Training: Week Two

I’m halfway into week two of training and feeling pretty good about it. I haven’t noticed any changes yet but Dan said it will probably take a few weeks. Saturday we went for our first run and it sucked. I was tired from the Run for Light which was the night before and didn’t have a lot of energy in me. Monday the nutritionist came and asked me questions about what I eat, what I crave, hate, etc. She also looked in the fridge and cupboards and said that overall she was pretty impressed by the food we eat. Our problem is portion control and hopefully with the personalized 30 day meal plan she is developing we’ll be able to fix that problem. Then Dan showed up and we did the regular strength training and he really made me work hard. We incorporated some exercises using a big exercise ball and did a lot of ab work. By the time he left I wasn’t feeling too hot and was certain that I was going to end up throwing up. Thankfully, after I soaked in the tub for a bit and A. got some food into me I felt much better. Yesterday we went running again and it was much better than Saturday. We went to a track at a nearby school and did laps. Ran for approximately 2mins, walked 1min times 6. It was harder than I remembered it being last year but at least I managed to finish. After that we did some sprinting exercises where we jogged a bit and sprinted for 10 meters times 10. That was a lot harder than I expected. Even if I end up not losing a ton of weight/inches I’ll be happy with getting more muscle definition and generally toning up. 4.5 more weeks to go!

Training: Day Two

I’ve had two one-hour sessions so far and I’m already paying for it. I have never sweat so much in my life or worked so hard. I know that if this was a gym membership and I had to get there under my own steam I would have given up already. Luckily (and unluckily) for me I can’t. We did my weight and measurements yesterday and frankly, I’m disgusted with myself. The fact that I have to post these numbers on the Z95 website for all to see is definitely a motivation to do really well and shed the pounds. But I hurt - it has never been so hard to stand up. My legs hurt, my shoulders are sore and my butt is killing me. Personally, I think trainers take a little bit of pleasure in seeing their clients suffer. I really hope that all of this pays off in the long run and that I can continue doing the exercises long after Trainer Dan has left. Dan told me to find something I like about the training and think about that. He also said that some people can trick their minds into thinking the pain is good rather than bad. I’m not at that point yet but I am liking the exercises. Yes, they are hard and yes, sometimes I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish but I always do. I like seeing my muscles work in ways they haven’t in years and knowing that I still have some strength left under all the padding. Now I really need to cut down on my portion sizes and hope for the best.

Slightly embarassing...

but if it means I lose some weight and get in shape for summer, so be it.

Z95 (a local radio station) is putting on a contest called Operation: Swimsuit where the winner gets to train 5 days a week for 6 weeks with a personal trainer and I am one of the three finalists! I'm sending out a plea that you all follow this link, check out my hideous picture and vote for me (I'm C.) I would really, really like to win this thing and I need all the help I can get. Tell everyone you know to go to the website and vote!

**UPDATE**
I WON!!! Thank you for all of your support. Check back here for progress reports.

Attacking the exercise front

A. and I went to Canadian Tire after dinner last night because I had decided that I wanted to buy a bike with part of my tax refund. I tested a few out, rode up and down the aisles and realized it has been a VERY long time since I've been on a bike - so long that the 16 year old sales boy asked me if I wanted training wheels. Har har. I found one that I liked (mainly for it's pretty robin's egg blue colour) but decided to give it some more thought. Since returning from Afghanistan I've had a hard time justifying spending money. I find that I go shopping with the idea that I want to buy things and half the time I end up talking myself out of it. My reasoning this time was that, although I liked the bike, it was $300 and what if I don't end up using it as much as I should? Then I will have spent $300 and I'd be unhappy with the purchase. So wait it is. If I decide to get a bike I'm thinking I should just go for the $99 Canadian Tire special. We shall see.

After looking at bikes A. tried on some hockey-style rollerblades and zipped around the store. The boy is crazy but seems pretty stable even without the handy brake on the back. He decided not to get them though because his mom had mailed his out from Ontario and they arrived the other day. Probably a good idea to give the old ones a try.

Finally, we stopped in the camping section and checked out tents and sleeping bags. We'd really like to go camping at some point this summer but, not owning any equipment, it will be quite the investment to get everything we'd need. Plus, we have different ideas of what camping is. I'm all for the "load everything you'd need to survive for a week into the back of the car and back the car into the spot" style while A. is more of a "whatever we can strap to our backs and carry 5 km to the site" camper. It's proving to be a bit of a hurdle as neither of us is willing, so far, to try the other's style.

On the topic of camping, does anyone know of any good spots in the Lower Mainland, be it drive-in or hike-in? A. would really like something on a lake so that we can go swimming but I'm thinking that's something we'd have to go to the Interior for.

Book 12

I finally gave in and read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown despite telling everyone that I never would. The movie is coming out soon, as you all know, and A. said he was taking me to see it whether I liked it or not (well, maybe not those exact words.) I figured if I had to see the movie I might as well read the book and I admit it - I actually liked it. Yes, Brown is obviously a big fan of the thesaurus but the story was interesting and I definitely didn't see the ending coming. I still don't know if Tom Hanks was the right choice to play Robert Langdon but I guess I'll leave that judgement until I see the movie.

Speaking of movies, A. and I have started to make a habit of going to the movies on Friday nights and last weeks pick was Stick It starring Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, and Vanessa Lengies. It was supposed to be like Bring It On with gymnastics and while the comparison is appropriate, “Bring It On” is still the superior movie. “Stick It” was funny and showed some brutal gymnastics mishaps and I’d definitely recommend seeing it, either in theatres or when it comes out on DVD.

Gmail continues to rock my world

Wow, every time Google rolls out a new feature I fall more and more in love with them. This time my adoration is focused on a nifty little tool in Gmail and Google Calendar that allows you to create events and invite people. You can enter all the information in the form and it evens adds a link to Google maps for the address. You can track which guests are coming and who has declined and there is a discussion feature for people to add comments. To make things even better there is a little check box that allows the people you've invited to invite people.



Once you've entered all of your information and email addresses and clicked on send, a nice invitation will pop up in your invitees mailboxes.



This is definitely a feature I will be using in the future.