MAN, this has been an insane week...and it's only Wednesday.
Thankfully (1) the office is closed Friday, so it's really more like a Thursday, and (2) I blasted through my fire drills AND most of my to-do list, so I have a little breathing room this morning.
Last night I finally got to try Plyo -- oh, I'm sorry, "PLYOMETRICS X." After PhillyGuy stole the DVD last week, I was looking forward to trying it for the first time -- especially since it left his legs aching for days last week. He had previously pointed out that there was absolutely no way both of us could do the workout at once in our "home gym," so we packed up the laptop and took it to our complex's new gym.
The new gym includes a big, wooden-floor workout room, complete with mirrored wall and plenty of space -- I figured it would be PERFECT for our plyo. And it was...except that when we got there, the room was occupied by a yoga class. Figures. Without any way to tell how long it would be before they were out of there, I forced PhillyGuy to suck it up and get our workout started right in the middle of the gym.
I'm sure we looked like idiots at first, staring at a computer and jumping up and down just a few yards away from "normal" exercise equipment, but believe me, once you got into it, there was no time or energy to waste on dwelling on what other gym-goers might be thinking. There were plenty of variations on squat jumps: reaching squat jumps, standing tuck jumps (no using your arms for momentum, like I did in cheerleading!), runners squat jumps, squat jacks, traveling "frog" squat jumps, blah blah blah...and MAN, did I feel it. Half an hour blew by, the room cleared out, we booked it into the aerobics room and killed the second half hour.
By the end, I was absolutely dripping with sweat. Unlike Kenpo, where my heartrate never really peaked, I could tell that I was consistently where I needed to be, above 185 and, at the peak of each interval, much closer to 200-205.
I'm sore today, but not overwhelmingly sore. Some of the moves hurt my knee, though I simply don't know yet whether it's because I have poor form or because my knee isn't healed enough yet (or both). I'm going to try it next week with a knee sleeve and see whether that helps.
Today is (I think) biceps, triceps, and shoulders. I think. It's hard to remember. If that's the case, we're definitely going to need to pack up for the gym again, because the resistance bands just ain't cutting it for me.
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO FRIDAY!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
In the words of Britney,
OH MAH GAH, Y'ALL.
I. Am. So. Busy.
I really need to recap my first week on P90X and catch up with the blogworld, but work is just NOT letting that happen. Also, there's a small matter of our adopting a second dog (!!!!!)
Cosmo came home with us last night, and my evening was spent putting together a crate, trying to wrangle one super-excited Sophie and one sorta-skittish Cosmo on a couple of walks, and generally supervising the tornado of dog as it whirled around my house. Not conducive to even doing a nonstop 1:15 of chest, back and abs, let alone blogging about it.
The short version? P90X is full of tool-box, d-bag phrases like "BRING IT!" and "AB RIPPER X!", but also full of really effective exercises. Some of them come naturally; others will take a little work, at least for me, before I can really perform the moves effectively (ahem, Kenpo). The diet/nutrition plan has been very good -- I'm eating a lot of chicken (grilled, or poached and shredded into chicken salad), tuna, spinach and Greek yogurt. Also, my abs have been consistently OMG-if-I-sneeze-something-is-going-to-tear sore.
I've shed a LOT of water weight this week -- on Monday morning, the official one-week checkin point, I was down 5lbs. Not gonna lie, that's really, really good to see, even though I know that, at most, it's only a couple pounds of "real" weight loss and mostly water weight shedding.
I can't wait to catch up on everyone's weekend shenanigans, races, blah blah blah -- and hopefully I will be back tonight with a better review and a recap of plyometrics.
I. Am. So. Busy.
I really need to recap my first week on P90X and catch up with the blogworld, but work is just NOT letting that happen. Also, there's a small matter of our adopting a second dog (!!!!!)
