Balls

Are you wondering where I'm going with this subject?  Get your mind out of the gutter!

SoftBALL and BaseBALL.  :)

Last night I helped out a friend by playing on his softball team.  It reminded me of how fun it is to be on a team and be active on a team sport.  I played second base and told the coach/manager that I was an OK hitter.  Oops, shouldn't have said anything.  Struck out my first two at bats.  Seriously?  I have never struck out in softball.  Thankfully I got two base hits later in the game and even caught a fly ball.  Phew.  This morning my throwing arm and shoulder are incredibly sore, but I'm secretly loving it.

Baseball is tonight.  I will post pictures since I have sick seats. (I've never used the term sick like that before.)  Maybe I'll get on TV, or at least the jumbotron.  Should I get my hair and makeup done and try to score me a Yankee?

Fit Talk:  Drop and give me 20.
Just kidding, but really, sometime today, do push ups, either modified or straight up.  Make note of how many you did and try to do that many (or more) every day.  My goal is to try and incorporate push ups both in the AM and PM in hopes of getting my number up faster.  We'll see how that goes.

Off to errand.

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday morning!  Bright and early here on the east coast and it's going to be another beautiful day!

Hope the weekend treated everyone well.  Mine was quite nice.

Saturday's class was OK.  We had a weird scheduling snafu so attendance was a little off, but overall it was still good.  Am curious to see how attendance settles once the summer is officially over (sad!).

Saturday night, met up with an old friend and to see her daughter, who is now 17 months.  I think the last time I saw her she was maybe 3 months.  Crazy, right?  Then we did dinner and walking around at a cute little town on the water on Long Island.  It was the perfect night for it.

Yesterday I FINALLY saw Avatar.  When it was first in the theaters I didn't want to see it because it was too long.  But then once it left the theater I decided I wanted to see it.  Figures.  I wasn't thrilled with renting it and watching it on my couch so when I heard that it was coming back to the theaters I was psyched.  I went with my parents to the Sunday matinee on a perfect beach day.  Needless to say, it was pretty empty.

The verdict...I really liked it.  At times during the movie I was thinking "I don't like this" but not because of the movie, just because of what was happening at that time.  The colors/scenery/effects were absolutely amazing and I'm so glad I waited to see it in the theater in 3D.

Since I am currently a very well put together emotional mess, I cried a TON.  I'd reckon that I cried more than anyone else in the theater, including after the movie when my mother asked me what I thought. 

So have you seen the movie?  Did you like it?  Dislike it?  Cry? (Tell me you cried even if you didn't to make me feel better. Kidding.)

Any exciting weekends out there?

This week is going to be a busy one.  I'm teaching 7 classes over the next 6 days.  Why?  :)  Plus I'm going to the Yankees game tomorrow night with kicka$$ seats (a few rows behind the Yankees dugout).  Woohoo!  But before that I have a doctor's appointment for my knee.  Fingers crossed on that one.

OK, time to enjoy my coffee at my usual Monday morning Panera visit. 

TGIF

Happy Friday!  Yay for the weekend.

I've had a really productive morning.  Did a load of laundry, put the gym clothes out on the clothesline (the rest are sitting in the dryer waiting for me to leave bc the dryer heats the entire apartment), roasted some veggies, and called my insurance company about coverage.  Clearly that last one was the most fun and exciting!

Here are the veggies...


Eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, and red peppers.  Tossed in a little olive oil, sea salt, and pepper, then roasted at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

This technique comes from the Roasted Vegetables with Orzo recipe.  But this time I didn't want to make a full on pasta salad so I just roasted the veggies and will cook up some quinoa or buckwheat to eat them with.  Roasted veggies look so pretty!

The weather today is once again near perfect.  Out back (where my clothesline hangs) it's nice and cool.  There are lots of trees so the sun hasn't really made it through yet.  In front it's a bit warmer with lovely sun and blue sky.  But there's definitely a chill in the air that tells me fall is on its way.

This weather makes me want to run.  Not many things have made me want to run this past summer, but this weather is doing it.  Unfortunately I promised myself I wouldn't run until I got my knee checked out.  I'm not sure what I did to it, but it hurts when I move it a certain way.  Thankfully this doesn't really come in to play for everyday activities (or spinning), but since running is a bit rougher on the legs I'm putting it on hold.  The last thing I need is an injury that would keep me from teaching.  So today I'll just think about the running I'll do in the future.

Boot camp last night was good, but I was having a weak day.  Does this ever happen to you?  Full disclosure ladies, aunt flo came to visit yesterday and she always takes a little of my strength with her.  Am I alone here?  So class was OK, but not great.

