Ow ow ow

Sorry I haven't been around. Christmas caused a few lapses in judgement that I don't want to discuss. Plus, I have been lifting weights, and it literally hurts to type.

My weight isn't really doing much. I am down 5 lbs when I weigh on my "day off" from the gym, but it tends to fly all over the place on the days that I work out.

I got a Cuisinart and a G5 grill for Christmas, so healthy eating is getting easier. Yay, gadgets!

I am getting into the swing of things at the gym, annoying The Man with my insistence that we get there at a certain time and stay as long as it takes for me to get my cardio and weights in. Today, he lasted 45 minutes, and then went out to wait for me in the car.

I caught myself considering fixing up my bike, so I could ride it to the gym, and then he could meet me there in his truck and we could throw the bike in the back.
I never thought there would be a day when both of us had personal trainers and were excited about brown rice. What the hell is happening to us?

We decided to take a mental heath day tomorrow- off to Carmel, to walk and run our dogs at the beach. I am a little leery, but I really hope they will be well-behaved. They were fantastic the last time we went camping, but then, there were no other dogs around. In Carmel, other dogs will be EVERYWHERE. Uh Oh.

The Great and Powerful Oz

I made an appointment with a personal trainer.

There are three sessions included free with my membership, and so I figured I would get acclimated and figure out what I should be doing and how.

I am sort of motivated and repulsed by the whole experience. First of all, I walked in, and I KNEW my trainer.

This is the second face from my past that I have encountered in the past week, and it was kind of eerie, but OK.

I got weighed, measured in inches, and had my body fat percentage measured with calipers. Not too traumatic, but kind of irritating. Ironically, the calipers put me at 12% less bodyfat than my Tanita scale, so I guess I should be happy with that. The goal is evidently to get below 20%, and I am not sure if I am behind that or not. The downside is that weighing in fully clothed, including shoes, after a huge meal....eeeeeeeeegh.

We ascertained that I had no cardiovascular disease, no diabetes, hereditary high cholesterol (but it's the "good" cholesterol that makes it high, so no biggie) and no injuries.

I did really well on the fitness testing, which was a shock. 64 mini-crunches in a minute, 31 modified push-ups in a minute....go figure. My trainer said I did more crunches in a minute than any of her other clients. She managed not to sound too surprised when she said it. Then she said, "Nothing is standing in your way. Six months from now, you won't recognize yourself."

I am nothing if not competitive. I think I went over to the dark side, and suddenly I came back to myself, and she was talking about L-carnitine and colon cleanses and working out 6 times a week and keeping almonds in my gym bag, and I kind of went, "Wait, what?!!"

I have another appointment on Wednesday morning, to get acclimated to the rest of the weight machines and to see if I am happy with the direction things are going in. She asked if I wanted to draft a diet plan, and I said "No, I am not planning on counting calories. I am just planning on making more healthy choices, eating out less, and working out more." And thank goodness, she left it at that.

So yeah, motivated, but repulsed. Nonplussed, maybe? Maybe I will have a clearer picture in the morning.

You Can Do It!

Day One at the gym was on Saturday. We were there when the place opened, 6AM.

It's a great place, and I have to say, I like the fact that our schedules are pretty conducive to working out at odd hours.

But man, my girlie gym has spoiled me. I am used to friendly people, and this place has the desk clerk who is cracking her gum and reading OK! magazine and who answers, "I dunno" to every question you ask.

I am also used to machines that are scaled to someone about my size. And their elliptical machines? Not my friendly little Precors, oh no. These things are by StarTech or something like that, and they are scaled for giants. Also, getting started feels like you are booting up the Space Shuttle. Once you enter program, level, intensity, upper body preferences (push, pull, or none) and weight (in 1 lb increments)and then the time you want to spend, you're so intimidated that you want to spend the rest of the hour hiding in the locker room.

The first day was the hardest. I was ellipticating away, when suddenly the machine hit a plateau which I would describe as "wading through Jell-O". I checked my heart rate monitor at the end, and it took me 30 minutes to burn almost 700 calories. Holy Crap!

I hopped off the machine, panting and red-faced,with legs that wobbled precariously. Then I happened to glance down at the pool, where The Man had sort of draped his upper body onto dry land while the rest of him bobbed gently in the waves generated by the other lanes of swimmers. He looked like a shipwreck survivor.

By the time we admitted it was time to hobble home, I had a migraine and he had thrown up. Today, however, was better. We are learning how to pace ourselves, and are actually having a lot of fun!

Also, a small celebration- today, for the first time, my heart rate monitor pronounced my recovery heartrate "fair". I have been "poor" without fail for the last month, so "fair" is worth celebrating over. Yay "fair!"

Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat

On a treadmill.

Went on an SBux run last night, and then wondered why I was up until 3AM. Ahem.

We went by the gym last night, and I picked up some info and some free 1-week passes.

It's really nice. Prohibitively so. Not cost-wise but just....well, yuppie-wise. The cost for couples to attend it pretty good, it basically boils down to $20 each, plus a fairly ridiculous "sign-up fee." I will have to do the math and decide which route to go- higher cost up-front, with a locked in rate, or higher cost on a monthly basis. Hmmmm.

So we are probably going to head in tonight and sign our lives away.

Considering the last time I used a co-ed gym, I was so sexually harrassed that I vowed never to go back, this is a huge step for me. of course, part of the equation is that The Man will be with me, so I will feel more secure. And have a built-in exercise buddy, which couldn't hurt. We are hoping that we are going to motivate each other.

Status Quo

I am down about 4.5 lbs since I restarted- making an effort to eat healthier, but not really dieting. Running should recommence today. I still have 2.5 lbs to go before I get to where my body usually likes to hang out.

I am guessing that the spike in my weight had a lot to do with fertility meds and comfort eating, and just laziness. We were eating out a lot.

The Man and I have had a long conversation about joining a gym hat just opened up down the street. He wants access to an indoor heated pool to swim laps in for work, and i would just use the companionship to obligate me to go- plus I could renew my relationship with My Other Boyfriend, the elliptical trainer.

He also wants me to come up with an "eating plan" for both of us. I am thinking that a modified South Beach may be the way to go, as he refused to give up bread. Usually the stuff he likes (Potato bread- hello!) is the worst possible thing, so I explained that the breads he should get were whole grain, high in fiber, and minimally processed.

Imagine my shock when we went to the grocery store, and he had actually been listening. He went and pulled a loaf of Ezekiel Bread off the shelf, and said, "Well, the Sesame sounds good."

Of course, I haven't actually seen him eat it. But it's a start.

I am also considering signing up for one of those weekly organic produce plans, but I don't want to do too much too soon. Small changes are probably best.

Still sick.

Just got off the phone with the doctor's office.

My doc gave me some stuff that helps with congestion, ut not the antibiotics I probably need to kick this nightmare crap. I agreed to try something new, however, so here I am. I also have a specialist appt. for the 18th. Hallelujah!

My exercise has been limited to walking, and I am sure that the fact that I can't smell anything has been working in my favor, because I am down 3 lbs. from last week. Not bad.

I am hoping to pick up the running over the next week again. I miss it.