Cosmo came home with us last night, and my evening was spent putting together a crate, trying to wrangle one super-excited Sophie and one sorta-skittish Cosmo on a couple of walks, and generally supervising the tornado of dog as it whirled around my house. Not conducive to even doing a nonstop 1:15 of chest, back and abs, let alone blogging about it.
The short version? P90X is full of tool-box, d-bag phrases like "BRING IT!" and "AB RIPPER X!", but also full of really effective exercises. Some of them come naturally; others will take a little work, at least for me, before I can really perform the moves effectively (ahem, Kenpo). The diet/nutrition plan has been very good -- I'm eating a lot of chicken (grilled, or poached and shredded into chicken salad), tuna, spinach and Greek yogurt. Also, my abs have been consistently OMG-if-I-sneeze-something-is-going-to-tear sore.
I've shed a LOT of water weight this week -- on Monday morning, the official one-week checkin point, I was down 5lbs. Not gonna lie, that's really, really good to see, even though I know that, at most, it's only a couple pounds of "real" weight loss and mostly water weight shedding.
I can't wait to catch up on everyone's weekend shenanigans, races, blah blah blah -- and hopefully I will be back tonight with a better review and a recap of plyometrics.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
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?
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?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
OW OW OW OW
OW OW OW.
THAT is how I felt this morning when I woke up. An hour of pushups and "modified" (i.e. done 100% with a resistance band) pullups followed by the lamest attempt at 15 minutes of abs ever is no freakin' joke!
My chest is sore -- a little more so than I typically am following a chest workout, but nothing ridiculous. My ABS, though -- ooooh boy. Not only did my 15 minute "ab ripper X" shenanigans burn like crazy, I could really feel everything clenching during the pushups. Because, you know, I have the weakest abs EVER.
We'll get there! I'll improve. That's the idea.
Today is plyometrics. PhillyGuy did his this morning, and gave it stellar reviews -- he had trouble completing it. I think -- HOPE -- I'll do better with it, but we'll see. I'm working out at night, which is what I prefer.
I can tell eating is going to be a struggle with this. P90X gives you a diet plan to follow. As I've mentioned before, I do significantly better when I have a specific plan laid out for me, and so I'm planning to follow this to the letter. Unfortunately, like most commercial "diets," this comes in three phases, the first of which is quite restrictive. Unlike -- I'm sure -- a lot of people, I don't mind and sort of appreciate an initial, brief restrictive phase. I've "officially" done the South Beach diet a few times -- it's how I lost weight the first time and how I lost my law school 20 during my 1L year. In theory, I intend to live my life on Phase 3 of that diet -- eating whole, normal, good-for-you foods. That is theory. In practice, I eat a little of this and that here and there, until suddenly I realize I've just been eating whatever I want for long enough to have completely fallen away from eating reasonably.
Anyway -- I don't mind the idea of that initial "Phase 1" restrictiveness. You can't deny the motivational kick from seeing the number on the scale drop quickly as you lose your water weight, of course, but more importantly, I find that quitting crappy food "cold turkey" is significantly more effective in making sure I don't overdo it. Moderation and I are not the best of friends, and while I never miss chocolate once I break my habit, I find that "just one ounce a day" turns into "one ounce at work after lunch" plus "a couple small handfuls of mini chocolate chips at night after dinner" plus "just a spoonful of almond butter to go with them" and BAM, I've just dedicated an extra 600 calories to stuff I don't AT ALL need.
Regardless, though, this phase is super restrictive. Like every Phase I that I've seen, it's very low-carb, high-protein. Calorie-wise, it's pretty standard -- about 1800 per day. But the types of foods I have to eat are, at least initially, unsatisfying. Here's yesterday's eats:
- Breakfast: "protein shake." They call it that, I'll call it my Green Monster (woo, now I feel like a real blogger!). 1/2 banana, 1/2c berries, handful of spinach, scoop of protein powder, 1/2c milk, ice.
