Productivity!

This has been an exceptionally productive morning for me -- and it's only 9:30.

I have a big deal that we've been negotiating for an exceptionally long time that (cross your fingers) looks like it's going to close by tomorrow. That means that I've been spending countless hours drafting and editing lots and lots and LOTS of documents, sending lots and lots and LOTS of emails, and making lots and lots and LOTS of phone calls. Yesterday, I sent out a "final" draft of the main agreement. When I came in at 8:06, I already had two emails and a voicemail from our "opponents" with "comments." Meaning -- even though we were "done negotiating," they are STILL NEGOTIATING.

Nothing is EVER final...so I've spent this morning making further edits, phone calls and emailing explanations (of things I KNOW I've gone over multiple times before...but WHATEVER). After all that, I ran down to DiBruno's for my second cup of coffee of the day.



Pardon the exceptional amount of cups on my desk. The silver travel mug just sits there waiting to be filled with hot tea when I'm cold...the ceramic high school graduation mug is full of pens...behind that is my ever-empty Nalgene, which theoretically I should fill with water every day, several times a day. But (here's a dirty little secret) unless I'm in the middle of a workout, I do NOT like to drink water. I just don't like it. I'm weird.

Last night was plyo. God, that hour flies by. I've been doing this one up in the "home gym," by myself, so I can work out in bare feet, a sports bra and shorts. That kind of thing doesn't fly at the gym, you know? I find the jumps to be significantly easier on my knees in bare feet...and why get a shirt dirty if I don't have to?

I'm definitely feeling it today -- mostly in my glutes and hamstrings, somewhat in my calves. Not at all, in any way shape or form, in my quads -- which is sort of frustrating. What is wrong with the way I use my legs that my quads aren't ever incorporated in anything? Pretty sure this contributes significantly to the fact that my patella just won't stay where it belongs :)

PhillyGirl Fails at Abs

...again.

On deck for yesterday was a shoulders/biceps/triceps DVD, followed by another round of "Ab Ripper X."

I really enjoyed the shoulders and arms workout. It was organized in about six rounds of "supersets" with 30-second stretch breaks in between. Each "superset" included six moves, with no rest or break in between -- one set of a shoulder move followed immediately by one set of a bicep move followed by one set of a tricep move, with the whole sequence immediately repeated.

As with most of the resistance DVDs, you have the option of using resistance bands or dumbbells. Since we've been working out in our guest room and don't own dumbbells, resistance bands it was. I was definitely feeling the shoulder and tricep moves, but the bands didn't provide enough resistance in the lower portion of the bicep moves. PhillyGuy and I decided that we'll be taking the (oh so helpful) workout booklet to the gym next time, and doing this workout there, where we have access to dumbbells.

But then. Oh, then. It was time for Round 2 with "Ab Ripper X." And god, that name is so, so dead on. Not because I'm going to "get ripped" in the sense that they want you to think -- in the rippling, rock-hard 6-pack sense -- but in the sense that, every time I tried to complete one of the abs moves, I was completely certain that my abs were, in fact, going to rip open. That's also the same feeling I get when I have to sneeze or cough or try to sit up in bed.

I'm really looking forward to improving. I didn't think I had a particularly weak core, but apparently I do. Blech.

Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point had a really interesting post today on your "secret rebellious side." I loved reading the comments, and this is a topic that sort of hit home for me. I may have mentioned before that I'm a biglaw attorney -- which means that I keep a certain appearance. I like to think that I have a "classic" style -- I like nicely cut suits and handbags, I wear makeup and pearls. I'm pretty infamous around my office for my penchant for high-heeled shoes (I have 5 or 6 pair under my desk, with heels ranging from 4 to 5 inches), but that's about as "funky" as I get, at least outwardly.

You'd never know by looking at me that I am a punk rock fanatic. When I was in high school and college and law school, I had plenty of piercings. In addition to the 90s/early 2000s standard of two holes in each earlobe, I also had my left tragus, navel, and tongue pierced. (I may or may not have had piercings in less visible places, as well...) I retired the tragus ring when I started interning for a federal judge after my 1L year, but did not say goodbye to the tongue ring until the bar exam.

I'm now down to a more "normal" set of mods -- one earring in each each and my navel ring, which I don't plan to take out anytime soon. It's funny to think that, just a few years ago, I was much more heavily decorated -- and I certainly wasn't a different person! I still go ballistic when Green Day comes to town, and I still rock out to NOFX and Rancid in the car (when PhillyGuy lets me -- since he's not so much a fan). When I was 18, if you'd told me that one day I'd be voluntarily taking out my piercings to fit a more corporate image because I wanted to (NOT because "someone made me!") -- I would NEVER have believed you.

Crazy how things change, isn't it?

Law of the Fist!

Oh my god.

