New Rules of Lifting (for Women)

Happy Wind-day….I mean…Monday.  We’re having a massive wind storm here today, the 60 year old building that I work in is creaking and groaning something fierce!  Totally freaky!  Hopefully our power stays on or it’ll be a very long day!

 

I didn’t get up to much this weekend, the Alien Baby went postal on Friday night (in Costco, so thanks for wrecking that outing!) and I was flattened until Saturday afternoon…..which meant I didn’t go to spinning…….but since my previous post and discovering that spinning isn’t really what I want right now, I didn’t feel badly about it.  We went to our motorcycle meeting in the morning and then did errands and groceries and once we realized we had no plans and a whole afternoon to ourselves, we drove out to a town about 45 minutes away so that I could test drive a Fiat.  I really have no plans to buy a new car since in two months I’ll be car payment free and don’t want to get saddled with another huge bill, but it was fun to dream.  Those teeny little Italian cars sure can go!  They feel huge and solid and stable on the inside and they corner like a race car!  Lots of fun!  Next weekend we’re going to test drive a VW Jetta!

 

Fiat 500, super cute!

 

Shiny! Sure wish this was in my driveway right now!

 

Sunday morning my esthetician came over and did a couple of regular services for me and stayed for a coffee (Ray is not-so-secretly infatuated with her…it’s cute!) and then she left and we went for a drive and then came home and I went to the mall and bought new pants.  As Tara so delicately told me when she grabbed the baggy ass of my work pants, it’s time to get pants that fit!  😉  Ridiculously, I’ve been swimming around in a 14 and the pants I bought are a very flattering size 10 so I’m very happy about that!  Pants shopping can go either way for me, if they fit in the waist then the legs are super tight and if the legs fit then they are gaping huge in the waist.  And don’t even get me started on length!  I flipped a coin as to which mall to go to, hit one store and scored two pairs of flattering black work pants…for $70 total.  And then I lit on out of there like my hair was on fire, no sense testing my luck by hanging around! 

 

That’s about it for the weekend recap.  I started reading up on my new weight lifting plan yesterday and now just need to pick a date to start.  The plan has you work out 3 times a week and each workout takes about a 35-45 minutes not including the warmup so I think I’ll be stopping after work at the gym on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.  I hate the idea of working out on Fridays but since it’s heavy lifting workouts, they want a day between each and at least two days off in a row.  Not really sure how else to make that work……..unless I bite the bullet and do a 5am Friday morning workout….which could work.

 

The first phase is 6 weeks long and then you break for a full week.  They do not recommend doing any other sort of interval training (like spinning) while you’re doing the lifting because of the need for recovery.  Jogging on off days is alright because it sends nutrient rich blood to your muscles which aids in recovery….but you’re supposed to really judge how you’re feeling as far as whether you can run or not.  I’m in fairly decent shape so I think I’ll be able to do a bit of cardio along with the weights….but if I can’t?  Then that’s alright too!

 

And speaking of the weights.  The idea of this program is to lift heavy weights in order to build muscle.  I want muscle!  Muscle speeds metabolism, we all know that.  But muscle is also sexy.  Tone and strength is fit and fit is sexy.  I have no fear of getting bulky, I’m not taking steroids and I’m not on the outer fringes of genetics which causes me to gain muscle at the drop of a hat.  I will simply become stronger and more fit.  On each workout and with each exercise you increase the weight you’re using and decrease the number of reps and build your strength.  Sounds good to me.  

 

There are two workouts that I’ll be doing for the first six weeks, Workout A and Workout B.  You alternate each one so Monday is A, Wednesday is B, Friday is A etc.  Workout A is as follows:

 

2 sets of 15 ~ Squats (bodyweight at first and then adding weights)

2 sets of 15 ~ Pushups (starting at a “standing” angle at first and eventually getting to the floor)

2 sets of 15 ~ Seated Rows 

2 sets of 15 ~ Step Ups 

 

That’s it.  I can’t remember off the hop what Workout B is at the moment but you get the idea that these are full body exercises.  There are no bicep curls or tricep kickbacks.  There are no calf exercises or specific shoulder exercises.  The theory behind this is that the human body is meant to be used in full and if you are going to do a row, you’re using your back, shoulders, biceps, triceps and engaging your core.  They say that there is no point in isolating muscles unless for sport or injury recovery because all you end up doing is changing your body’s natural strength ratio between say, your biceps and your triceps.  No muscle is used exclusively in real life so in this program it’s all full body as well.  Another plus, if you’re not having to work each muscle seperately, you get to be done a lot faster!   