- Midmorning snack: Clif Builder's Bar
- Lunch: tuna salad made with 6oz tuna, plain Chobani, stone-ground mustard, dill and various spices over salad made with 2c spinach and 1/2c total of chopped red pepper, tomato and portabella mushrooms
- 5pm "snack:" 6oz plain Chobani
- Dinner: 6.5oz grilled chicken, 1/2 sweet potato with Texas Pete and plain Chobani, 2/3oz reduced-fat cheddar "snack cheese"
Let's be clear: I am NOT hungry on this diet. I get more than enough food in terms of calories and fuel, and it's GOOD stuff...but my dinner left me feeling full, but unsatisfied. I wanted something else to eat -- a side of veggies would have done the trick. Alas, I get X number of "servings" (e.g., 3oz of chicken breast is one protein, 1 cup of cooked veggies is one veggie), and I had used up my veggies by frontloading them in my lunch. I've learned my lesson and made sure to save a veggie for tonight. It's going to take some getting used to, but I can do it for two weeks -- I get to add in more fruit and veggies in a couple weeks, so I can live. Also, it ain't going to kill me to learn to just STOP EATING when I'm full, instead of mindlessly continuing to much just because I feel like there should be something else there.
(It does, however, make me want to punch PhillyGuy, who gets about twice as much food as me and complains that he doesn't know just how he's going to manage to eat all of this protein!)
Also, I should really buy stock in Chobani. How did I live without Greek yogurt? Yet another thing I owe to the blogworld. Thanks, guys :)
There are so many things that are a regular part of my life now that didn't occur to me before I started reading blogs. What has the blogworld introduced to you?
THAT is how I felt this morning when I woke up. An hour of pushups and "modified" (i.e. done 100% with a resistance band) pullups followed by the lamest attempt at 15 minutes of abs ever is no freakin' joke!
My chest is sore -- a little more so than I typically am following a chest workout, but nothing ridiculous. My ABS, though -- ooooh boy. Not only did my 15 minute "ab ripper X" shenanigans burn like crazy, I could really feel everything clenching during the pushups. Because, you know, I have the weakest abs EVER.
We'll get there! I'll improve. That's the idea.
Today is plyometrics. PhillyGuy did his this morning, and gave it stellar reviews -- he had trouble completing it. I think -- HOPE -- I'll do better with it, but we'll see. I'm working out at night, which is what I prefer.
I can tell eating is going to be a struggle with this. P90X gives you a diet plan to follow. As I've mentioned before, I do significantly better when I have a specific plan laid out for me, and so I'm planning to follow this to the letter. Unfortunately, like most commercial "diets," this comes in three phases, the first of which is quite restrictive. Unlike -- I'm sure -- a lot of people, I don't mind and sort of appreciate an initial, brief restrictive phase. I've "officially" done the South Beach diet a few times -- it's how I lost weight the first time and how I lost my law school 20 during my 1L year. In theory, I intend to live my life on Phase 3 of that diet -- eating whole, normal, good-for-you foods. That is theory. In practice, I eat a little of this and that here and there, until suddenly I realize I've just been eating whatever I want for long enough to have completely fallen away from eating reasonably.
Anyway -- I don't mind the idea of that initial "Phase 1" restrictiveness. You can't deny the motivational kick from seeing the number on the scale drop quickly as you lose your water weight, of course, but more importantly, I find that quitting crappy food "cold turkey" is significantly more effective in making sure I don't overdo it. Moderation and I are not the best of friends, and while I never miss chocolate once I break my habit, I find that "just one ounce a day" turns into "one ounce at work after lunch" plus "a couple small handfuls of mini chocolate chips at night after dinner" plus "just a spoonful of almond butter to go with them" and BAM, I've just dedicated an extra 600 calories to stuff I don't AT ALL need.