On the to-do list is a new spin ride, woo hoo!  I've got a few songs I've been wanting to use so hopefully my Spinner's Block won't kick in.  Also need to pack for my short trip down to NY tomorrow.  Trying to decide whether to trek to the gym or just take the day off, TBD.  So that's me in a nutshell.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Fit Me With Your Best Shot

Happy Thursday!

Class last night was a disaster.  For me, not for the class, they were great.  I got a KILLER stomach/side cramp at the beginning of class and it pretty much got worse as the class wore on.  This meant that I had to do some teaching off the bike (or sitting on the bike but not pedalling).  I'm a big fan of being right there with the class and motivating them by working hard, so this was hard for me.

My stomach is weird annoying picky unpredictable.  There are certain foods that I can not eat any time before spinning because the above mentioned cramps make an appearance if I do.  Yesterday I was experimenting with what to eat and when on a double spin day (AM and PM).  I had a smoothie at around 4p and clearly that was the wrong decision.  Oh well, lesson learned.

Tonight is boot camp, as a student, not teacher.  Yay!

I thought I'd mention a few tools that this guy likes to use in his classes.

Kettlebells - currently all the rage.  I'm not a big fan of the exercises involving swinging because I feel that they are a back injury waiting to happen.  But some of the moves using them as just a handled weight are great.  Using them does manage to work your muscles and get your heart rate up, always a good thing.

Stairs - We have to run up and down the stairs holding a medicine ball.  Single steps on the way down, double steps with the ball over our heads on the way up.  This is my idea of hell.  Somehow I can spin all-out for hours, yet can hardly manage the stairs for 5 minutes.

Source

Big Rope - He doesn't use this one as much as I'd like.  It too is kind of hellish, but such a great workout.  Typically the rope is looped around a pole (ceiling support).  You then grab both ends and waving your arms get the rope to dance.  It's hard to describe but it really gets the heart rate up and makes you feel the burn in your arms.  Love/hate it!

It's a hard class, and that's what I like.  During class I'm hating it, yet kind of liking it at the same time.  At the end, I'm loving it.

I'm all about out of the box exercises and exercise equipment.  What unique tools have you used or seen?

My b-day lunch

Happy new year to you!  Well, not really, but it's a new year to me, and that makes me excited.  I'm putting it out there, good things are going to happen for me this year.

My sister and mother came to visit me yesterday.  Instead of doing a birthday dinner, we did a birthday lunch.  I had been telling them about a particular salad up here, so my sister suggested we do that for lunch.

Feast your eyes...

This beauty is the Kitsas Pella salad at Jordan's Pizza in Norwalk, CT.  Add it to your to-do list if you're ever driving through the area.

It's a nice salad (lettuce, tomato, onion, olives, cukes) with grilled chicken (which is tasty and moist), shredded mozzarella, and feta cheese.  Served with Jordan's AMAZING dressing.  Plus, this lovey is served in none other than a bowl made of pizza dough.  Yes, that is correct.  And it all sits gingerly on a small pool of delicious and refreshing tzatziki sauce.

So when you're done with the salad you get to devour eat the bowl, which tastes out of this world with either the tzatziki or dressing, or both!

So that was lunch.  As you can imagine, I wasn't overly hungry for dinner.

But even with this behemoth sitting in my belly I still managed to give my all at my Tuesday boxing class, which is always fun.

Back to the "fit" posts tomorrow.

Happy hump day!

:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

I'm going to go enjoy the day!  xoxo

Banana Bread Revisited

I posted this recipe a while back, but when I made it last night I made it a bit healthier, so I figured I'd post this version as well.

I wasn't sure how it would come out, but it is quite tasty, and maybe even a little sweet.

Banana Bread (old version of ingredients in parenthesis for reference)


1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (Old:1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup unbleached white flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg whites
1/4 cup each of white sugar and brown sugar for a total of 1/2 cup (Old: 1 cup sugar (I used a bit under 1/2 cup splenda and a bit under 1/2 cup sugar))
3 mashed bananas (Old: 1 cup mashed banana)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (Old: 1/4 cup vegetable oil)
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350.
In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
In a mixing bowl beat together egg whites, sugar and banana. Add oil and mix well.
Add dry ingredients and mix. Fold in raisins.
Coat a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Transfer batter to pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes (Old: 55-60 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Spinner's Ear?

Source

Not to be confused with swimmer's ear...or maybe it should be.

