11 posts tagged “exercise”
and I just might stop to check you out!
ok, the Violent Femmes are teh awes0m0rz but i really am high as a kite, it isn't just a music reference being applied to something else. i am totally high on endorphins. i used to work out in the morning before work. i am NOT a morning person. i always had to drag my ass to the gym, then rush to shower and get to the office... tonight i worked out at 6:30 pm. 20 minutes rowing, 20 minutes elliptical. my resting heart rate is normally 69 bpm and according to the monitor i was working out with a heartrate of 145-150. i left the gym, it is a beautiful sunny day, i'm singing along with music from my 'hercules' playlist on my zune which makes me feel happy and invincible and damn do i feel good! i know i'm jacked up on my own biochemicals but wheeeee this is fun. i am SO going back to the gym tomorrow after work. w00t!
other coolness, my son turned two this weekend and got a tricycle. everyone thought the helmet would be huge on him, but it actually fits better than anyone expected. of course it was time for his big sister to move up to a 2 wheel bike, so we got her one even though it isn't her birthday for another 7 months and wow is she a natural at it. they are as always, the cutest kids in the world. the weather didn't really cooperate for the morning party at a local park so we ended up squeezing into my place, but it was still fun and it got sunny in the afternoon which worked out for bike riding. i'll post more pictures later after i've sorted through them all.
speaking of 2 wheel bikes, my novice motorcycle safety course is scheduled finally for the first week of september! yay! i'm going to call every week or so to see if they get any cancellations for an earlier course, but september isn't so bad. i'm nervous and excited.
and that leads nicely into other nervous and excited things, i drove a stick shift car today for the first time in 13 years. i wasn't nervous until i sat in the drivers seat and realized just how long it had been. and this car is a RX-8, way nicer than my crappy old '79 Pinto. i was driving on my own, so at least i wasn't having anxiety about screwing up in front of anyone. but i drove a circuit around the parking lot before pulling out just to remember wtf i was doing. for the first couple blocks i was thinking 'wow, this is a lot more work than an automatic transmission, this kind of sucks' but by the time i got to my destination, i was having a lot of fun. on the return to the office (i was just delivering something a co-worker had forgotten in her office to their team offsite) i remembered just how fun it is to drive a manual transmission car. i didn't stall or grind gears at all, and was super excited to find i am still able to balance the clutch and first gear so i don't roll backwards down a hill when stopped. i was amazed at all the really bad drivers on the road. yeah, you have to pay a lot more attention to driving, but hell, SHOULDN'T you pay attention while driving? i felt so much more connected to the vehicle... just makes me wish i could afford a new car, but even though i might be able to find a way to make the payments, the fuel expense would be crazy. have you seen how much a gallon of gas costs these days?
a month ago in DC, somehow, someone made a comment on the way to lunch (while we were all sober) that resulted in Rob Hensing and I pitted against each other in a push-up competition next time he was in Redmond. That night while out (while most of us weren't sober) amongst the trash talking, the agreement was made that the loser would blog about their failure.
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: I DID NOT LOSE.
Rob went first and did 40 mostly legitimate pushups before getting in two half-elbows-not-really-bent-things in. So we called it at 40.
I went second and did 43 pushups. It is hard for me to say how my form was on those last three, I know I was really struggling and pushing myself at that point.
The judges (there were five) called it 40 as well and said we have to re-match next time Rob is in town, which we think is early May.
I have to give Rob mad props for going through with it. Sure, we all harassed him and his honor was on the line if he chickened out from a pushup competition with a girl. But I still admire that he went through with it. The shame if he had lost would have been significant. We'd have given him shit for it for years.
I expect he will actually spend some time between now and May on his Bowflex and I'll lose the rematch. But I'll make him work for it at least.
I see a personal trainer at my gym every other week, and every month or two he changes my strength training routine. Last week we started a long overdue new program, which I did on Wednesday and it KICKED MY ASS. I could hardly walk until Sunday, every muscle from the knees to the waist hurt. Today was my first day back at the gym since then, and I suspect I'll be sore again tomorrow.
Ever see someone with one of those big exercise balls and think it was a silly over-marketed exercise toy like the ThighMaster? No way. The Supine Hamstring Curl is one of my ten ass kicking exercises - two 60-second sets.
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Exercise Description:
Supine Hamstring Curl (feet on Exercise Ball).
Classification:
Legs.
Instruction:
Start in Supine Hip Extension, arms extended at your sides. Bend the legs and roll the Sissel exercise ball toward your buttocks until the soles of your feet touch the ball and the shoulders, hips and knees are in line. Extend legs to release.
