Monday, June 29, 2009

Halfway through my program

I've pretty well hit my halfway mark on this 6 month program I'm on. The New Rules of Lifting for Women has certainly kicked my butt. I have two more workouts in Stage 3, then it's only 3 stages left. Stage 4 and 5 are repeat exercises of Stage 2 & 3, but with lower reps and higher weights. Stage 6 will be a total change up with a concentration on building more strength. There is an optional Stage 7 (rather than doing 6) that is for fat loss, but I will not be doing that one. That's the last thing I want to do.

I am nearing the end of my current fitbook and very exciting to take the measurements next week to see how I've done over the past three months. I know for sure that I have lost an inch off my waist when I measured at a month and half. I've also increased my thighs and my arms. All good stuff, so we'll see where I'm sitting next week!

Next week I get to start a shiney new fitbook for the next 3 months. I'm also meeting with my nutritionist next week to get a hold on what I should be eating to get the best results. I'm not treating for anything specific, just to see if I can do a six-month program and get through it. So far and loving the results and want to continue. I feel the next three months will probably go by pretty quickly, a little apprehensive to actually be done to have to find something new. That's three months away so I really shouldn't worry about it until it comes. when I really should do is be planning a week vacation of relaxation at the end of the next three months. That would certainly give me something to look forward to!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Not blogging may be a good sign

I haven't blogged in over a week! What's up with that, eh? I have been very busy every night of the past week, yet somehow there was no pull to blog. I wasn't missing it, I wasn't feeling like I was neglecting any readers (because lets be honest, I think I have maybe 3 people that read it intermittantly. lol) and there was no stress (ya right) that I needed to let out somewhere.


Life must be perfect.... Well in some ways it is. The house is wonderful (I'm sure I've said this over and over. I can't get over the fact that we own one!) and my tiredness levels are at a minimum. I'm finding more relaxation time at home. There is a sense of peace now which still amazes me.


In some ways life isn't perfect. I've been so busy that I feel like I'm missing something. I've now dropped a few things (either by choice, or that's just the way it happened) and find I have almost every week night in July/August free! That's one extreme to the other. I'm now constantly looking at what I'm going to do for the summer. My goal for right now is to actually use the wonderful pole room that's in the basement. I have danced once since moving in. And yah I know it hasn't even been a month, I just need to focus. I think I've been so spread out doing all these different things that I haven't spent time on just one thing and improving that first.

It's time to hunker down and focus on a few things, rather than the million I've had on the go. It will certainly be nice to have a break from everything and get to pick and choose what I do.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Back to the grind

After being in the hotel gym all last week and not feeling like I did enough, I pushed myself pretty hard at my regular gym today. On several of my exercises, I upped my weights every set I did. Since I was unable to lift as much as I would normally last week, I had to catch up and find out what weight my threshold is right now. Turns out a lot more than I thought. Yippee!
Along with increasing my weights significantly, I also decreased my time to do my body weight matrix. (squats and lunges as fast as I can) It felt great to do it just that much faster. I have 2 more go's at the matrix after today, so I'm hoping to not pause as often during the jumping lunges or jumping squats.

I had a wonderful active rest day yesterday. It was so nice, and since we have a park near us, a picnic was in order. We picked up some fresh made sandwiches from the grocery store and packed up the picnic bag. There is a wonderful park very close, so we walked in a south direction until we found a spot near the river to eat at.

There has now been a decision made between my boyfriend and I that we'll start doing things outside every weekend (that we are able to). I'm excited to see what we plan next!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tiny room and lots of people

I got home from training today and immediately headed to the hotel gym. I was ready to get there and get out so I could eat dinner and phone home for a chat. Before I go on to rant a little, I should mention that the gym here is about the same size as my hotel room, only instead of the nice furniture, there are 2 treadmills, an eliptical and 2 bikes for cardio machines. There is a rack of dumbbells, and a fitness machine with 4 stations attached to the inner pillar. You get the idea.

That said, when I got there, there were 3 people doing cardio, and one person using the machines. Basically, I should have said to hell with it and gone back after I'd had dinner. The time would have been the same and I probably would have enjoyed the workout more. Can you tell I'm the type of person that doesn't like the crammed gym scene? I like my space.

