is becoming harder to maintain a good grip on the end of the weight. My hands simply aren’t large enough and the hexagonal dumbbells aren’t really suited for that kind of work. So enter Phoebus here on the right, which I recently purchased.

I’ll probably eventually get more, heavier kettlebells in the future, now that I’ve taken the plunge, but those are pretty far down the list of the gym toys I want to acquire.

Wed, January 20th

Morning Walk: 2.46 miles. I did some stretching and some restorative foam rolling and such in the evening. Calories: 2086, Protein: 170 g.

Thur, January 21st

  • Morning Walk: 1.91 miles.
  • Afternoon Jog: 2.10 miles. I did a set of 100 squats and some dynamic stretching as a warm-up. After the jog I found a nice spot in a clearing under the trees and did a Tabata Workout.
  • For the Tabata, I did an exercise for 8 twenty second rounds with 10 seconds of rest between each round. After 8 rounds, I took a one minute of rest and then repeated the process for 8 rounds of the next exercise and so on.
    • Side Kick Stretch
    • Snap Kick Exercise
      • I learned this from the Global Martial Arts University lessons I’ve been taking. It is a similar motion to using a leg extension machine. The idea is to bring your knee up like you are going to perform a kick but keep the knee elevated and do a bunch of repetitions where you are throwing a lot of snap kicks, hitting your imaginary target with your instep, without allowing your the knee to drop or your foot to touch the ground.
    • Front Kick Stretch
    • Alternating Standing Side Crunches
    • Full Squats
    • Body Weight Romanian Dead Lifts
    • Walking Lunges

Calories: 1934, Protein: 161 g.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking about peanut butter pine cones, Marmite and Vegemite in a conversation with Pat, when John mentioned Marmite made their own brand of peanut butter. That reminded me of those old commercials for Reece’s peanut butter cups where two people would have an accident and one of them would say, “You got peanut butter in my chocolate!” and the other person would exclaim, “You got chocolate in my peanut butter!” Then they’d both find that the synergy of the two together was better than either separate ingredient. So I thought that it might be fun to see if Marmite peanut butter was like that too so I bought some from Amazon.

It is giant Satsuma Season here in California again. My favorite of all the oranges!

Turns it that Marmite peanut butter is pretty good stuff. I like how it doesn’t have the unhealthy stuff that one often finds in many commercial peanut butters. It also has yeast extract and is fortified with B Vitamins and such. My husband likes it on toast or in oatmeal in the morning. I enjoy the tasty edge the yeast extract gives it, but I find it doesn’t go with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well as regular peanut butter because of this edge, so I usually find myself still reaching for the Adams. The Marmite does work really well to my taste on a peanut butter and banana sandwich so that is good. All in all, it is nice stuff.

Fri, January 22nd

Morning Walk: 1.92 miles.

Afternoon Work out | (Music: Disturbed play list.)

  • I did the Taekwondo white belt “Cross” and “High Block” lessons on the Global Martial Arts University site.
  • Arnold Press: 30 lbs. x 4 sets x 8 reps
  • Incline Push ups with scapular mobilization (3rd stair): 4 sets x 8 reps
  • DB Bench Press: 30 lbs. x 4 sets x 8, 8, 9, 9 reps
  • DB Lateral Raises: 15 lbs. x 8, 8, 9, 8 reps
  • DB Front Raises: 12 lbs. x 12 reps, 15 lbs. x 8 reps, [(15 lbs. x 4 reps + 12 lbs. x 4 reps) x 2 sets]
  • Tricep Push Downs: 50 lbs. x 4 sets x 10, 8, 8, 8 reps
  • (Super Set)
    • One-Handed Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdowns (d-handle, ea. arm): 10 lbs. x 4 sets x 10, 10, 11, 11 reps
    • DB Prone Rear Delt Row: 12 lbs. x 4 sets x 12, 10, 10, 10
  • DB Hammer Curls: 20 lbs. x 12 reps, (25 lbs. x 6 reps + 20 lbs. x 2 reps), 20 lbs. x 2 sets x 9, 8 reps

We went to the chiropractor on Friday afternoon for some “routine maintenance.” The doctor likes to give me various stretches and exercises every time I show up “because unlike many people I’ll actually do them,” and this time he gave me one that I find I really enjoy. It feels really good for the back and it is nice for people who spend a lot of time on the computer and/or hunched with a paint brush over Frank’s pig demon. It is also good for people who do a lot of pushing exercises such as push ups or bench pressing. He said I could just as easily do it standing up as well, which I did today (Saturday) when I was standing in line at the grocery store. Give it a try, it feels really good.

I have a three ring binder full of various stretches and exercises our good doctor has given us over the years.

Sat, January 23rd

Rest Day. I did some stretching and work with my Thera Cane in the evening. Next week I hope to include some pictures from the aftermath of the wind storms in our area and I’m going to start a new project of building a weight lifting platform for our home gym.

Calories: 1997, Protein: 147 g. (I lost 2.2 pounds this week, so my total loss is 21 lbs.)

* There is more wind and rain this time on the way so there is a good chance we’ll lose power and internet access next week too!

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23 responses to “Work Outs: January 17 – 23, 2021 (Dragons of USPS, Brugger, and Marmite Peanut Butter)”

  2. I’ve been a huge marmite fan for many years and the peanut butter stuff is really good. Normal peanut butter seems so bland without it. I remember everyone else in the car being confused at my excitement when we drove past the Marmite factory in Burton on Trent once (no one else liked the stuff).