So apparently I sweat quite a lot and then my sweat drips in to my ear, thus clogging it.  It doesn't cause any actual problems, but it is REALLY annoying, especially because I sound like I'm underwater when I talk.  Others don't hear it, I do.

This happens to me with almost any activity that results in a nice sweat.

Am I the only person with this problem?

Any suggestions on how to remedy this?
Someone suggested wearing my headband so it covers part of my ears, which makes sense.  However, I use the headphones that wrap around your ear (which would conflict with the headband), and the mic I use for spin also sits on my ears.  Should I put cotton in my ears?

The end of the 30th year

This is where I was on Friday night...

Yankee Stadium!!

My birthday is tomorrow and so a group of us went to the game on Friday night.  Sadly they lost miserably, but it was a great evening spent with great people and really, I couldn't have asked for more.

This is me, looking scarily happy.

I had planned on trying to get to the gym earlier in the day on Friday, but unfortunately my desire to go out for happy hour beat out my desire to go to the gym.  Oh well!

Even with a big night out on Friday, I still taught my Saturday class.  This week class was at 9:30a instead of 10.  After much talk, the gym had decided to change the group exercise schedule and make my class 30 minutes earlier.  Not surprisingly, when I got to the gym on Saturday they told me that due to regional management complaining, the class would be moving back  to 10a.  So I called it a limited edition 9:30a Saturday spin class.  Oye!

Right now I'm at my usual Monday morning home away from home (Panera), in between classes.  Fueling up on coffee and half a Lara Bar (first time trying the PB&J flavor, yum!).

Have a GREAT Monday folks!!

"Healthy" Habits?

I can only think of two of these right now, but maybe you have more.

Are you one of those people who does the following two things to health-ify your food?

• Do you blot the oil off your pizza?
• Do you scoop the dough out of your bagels?

I get that both of these can reduce the fat/calories of their respective foods, but for some reason I don't do either of these.  And while I love to make things better for me, I really don't want to be one of those people.  I know that's a silly reason, but it's honestly the truth.  Plus, with the pizza, I hate to use so many napkins as my green side gets angry.

Do you do this?  Any other tricks you do do?

Lentil Love

Up until a month or so ago, I don't think I had ever eaten a Lentil.

Given that I was a vegetarian for a while, this is actually kind of odd.  No one in my family eats lentils so I hardly even knew they existed.

Trader Joe's to the rescue (as usual).

TJ's usually has samples out and last time I was at the one near my parent's house, they had lentils and chicken sausage.  I figured I'd give the mixture a try since I knew lentils were high in fiber and I"m a bit of a fiber junkie.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy their flavor and texture, so I bought a pouch right there.

They can be eaten solo, but I find that they need a little something.  For me the perfect pairing was as a side dish for my tasty teriyaki turkey burgers, and with a hint of bbq sauce.  Yum!

I think I might be hooked.

Hump Day

Happy Wednesday!  After a quick trip down to FL, I'm back at home.  Wow, it's hot down there.  Somehow the same temperature down there and up here can feel so different.

Hope you all had nice weekends and a good start to your week.

Stuff here is ok.  There's been some drama but I'm trying to move forward from it.  Plus I just found out that a job I've been interviewing for for a while isn't going to pan out.  So while that sucks, the hiring manager actually called me to explain, and that impressed me.  So I'm just sticking to my "stay positive" mantra and hoping that one day things start following suit.

I need to come up with a healthy dessert for a dinner tomorrow.  I'm thinking something that involves fruit, so I've got to put the thinking cap on and try to come up with something.  Any suggestions?

On the Fit side...

Fitness machine I need to work back in to my routine:

The assisted chin up/dip machine
This used to be part of my repertoir.  Why that changed, I'm not really sure.  But last Friday after teaching the 6a class I was looking to do something different, so I decided to give it a go.  My goal is to one day be able to do a pull up, so this is a good start.
Wow was I sore.  Honestly, I think I was sore until yesterday and I used the machine on Friday.  Love it!
Looking forward to using it again and gradually watching the weight get smaller and smaller.
If you don't already, give it a try.  But if you're unfamiliar with it, ask a trainer for a quick demo.

Away

I'm in Flah-Dee-Dah right now.  That would be FL, I think my grandmother or mother used to say it like that.  Heading home tomorrow so I'll be back with a post on Wednesday.

Be well!

Spin Ride ☺

As a side note, if you're looking for other spin rides, just click on the spin related labels on the right.

