1 Cookie, 2 Cookie, 3 Cookie, Floor

Today I went to the gym in the morning and did an hour of cardio: thirty minutes on the elliptical (which kicked my ass) and another thirty walking at a very high incline on the treadmill. I was very, very sweaty this morning. I then came home looking forward to watching Rachael Ray (I miss it a lot since a couple of the Pump classes I go to are at 9) and the stupid president came on and ruined my show. I would have stayed at the gym and tanned or done more of something if I knew there was nothing to watch on TV. Sad. I spent the rest of the morning getting ready for work at 1:00. I received a phone call at noon which informed me that I did not get the job I interviewed for last week. I'm getting real sick of interviews and not getting anywhere. Anyway, I know I wasn't real into getting this job in the first place, but it would have been a pay increase and normal hours, so I was upset when I found out the news. Needless to say, when I got to work I bought a package of white-chocolate macadamia nut cookies from the bakery, and over my 6 hours of work I ate 4 cookies total. This was a bad move. I then went home and ate spaghetti and garlic bread (only half of the spaghetti, I was full of cookies, and the mocha Don brought me at 6:00 to cheer me up-it's bad news when people bring food to bring cheer). Tomorrow will be a better day. I am planning on an hour of cardio and then Body Pump at 10:00. It is my day off and I am meeting my mom at Panera for lunch. Maybe instead of a whole sandwich, I will have half and also have salad with an apple. This would make me feel better. I know the haircut at 2:00 will really make me feel better....and I am hoping the weather holds out for me as well. After the haircut I might come home and make banana bread, a recipe I found on Cooking Light's website...we have one too many bananas around here! We'll see....I would really just like to relax and contemplate my future some more, as if I haven't done enough of that in the past four months!

Busy, busy, busy!

Work was so busy today. At least the time flew by quickly.... Now I am off for an hour of cardio, with everyone else and their brother at the gym. I find it difficult to work out hard after work, it is much easier in the A.M. Hopefully I can still push myself to the limit...Maybe I'll do some ab work as well. I think Don is meeting me at the gym. Hopefully we can make it home in time to watch some of Dancing with the Stars and I better make it home for Samantha Who? one of my new favorite TV shows. Like I need any new favorites! Tomorrow I am planning on doing another hour of cardio in the morning before work, which will make it 2 hours for the week. Wednesday should bring 2 more hours, so I'm thinking I should be able to make 7 hours this week. I never counted my time working out at the gym. I used to only count miles ran (during a time when I ran a lot), but since I haven't been running as much, putting a time goal has been useful for setting and reaching workout goals during the week. As long as I push myself and work hard during that time, results should happen. May is just around the corner and then before you know it, it will be time to put on the dreaded swimsuit. I don't want to dread it so much this year!

Sunny Sunday

If only the temperature would raise 5-10 more degrees, it would be a gorgeous day outside! Oh and if the wind died too...
I am a little bit tired today, after a very delicious meal at Karrie's last night I drove to Don's house (in some really bad fog!) and arrived close to 1 am. This was a spur of the moment decision because I just really wanted to wake up with him knowing we only had a couple hours to spend together on my day off. So we woke up and went to the gym! It was a pretty good workout...My cardio was split up, and when I do that I never feel like I've really worked, but I did 15 minutes before and after Body Pump at 10:00. I decided next time I go to Pump I am going to raise my triceps weight because I hardly feel it on the new song. We were told by the instructor that the new schedule was coming out this week, and some classes are being cut. I'm afraid to find out which ones and when because sometimes my life revolves around these classes. I don't want my schedule to get all funky again.

Tomorrow I work all day and will hopefully hit the gym for an hour after. If it is nice out, I might stick around the neighborhood and do something outside. Only two days of work and another day off!! And I am getting a haircut! I love getting my haircut. Always puts me in a better mood (unless it's a bad haircut).

Today I put on a pair of jeans that had been tighter a few months ago and they now fit very comfortably. This is proof that weight training really helps tone and slim problem areas because my diet has been crap lately! Oh, on a side note, Don and I looked at rings today. I have no idea what will come of it but I did find one I really, really loved. We'll see!

