Back To Life, Back To Reality

Well people, here I am... back home and ready to go. The only problem is that my husband is not quite as ready to go as I am... We got back into town yesterday, so naturally I was ready to get back into the swing of things with Tuesday night Spin Class at Abrams. I thought that me and the hub had communicated that Spin class was taking place today AND tomorrow. Well, I guess there was some confusion. "So what?" you might say... "Just go anyways". Well here's the thing... I'm trying to make up for seven months without him, so to leave him for only an hour is terribly hard. I had to go to the grocery store yesterday and that was definitely not as fun as it could have been had he been with me... simply because he could be. So yes, I am caving in... I'm not going to spin class, and I am probably going to end up eating instead. Dang. Any and all of you Army spouses know what I am talking about. It's quite difficult to let them out of your sight unless absolutely necessary (we're talking bathroom breaks here, people... thats it).
I will say, that during my three week vacation I managed to work out an amount of times that can only be counted on one hand. Shame on me. I started out well, though! The first day of my vacation to the lake my sister and I went for a run. It felt good to run up north, where you can actually breath because the temperature is at a normal number for human lungs. Because of all of our activities (of which are SO different than my day to day life) I found myself being the first to bed every night, and far too tired to go out and do more activities. Am I making excuses? Possibly. Am I not as much of an athlete as I thought? Yes, this is true. I will say that I am quite anxious to get back on the horse and keep up with my efforts to become a stud. I have also picked up some useful information regarding diet, of which I intend to put forth full effort in changing in our lives as a family. Let me just say, it is terribly hard to have a good understanding of the do's and don'ts of "eating healthy". Namely, all of the "diet" foods that are offered. Low fat breads, cheeses, crackers, meats, drinks... all of it is actually doing the opposite of what you want it to do. So I'm trying to lean more in the direction of "sugar free". You should give it a try, too!

Alright, well my honey's off trying to make dinner so I'm going to go help him. I'll be sure to give you a detailed description of my hellish spin experience tomorrow!

Peace, love & lazy feeling lovebirds

S-W-E-A-T

Sweat. I found out, for the first time in my life, that it actually can begin to bead up and drip off of my skin. I owe this recent discovery to spin class and the hard a$* awesome teacher that teaches it. There is nothing like a tightly squeezed room full of sweaty people yelling "up" loudly with every up of a push up, while the teacher continues to tell us that we're just warming up... (even though we've been riding hard for 35 minutes of the hour long class). Pure awesome-ness is what it is. I have this cute little green towel that I got in Germany that I keep in my gym bag for "drip" duty on my sweaty days, but I think it's about time I retire that bad boy... It's really not cutting it, I'm sorry to say. I am looking forward to investing in a Sport Towel from Norwex, because I think that will do a much better job of cleaning up the nasty.

Before spin started I went to pay the treadmill a visit for some interval action. I truly enjoy doing those. Fortunately for me, my elderly brain forgot that the incline was supposed to be at 12%, so I ended up spending all but the last interval at an incline of 7%... shucks. It was still hard, and it still made me sweat and breath heavily. Therefore it was a success.

Seeing as I have a short time before "T-Day", it is crunch time... I am upping the ante and trying to be strict with my sugar and dairy intake... so why is it that up until two days ago, I had no issues with this... then all of a sudden, BAM! I want sugar every five seconds! Ok, not every five seconds, just right when I get done with a workout, mostly. Sometimes the cravings are almost unbearable... and I have no food in my house, so I usually end up getting a small spoon and dipping into the peanut butter jar (don't worry, I eat the natural stuff). Does someone want to come monitor my eating habits? I'd appreciate it.