 

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be talking more about this as I get into it.  Tonight I’m going to take all my starting measurements and Ray is going to take my “before” pictures (in a bikini, good God!).  I’m not sure I’ll post them right away, it might make more sense to post them once I have some “after” to compare them to.  What do you think, is it worth posting them now?

 

And this is where I wish I was right now!

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There Are Changes Afoot

Forgive me for my absence these last couple of days however I’ve been a bit unsettled and having a hard time getting my thoughts in line. 

 

Remember about a month and a half ago I realized that my body was asking (or begging) for me to modify my diet and eliminate grains.  The results from this change have been huge.  It’s been a bit of a struggle sometimes in staying the course since “the course” is different than anything I’ve ever done before and is, in fact, the opposite of what conventional wisdom and our medical and government preaches.  The benefits to me though have been amazing and I continue to discover new (and wonderful) benefits of eating in this way…more on that later.

 

So 5 years ago I listened to my body when it screamed out that right then, right in that moment was the time to make the change from being a depressive binge eater, pack a day smoker, inactive fat woman to being healthy and responsible and to taking care of myself.  Complete success.  Then a month and a half ago I listened to my body when, over time, it was quietly asking for me to remove grains.  Complete success and ongoing.  And now I would be insane not to listen to my body when it’s telling me that what I’m doing for exercise needs to change.  Completely.

 

Way back when I was at the lowest point of my seemingly endless pit of depression and bingeing I used to dream of running.  I used to have these super vivid dreams of bounding effortlessly down the road, jogging, light as a feather on trails and pathways and beaches.  I was always so upset when I woke up and realized that I was still 260+ pounds and completely unable to recreate that in my life.  Until, later on after some changes were made, I realized that I could learn to jog and I could make those dreams a reality.  It was beautiful.  I would eventually run in the rain, in the wind, in the heat and blazing sunshine.  In the morning or the night, even with bad colds and stomach flus.  Off I would run.  And because it’s what my body wanted and needed I saw excellent results in my physical self and with my mental state and my emotions.  Eventually I burned out….well…..I got injured and had to stop running for three months and when I wasn’t injured any longer I just couldn’t get back into it like I once had.

 

Enter spinning.  For the last year and a bit I have been dedicated to spinning, I have gone at 6am, 9pm, on weekends and holidays, every single day through Christmas, in snow storms and ridiculous heat outdoors.  As the weather improves, I have integrated trail running into my exercise routine for some variation and cross training.  And I’ve signed up for a 10k in April.

 

Here’s the problem.  Ever since I eliminated grains, my body has put up a resistance to spinning and jogging.  For one thing, my breathing is shit.  My legs and my body have all the endurance in the world but my cardiovascular system reaches its limit way before my muscular system does.  This is probably the result of my body not yet having adjusted to less carbs in my diet.  For the second thing, every time I go out to spin or jog I feel like there is this little voice in the back of my head saying “This isn’t what I want, this isn’t what we should be doing.”.  Don’t get me wrong, at the end of a spin class or a good trail run I’m glad that I did it, good hard exercise always feels like an accomplishment.  But it’s not quite right. 

 

So………like back when I used to dream about running…………I have been having dreams about weight lifting, kettle balls and the like.  And so, that little voice that isn’t into cardio anymore and the random dreams about pushing weights…..they cannot be ignored.  I need to make a new plan that involves maybe one day of cardio a week because it is important for my heart health…..and then devise a weight routine.  I need to see where this will take me.  Because right now I believe I’ve gone as far as I can go doing what I’m doing now.  Time to shake things up!  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared about making this change……..it’s way away from what I’m used to.  But then, so was grain-free and that’s turned out great!

 

 

Pictographically

This weekend was a blur, some good, lots not.  First, the food (of course!).

I made an Egg Cup recipe that I found online the other day.  They look beautiful and I cannot wait to taste them!