Long Day

Yesterday I had an interview, met with Don at a bank to find out about home loans, then spent four hours of my afternoon looking at houses that we most likely cannot (should not) buy right now. Even though we can get the loan, the monthly payment would be a stretch considering the debts we are trying to pay off right now and we don't want to stop the big payments and go back to minimum payments again. Needless to say, I did not make it to the gym, but we did go for a walk when we got home. Tonight I plan on attending Body Pump at 5:30 after work and hopefully tomorrow I can make it to Combat at 5:30 after work (this might be tight since I get off work at 5).
My internet has not been working well so I have hardly been able to get online and check things and keep them updated. This is very frustrating. For some reason, it decided to work this morning, so I'm taking advantage of it! But now I need to finish getting ready for work. There's nothing like working by yourself for 7.5 hours.... I hope it's not busy like last week, I'd really like to take a break today!

Super Sore

I have spent the past two days in pain. My upper body, especially my upper back, really took a hit with my two class combo Saturday morning. I think I will go back to Combat knowing how good of an upper body workout it is. Because of the soreness I did not go to the gym yesterday. I worked for six hours and was on my feet the whole time, so I was tired by the time I came home. This morning, however, I forced myself to do 50 minutes of cardio and back to Pump. I was worried about Pump since I was still sore when I woke up this morning. Luckily, it was a different instructor who did not know the new Pump so we did a mix of tracks, but we did do the new abs track. Chest, lunges, and shoulders were harder than usual. But I did make it through the abs track without giving up (like I had to on Saturday due to extreme exhaustion!).

On another note, I have a job interview Wednesday morning (which interferes with my next Pump time). This is exciting and scary at the same time. If I get the job, it would mean a much, much better income, and therefore it might be easier for Don and I to get a loan for a house and pay things off. On the other hand, if I get the job I don't know if it will be flexible enough to still take classes at Metro. Will I end up stuck at a job just to make more money and not moving towards my dream? I don't know. I'm trying to take it one week at a time. But if I did get the job, I would be able to wear something other than black pants and a polo to work!

I am looking forward to the nice weather and pulling out my skirts and tanks to show off my new sculpted muscles from hitting the gym so hard lately!!

Combat/Pump Combo

I did it. I went to Body Combat and then to Pump immediately after. I now feel like I'm going to fall over and die. I didn't even think I was going to make it through Combat, let alone stay through the entire hour of Pump! But I did. I had to lower some weights in Pump because some muscles were already fatigued. I have a few things to say about the new Pump too... I'm not really looking forward to two weeks of the class.... Squats were okay, I'd rather have a shorter song full of quick ones than that long song! Chest would have probably been better if I hadn't already worked my chest in Combat, and there is no break! Boo! The back track seemed really long too. I did like the triceps track but biceps about killed me. That was when I had to take the smalls of to finish the song...and then there were like only two curls left, but oh well! Hard one though. Lunges is probably my biggest complaint only because of the room you need to do those stepping lunges. When the room is crowded and you have really long legs, there is just not enough room to step forward and then back after that. It wasn't a difficult track and should be better when I go to class during off times and there is less people in the room. Abs sucked. Too much hover!! Maybe it will be good for me. Anyone who has any comments on the new Pump, please share! It may also feel not as difficult when I haven't just busted my butt in Combat the hour before. It was a good workout though!

Pre-Prom Workout

I squeezed in an hour of cardio this morning, and it was an hour well spent. I probably ran about half of the time, not all in a row though. I ran the first 20 minutes, then walked, then ran another 10 minutes about half-way through, and a couple minutes at the end of my workout. I was one sweaty, gross girl, but it felt really good to work out that hard. I was trying to make up for the crap food I ate yesterday.... My boss had bought these two-bite scones that sat on the desk all day looking at me and I ended up eating four of them. These are the worst kinds of snacks because they are full of calories, but do not make me feel full at all. When I came home there were nachos waiting for me and I ate the whole plate full.

I am contemplating going to both Body Pump and Body Combat tomorrow morning. I'll have to see if Don wants to work out with me or not... If he does, two hours at the gym might be too much for him, so maybe we could take the cardio outside since it is supposed to be nice outside. Today we will be working on making all the corsages for all the kids going to prom this weekend. Busy days at least mean the time will go by fast and before I know it I'll be out of work and enjoying my day off.