Another one of the exercises in the new program is not just doing 2 sets of pushups (60 second sets, as many as you can do in that time), but 2 sets of pushups on a bosu ball.
I think personal trainers have a bit of sadist in them, sort of like dentists.
This is the shirt I bought at the Los Angeles airport on the way home from Black Hat because I was so freaking cold. When I bought it I didn't even think about the fact that I had the perfect sneakers to go with it back home in the closet...
can you tell that Paul (the guy across the hall at work who I harass to take pictures for me on Friday) used to be a professional photographer before coming to work at the 'soft?
My traner would be horrified at my posture here. but he really shouldn't complain. I'm down to 125 pounds for those of you keeping score at home. That's 15 pounds less than I weighed here. In fact, the new jeans I bought a month ago are getting a bit slippy on the hips. Not a problem, it's not like I dislike shopping. :) however, the fact that my blood pressure has dropped from 105/60 to 100/50 is a little weird. Like stand up too fast get dizzy weird. Excuse me now while I go refill my water bottle.
whoo hoo, I had a great workout with my trainer Dave this morning for the first time in a month. I only see him every 2 weeks, and had to cancel my last appointment due to work stuff. During today's session every time I thought a weight was too heavy I'd focus on getting angry at the asstard who is raping my checking account, and find the strength to do another five reps of whatever I was doing. However, this means I'm a tad sore now; raising my arms over my head isn't the most comfortable thing to do. Good thing tomorrow is cardio day. :)
When I started working out four or five months ago, my goal was to lose 12 pounds by the end of July - which I did. I'm down to 129 now (the goal was 130)! There are still some goals to accomplish - targeting specific areas to tone up and I could stand to be a bit more flexible - but all in all I don't realistically see myself losing more than 5 more pounds (though I think its entirely feasible to drop a pant size still.) It has been 6 months since my last cholesterol screening, I think I'll go get another done to see how my workouts and diet changes have impacted it. Hopefully it has also dropped.
The only downside to weight loss: finding out your clothes don't fit anymore once you are out somewhere wearing them. In Vegas I learned that my shorts are too loose and drop down on the hips further than I'd like, I was constantly wishing I had packed a belt. Today I grabbed a sweater from the closet that fit great when I bought it this spring and tossed it in my gym bag without trying it on. It's a bit big now - I had a hard time keeping it on my shoulders today. Guess its time to do more shopping to get things to go with the new jeans I bought a couple weeks ago!
In other random news: if my 3 year old doesn't quit singing 'sticky sticky bubble gum' over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over I might lose my mind.
Friday night we had a babysitter and went out to dinner. I wanted to go to the city, but wasn't sure where to go - despite my being a 'city-girl' I don't actually get to spend much time in Seattle unless its with friends who know all the hip places to go. So I fell back on Jasmine Restaurant & Lounge, a location I've hosted two business dinners at in the past (~100-150 people each). For these dinners we'd rented the entire restaurant out and had a pre-determined buffet dinner, so I hadn't really been there on a 'normal' night. So here is my review.
When: Friday night, around 8:30 pm
Parking: W Hotel Valet, $9.79
Atmosphere: contemporary hip.
Food: Outstanding.
We were surprised by how deserted the place was for a Friday night - in fact, it worried us a bit when we first arrived. The front section of Jasmine is the lounge, and there were five or six tables taken there. We chose to be seated in the restaurant where there was only one other table occupied.
I didn't realize from my past experience at Jasmine that they have a fairly extensive sushi bar; I was very happy with the maguro nigiri I had as an appetizer. We also split some very tasty salt and pepper calamari before our entrees arrived. We had a fantastic halibut fillet and the Black Pepper Beef (yeah, we shared so we could both try more things on the menu). My husband had a beer, but I had a lychee martini which was excellent. Given all the appetizers and drinks, the final bill with tip was close to $100 but it was worth it for a splurge night out. I'm pretty sure we could go back and eat a bit more reasonably for a more regular dinner out.
What I don't understand given the amazing food and atmosphere is why it wasn't busier. I hope we just hit an off night. Jasmine is wonderful; if you are in Seattle I highly recommend going. Oh, I forgot to mention, the service was really very good too. So 5 stars all around. I'll go there again for business dinners as well as personal dinners out, every chance I get.
