8 posts tagged “health”

alright - just one more observation that I have to make from my bodypump class, which i wrote about yesterday... okay, maybe two. because there's this little petite brunette who attends the class and she really is just that. petite. but with very noticeable breasts. and not in the bad way. i'm not saying that she's so out of proportion that she might fall over but seriously - she's stacked and well, it's very hard not to notice.

but other then that, i've noticed that on the occassion, we get some male clientele in the class. and without fail, i honestly do not know what they are trying to prove.

there they are, all arms but with a big pop-belly, loading up the weights and ready to go.

not even after the first exercise, are they able to last.

here is where i smirk. way more then towards the teens that i wrote about yesterday because at least those teens proved to us that they weren't there to try and prove anything and were, actually, not the typical, pain in the ass teens we normally stereotype them for.

but these men! exactly what did they think they were trying to do - impress us?

i lose count at all the times they end up dropping their weight right to the ground before we finish a set, creating a huge thud as the instructor, even with the mic, tries to talk over the noise as she brings us all to the finale. at this point, our muscles are starting to shake, sweat is stinging our eyes, and we are doing everything in our power to try and overcome that lactic acid build-up so we can finish the set together - as a team. and basically, just bring it on home.

but that loud thud? that annoying distraction?

it makes me want to just face THAT GUY and say, "did you seriously think that this is about how much you can lift/press? this is about ENDURANCE, baby - not maximum weight. take it outside to the rest of the meat heads if THAT's what you're looking for!"

morons.

so this is probably going to make myself sound pretty horrible... but who doesn't sound horrible once in awhile on the internet? everyone. that's who.

i walked into today's bodypump class about five minutes early, surprised that nearly all the spots were taken. relieved, i did find one spot near the front and yes, while most people do not like being in display for the rest of the room to see, i don't care.

i even have a hole on one of my butt cheek which i have to patch up. but as it's mainly a class of women, whom will see me completely naked after the class in the locker room (and vice versa), does one hole, showing my baby blue panties really make a huge difference?

i don't think so.

as i was saying, i like being up front. not because i like being on display (not caring about who sees my bum with the hole showing that i'm wearing baby blue coloured panties and WANTING to show said bum with the hole that's showing blue panties are two completely different things), but because it helps for me to be close to both the instructor and the mirror. just so i can stay focused and on time. and i don't have some one in front of me that's completely off beat, mucking me up.

i hate that. it's my pet peeve. let that be a warning - if you're going to take a spot in front of me, you had better be awesome.

anyway - the class was packed! and as i didn't look around all that much, i didn't realize that half the class was made up of teen girls until the instructor welcomed the students of some catholic school, where they were participating in the class for the day as part of their gym excursion.

and in the middle of the week, outside of summer vacation, i'm just not use to seeing anyone younger then the age of 23 at my gym - and the 23 year olds are usually either trainers or fitness instructors. the rest of us clientele are usually in our 30's and up. these girls were YOUNG! you know - young enough so that THEY needn't be ashamed for gushing over twilight actors.

now, this is a hard class. and while i've been going to this strength circuit training class from hell since september, i'm still working on increasing the plates of the bar that i use. and the last thing i need are a bunch of teens laughing and pointing at me while snickering to each other, "hee hee - look at that older lady there struggling with half the weight i'm using! and she's got a hole in her pants! YOU CAN TOTALLY SEE HER BLUE UNDERWEAR!"

but something amazing happened. because as we started to do the warm-up, and i couldn't help but to see the reflection of those behind me from the wall mirror, i realized that these teens were actually using 1/3rd to even as low as 1/4tr of the weight that i was using. and they were struggling! like - they were just dying and we only had just done the warm-up!

so it's horrible for me to say, but i enjoyed it immensely as i doubled up my plates for the squats while they were all taking breaks numerous amounts of times, panting and making faces like, "you have GOT to be kidding! she wants us to do what now?" they were having 10 times harder of a time then my first class.

and then i really looked around and saw that some of the regulars are actually older then i am and loading up way more weights.

it gave me inspiration - that with age, we actually can become stronger. and that women today knows what it takes to be kick-ass if they want to be.

okay... so maybe this epiphany was somewhat tainted over the fact that i got to feel better about myself through the struggle and pain of a bunch of teens. but i hope, at the least, that these girls saw a future where they too, can achieve this type of strength and determination.

after all, us old farts know a thing or two about life. :)

actually, the peppermient mocha at starbucks is a tad too sweet for my taste. but i love the minty flavour so it's hard to resist.

the heaven part really isn't just the drink. it's that i took the day off, got the house cleaning done in the morning (so i know it's out of the way for the weekend), gone for a very good, strength-circuit class from hell, had a very yummy turkey sandwich with sparkling water and am now listing to tunes while surfing at starbucks (god bless 2 hour free hotspot a day here).

the mocha latte is my dessert.

and i have about 2.5 hrs more before i have to go pick up little miss.

i'm loving it!

so i booked an appointment for a haircut (going a bit shorter for the cold, dryer months) and figured i should take advantage of the spa/salon's new registered massage therapist (need her to be registered in order to claim from my benefits). i have an hour massage that will end 15 minutes before my hair appointment. i also have a party out of town that night and man am i going to be relaxed when i arrive.