Rainy Thursday

Sorry I have been away. It seems that when it is really windy the internet does not work very well at my house. It has been a hard week. I don't know if all the workouts have finally caught up with me, but my body has been sore and my muscles have been tight. I did do an hour of cardio on Tuesday, and yesterday I was planning on going to Body Pump after work, but work was crazy and my body was so tired that I just worked out for an hour. I did the circuit weights, 15 minutes of jogging, and then I concentrated on my abs. It was no Body Pump, and I missed going to class, but I think my body thanks me. Today I did 30 minutes on the elliptical doing to hills workout and then 30 minutes of walking. It actually felt really good and I worked really hard. Tomorrow I will have to go to the new launch of Body Pump because it is the only time I can make it to class until Monday. I hate launch days because it is so busy and someone always plops themselves right in front of me after class has already started. I will just have to tough through it. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some sort of workout in but I work at 10:30 in the morning until at least 7. Maybe in the morning. But I know after the craziness of the day, I am going to be ready to lay down and relax after work. My schedule next week may not allow me to go to class three times, I don't even know if I'll make it to two! But I will get some workouts in no matter what.

On a side note, I signed up for classes at metro. I start June 9th and g every Monday until August. I am excited about starting and working on a new goal!

Sunny Monday

Finally we have a break in the weather. I am excited to see only 60s and 70s in the upcoming forecast. Hopefully soon I can pull out my tank tops and skirts and pack away those bulky sweaters.

I had a big food weekend, and not in a good way. Friday night Don and I ate Italian food and I indulged in a plate of shrimp alfredo pasta. Then on Saturday, after an early morning workout (one hour of cardio) I met Audrey for coffee at Paradise and had a gooey, and very yummy, cinnamon roll. The rest of the day wasn't too bad... I had part of Don's apple and a half of a meatloaf sandwich in the afternoon. For dinner I made a thai chicken and rice recipe that I saw on Rachael Ray a couple weeks ago. It was really yummy! But then for dessert Don peeled and cored some apples, rolled them in sugar and cinnamon, then wrapped them in pie dough and baked them for an hour. Holy goodness, I had to eat the whole thing, it was delicious...and aside from the pie crust it probably wasn't that bad, but I did feel really full and tired (it was almost 11 pm!). For breakfast the next morning I made a puffed apple pancake and served it with turkey sausages. After all that food, we did not eat again until late Sunday, but we did go to Qdoba and eat burritos. So, today I am back on track to eating lighter and healthier. We just had to indulge in the fact that we had a kitchen at our disposal and all these recipes I've been dying to make. I did make it to Body Pump this morning and almost an hour of cardio. For some reason, my legs were sore this morning, maybe it was the hard, uphill walk from Saturday showing it's work late in the game.

Tomorrow is my day off again and I'm going to try to get outside for my workout. We'll see, I hate the wind and it's supposed to be windy.

What's the dill, pickle?

This is how the Starbucks guy greeted me today when I came in for what appears to be my weekly post-workout treat. I did get a skinny (hazelnut) latte though, I try to mix it up and make good choices most days while indulging every now and then. Anyway, it scares me that I must go their often enough that the people have begun to recognize me (although he still can't remember my name when he writes it on my cup).
It was a good week for workouts, even though I thought I was sick earlier this week (turns out to just be allergies and I am now taking the appropriate medicine to help). With the next two days off I should be able to get in some good cardio. Too bad the weather won't be nice enough to be outside. Maybe Sunday. My favorite Body Pump instructor has apparently sprained her wrist so she has not taught all week. I hope she gets better soon! I feel buffer when she is there.
I am going to have a parent-free weekend! Hurray! I hope I get to do a lot of cooking and relaxing around the house. I will jet out Saturday night to an art opening of a friend of mine. I haven't seen him in months, so even though it will delay cooking dinner it will be nice to see him. I think Don and I are going to an open house Sunday as well. I've looked at this house several times online and we have driven past it. It looks really cute but we can't really afford anything right now, so I regret us starting to look around because I'm afraid we'll fall in love with something too early that we won't be able to get.
Oh! I weighed myself yesterday and was down a pound from when I was down earlier. So that is about 4 pounds lost since I've really started trying. I was scared to actually get on the scale but was pleasantly surprised. I say it's the Body Pump classes and the building of muscle that is helping the most. I heard in class the other day that for ever pound of muscle you gain you burn 50 more calories. Even more reason to start stacking on the weight in class!