After dinner we stopped at the W for dessert and more cocktails (and parking validation). Both the lemon drop and emerald drop were both fantastic; the lemon was sour and the emerald was sweet. The desserts were small but sooooo good (yes, I broke my 1200 calorie a day meal plan for this night). I had something that wasn't on the menu, their special for the night, which was a chocolate/caramel pastry with sea salt. Unbelievably good stuff.
Sorry no pics of the food. It was a date - I didn't bring the big Nikon D70s along.
One more thing - thanks Zot for sharing your babysitters with us. Good babysitters are hard to find; most people hoard them. :)
1. finetune. This is so damn cool. Its internet radio, except you can create and share playlists with people. You are limited to three songs by any one artist on a playlist, and the minimum number of songs for a playlist is 45. But if you enter 20 songs and get bored, click the "I'm Lazy" button to have finetune select another 25 songs for you based on your music fingerprint (derived from what is already on your playlist). More coolness: I found finetune because of my Wii. When you go to the finetune website on your Wii, it detects the Opera browser on the Wii and gives you a Wii-specific UI with bigger buttons for targeting, etc, and of course you can listen to your playlist on the Wii, on your computer at work, anywhere you have an internet connection. Very slick. You can also embed your playlist into your blog or MySpace. As soon as I have bucketloads of free time I'm going to create a NTT playlist that includes all the songs I've used in NTT and embed it here on my Vox blog.
2. NanoMonsters. Sure, there are some design issues. For starters, my nano isn't exactly a perfect fit. And the clip on the side, that's not a good location. Clip it to something, and your iPod (and NanoMonster) hangs sideways. But despite that, it is so freaking funny I'm using it. I'd knit myself an iPod cozy out of yummy cashmere-merino yarn (see item 4 below) to keep the iPod from getting scratched in my purse, and I still like that one quite a bit, so I might switch between them. Thanks Laura for continuing to keep me kitted out in the latest in pirate gear.
The photo --> from the NanoMonsters website isn't the best; you can't see the actual shape of the Monster (it isn't rectangular black). I'll take a pic of my Nano in the Monster tomorrow and get it uploaded.
3. Sushi grade ahi tuna steaks for 9.99 a pound, and asaragus that isn't big thick stalks. It tastes so much better when the stalks are thinner. My hubby seared the tuna, put a dijon mustard and apricot preserves glaze on it and then coated it with some crushed herb croutons. Yummy, and very healthy for me given I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet (it was that, or 5 hours a week of cardio, and I just don't have time for that! 2 hours cardio plus 2 hours weight training and 1-2 hours core strength exercises is all I can manage in a week).
4. Debbie Bliss yarn. Every time I knit with her yarn I swear I'll never knit with anything else again. Soft, beautiful, the cashmere-merino (baby, aran, and chunky weights) knits like a dream. For awhile I am yarn monogamous, but then I see some flashy thing in a yarn store and I stray... Forgive me Debbie. They mean nothing to me.
People lose hair when they shower. It is normal, and it happens. If your hair is long, it gets caught on your fingers while you shampoo. You don't want it to run down the drain and clog your plumbing, and you don't want to continue to collect hair in your hands, so you set it aside somewhere while you shower. For me (and many other women) that is on the wall of the shower. When you are done in the shower you take it with you and throw it away in the trash.
Read that last sentence again. Now.
WTF is wrong with people at the gym where I workout that they would leave their hair in the shower when they are done!?!?! Do they have any idea how gross this is? Say it with me folks: EWWWWWW.
today's a 2-for-1
I wore a fun shirt to workout in the morning. It's rather obviously for IE7 but a geek like me can't help but think of Seven-of-Nine when I wear it. This picture was taken around 5:30 am, so cut me some slack for looking so tired. That's my greenhouse in the back. By the way, I've lost 3 pounds in the last month and am up to 100 crunches and 100 reverse crunches low ab rocking exercises in addition to my cardio and strength training plan.
After the gym, I had to get a new drivers license, so felt the need to dress up a little bit for that. (and I'm very excited to say that its a great picture! amazing!) Anyhoo, Quornflour convinced me to switch out to a fun shirt later at the office, which she captured for posterity. The Serenity shirt is from an iron on I made on my printer at home. I took the movie logo, did a negative image in some image editing software package, and hit print. Easy, though sadly not the greatest quality. I think one more washing and it will disintegrate.
Yeah, I'm wearing my glasses a lot lately. My contact lenses are driving me nuts.
I forgot my cell phone at home.
I did 75 crunches and 105 reverse crunches.
The dogwoods are in bloom.
Outlook crashed.
I installed PGP Desktop Email 9.6 for Windows.
It is raining.
I had a terrible BLT for lunch.