On top of the busyness, I looked at my set of workouts I was to do and I had another disappointment rolling in. I had a look around at what was available to me for machines and accessories. I did half my workout because there were some things (like an exercise ball) that were not in existence. It was done half-heartedly too. I thought after I was done that I would have been better off not doing it at all by this point. (hindsight's 20/20)

To end the evening on a good note, I did enjoy a steak and roasted potatoes for dinner. I also had the pleasure of good conversation with a woman who was eating alone as well. I then got my phone call home in and felt better to have contact with some loved ones. I do love my alone time just as much as the next person. I've also come to find there can be too much of a good thing.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Hotel Gyms and chocolate cake

I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Houston trying to digest the insane amount of food I ate at dinner. Being alone travelling some how causes me to eat a lot of unnecessary food. (The exact opposite of what happens at home... I usually forget to eat if I'm alone) So I'm here missing my comfortable house and curling up on the couch with my boyfriend and instead, eating food and drinking wine. I've gotten fairly good at travelling and am never away from my hotel room without a book. Whether waiting for taxi's or food at the restaurant, I will always read to keep myself busy. Problem with that is that it's easy to get lost in the book and just continue mindlessly eating and picking away at whatever is in front of me. In the case of tonight's dessert... chocolate lava cake dripping in chocolate sauce. (my stomach says no more!)

On the other side of things, I may be eating a lot, but I'm also at the gym (for a lack of anything else to do as the only motivation). The gym here is small, and doesn't have any dumbbells heavier than 12#, but I can make do. It certainly doesn't have the same capacity as I'm used to, but there are always modifications that can be made to accomodate the tools I have. (wow, spoken like a true fitness geek)

So I started Stage 3 of my workout program today, and nearly died doing the Body Weight Matrix at the end of workout "A". This consists of:
  • 24 Squats

  • 12 lunges (each leg, alternating)

  • 12 jumping lunges (each leg, alternating)

  • 24 jump squats.

And you do all of that as fast as you can, trying not to stop. At the end of you, you double the time it took and rest, then repeat it all. My quads were screaming in agony! I must say that I am proud of myself for doing sets, and more so because I cut 1 minute off the time the second time through. (yeah me!) I even went down after supper last night and did my intervals (the dreaded 15 minutes that really aren't as bad as I think they are)

I think a lack of anything else to do (other than shop, which would overload my suitcase in weight for the plane trip home.) has prompted me to dig out my fitbook every night and record the days meals/snacks and drag my butt down to the gym. There are far too many hours in hotel rooms for me to arrive home sane.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Moved in and unpacking

The move is finally over and we've arrived at the unpacking phase. The move went smoothly and we had great help from friends and family (Thanks everyone!)

Things that are new or different:
  • Stairs! I lived in a first floor apartment for the past 2 years, so having to go up/down stairs to various parts of the house is new. And with my forgettful mind, I'll get lots of exercise running up and down.
  • Flower beds! Living in an apartment doesn't exactly give you a lot of that. Our backyard has 3 large flowerbeds that seem to have flowers and shrubs popping up already. (less work for me!) I'm concerned with the plants 'lives' since the last 3 house plants I've had (bamboo, cactus, tree thing) have all died. I will definately try to keep them living. (which reminds me I need to water them tonight)
  • Garage! And no it's not a place to store random junk. The car and motorbike will actually be parked in there.
  • Lawn! Yes, we now have a lawn. Apartment living really isn't condusive to being outdoors, especially on the main floor facing the parking lot. I don't think we ever sat on our patio. Not only do we have to cut our own lawn now, (by we I mean my boyfriend), we can get outside and do things outdoors.
  • Basement! Our living room is now only a living room. All of our workout equipment is in the basement. We basically have a weight gym/dance studio down there and our cardio will be done in the park that is a block from us (yippee!)
  • Pantry! The pantry in the kitchen is HUGE! Either we need to go grocery shopping, or it's just that massive because at the moment it looks quite empty. Not that I'm going to go and buy stuff to put in it, but the option is there. At least now I can see all my baking stuff and it's readily available.

On the green side of things, I'm much more conscious of using less utilities. Our utilities were included in the rent price, but now it's seperate. The curbside recycling is a huge deal too. No more storing it all in different bins and driving it down the road. Everything goes in one large bin and gets picked up on garbage day. YEAH!!

I'm sure there will be a lot more stuff to come that I find 'really cool' but for now, only being in there for a few days, those are the top things on my list.