Regardless, though, this phase is super restrictive. Like every Phase I that I've seen, it's very low-carb, high-protein. Calorie-wise, it's pretty standard -- about 1800 per day. But the types of foods I have to eat are, at least initially, unsatisfying. Here's yesterday's eats:
- Breakfast: "protein shake." They call it that, I'll call it my Green Monster (woo, now I feel like a real blogger!). 1/2 banana, 1/2c berries, handful of spinach, scoop of protein powder, 1/2c milk, ice.
- Midmorning snack: Clif Builder's Bar
- Lunch: tuna salad made with 6oz tuna, plain Chobani, stone-ground mustard, dill and various spices over salad made with 2c spinach and 1/2c total of chopped red pepper, tomato and portabella mushrooms
- 5pm "snack:" 6oz plain Chobani
- Dinner: 6.5oz grilled chicken, 1/2 sweet potato with Texas Pete and plain Chobani, 2/3oz reduced-fat cheddar "snack cheese"
Let's be clear: I am NOT hungry on this diet. I get more than enough food in terms of calories and fuel, and it's GOOD stuff...but my dinner left me feeling full, but unsatisfied. I wanted something else to eat -- a side of veggies would have done the trick. Alas, I get X number of "servings" (e.g., 3oz of chicken breast is one protein, 1 cup of cooked veggies is one veggie), and I had used up my veggies by frontloading them in my lunch. I've learned my lesson and made sure to save a veggie for tonight. It's going to take some getting used to, but I can do it for two weeks -- I get to add in more fruit and veggies in a couple weeks, so I can live. Also, it ain't going to kill me to learn to just STOP EATING when I'm full, instead of mindlessly continuing to much just because I feel like there should be something else there.
(It does, however, make me want to punch PhillyGuy, who gets about twice as much food as me and complains that he doesn't know just how he's going to manage to eat all of this protein!)
Also, I should really buy stock in Chobani. How did I live without Greek yogurt? Yet another thing I owe to the blogworld. Thanks, guys :)
There are so many things that are a regular part of my life now that didn't occur to me before I started reading blogs. What has the blogworld introduced to you?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Isn't it brutal...
...how taking even a short vacation never fails to leave you needing another vacation?
I. Am. Tired.
PhillyGuy and I went to NYC for a nice three-day weekend. We had a bunch of hotel points to use up, so we stayed gratis at a great Marriott right across the street from the Waldorf-Astoria. Fabulous location, perfect weather...so what did we do?
Friday night, we had reservations at Del Posto, one of Mario Battali's restaurants. We spent the equivalent of our "free" hotel on dinner, and I am NOT SORRY. Not even a little bit. We did a five-course menu, including an antipasto (I had clams with fried artichokes; he had roasted winter veggies), two pasta tastings (homemade pumpkin ravioli-esque filled pastas with a cream sauce; fresh penne-type pasta with a bison bolognese), entree (pork for PhillyGuy, ribeye for me) and following up with dessert and cappuccino. I'm flaking on the details now, and honestly, that might have a LITTLE BIT to do with the bottle of wine we shared...or the martini I had before that...or the gin and tonic(s) I had afterwards next door at Collicchio and Sons. Oops. (STILL not sorry!)
We spent the vast majority of Saturday lazing around in bed. Honestly, I can't picture a better, more necessary way for me to spend some time off than that. I slept for hours, and hours, and hours, waking up only to lazily stroll down the street to a deli for a quick sandwich and return to blissfully nap until I woke up panicking -- it was 7:15 and we had 8pm tickets to Rock of Ages!
By some miracle, we threw ourselves together and made it with perfect timing -- about five minutes before the curtain. And let me tell you -- that show was hysterical. I love, love, LOVE the whole Big Hair Band/"power ballad" era, and this did it up perfectly.
After a lazy weekend away, I'm finding myself struggling to get back into the swing of things today. I had a filing kicked back and I'm trying to get it fixed, I have documents to review, and I had a bunch of voicemails that I still need to return -- I really, really need to get some caffeine in me, since my peppermint tea just ain't cutting it.