Bacon on the bottom, thin sliced red onion, mixed greens, balsamic roasted tomato and then the egg!

I also made a shepherd’s pie recipe that was topped with Kabocha Squash.  I can’t say I’ll ever work with Kabocha again, it’s an expensive squash, stains everything orange and the yield you get from it doesn’t seem worth the work.  It has a very large seed pod inside of it so even a huge Kabocha doesn’t give that much flesh.  I was always kind of scared of Kabocha because of the weird shape of it.  It’s a fairly soft squash, easy to cut.  Bake face down at 400F for about a half hour and it’s quite done. 

OK, done with the food.  Friday night Ray and I spent a couple of hours cleaning our house.  Top to bottom.  And on Friday when we sat down to have a drink and a relax, it felt amazing to have a clean house.  I’ve been spot cleaning the past little while but to actually have a totally clean house.  Lovely. 

Saturday morning I got up and went to spinning where I pushed myself hard but definitely noticed a lack of conditioning compared to when I was going three times a week.  But…I was happy with my effort and that’s all that matters. We went out for breakfast at Waffle House (not the same as the US Wafflehouse….just a standard diner) where I had my new favourite, bacon & mushroom omelette, no cheese and a caesar salad, no croutons.  Aaaaaand……then we came home…………and the apocolypse that was in our house took up the rest of our day.   I will not get into details except to say that we have an elderly dog and it’s a good thing we also have an industrial carpet cleaner…..and in some cases dark paint.  Don’t ask.  It was so, SO upsetting that I could not stop crying.  In fact this morning in retelling parts of it to Tara it almost made me cry again.  In addition to the horror that was the next two hours of cleaning, it meant that I also missed the spinathon.  At morning spinning I was told I could make a donation and drop by….and because of the shit-show (literally), I missed it completely.

Later that afternoon we went for a nice walk just the two of us and stopped at a corner store close to our house to get a bottle of water.  The little store has a hidden gem inside, a veritable farm of white orchids.  One of those beautifule white orchids made its way into my arms for the walk home, a token, perhaps, for all the crying?

Surprisingly low maintenance. Water every two weeks and otherwise leave it be!

Saturday evening Ray’s ex wife stopped by at our request to impartially take a look at our elderly dog and give her opinion as someone who doesn’t see her everyday.  Unfortunately she wouldn’t say a word on her thoughts about the end-of-life strategy for Brandy.  She did leave her dog George with us overnight though….which may seem strange on the heels of our own dog issues……but I love George a lot and he actually is good for Brandy………or…..in the past he has been, unfortunately she is too tired/sick to notice him at this point.  He noticed me though and tucked himself into bed with me on Sunday morning after Ray got up and then flattened himself on me for morning coffee later on.

George is a suck. But I love him!

Sunday morning we went up to Mossum Creek Hatchery where Kyle (Ray’s son)is president….he took us on a very informative tour and then for a little walk down the creek.  It was a bit chilly out but not raining and very gorgeous!

Mossum Creek, starting to gear up for spring run off!

That’s about it for the weekend.  There were some lovely high points and some very low points.  Overall the weekend was a bit traumatizing, actually and was definitely assisted by a drink!

Vodka and .... well ..... vodka.

A jog after work tonight and tomorrow is weekly weight in!  Yay sunshine and yay good choices all weekend regardless of stress (vodka not withstanding!)!

Old Business

An update on yesterday’s post:

A) the rib eye steak was not that good.  It was beautifully cooked and instead of being ‘pink’ where it rare, it was a gorgeous red (if you’re a veggie, sorry, this probably grosses you out).  But it was kind of tough & dense.  OK, really tough.  Although it occurred to me that if we stuck to only grass fed organic meat for a few months and then ate a grocery store steak, we might find the texture quite mushy.  I guess it’s all what you get used to.

B) the spinathon.  Really should have investigated that awhile ago.  You have to form a team and do a bunch of fund raising to the tune of around $1000 before you get to do it.  Guess I won’t be doing that tomorrow!

C) I did not go for a jog last night.  My mini fast left me completely under fueled and….well…..I didn’t really want to go.  So Ray and I went and walked that trail together instead.  It was flipping cold out, too!  When I got home I hopped in the bath to thaw out my bum and legs!