Well tomorrow I'm running, and I can't wait. I'm also going to the grocery store... I'm almost out of peanut butter. Shame shame.

peace, love & peanut butter

Toes

I know that I have been keeping you all well informed of my newfound love for stretching. I just love how it makes me feel when I'm done. I feel so much better than I did before I started, no longer tight and sore. It's wonderful. But two nights ago something miraculous happened. I was doing my nighttime routine, and was spending a good amount of time in a forward bend with my legs straight out in front of me (the worst stretch for me because I can usually barely sit up straight, let alone get anywhere near my toes). As I continued to breath into the pose, I realized that I was holding on to my ankles... I had a moment of shock, and then, with a load of ambition, decided to keep pressing for the toes... and wouldn't you know it, I touched them for the very first time without bending my knees!!! Miracle of miracles! Now I tried again today, and wasn't quite as lucky, but I think I just need to spend some time getting into the stretch... at least thats what I'll tell myself.

How many of you are able to use exercise as a way to channel frustration or anger or any sort of overwhelming emotion? The past couple of weeks I've been experiencing some of those emotions and have thought about how I should go for a run or something to work through it. Unfortunately I wasn't in a place where I could run when the thoughts occurred to me, so I tucked them away for later. It is with sadness that I have to confess that I am not one who is able to use exercise as a way to channel those emotions... I'm just not. I wish I was! It would be awesome to be able to burn calories and moods at the same time. I guess I could say that there will probably be some times when it might work, but as a whole, It's a lost cause for me. Dang.

I'm really looking forward to my handsome dude coming back to me soon, and I'm trying to prepare for some good running sessions while he's here. Remember, we've never gone running together, so I'm getting a little nervous about it... He's going to be practically walking at the pace I jog... I'm sorry, honey! But I told him tonight that I am focusing on doing more interval training, or shorter distance training because I would really like to improve my pace as well as my cardio endurance. Wish me luck, and keep me accountable!

Well, tomorrow is spin class, and I can't wait. Wednesday Spin at Abrams is pretty bomb.

It's 8:30... I'm going to bed.

Peace, love & toes you can touch

the UPSIDE of stretching

When I run, walk, jog, spin, crunch, lift (I think you get it) I can safely say that 95% of the time I do so without stretching afterwards. If I do actually stretch, it's usually rather quickly and awkwardly. I-am-not-flexible. I don't think I have ever been able to touch my toes (without bending my knees and enduring a lot of pain). I have a difficult time stretching my arms behind my back... it's just plain sad. Sad sad sad. It is because of this that I give stretching so little of my efforts. It's painful, nothing changes and I lose interest. On July 1st, I began the 30 Day Yoga Challenge, on July 2nd I ran my first 5k and on July 3rd I woke up with really tight, sore hips and glutes. So in keeping with the challenge, I have been doing a lot of slow, relaxing stretches before bed. One of the advantages I've noticed is that I have been sleeping a lot better. For any of you Army spouses or those who experience separation from his or her spouse, it is not uncommon to experience trouble with sleeping. Or even if you are going through a stressful time in your life. I have found that allowing my body to relax and stretch out that tension has given my mind a chance to relax as well. Doing this has also addressed a lot of the pain in my hip. For some reason, since I ran on Saturday, I have had a significant amount of pain when I walk. Due to this, I have found myself stretching multiple times throughout the day. This morning I was doing downward dog, before Core Dynamics I spent a good 10 minutes doing forward bends. I have to say I am pretty excited about my newfound appreciation for stretching. So with all of that said, I encourage you to take 15 minutes before bed and just do five basic stretches. It's pretty safe to say that you will feel really great from doing so.


I know I was going back and forth between Spin and Crossfit for my workout yesterday. I went to Spin. Boy did I get the crap kicked out of me. The instructor yesterday was Jose (whom I've never had as an instructor before) and I sweat so bad in that class you could've rung me out. At points I felt slightly light headed, I am quite sore today (good thing I'm stretching) and it was straight-up awesome! The music was loud, everyone was yelling and sweating and spinning. Good, quality fun right there. If you have never been to a spin class I really encourage you to go. It is the type of workout that can be adjusted to your own personal fitness level while giving you the chance to challenge yourself too. If you don't belong to a gym, find one that has spin classes and does a free week-long membership. That way you could give spin a try for free. There are also some places that are non-membership facilities where you can pay for the classes. It is such a fun workout, and depending on your weight and age, you can burn nearly a thousand calories in a class. It's awesome!