So, yesterday, I was SUPPOSED to do a plyometrics DVD. My dear husband raved about it -- he did it in the morning, before he left for work, and he kept telling me how intense it was. How he could barely complete some of the sequences. How his legs were burning and screaming.

I was really looking forward to it. After walking Sophie, I went upstairs to our "home gym" (formerly known as the "guest room," more recently and realistically known as "the room that only has a lamp and an ironing board in it"), set up my laptop, and opened the DVD package only to find out that my dear husband had forgotten to take the plyo DVD out of his laptop when he finished his workout. Those burning legs must have distracted him.

So, I poked around on the internet to find out what would be a good substitute. PhillyGuy wasn't getting home until after 8, and I didn't want to wait that long to work out. Half of the review sites suggested substituting an hour of cardio, the other half suggested substituting the "Kenpo X" DVD. I checked our schedule -- we're supposed to do Kenpo on Saturday. So, I figured I'd just swap it out -- do Kenpo then, and plyo on Saturday.

OK, guys, Kenpo X is everything that I find laughable about P90X. The description? "Kenpo means "law of the fist", and that's exactly what you'll be throwing during this cardio-intense workout, that and a whole bunch of kicks, elbows, knees, and forearms!" OK, REALLY? "Law of the fist?" WTF. How can I take this seriously?

I have mixed reviews on Kenpo. My heartrate did get up decently high -- max of about 170 -- but not as high as it would get during a run, which is more like 180-195. Also, I am not particularly coordinated, and there are a LOT of combination moves in this. Before this will be really effective, I think I'd need to get through it a few times so that I don't spend the first few reps of each move tripping over myself trying to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing, and where my legs are supposed to be vs. my arms, etc. I'm not sure it's worth the strain it put on my knee, though -- I'll give this another shot next week, but this might end up being a cardio sub-out for me.

One thing I'll say for the Law of the Fist! is that it didn't leave me nearly as sore as the chest and back day. My abs are still sore, but nowhere near as bad as they were yesterday, when I thought my stomach was going to rip open when I sneezed and I could not even sit up in bed without propping myself up on my arms. Which is good, since tonight we've got yet another "Ab Ripper X" session on deck after our shoulders and arms.

This weekend is going to be a challenge. PhillyGuy's aunt and uncle are coming into town for a couple days with our niece/cousin (technically she's a cousin, but since she's about 20 years younger than us, it feels weird to call her that), and I know we'll be spending a TON of time out on the town with them. Usually, this would be one of those occasions where I'd throw diet and restrictions to the wind and indulge with everyone -- have a nice glass of wine or two with dinner, share some dessert, order whatever I wanted. But we're not even a week into this new plan, and I'm just not interested in derailing it. Dinner with the fam wouldn't be so bad -- we're taking them, by request, to Fogo de Chao -- if I didn't ALSO have a client lunch earlier that day at Smith & Wollensky. I'm inclined to just order soup at lunch and stick to the salad bar at dinner and just fill up on my "normal" food during the afternoon -- at least I have an excuse.

You know, it'll be really nice in a couple months when I'm posting my "after" pictures and I can tell you wonderful bloggers how worth it this all was!

Pain in the butt...

literally, and figuratively.

First, the literal: last night was "legs" night. The Oxygen routine I have chosen to follow had me doing plenty of glute work. Squats, lunges, those weird donkey kick-back things (I had hoped this would work my hams as well, and perhaps it did, but they're not particularly sore)...also, stiff-legged deadlifts and seated and standing calf raises. I'm still a little challenged with the lack of equipment but am making some good substitutions. Deadlifts, for example -- instead of fighting with the 45-lb dumbbells, which I have a hard time holding (not to be confused with LIFTING -- grip and forearm strength, I do not has it), I used 20-lb AND 5-lb dumbbells. Once I figured out how to hold both at once, I just upped my reps from 8 to 12 and voila, effort!

It's still not perfect -- I cannot wait until they finish the new gym and I can actually use a STRAIGHT BAR with REAL WEIGHTS -- but one must adapt!

Now, the figurative: MAN, is it a PITA to write down everything I eat. But it's been very enlightening. I haven't changed my habits at all this week, since my goal was to see where my baseline is, and I am pretty surprised at my calorie intake. Looks like I've been averaging 2300-2400 calories per day. And really, I bet it was more -- even though I have not INTENTIONALLY tried to change my habits yet, this has been a comparatively good week. No DiBruno's wraps or bagel breakfasts (ok, except for today -- and I gotta say, it wasn't particularly delicious). But this is VERY educational. I know this kind of monitoring isn't for everyone, but I am the master of excuses and justifications, so seeing it there in black and white is pretty necessary for me.

Today is a "rest day" on my Oxygen plan, and thank god, because it honestly hurt to put on underwear this morning. And to sit down in my chair here at work. I'm looking forward to blowing through this day and starting my weekend -- maybe by soaking my sore butt in a bubble bath.

Happy Friday all! Any fun plans?