Now for new business….which is also still sort of old business.  Last May I rode my bicycle on a 40km trail ride for charity.  Since Ray was hurt at the time I rode it by myself (with 150 other people).  Around the third kilometer I took a wrong turn (don’t even ask!), went 2km out of my way and had to turn around and go back.  Not being one to enjoy being dead last, I put feet to pedals and started to make up some ground.  Until kilometer 8.  You see, it was raining the entire time.  I was bent on catching up.  I went over a little wooden bridge.  I hit what I thought was my back brake but was actually my front brake, skidded out on the bridge and crashed, flew over the handlebars and crashed into the side of the bridge.  I ultimately ended up partially dislocating my shoulder and really killing my knee.  However…..being alone on the ride and not one to give up, I finished the next 32 kilometers.  Probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.  Upon finishing the ride and getting home, we realized my injuries were a little worse than I thought.  Whatever, I still finished.  The next day my right arm was useless to me and off we went to the chiropractor where he fixed me right up.  Why do I tell you all this?  Because I now have a weak spot in my shoulder which recurs every once in awhile.  Like right now.  I slept wrong and now my shoulder is screwed.  SCREWED.  So that precludes any sort of jogging for about a week or so until either it corrects itself (it could happen!) or until I get to my chiropractor next Saturday.  Look out, spinning!

My knee, Day 1-3 post crash!

Also discussing spinning, it has come to my attention that I have been much too lax with the whole exercise thing.  Since I was leaving my schedule open to be free to jog on sunny days and then the sunny days don’t come often enough, I’ve really been pokin’ the puppy as far as consistent exercise goes and that doesn’t make me feel good physically or mentally.  So tonight I’m sleeping in my gym clothes and getting up for spinning in the morning.  I will also spin Monday and Thursday next week and hopefully on a non spinning day it’ll be nice enough to get out and go for a walk. 

I bought my liquid iron supplement last night, I’m doubling up the dosage for a few days to see if I can start to feel a little better, and I’m going to exercise even though I don’t feel like it…..because a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest gets lazy and fat if there is not a definitive end to the rest.  That’s my theory, anyway!  😉

Adrift For A Day

I left my phone on the dining room table this morning (at least I hope I did!) so I am somewhat adrift today. On the plus side, it’s beautifully sunny outside…which I would snap a picture and show you but, alas, I cannot.

My belly still hasn’t really recovered from the other day, I’m still really bloated and uncomfortable. I’m very unhappy about it but I am staying the course because I am not doing anything wrong, this isn’t an error on my part or a failure or a mistake. It’s just my body unhappy about something. I made a chili on Sunday which we had for dinner Sunday and then I had it on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch and we had it again for dinner last night (yes, it made a lot!). There was no beans or anything grainy in it and yet each time I ate it I felt a little worse. Up until yesterday when we had it for dinner again and Ray also started to feel badly. So either I food poisoned us slightly or something about the huge amount of veggies in the chili is bothering both of us. I can’t see it and yet we both felt exactly the same yesterday after dinner. Maybe the veg fermented? Who knows!

Since that’s what I packed in my lunch today, I’m going to do a mini-fast instead. I’ll skip the chili and just have an apple and some almonds and a whole bunch of water and leave it at that. I should be fine until I get home at 4pm, on grain free your blood sugar stays much more stable so while I might be hungry, I shouldn’t feel too badly.

I already had my morning salad and I have a new favourite salad topping. Whole walnuts! I don’t love walnuts just to eat in my hand but I do love them to crust things and I like them in smoothies so I thought I’d try them in my salad. Very delicious. They have the perfect texture, soft enough you can fork them and crunchy enough that you know you’re eating nuts. They were sprinkled over mixed greens with sliced red pepper, sliced radish, chunked avocado and some canned salmon. Very satisfying!