Probably not helping matters much is the fact that PhillyGuy and I dragged our sorry butts out of bed this morning at 5am for the first day of P90X. (I'm still sort of ashamed to be associating myself with this, since it is unforgiveably tool-box-y.) But, d-bag advertising or not, this is no joke. This morning was back, check and abs -- I'm sorry, "AB RIPPER X." We basically spent an hour doing various types of pushups, modified pullups (since neither PhillyGuy nor I can actually complete a single unassisted pullup) and a few other pull-type exercises using resistance bands, and followed it with a nonstop 15-minutes of various ab exercises. The chest and back was tough, but doable -- I felt nice and sore and happy and sweaty afterwards. The abs? F that mess. It calls for 25 reps each of probably 7 or 8 exercises. I could only complete all 25 reps of MAYBE one or two. The others, I pulled out maybe 15 or so...and there was at least one where I could not even manage more than 3 or 4 reps. THIS is going to be brutal.
Oh well. I'm looking forward to improving to the point where I can at least complete what I'm supposed to, you know? Such is life. Right this second, though, I am heading STRAIGHT downstairs for an iced coffee.
I. Am. Tired.
PhillyGuy and I went to NYC for a nice three-day weekend. We had a bunch of hotel points to use up, so we stayed gratis at a great Marriott right across the street from the Waldorf-Astoria. Fabulous location, perfect weather...so what did we do?
Friday night, we had reservations at Del Posto, one of Mario Battali's restaurants. We spent the equivalent of our "free" hotel on dinner, and I am NOT SORRY. Not even a little bit. We did a five-course menu, including an antipasto (I had clams with fried artichokes; he had roasted winter veggies), two pasta tastings (homemade pumpkin ravioli-esque filled pastas with a cream sauce; fresh penne-type pasta with a bison bolognese), entree (pork for PhillyGuy, ribeye for me) and following up with dessert and cappuccino. I'm flaking on the details now, and honestly, that might have a LITTLE BIT to do with the bottle of wine we shared...or the martini I had before that...or the gin and tonic(s) I had afterwards next door at Collicchio and Sons. Oops. (STILL not sorry!)
We spent the vast majority of Saturday lazing around in bed. Honestly, I can't picture a better, more necessary way for me to spend some time off than that. I slept for hours, and hours, and hours, waking up only to lazily stroll down the street to a deli for a quick sandwich and return to blissfully nap until I woke up panicking -- it was 7:15 and we had 8pm tickets to Rock of Ages!
By some miracle, we threw ourselves together and made it with perfect timing -- about five minutes before the curtain. And let me tell you -- that show was hysterical. I love, love, LOVE the whole Big Hair Band/"power ballad" era, and this did it up perfectly.
After a lazy weekend away, I'm finding myself struggling to get back into the swing of things today. I had a filing kicked back and I'm trying to get it fixed, I have documents to review, and I had a bunch of voicemails that I still need to return -- I really, really need to get some caffeine in me, since my peppermint tea just ain't cutting it.
Probably not helping matters much is the fact that PhillyGuy and I dragged our sorry butts out of bed this morning at 5am for the first day of P90X. (I'm still sort of ashamed to be associating myself with this, since it is unforgiveably tool-box-y.) But, d-bag advertising or not, this is no joke. This morning was back, check and abs -- I'm sorry, "AB RIPPER X." We basically spent an hour doing various types of pushups, modified pullups (since neither PhillyGuy nor I can actually complete a single unassisted pullup) and a few other pull-type exercises using resistance bands, and followed it with a nonstop 15-minutes of various ab exercises. The chest and back was tough, but doable -- I felt nice and sore and happy and sweaty afterwards. The abs? F that mess. It calls for 25 reps each of probably 7 or 8 exercises. I could only complete all 25 reps of MAYBE one or two. The others, I pulled out maybe 15 or so...and there was at least one where I could not even manage more than 3 or 4 reps. THIS is going to be brutal.