    Mail lady with a bearded dragon on her shoulder? Fabulous. The only thing on my postman’s shoulder is a chip…

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  3. Marmite peanut butter in the states is real surprise! Then again, you can get seemingly everything on Amazon. I might have to track that down as I’ve never had Marmite and I love peanut butter so it sounds like a fun thing to try! I’m impressed that your mail lady can deliver mail with a lizard on her shoulder too! The fact that it is quite cold and snowy in Chicago probably makes it even harder for me to believe it 🙂

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    • Yes, pretty much the only place I was able to easily find it without poking around too much is on Amazon. It is pretty good and like I said has a hint of yeasty savory flavor to it. Nothing too extreme, but fun.

      I was pretty amazed to see that lizard when I was out doing yard work and even more surprised to learn she can do her whole route with him as her helper!

      The weather here is pretty mild for the most part in terms of temperatures. It often gets down to freezing in the middle of the night though it doesn’t really snow here at all (at our elevation anyway) and the summers are generally mild as well. We do get a lot of rain in the winter though, but not much other times of the year. I hear you about Chicago. I grew up in New England, so I have a little experience with snow, and have traveled to Chicago years ago for work so I was fortunate to have the chance to experience some of that wind you all get off Lake Michigan. Certainly will wake you up in the morning, I’m sure!

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      • Other than the desert parts of California, the whole state is very livable which is I’m sure why so many people already are there 🙂 The weather where you live sounds fantastic to me! Chicago definitely is windy and that is the biggest downside to the winter weather in my experience. We do get snow but it is pretty manageable. Its just the constant cold winds that make for long winters. The summer weather is generally great so that does help a bit 🙂

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    • Thanks, John. Yes, that peanut butter is pretty nice. In fact, my husband has been eating it for breakfast every morning and this morning he asked me “if we could perhaps get another jar of it soon?” 🙂 Those giant satsumas are great; very flavorful and peel easily too. My only real complaint about them is they come and go so quickly, but I guess it gives me something to look forward to for the next year. 🙂

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    • Heh, cute! I get a lot of cat balancing action at home too. Unfortunately it is usually the huge Siamese mix (Paint Cat) who likes to do the balancing, which at times can be a little distracting … more so probably than a bearded dragon.

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    • Yes, I agree, peanut butter without all of the extraneous stuff added, is certainly a power food both in nutrition and taste. For me, it is a comfort food because I grew up eating a lot of it — my mother used to buy the huge plastic tubs of it, which ended up lasting us maybe a two weeks at most. (I think I got my love of ice cream from my mother but my love of peanut butter was something I definitely inherited from my father.)

      I didn’t know that peanut butter is particularly popular in New Zealand. I suppose that means besides living in a beautiful country, they simply have good taste.

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      • I don’t think it is especially popular, but they always have innovative or trendy business ideas. So Pics Peanut Butter imports peanuts and produces peanut butter in New Zealand. I guess they market to hipsters etc. but it is simply good stuff.

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        • I’ve noticed that they have a bunch of interesting products once I started poking around more, such as savory breakfast biscuits, various types of spreads, nuts, and the like. My husband is pretty hooked on the Marmite peanut butter now. He’s pretty much polished off the first (albeit small) jar having his daily ration of the stuff for breakfast and asked me this morning “if I could maybe order a new jar?” 🙂

          I had no idea it is a hipster thing, lol. I guess if hipsters like Marmite then they have good taste, at least about that. 🙂

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    • Peanut butter and Marmite/Vegemite is to my estimation a pretty noble combination. Savory! In fact, I had some of that for breakfast this morning along with a couple of cups of high protein/low sugar milk, and a cup of green tea. A pretty good and easy way to start the day.

      Now for lunches, Marmite, peanut butter and banana sandwiches are better still!

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    • Thank you, Dave. I’ve been adding more stretching goals since weights are something I hugely enjoy doing and if I’m being honest comes somewhat easily to me, but flexibility is something that I don’t particularly enjoy and doesn’t come easily at all. So I figure having some goals in that direction will help me with that.

      Yes, you are right. I asked and she said that he was an albino and that makes him something you doubly don’t see very often: an albino lizard who rides on his human’s shoulder while she delivers mail.

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    • Yes, I agree, she is pretty cool. The Marmite peanut butter is very good. It tastes mainly like peanut butter but with a hint of yeast to it rather than echoing Marmite so much. Mostly I find it is better paired with savory rather than sweet ingredients though I do like it with bananas. I remember seeing an interview some years ago with Peter Jackson (Wolverine) where he talked about how he like to eat Vegemite toast. He said, if I remember correctly, that he liked to put on a decent amount of butter and then a light sheen of Vegemite. That is good with Marmite toast too — a goodly amount of peanut butter (Marmite or otherwise) and then a light sheen of Marmite. It is funny how something that used to be a waste product of the beer brewing business ended up being used to get some nutrition into malnourished soldiers during the Great War and is now a beloved commercial product.

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      • I’ve been on the brink of trying Marmite for a while; opinion is split between everyone I’ve asked so far! It sounds like such an interesting product though as you say, and I would definitely try it with the blob of peanut butter on toast 🤔

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