Speaking of new things that are a pleasant surprise, I found these tablets when we went to our local outdoor adventure store (MEC) and thought they would be perfect for on our motorcycles on those long, hot riding days. We already pack water & ice in our cooler so to also have to pack around some type of electrolyte drink on those extra hot days is troublesome. Enter, NUUN.  It’s electrolyte tabs, 12 of them was a little over $3 and does 192 ounces of water. The tabs are for a 16 oz water bottle but they’re scored down the middle so you can actually break them in half. I tried the Tri Berry one the other day. They are effervescant when you drop them in the water and they dissolve in about a minute and a half, no stirring required (I did it in a big mug, I imagine in a water bottle you could shake a little to make it dissolve faster). Comes out a light pinkish colour, clear and not too sweet. I quite enjoyed it and will definitely be packing those on bicycle and motorcycle trips alike this year!

Tonight after work I was supposed to eat dinner and then go to spinning……..but you have to understand, today it is nice out. It may not be nice out again for weeks. I just cannot make myself skip the niceness of the trail and go to the gym instead. Fresh air is too rare at this time of year. So I’m hitting the trail again after work.

And when I get home from trail running (which I will have to fuel for extra since I’m having a little fast today) we’re going to BBQ two beautiful 12 oz organic, grassfed rib eye steaks for dinner. With roasted butternut squash and mashed cauliflower. I found these steaks by accident on the way home from visiting my mom on the weekend. Two 12oz organic grassfed free range for $14. Gimme! I never liked steak. Least favourite meat by a landslide. Until Ray made me a rib eye steak one day. I’ve been completely sold every since, they are so, SO flavourful and juicy and fatty and delicious!

That’s it for me today. Tomorrow night Ray is going for dinner with his mom which I will happily skip out on. And then Saturday is regular 8:30am spinning……and a spinathon. So I’ll be spinning at least twice on Saturday. Hopefully on Saturday night our friends who have the hot tub will invite us over! 😉

 

30 Days Complete!

Today is Day 30.  30 days since I’ve eaten anything with grain in it.  30 days since I’ve had bread, pasta, cereal, rice, soy, peanuts, beans, corn or excessive sugar or dairy.

 

Here’s what I have eaten:

 

5 bunches of kale

4 dozen eggs

2 pounds of cooked turkey breast

3 filets of cod

1 roast chicken

1 pound ground bison

2 pounds ground beef

1 huge rack of pork side ribs

2 salmon steaks

3 rib eye steaks

1 eye of round roast

1 pork butt roast

30+ scoops of protein powder

2 cans of clams

4 cans of salmon

10 avocados

3 cups of pine nuts/almonds

close to a pound of coconut oil

5 heads of cauliflower

3 acorn squash

2 butternut squash

15 bananas

4 pints of fresh strawberries

30 cups of frozen berries

4 litres of almond milk

3 containers of coconut yogurt

bushels upon bushels of fresh veggies…you name it, we ate it!

 

Now, obviously these totals are not just what I ate, I did not eat an entire roast chicken….well…no…wait, I did.  But the roasts, steaks, pork butts etc were shared between Ray and I.

 

I also jogged 33km and spinned…spun (?) five hours. 

 

I also drank 3 bottles of wine, two beers, ate two ice creams (no cone), a large serving of organic potato chips, the ears off of a Lindt bunny, made and ate pear tart, banana bread and brownies, all grain free.

 

I have not suffered for a moment.  I haven’t weighed or measured a thing (except when making recipes, of course) and I haven’t counted a calorie in 30 days.  I haven’t gorged myself and I haven’t starved myself. 

 

So, results?  In the past 30 days I have lost a whopping…..2.6 pounds.  OK, don’t laugh and don’t go back to that list up there and start counting up calories and fat!  In addition to losing my 2.6 pounds, I’ve also lost unmeasured inches around my middle (hello, flat stomach, I have missed you…if I ever really had you!), my watch is retardedly loose, I’m wearing a ring from high school again, my hair is shiny and full and healthy looking, my nails are growing like gangbusters.  I haven’t had a heart issue during these 30 days, my mood seems more stable, I haven’t felt the unstoppable need to binge on chocolate.   So, all good things.

 

The only issue I have is with my energy levels.  I’m still exercising and getting things done around the house with cleaning and cooking and laundry.  But Lord, am I ever exhausted at the end of the day.  Something isn’t quite right and I don’t know if it’s because I ran out of the liquid (plant based) iron supplement that I take daily or if I’m not getting quite enough carbs or if I’m just fighting off a bug.  It’s a bit frustrating but I’m staying the course and going to hope that things even out, perhaps 30 days isn’t quite long enough for everything to adjust.