I made this one last week, I like it because it's a good mix of some newer songs with some remixes of older songs.  I might make some minor tweaks going forward, but here it is as it stands right now.

Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas - 3:48
Warm up song - get the blood flowing, heart rate up a bit.  Moving from seated flat to standing run with light resistance, out to three, back to two.  Mix it up a bit.

Waiting For Tonight - Jennifer Lopez - 4:04
Let's start out climb.  Starting out moderate, in the saddle.  Adding some resistance every minute.  Aiming to maintain the pace even as resistance gets heavier.

DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love (clean) - Usher featuring Pitbull - 3:42
Still climbing that hill.  In the saddle, come out to three on the chorus.  Each time we return to the saddle let's add a bit more resistance.

Riders on the Storm - Creed - 6:19
This is a longer song so let's start it in the saddle.  The hill is heavy so I remind the class that this song is about endurance, it's not a race.  Slow and steady.  Still adding every minute or so.  About 2-3 minutes in I'll transition them out to a standing climb in 3 to finish the hill.  It's gets HEAVY.

If I Had You - Adam Lambert - 3:48
Take it to the saddle and back the resistance off half way, leaving a moderate hill.  We're going to sprint.  Three 30 second sprints.  First sprint is on a moderate hill.  Second is on a light hill.  Third is anywhere between a light hill and a flat road.  The first two chorus breaks are each 30 seconds, the last is about 45 and goes to the end of the song.

Bootylicious - Destiny's Child - 3:28
Start off recovering.  Mandatory 1-2 minute recovery then an active recovery as we start up our hill.  The next few songs follow the same pattern as the first four.
Moderate resistance, in the saddle climbing.

Naturally - Selena Gomez & the Scene - 3:07
Hill is moderate to heavy.  Coming out of the saddle on the chorus, picking up the pace and energy for 30 seconds, then back to the saddle, add some more resistance and repeat on the next chorus.

Bad Company - Five Finger Death Punch - 4:23
Let's make that hill heavy and take the whole song out of the saddle.  Adding resistance as desired.

Don't Trust Me (Clean) - 3OH!3 - 3:14
Once again, back to a moderate hill and three sprints.  First on a moderate hill, then light hill, then flat.  Taking off on the chorus, 30,30, then about 45, to the end of the song.

Breakeven - The Script - 4:21
Recover about 2 minutes and then climbing in the saddle.
Moderate hill to start, add as desired.

I Made It (Cash Money Heroes) (Clean) - Kevin Rudolf, Birdman,  Jay Sean & Lil Wayne - 4:10
Final song.  I tell the class that they've almost "made it".  Hill gets heavier fast.  I usually have them add on every 30s-1min, for the final minute I ask them to dig deep and pick up the pace.  For the final 30 I ask them to hold on to that pace and add a little resistance.

Amazing - Seal - 3:02
Cool down!!  Well deserved.


Enjoy this one, I think it's fun.

Body Fat - don't trust the scale

Hola!

One of my friends at my home gym is a trainer, and back in April I asked her to measure my body fat %.  Using the calipers (pinchy thing).

Last weekend I decided it was time for a follow up, so I snagged her and asked her to measure me again.

This time the gym got a new "fancy" scale that claims it will tell you your body fat %.  So I hopped on the scale, and grabbed the handles.  It calculated my weight and then spit out my body fat %.  Before I tell you what it said, here's a generalized grid of where the percentages fall.

Women (this is an average indication, as many charts take age in to consideration)
Essential Fat  10-12%
Athletes  14-20%
Fitness  21-24%
Acceptable  25-31%
Obese  32%+
 
It said my body fat percentage was 31%.  Ummm, no.  Do you see how close that is to obese?
 
So we went to the caliper method.  I won't tell you exactly what it came out to, but let's just say it was a drastic difference.  The moral of the story being, don't trust a scale to tell you your body fat percentage because I am concrete proof that they can be very inaccurate.

I'm such a sap

By 10:30a this morning I had already cried.  Is that normal?  Probably not.  But so you don't think I'm a miserable person I had also clapped at the TV and laughed out loud.  Better?  Thanks morning TV.

(Plus I watched the "Military Reunions" YouTube video yesterday, so that was 10 whole minutes of tears.)

Michael J. Fox was on Rachel Ray today (which could have been a rerun for all I know).
He wrote a book called A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future: Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned.  I'm sure you can guess more or less what it's about, how in essence the best laid plans go astray and life is about embracing those parts and just rolling with it.