Push it... Yeah, Push it Real Good

Usually this song is in my head when it is played during the chest track of Body Pump, but today it is in my head because I am really seeing results from pushing it so hard at the gym lately. I've decided it is basically allergies that have been bringing me down lately, and have upped my Zyrtec to twice a day for now. I normally just take it at night but I think the twice a day has been helping the past couple days. Anyway, back to my Body Pump story. I felt well enough to hit the gym this morning, still a little stuffy but nothing I can't handle. I walked for an hour, increasing the incline up to 12, and keeping it there for quite some time. The treadmill reported that I had burned over 700 calories from this walk, whether or not that is totally accurate, I am sure it was still a good number. Then I went to class. I increased my squat weight again to a large and two mediums and made it through the song just fine. But it was during the abs part of the class that I realized how far I've come since I have returned to class. I made it through the hover the entire time without moving, and when it was over I thought, "That's it? Easy!" The hover has been so hard for me to make it through in the past without giving up and putting my knees down. This excites me because my stomach is my problem area, and if I know I'm getting stronger there, hopefully the strength will begin to wear down some of the fat in that area. So, yay for Body Pump!

On a side note, I'm a little sad to see Adam Corolla voted off Dancing With the Stars last night. Yes, he was not the best dancer, but he was funny and I enjoyed watching him. TV is finally returning which means my social life will end for a while, unless anyone wants to invite me over for some good old fashioned tv watching!

C'mon, it's April!

The weather is making me angry. It is April and should not be in the 40's. I remember times in college when there would be a 90 degree day in April. And what's up with this global warming because it's been so cold for so long? I do think we should be kinder to the earth, but I haven't agreed yet on this warming trend. Until I can wear my summer clothes all year long, the 4 seasons are here to stay.

I blame my illness yesterday on Mucinex D. I think I jumped the gun on taking it yesterday, because I feel a lot better today and yesterday my stomach felt weird and I was dizzy on and off until 6 pm. My coworkers even sent me home because I looked bad. So after a day of rest I am feeling better....not 100%, but better. I did go to the gym, but I only walked for 40 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better and since it is my day off I would like to go to Body Pump and do an hour of cardio.

A Full Head

I did not go to the gym today. Well, not yet anyway, and I don't really anticipate going after work unless I feel totally awesome. Yesterday my throat got worse and I was moving pretty slow at work and today my head feels full of junk. I wanted to just lay down after work but I had to run a couple errands and then my brother and his wife came over for dinner, and Don, Becky & Chance came over for dessert (we were celebrating 2 birthdays). Of course Avery was there, and she always sucks energy out of me. She had many stories about her visit to the zoo yesterday. Anyway, Don stayed after dessert and we laid on the couch and watched HGTV. I was very quiet and did not feel good at all. So I let myself sleep in today and skip my normal Body Pump workout. I just did not want to wear myself out and make myself worse! After all, I need to be well this weekend so Don and I can enjoy time by ourselves for the first time since January. By the way, for dessert my sister made the mint-chocolate brownies that were on the cover of Cooking Light a couple months ago and they were delicious! Totally rich and yummy.

This makes it two days off in a row from the gym, which hasn't happened in a long time. Maybe if I feel okay after work I will walk on my parent's treadmill for a half hour. If I do feel better tomorrow I should still be able to get in 6 hours of workout time, maybe more if I push it Saturday morning. We'll see.

I applied for admission at Metro this morning, it was free, so I figured why not? The more I think about it, the more culinary arts school appeals to me. Hopefully the information I requested will be in the mail today.