 

I had planned to buy myself a little present when I got made it the first 30 days.  Only…..I don’t really feel like I did anything that’s worthy of a present.  Don’t get me wrong, this hasn’t been a walk in the park every day, there have been some difficult moments and a couple of times when giving in would have been a lot easier.  But I didn’t really do anything that my body hasn’t wanted to do.  I remember when I was starting to lose my 100 pounds 5 years ago…..I set up a rewards timeline….and then when I achieved the reward points, I didn’t really feel like I needed to reward myself, I wasn’t doing anything that was reward-worthy…just living responsibly.  Same thing.

 

However, I AM going to get myself the present because what IS reward worthy is listening to your body, making a less than popular decision and carrying it through because you know in your heart that it’s the right thing for you.  Not caving or giving in to someone else’s will.  That’s reward worthy!

Best Laid Plans

Did you go vote on the post before this one?  Go vote!

I had the best laid plans last night for some relaxed exercise, a delicious dinner and some general lazing about. Oh, how wrong it would all go.

First of all, I got stuck in a traffic jam from hell so by the time I even got to the grocery store it was dusk outside and the sunshine and mild breeze of earlier in the day had morphed into dreary, dark, gusty and cold. Nope, not walk/jogging outside. After the grocery store (where I spent a LOT on groceries for a mid week top up), I got home, changed clothes and got to cooking my exciting new recipe.

Braised Coconut Spinach & Chickpeas. How wrong could that be? It had sauteed onions, garlic, fresh ginger, sun dried tomato, lemon zest, chickpeas, loads of spinach and coconut milk…then some lemon juice, salt and more dried ginger. I threw two sweet potatoes into the oven to bake while the stew was being assembled. It smelled SO GOOD. I calculated the calories, cut up the sweet potato and dished out the stew to myself. And…..there is some combination of flavours in it that makes it taste……plastic-y. Manufactured? Processed? Fake? Whatever, I couldn’t eat it. I do not know where I went wrong?! It was all fresh ingredients, nothing preserved or processed or chemically. So what happened? I’m not sure. Perhaps I was pinning too much hope on it being my new comfort food when I’m home alone? Either or, I won’t be making it again. And it’s so WEIRD because all the comments where I found the recipe RAVED abut how good it was. I mean, truly, what’s not to like?  I would like to think I did something wrong but it’s a pretty basic recipe….chop, chop, saute, simmer, chop, add, simmer, stir.  Pretty basic!

So, since this was my big mid week plan, I have it for lunch today anyway….and I’m realy hoping that a night in the fridge and then a reheat will do something to it to make it more palatable for me. I’ll see if I can convince Tara to have a wee taste and see what she thinks.

So…..no exercise, no delicious dinner, sick boyfriend and crappy book I’m in the middle of reading.  Thanks Wednesday, you sort of sucked bobo!  Tonight I have proper RPM with a favorite instructor.  I think maaaaaybe Ray will be on dayshift on Friday which would be great, we haven’t had a Friday night dinner together just the two of us in months.  Ray has a standing date with his mom on Friday nights and it precludes Friday Date Night 100% of the time….unless SHE is busy in which case we get it to ourselves.  If we’re busy?  Well….we never are busy on Friday at dinner time because it’s not worth the hassle and the guilt from a 73 year old lady.  😉  Fortunately, she is busy this Friday so maybe it is in the cards to spend Friday night chilling together.  If not and Ray is working, I plan to chill on the sofa with Captain Jack Sparrow.

Savvy?

Good Start To The Week!

It’s just before bedtime, it’s quiet and cozy here and I just got home from the Express RPM class.  Not bad for a Monday night!  It amazes me how that half hour is just as hard if not harder than a regular length class. After the 30 minutes I headed over to the stretching area because following each spinning class (except Saturdays, probably) I’m going to be incorporating a 15 minute ab routine. It’s something I can’t really put off any longer. My core strength is non existant so I’m being a responsible adult and doing something about it…..plus maybe it’ll make my midsection look slimmer.  I found this ab routine through a bunch of link clicking on Friday. It should take about 15 minutes to complete once I’m used to doing it and once I have built a little bit of strength up.