Ok, but seriously, if anyone wants to buy me an hour long massage, I would not mind...


Peace, love & sweaty awesome fun

Oh Theo

So I was in bed, enjoying my sleep when my little chubby puggle began to bark. Now, I am the type of person who freaks myself out, and basically creates and performs a horror film in my mind in a matter of seconds. So, needless to say, it took some time, guts, and a weapon brainstorming session to get out of our room and let him outside.

He just needed to poop.

So here I lay, in bed, eyes wide open, for the last hour and a half. I can't fall back asleep. Dang it! This is definitely going to alter my workout plans for the day.

I know I've decided to run every MWF at 9, but there are two things that I would like to try today, consequently hindering my running schedule (which is alright by me, considering my 5k is in the past). I am tempted to try out the Wednesday Spin class again, and see if I can have a better go at it now that my leg is healed up. Also, I am reaching a point where I am getting sick of just watching all of the awesome CrossFit chicks and want to become one... by starting with the beginners class (woo hoo!). That is Monday and Wednesday nights... so, I think that when I do finally get up (which might be sooner than planned) I will have to decide which one I will do (because I just might die if I do both... and burn my whole days worth of calories in the process).

I can't lie to you. I'm nervous to try CrossFit. As much as I talk about how I know how we all feel when we workout, I have my no-fly zones in the gym.. and the CrossFit area is one of them. It's right in the middle of everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. I'm not dumb, and neither are you... we can all admit to watching people in the gym, and can also agree that doing so is one of the perks of going. Don't lie. So, walking into a situation where I feel as though I could be one of the lame-O's who is being "watched" is rather unsettling. But thats the point of this blog, and my adventure, isn't it? To try it all out so that you guys don't have to go in without knowing at least one person's opinion on the matter? Well, alright, I guess I will try it. Either today, or next Monday... or maybe next Wednesday. I can do this all day, so I might as well just stop myself now.

Something I have been thinking about recently is all of these diet pills, drink mixes and other rubbish. Now, I am not a believer in using them, mostly because I don't want to be the person who feels that it's ok to take something "unnatural" to my body in order to get results that I could get if I just got my big butt off of the couch. Also, I have heard of people becoming quite addicted to them, and I try to make it a habit to stay away from addictive things. I already have a hell of a time with sugar, why add anything else to the mix. Anyways, in order to feed my curiosity I decided to research them a little online, because really, I didn't even know what exactly was bad about them in the first place. As I read reviews and ingredients, there was one thing that really stuck out to me and was unsettling... so many people were raving about how they were losing "x"lbs. a week and they "weren't even exercising at all!" Ok, maybe that sounds like awesome, brag-worthy information to them, but to me it is just sad. Maybe it is the fact that I have learned so much about what my body is capable of, and what I am capable of through becoming more active that I just couldn't imagine taking the easy route on this one. That is part of the whole deal... experiencing the horrific pain, waking up unable to move and sweating more than you ever thought possible. To the couch potato, the above list could easily sound like the most horrible thing ever. But to the Studly workout buff, it sounds just wonderful! And I gotta say, I am so thankful to be on the side that enjoys those feelings. Because even if my body hasn't changed much in these last 5 months, I know that I have. And I am a much better person than I was 5 months ago. So I implore you... don't take the easy way. It will never be worth it when it comes to your health, I can guarantee you that. Do the work, sweat the sweat and come out of it better than you were going in.