Scratchy Throat

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. Not good. Don went and bought be some Airborne and Ricola cough drops to sooth the pain (probably drainage). I cannot get sick! I pushed through Body Pump today, I only walked for 25 minutes before hand, and not very strenuously because I didn't want to bother my knee again. Class was good except when the old lady plopped herself between me and the mirror at the beginning of squats. If you can't make it to class on time, don't put yourself in front of other people who were there on time and had strategically placed themselves in front of the mirror!! I went up a little on my back in weight and I think next time I'll add more weight to squats. All in all, a good class. Then I rushed home to get ready for lunch with my sister (and mom). Mexican food, and so not as good as La Paz, but I still ate all the really horrible for you food that was put down in front of me. Then I spent most of the nice afternoon laying on my bed, trying to rest so I don't get full-blown sick. I talked to Don and his friend Bill want's to meet tonight at Barley's to eat and watch the basketball games. Which is cool with me, but probably won't be the best food day I've had in a while. I'll try and stick to my guns and get a good salad.

Here is a plug for the new Shredded Wheat with Strawberries. It is freakin' delicious!! A little higher in calories than the honey nut shredded wheat, but only by like 10 or 20. Plus, there is only like 6 ingredients. How's that for natural? And it's tasty and delicious. If you like strawberries in your cereal, I'd give them a try!

Bad Knee

I finally went and bought a knee brace and I hope this helps. I felt fine when I arrived at the gym this morning, started with 45 minutes of cardio and then I was going to go to Pump. But when my cardio session was over my knee was hurting. Normally this is not a big deal, but when I went to stretch my quads, I could not lift my right leg back far enough to hold on and stretch. This made me sad, because I love Body Pump with Lesley. So I tanned, left the gym and went to Starbucks (bad, but I haven't had a Mocha in a while). On the way home I stopped at Walgreen's and bought a knee brace that I can wear while I'm at work and help stabilize my knee while I stand around on cement floor for 5 hours. I was planning on going to the gym (or working out outside tomorrow) but now I have to go, and I have to make it to class. Going three times a week has really boosted my self-esteem because I can really see the results. Of course, I'll ruin it all when I go out to lunch with my sister for her birthday, but oh well, birthday's only come once a year. Hopefully the weather will be as awesome as predicted and I can wear the new dress I bought last month that I've been dying to wear.

Thank You, Karrie

For finally making a comment on my blog. It's hard to keep writing unless I know someone out there is reading! I don't have a lot of food and workout support here in town. I need all the help I can get. So I have not received any job offers, which is okay by me because I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed that position any more than the one I currently have. I have also began seriously thinking about the culinary arts program at Metro. I've always wanted to cook and I enjoy doing so....Maybe this is because Don and I watched Ratatouille on Sunday but I have been pondering this idea for a couple months now. I'd really like to own my own diner or cafe, but that's a really big dream. I would also be most interested in being a Pastry Chef...which of course is probably the most unhealthy, but I would also like to find healthier ways to fit in sweet treats into every day life. If I pursue this, my current job would be able to be flexible with taking a class or two a semester, and Metro isn't too expensive. Plus, I could get up to 50% off in Tuition Reimbursement every semester (I think so anyway, that's how it used to be). So far my only supporter is Lynn, who told me I could test out any recipes on her. For some reason I can never feel 100% confident in my own decisions and need the backing of other people. I also think that everyone thinks I'm always coming up with these silly ideas that I'll never live out (which is sometimes true) but I am also trying to accept that this way of life is me. I need to accept me. I am the biggest and worst judge of myself and most people probably don't really care what I do with my life and how indecisive I am about what I want to do with my life. I'm just not willing to settle right now. I'm afraid if I get an office job, I would be going against my true self. But then I am unhappy living at home....It's all just a vicious circle right now!
Today was an okay food day I guess. I did have a bagel this morning before the gym (and after cereal at Don's) but I did do an hour of cardio and then Body Pump. I was planning on eating a frozen meal at home but after calling Audrey to see if she wanted company this afternoon, she asked if I would stop at Panera and pick up lunch for her and Lucy (the fridge was empty and she needed to get to the store). So I picked up a sandwich and I had an apple along with extra fruit I brought from home. I did have chocolate today and an afternoon snack of some baked doritos and salsa. But I only had a bowl of cereal for dinner along with a sugar-free chocolate pudding. My problem is the piece of chocolate here, the cheeto Avery gave me there, and never sitting down for a balanced meal because my parent's don't serve them and I don't have my own kitchen to make my own dinner (at least without having to listen to advice from my father on how to cook). That's my excuse for the day. Another hour of cardio tomorrow to make it close to 5 hours this week.