You’ll notice that I said it should take 15 minutes once I’m used to doing it.  That is because I did it for the first time tonight and I made it through only one round of the first three…..and then my everything was on such fire that it pissed me off and I quit.  BUT!  I’m not a quitter.  Next time I go to the gym I’m going to do the same thing….one round of the first three.  And I’ll keep going until I can do one round of the whole thing…then one round of the whole thing plus one more of the first two…and on and on.  Until I can do the whole routine in 15 minutes.  I wasn’t kidding when I said that my core strength is pathetic.  This was an insanely pathetic showing and I will NOT be defeated.  Maybe a personal trainer or a coach or someone could have dragged me a bit further tonight……….but I have always trained myself and that’s how I’m going to do this…..one teeny step after another until all the teeny steps add up to a considerable distance.  I’ve got time….I’ll get there.

Here’s an screenshot of the workout and the link to it in case you would like to play along: https://www.mcssl.com/content/155119/toned-in-12-abs.pdf

For dinner tonight I made a mushroom and spinach omelette with a teeny bit of havarti and a wee bit of leftover roasted veggies thrown in. Instead of using just eggs though, I thought I would try something new. I took some cooked acorn squash, mashed it up and whisked it in with the eggs before I poured it into the pan. It made the eggs very fluffy and the taste wasn’t bad, a little sweet, maybe.  The only downfall was that it didn’t really flip over into a standard omelette, the squash changed the way the egg behaves and so it was more like a scramble than anything else. I would definitely do it again though.

I’m getting my tattoo touched up tomorrow evening and then having a sofa night and the other days this week I’ll be at the gym in the evenings. Ray is working on afternoon shift so I have my evenings to do with as I please. I begged off cooking altogether for this week since Ray’s not home, so all I have to worry about is my own stuff…making my own lunch and dinner (omelettes aaaallll week!), going to the gym and getting to bed early. It’ll be a nice break, kind of like a little working vacation.

Monday ~ Express RPM + abs

Tuesday ~ rest

Wednesday ~ Run & Row + abs

Thursday ~ RPM + abs

Friday ~ rest

Saturday ~ RPM + abs

Sunday ~ rest

I think that’s about all for tonight, I’m going to get under the covers, read a little of my book and hopefully be dead to the world for around 9 hours. I have a suspiciously sore throat right now so I’m going to try to sleep and water it away over the next couple of days. Incidentally, did you know that for 30 minutes following a vigourous workout you are actually immune compromised? Just a little “fact” I read a couple of weeks ago and thought I would share…..so especially if you workout in a gym, don’t touch your eyes, mouth or nose during or after your workout, if you can help it!

And finally, I read this on a blog this evening:  “I know there is only one way to attain my goal, and that’s to work hard.”   Like!

New Things

Note to self: Don’t go to an indoor fitness class in a long sleeve shirt and long pants. Ever. Not even if they are both considered “dry-fit” or “moisture wicking”. You will be consumed by heat!

Note to anyone using a public shower room: Don’t sit ANYWHERE naked. For oen thing, no one wants to see the spread of your cellulite riddled ass…and for another, how do you know that 5 minutes before you sat your naked rear down, someone else wasn’t just sitting naked on the same spot? Come on, people. COME ON!

OK, now that’s out of the way! I went to All Terrain and I have to say, didn’t like it. I went in with an open mind, thinking maybe even if it’s different than what I’m used to, it’s still indoor cycling which I love and maybe it’ll be like cross-training within the same sport. The problem I had was two fold. First, I didn’t get the point. With the regular RPM that I go to, they sort of set it up from the get-go, you’re doing an outdoor ride, there are hills and flats, races against yourself and the instructor, speedwork etc. With the All Terrain, you just ride at the same resistance for up to 7 minutes at a time. Aside from the fact that it’s boring as hell, you can’t even visualize what you’re doing. With RPM you can sort of tell what’s coming by listening to the music….in All Terrain, the boring random songs just flow into one another with no apparant reference to what you’re actually doing.