Oh well. I'm looking forward to improving to the point where I can at least complete what I'm supposed to, you know? Such is life. Right this second, though, I am heading STRAIGHT downstairs for an iced coffee.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day of New Things
Apparently, today is a day of adventure for me.
(More importantly, it is my last day of work for the week -- since PhillyGuy and I are leaving for a weekend in NYC tomorrow!)
For some reason, I've decided to try some new things today.
I headed out this morning in that oh-so-bizarre combination that the weather this time of year makes necessary: a skirt and Uggs. (Look, I'm so sick of tights -- and it's going to be mid-60s! That means it's OK to wear a skirt with bare legs! Unfortunately, a 38-degree morning is NOT really flip-flop weather. Hence, the oh-so-chic gray Uggs.)
For some reason, I decided to vary my usual route to work. Instead of cutting through Fitler Square and that area, like I usually do, I headed straight down South Street to 20th. That meant that I didn't pass Good Karma, my usual coffee place -- instead, I hit up La.Va, which I've passed a thousand times but have never stopped in. Verdict? I prefer Good Karma, but only a little bit. They're both a bajillion times better than Starbucks -- not that I dislike Starbucks by any stretch of imagination. But after trying a real, handmade latte, Starbucks tastes...well...corporate.
Anyway. My next change-up for the day? Breakfast. I'm out of yogurt, so I sliced up some strawberries and packed those up with a little baggie of granola, figuring I'd just stop on the way to work and pick up a container of my go-to Chobani. Except the grocery store I stopped at only had two or three containers of Chobani left, none of which I wanted (2% plain, 2% pineapple, and one lonely nonfat strawberry, which I'm sick to death of). They DID, however, have a massive variety of other brands of yogurt. I was intrigued by this:
(Forgive the lousy blackberry picture.) Skyr? Icelandic-style yogurt? The ingredients list looked good, so I grabbed the pomegranate/passionfruit flavor and headed out.
Verdict? MAN, is that stuff tart. It's a little bit of a different texture than Greek yogurt...more of a thick custard texture than a sour cream texture. With the strawberries and granola mixed in, I really liked it -- but plain it was a bit much, even for me. For the whopping $3.29 per container, though, I don't think I'll be making this a regular habit.
Next on the list of changes...well. Guys, I started this blog for a specific reason: to help keep myself accountable in losing the 18lbs I let creep on over the past year. Instead, it seems like it's been a venue for me to record justifications for having several lousy weeks in a row. That's not really what I had in mind, you know?
In honesty, I don't know WHY I've been letting myself be lame like this. Some of it had to do with my nagging knee, but not all of it. I worked late a few times, not getting home until 7:30 or later, but nothing stopped me from getting up early to work out in the mornings instead...except for my desire to sleep in. This has GOT to stop. Because let me tell you, justification ain't helping my ginormous thighs fit back into my suits, you know?
I'm almost embarassed to admit this, but...well...PhillyGuy and I bought P90X. Yes, that DVD set with the d-bag-ish infomercial. He's at his breaking point, too, and we decided together that this was something we'd do -- TOGETHER -- to get past this lousy stage we've let ourselves fall into. Do I need a 13-DVD set to show me how to work out effectively? Nope. Do I need the eating plan that it comes with me show me that eating less crap and more veggies and egg whites is going to help me drop body fat? Nope. But, here's the thing about me -- I just do better with a program laid out for me. I tried the whole keeping-myself-accountable thing, and while I generally do fine MAINTAINING that way, I never get anywhere new with it. This isn't limited to losing weight, of course -- I know that I need to do speedwork and tempo runs to improve my race times, but without a specific week-by-week plan, I don't work out the way I should and, shockingly, my race times don't improve. By contrast, give me a Runners' World SmartCoach plan that tells me to run X miles at Y speed on day Z, and what do you know, I PR.
So here I am, with an overpriced DVD set, a door-mounted pullup bar, and a husband to accompany me on what I hope will be three months of getting my ass in gear (and, preferably, getting my ass back in that navy suit I bought in April 2009, none of which fits right now).