I was able to find a really good, organic multi-vitamin to take, that also helps with endurance and an active lifestyle, and I am looking forward to seeing how that helps. I never realized that the best place to start, with regards to supplements and exercise, is a daily multi-vitamin. So I guess all of those Flintstone vitamins were supposed to teach me a lesson all of those years ago. If you're curious and thinking about starting to use one or more supplements, take the time and do the research. You'll be glad you did.

Alright, I should just get up and make some coffee...


Peace, love & puggles who poop in the night

The Way I Are

Today began with the daily battle between my ever so comfortable bed and whatever class was being offered at the gym, depending on the day of the week. I can proudly say that Spin class won out today. Abrams gym offers a plethora of spin options, one of which is the M-W-F class from 12-1 with Millie. I have never attended this class, but have heard a lot about it... most of which are reasons why I have yet to attend this class. Who ever heard of going to spin class and then ending up running laps around the track out back?! Ludicrous! Anyways, even though my leg is rather gimpy, I decided to at least try it out and resort to sitting and spinning if necessary. In spin class you do a lot of standing and up and down movement, which is awesome for the abs, back, glutes, legs, arms... ok, so basically everything. A perk for a potato like me is that I have become fairly decent at spin, so I can go and not look like I am near death... always a perk, ladies and gentlemen... find what you can do and keep doing it in order to avoid the banter back and forth in your head.
So I walk into "the Spin Zone" (cue the "ooooooh's") and noticed rather quickly that pretty much all but 2 bikes had been claimed by multiple water bottles and towels. So I quickly found the most moderately workable bike and hunkered down. I had my bike shoes on, towel ready, and arm band with calorie burner set to jet... except for one little problem. Spinning requires more calf use than anticipated. Needless to say, I only lasted about half of the class. Let me tell you, there is a very good reason why instructors have you alternate between standing and sitting so much. If you see me standing an awkward amount tomorrow it is simply because as of about 12:40 this afternoon, my hind quarters are out of commission until further notice.
I consider today's class to be a blessing because of a very interesting lesson I learned. As we began to warm up, the song, "The Way I Are" by Timbaland came on. So there we all were, spinning, warming up, and for most people, chatting. I went by myself and didn't know anyone so I kept to myself, but could not resist my ever present urge to people watch. I noticed not one, but multiple conversations between women regarding the different things they want to change, or the size they just can't quite seem to get down to, or the size dress they are wearing to said formal event (all of which were numbers and sizes I could only dream of becoming). So with my head down, focusing on my spin, it was as if I had this funnel cloud of thoughts and words and ideas spinning 'round and 'round, all coming down to one conclusion. That conclusion is this: There is no such thing as "just the way you are". If someone says to you, "I like you just the way you are", do you really believe them? Or has it become more about you liking just the way you are, and not so much them? Or, when you tell someone "I like you just the way you are", do you really mean that, or are there things you would change, if you could? I think what is most important is to ask yourself two questions: Do I like myself just the way I am? Do I have someone in my life who likes me just the way I am? Because at the end of the day, you can bust your butt trying to get from a size 6 to a size 4, but what difference does that make? Are you a happier individual because the number on the back of your pants, that no one can see, says 6 instead of 8, or 15 instead of 10? I mean, let's be honest here, people. We are incredible beings, who are capable of incredible things. The saddest thing to happen in our daily lives is that we spend more time focusing on such an unimportant aspect of who we are, instead of the sheer marvel that is our bodies. Spin because you can. Run because you can. Walk because you can. Lift a 5 pound weight or a 50 pound weight, it doesn't matter, just do it because you can! So, could I have left that hard core spin class feeling lame because I could only do half of it, and sat down for all of it? Yeah, I definitely could have. But I didn't. That, my friends, is a perfect example of being proud of the choices you make, whether big or small, in your day to day life. Be proud of who you are for all of the amazing things you are capable of, and dive in. Don't let talk of size 2 dresses and after baby pudge make you feel inferior. And most importantly, like yourself for just the way you are.

Peace, love & compression bras