The worst part about it though? The instructor doesn’t ride the class with you! She starts, then gets off the bike, stands BESIDE the bike and talks to you and wanders around the room so if you’re in the front you can’t see her. And when she is actually on the bike she’s not doing what she’s telling us to do. When we’re sitting, she just randomly stands up….so the entire class (all used to RPM) stand up and she “no-no, sit down”ed us.

I don’t know what it’s like for other people, but when I exercise alone, I pitch myself against myself. When I exercise in a group, I like to try and match the instructor (who is generally, wildly more fit than I am). I was very confused by the whole thing since I wasn’t quite alone but there wasn’t really an instructor to try and match. But, it was an hour of exercise and that means I get a check mark in the happy column.

Finally, in leaving a comment for another blogger, I realized that the number of calories that I am eating in an average day is a bit low (especially when I’m exercising) and right now in a time of stress, I need to not be starving my body. My trouble is that it is difficult to bump that up when the healthiest foods are the ones that are lower in calories. By that I mean, if you choose not to eat bread/grains, you don’t eat dairy, you don’t eat processed foods and you stay away from sugar, it can be very difficult to get your calorie count up to reasonable levels on fruits, veg, protein and good fat. I’m actually curious if the calorie count that is given as a standard when you calculate your BMR takes into consideration the foods that most North Americans eat the most of (grains, sugar, processed) and is a higher number to try to ensure nourishment even if some of the food isn’t really food? Would you actually need a lower overall number if you were eating just meat and veg?

Try Harder

I don’t often find myself in situations where I am actively failing…mostly because I’m careful to not undertake things I know that I won’t be able to do.  Not to say that I only do the easy things, I definitely don’t.  But I do make certain assessments and make sure that the timing and effort involved are within my current and future abilities.

Right now I find myself in a position where I can’t win.  I’m not failing, perse….not as I define it, but I can’t win.  It’s sort of a new position for me to be in where my word, my knowledge, my experience count for nothing, are constantly questioned and often disregarded.  Why am I telling you this?  Because the only answer I can come up with as to how to deal with this new set of circumstances is to apply the motto that I employ in other areas of my life.

Try.  Harder. 

If one thing doesn’t work, try something else.  If that doesn’t work, take a moment to reassess and make a new plan.  Tweak as you go along.  Watch, listen and learn yourself and others.  Give more, be more.

I realize that may sound disgustingly positive and sunshine-up-your-arse, and I sort of agree with that.  But it’s all I have.  It’s the only option I have.  Make it work, try harder, find a way.  Because what are my other options?  Opt out of life?  Fail?  Give up?  Submit?  Um, no thanks.

I also realize that it might sound borderline disordered insomuch as there comes a time when you’ve given all you have, when you have been squeezed dry of everything that makes you who you are, when the battle is kicking your ass , when it becomes obvious that it’s time to admit defeat and move on.  You can’t win everything. 

I think it’s intuitive, that you sort of just know whether you have more left in you or not.  Right now, I’m not done yet.  Maybe soon, maybe never….but right now, I still have some kick left in me.

In other news, I’m trying out a new type of spinning tonight.  Normally I do Les Mills RPM which is an interval style indoor cycling class, they have a certain routine that they follow, I’ve been going long enough now that I know exactly what to expect at what stage and how hard (or not hard) to be pushing at different stages because I know what’s coming.  Tonight I’m going to try something different, it’s called All Terrain and I have no idea what to expect or how hard to ride out of the gate.  Should be interesting.

I’m doing regular RPM on Thursday night and again at 6am on Friday morning (I have Friday off, yay!).  Friday I have a lovely little personal day all planned out that involves such things as a morning steam, boozy coffee, butter chicken, a warm wax soak and my book.  Friday is what is keeping me motivated to hit the gym for the next three classes and it’s what’s keeping me shiny side up at the moment (a little motorcycling reference for you).

And finally….a funny.  When I got home today, a little under the weather, mood wise, Ray came and gave me a big hug.  The following conversation ensued:

S: I feel like a whale

R: Oh?  What got into you?

S: Whales don’t go to the gym.

R:  But you DO go to the gym.

S: What’s your point?

R: Well, I guess you’re more like Free Willy!

I didn’t know whether to laugh or smack him…..so I laughed.  🙂