So he of course talks about how the most significant parts of people's lives are when the really unplanned (and often bad) things happen.  How you need to just stay positive and have faith that things will sort themselves out and you'll end up on the track you were meant to be on.  And be happy!

And then the tears came.

I do believe this, but after 15 months of believing it and not seeing any results, it gets frustrating.  But, such is life.

OK, I promise, no more serious posts for at least a week!  :)
Just had to share.

Sugar free muffins

Back in the day I was referred to a book called the Yeast Connection for a host of health problems I was having.  The essence of this book (in super Cliff Notes version) is that your body can have too much yeast which causes many problems.  In order to fix this, you have to starve your body of anything that promotes the growth of yeast (sugar being the biggest culprit).

When I was following this regimen, my eating was SEVERELY limited (as I'm sure you can imagine).  But I had to make do.  The book does give you some recipes, but they're rather bland and unexciting.

One recipe I did use a bunch of times was their Applesauce Muffins recipe.  Today, on a whim, I decided to revisit that recipe and give it a go.  They're in the oven now and I'll complete this post when I decide whether or not people will think they're worth the effort.

More to come...

Let's just say they smell delicious, so I'm really hoping they turn out tasty. So here's the verdict....
They're okay.  They definitely have a "healthy" taste, but as your palate adjusts, they improve.  I think they might be good with some preserves, or maybe with some more raisins. 
If you do make them, don't expect something sweet.  Expect to taste the whole wheat flour.  But they do satisfy the need for a baked good (in my opinion).

So here's the recipe...

Applesauce Muffins

1 large egg
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

I added the following:
cinnamon (i didn't measure but am guessing maybe 1/1.5 tsp
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 375.
Beat together the egg, oil, and applesauce.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.  Beat well.
Add the raisins and mix them in.
Spoon in to greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins and they come out to about 116 calories/muffin

Spaghetti Arms

Know what movie that's from?  Here's a hint.

But seriously, I feel like I have spaghetti arms right now.  Typing and using the mouse are rough, love it!

Quick arm workout tonight and then boxing class.  Enough said.  Lots of frustrations to take out on the bag, so I had at it.  And now...spaghetti arms.

Me and my pasta limbs are off to bed.  Sweet dreams!

A Whole Foods tangent

Sunday I treated myself to lunch at Whole Foods.  They just opened a new location one town over from me and I had heard that the new store was amazing.

I have to agree, it's pretty amazing.  But what negates that amazing-ness for me is the fact that it's EXPENSIVE.  Not just expensive, EXPENSIVE.

As someone on a VERY limited income (the word income is being generous), Whole Foods is not the place for me.  I'd love to be able to splurge on so much of their stuff, but it's just not in the cards for me right now.

There were plenty of people there with full shopping carts, going to town.  I admire that, but also can't imagine ever being able to do that.  Yes, this store is in a rather wealthy area, but still.

I love the store, but aside from the odd item I can't find elsewhere (and the buffet), it's not really my cup of tea.

Am I alone here or does everyone think that Whole Foods is the mac-daddy?

Abs of Makeup...I mean Steel

Who needs an exercise video when you can just use makeup to get that six pack?

I saw this product reviewed in Shape magazine.  I think it's bizarre and I wonder what type of person would take the time to do this, but maybe I'm in the minority here.  What do you think?

Abs in a Box

 Here's some info on what you get in the kit.  I'm copy and pasting this from a site, so I can't take credit for any of this poetry.  This is just some of what comes with the kit.

Ab Setting Spray: Once you have defined your abs to their sexiest, Ab Setting Spray will ensure your make-up lasts long and sets in place.


Ab Stain – Semi-Permanent: This long-lasting semi-permanent ab stain will give you the appearance of ultimate definition that stays on your skin for 3-5 days. Perfect for ultimate abs that last all day long on the beach, all night out on the town and for your entire weekend getaway. No matter how wet or sweaty you get – these abs aren’t going anywhere!

Mini Kabuki Brush: For areas that need sexy shading and sweeping highlights.

Next time before I hit the pool, I'm going to spend a half an hour or so defining my abs so my neighbors all seethe with jealousy.  ;)

Food Find

Found this guy in the frozen food section of the health food section at Stop & Shop a few weeks ago.  It was on sale so I thought I'd give it a try.  For only 140 calories I figured it was definitely worth a shot.

Here are the stats:

Calories: 140

Total Fat: 1.5g

Sodium: 390mg

Dietary Fiber: 5g

Protein: 9g

Calcium: 15%

While it is gluten free and nut free, it is not vegan.