i actually met the massage therapist before. from the reviews, she comes highly recommended. in fact, i got a sample of what she could do. she came up to me while i was waiting for my appointment to introduce herself (she only just started then). she gave me a very quick hand massage and i knew right away that she was able to apply the right pressure i was looking for.

i can't remember the last time i went for a professional massage. it's partly due to just getting myself to make an appointment. but largely, it's because i've been searing high and low for a therapist that i like enough to visit regularly. my perfect one was back several years ago. but he switched careers. since then, it's been a long and unsuccessful hunt.

so, i'm on week three of attending this strength circuit class called 'power pump.' it's defintely not as painful as the first week but it's also not any easier. in fact, it will never be easy as i continually add more weights to the program.

the first class left me in such much pain - from neck to calves/shins - that i walked around like frankenstien the next day, prompting a co-worker to take notice, stop in mid-sentence and ask me, "what's wrong with you?"

i told doug what the instructor made us do...

s: we started off with a series of squats that seemed to last forever. i only had 15 lbs in total on my shoulders but by the 50's squat, i thought i was going to die.

d: excellent!

s: and then at the end, we ended off with lunges. i was like, "what? but we already did legs!"

d: *lol*

s: to make matter worse, we did push-ups at the end, too... AFTER we already did chest near the beginning.

d: so don't do them from your toes. just start from the knees.

s: IT WAS FROM MY KNEES!

i do love it, though. i only take the 45 minute class on tuesday and thursday of each week. at this point, i'm not all that sure i could do it a 3rd time in a week (nor have the time) but i would love to work towards that goal.

the best part of a class like this is that i'm getting both my strength and cardio in at the same time. up until now, i was only able to get in 2 or 3 sessions of 20 min. strength training. while that did do something for my muscles, it was boring and totally lacked efficiency.

in support of my healthier lunches and snacks, doug came home today with two more additions to my 'snack kit' for work...

grape tomatoes and baby carrots. and i don't mean those penis-stubs... i mean real baby carrots. sweet and slender!

and i added more of a spicy kick for my hummus tomorrow.

i did find a bunch tofu dip/spread recipes which i'm hoping to try. if i do, i will post the recipe and my comments to it here.

curry tofu dip! why the hell not?

i don't know why i'm entitling the subject 'eating healthy' when in fact it's not that i'm eaiting healthy 100% all day long.

while i've substituted my junk food snacking with my self-made 'snack kit', i'm still eating my morning croissant. dinner is well-balanced. i don't count the grams of fat but it's balanced with milk, veggies, protein and some carbs (though moderate amounts of carbs and more veggies these days). i'm such a carnivore, though. and while they say that the amount should be around 4-6 oz. (or something like the palm of your hand) i say, "screw it! where's the beef?"

i don't eat much meat at lunch but i make up for it at dinner time where protein is usually around 8 oz. (maybe even more when i indulge on a big steak on weekends - or that extra helping of chicken). and with seafood - i don't limit myself hardly at all.

but at the moment, i have actually gone vegetarian for lunch. the snack kit i packed for myself yesterday ended up being my lunch and afternoon snack. i found that i just couldn't finish it all in one sitting so i ended up having 2/3rd of it for lunch and the other 1/3rd for a mid-afternoon snack.

and i was satsified. it makes sense... the choices of food i brought are more fiberous so while i'm not full, i tend to be fighting off the hunger much longer.

lunch was never unhealthy before, though. but i use to cheat. i would bring the frozen lunch entrees - portion controlled and most of them low in fat and calories. and while they satisfied me for lunch, this way is proving to be much more satisfying. and it allows me to have fresh veggies (for dinner, i usually have grilled, steamed, boiled or stir fry veggies - i'm not big on salads unless it's gourmet and i'm just too damn lazy to do gourmet after work).

i'll definitely keep this up though when i go grocery shopping this weekend, i should look into tweaking my snack kit to add variety. for this week, though, i will be settling for pretty much the same thing each day. generally, the idea is that i'm creating sort of a tapa style lunch full of fresh veggies, cubed cheese, whole wheat pita or crackers and dip. i prefer hummus because it's high in protein but i think i'll need to expand on the dip so as not to get bored of hummus.

and i may want to add some olives. and aside from whole wheat pita bread or crackers, i wonder what else i could bring that's good for dipping? i actually like the idea of pita bread over crackers. maybe rice cakes and peanut butter?

any suggestions?

with all the stress i've been going through lately, i've actually gotten to a point in my life where i realize that eating healthy (along with my weekly workout regimen) is even more important then ever.

after all, junk food/empty calories will just heighten my stressful state. or at the least, give me low energy.

tonight, i've packed a "snack kit" for work. it contains some spicy hummus, a baby cucumber, one medium size whole wheat pita bread, some cubed goat feta and yogurt.

it's missing fruit but i just went through my fridge and there's no fresh fruit at the moment. but... progress takes time. by next weekend, i'll have introduced more fresh fruit.

i'm hoping that this well-prepared snack kit will solve the problem of the mid-afternoon vending mahcine, hunger attack. to be honest, i don't even like what the vending machine has to offer. but it's there. it's easy. yet half an hour later, i honestly do not feel satisfied. if anything, i feel a bit gross.

so lets hope i have a healthy food day tomorrow.