(More importantly, it is my last day of work for the week -- since PhillyGuy and I are leaving for a weekend in NYC tomorrow!)
For some reason, I've decided to try some new things today.
I headed out this morning in that oh-so-bizarre combination that the weather this time of year makes necessary: a skirt and Uggs. (Look, I'm so sick of tights -- and it's going to be mid-60s! That means it's OK to wear a skirt with bare legs! Unfortunately, a 38-degree morning is NOT really flip-flop weather. Hence, the oh-so-chic gray Uggs.)
For some reason, I decided to vary my usual route to work. Instead of cutting through Fitler Square and that area, like I usually do, I headed straight down South Street to 20th. That meant that I didn't pass Good Karma, my usual coffee place -- instead, I hit up La.Va, which I've passed a thousand times but have never stopped in. Verdict? I prefer Good Karma, but only a little bit. They're both a bajillion times better than Starbucks -- not that I dislike Starbucks by any stretch of imagination. But after trying a real, handmade latte, Starbucks tastes...well...corporate.
Anyway. My next change-up for the day? Breakfast. I'm out of yogurt, so I sliced up some strawberries and packed those up with a little baggie of granola, figuring I'd just stop on the way to work and pick up a container of my go-to Chobani. Except the grocery store I stopped at only had two or three containers of Chobani left, none of which I wanted (2% plain, 2% pineapple, and one lonely nonfat strawberry, which I'm sick to death of). They DID, however, have a massive variety of other brands of yogurt. I was intrigued by this:
(Forgive the lousy blackberry picture.) Skyr? Icelandic-style yogurt? The ingredients list looked good, so I grabbed the pomegranate/passionfruit flavor and headed out.
Verdict? MAN, is that stuff tart. It's a little bit of a different texture than Greek yogurt...more of a thick custard texture than a sour cream texture. With the strawberries and granola mixed in, I really liked it -- but plain it was a bit much, even for me. For the whopping $3.29 per container, though, I don't think I'll be making this a regular habit.
Next on the list of changes...well. Guys, I started this blog for a specific reason: to help keep myself accountable in losing the 18lbs I let creep on over the past year. Instead, it seems like it's been a venue for me to record justifications for having several lousy weeks in a row. That's not really what I had in mind, you know?
In honesty, I don't know WHY I've been letting myself be lame like this. Some of it had to do with my nagging knee, but not all of it. I worked late a few times, not getting home until 7:30 or later, but nothing stopped me from getting up early to work out in the mornings instead...except for my desire to sleep in. This has GOT to stop. Because let me tell you, justification ain't helping my ginormous thighs fit back into my suits, you know?
I'm almost embarassed to admit this, but...well...PhillyGuy and I bought P90X. Yes, that DVD set with the d-bag-ish infomercial. He's at his breaking point, too, and we decided together that this was something we'd do -- TOGETHER -- to get past this lousy stage we've let ourselves fall into. Do I need a 13-DVD set to show me how to work out effectively? Nope. Do I need the eating plan that it comes with me show me that eating less crap and more veggies and egg whites is going to help me drop body fat? Nope. But, here's the thing about me -- I just do better with a program laid out for me. I tried the whole keeping-myself-accountable thing, and while I generally do fine MAINTAINING that way, I never get anywhere new with it. This isn't limited to losing weight, of course -- I know that I need to do speedwork and tempo runs to improve my race times, but without a specific week-by-week plan, I don't work out the way I should and, shockingly, my race times don't improve. By contrast, give me a Runners' World SmartCoach plan that tells me to run X miles at Y speed on day Z, and what do you know, I PR.
So here I am, with an overpriced DVD set, a door-mounted pullup bar, and a husband to accompany me on what I hope will be three months of getting my ass in gear (and, preferably, getting my ass back in that navy suit I bought in April 2009, none of which fits right now).
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