Here are the ingredients:

Spinach, potatoes, egg whites, whole eggs, onions, brown sugar, rice flour, sea salt, salt and spices.

Not too bad, right?

And the verdict is that it actually tasted pretty good.  I was hungry and in a rush so I opted for the microwave cooking directions and I think I may have overcooked it, but even so, it was pretty decent.  I'd imagine that cooking it (properly) in the oven would make it even better.

They have a few other varieties as well as zucchini "pasta" dishes and desserts according to the box.  Let me know if you try this or any other of their products.

Thanks!

Ready, Set.....SPIN!

Good morning!  Happy FRIDAY!

I'm all confused about what day it is since I was away the past few days, which made today feel like a Monday.  Plus I was covering the 6a spin, which is normal for a Monday, not for a Friday.

But it's Friday, wooohoooo!

So today I thought I'd explain about getting my first spin class.  Whenever anyone asks me about one of my proudest accomplishments (usually in a job interview), this is what I tell them.

I went for my certification on August 1st.  So that part was done.  I had spoken with someone at the gym prior to my class so I knew I'd be able to get on to the sub list.  So I went in and had to do a little audition in order to officially be added to the sub list (and payroll).  Done.

I was so excited to be on the list and to start getting emails for subs.  I was on the NY and CT lists.  I'd get lots of emails but none of them were for CT, which was so frustrating.  Here I was, chomping at the bit, and NO ONE in CT seemed to need a sub.  Finally a desperate last minute plea came out for a class in White Plains, NY.  I emailed the woman and said that I could do it, but did tell her that it would be my first time teaching.  But she took a chance on me.  That gave me the courage that I needed to actively try to get my own class.

I learned that a Saturday 10a class was available at my home club, so I called the manager and told her I'd like to be considered.  She said she wasn't sure she wanted someone new, so she'd get back to me.  What she meant by that was that she'd call everyone possible to see if any of them wanted the class.  Apparently no one did, so she called me back to say the class was mine.  I could tell she wasn't thrilled, but I used this as ammo to fuel my fire.

Some background:  There's a 9a and a 10a on Saturday.  It used to be that the same guy taught both, and he ran straight from 9a until 10:45a, with no break.  The gym didn't like this because people felt weird walking in at 10a since he didn't break.  So they decided to put a new instructor in that second time slot.

My first class was interesting.  The guy before me shot daggers with his eyes.  He instantly hated me because I had taken his class away from him.  Similarly, his class felt loyal to him and didn't want to take my class.  I think my first few classes had maybe 3-4 people.  When I hit 8 people it was significant.

Teaching to an empty class sucks, but I knew I was good so I persevered.  And slowly those numbers started coming up.  I'd sub for the Sunday teachers and plug my Saturday class.  They'd enjoy me as a sub, so they'd come over to my class on Saturdays.  Slowly it started improving.

It's been tough, but it's been SO worth it.  I've even had a few people who have stopped taking his 9a and now take my 10a instead.  I have a loyal following and my class is usually pretty close to full.  It's truly invigorating to me to think about how things started and where they are now. 

It makes me proud and confident and reminds me that doing something you love really does show through.  You need to be passionate and when you are, your enthusiasm shines through, and that's what people want.

So there's my feel good story for a Friday.  Go enjoy your weekend!!

Missing again

 sorry to once again be MIA for a few days.  Was out of town for a funeral. :(

Back today and ready for a bit of a detox.  I made chocolate chip cookies to bring (from scratch) so I have of course eaten my share (and more) of cookies over the past three days.

I've also been having some WICKED heartburn.  It sucks.  I'm actually on meds for reflux so heartburn isn't usually an issue.  Unfortunately, that has not been the case the past few days.  Hopefully now that I'm home I can get back in to my routine and kick the burn to the curb.

Did a heavy leg workout on Monday and am still sore today.  Yikes.

I did step jumps (for lack of a better name).  I stacked a step with four risers on each side.  Standing with one leg on the step and one on the ground I jumped side to side, so I alternated legs on the step, squatting down with the leg on the floor.  Wow, that sounds confusing.

Here's a video that kind of explains what I'm talking about.   I tried to embed a video but it doesn't seem to be working.  But here's a link, if you're curious.  The version I did is more like the ones she does at the end, going deeper in to the squat.  Another a$$ kicking move. :)

Let me know if you try it.

Lateral Platform Drills for Step Exercise Training -- powered by eHow.com

Sun Salutation

Good morning!

I'm headed out of town today for a wake/funeral so no time for the gym, not to mention that I am SORE from yesterday.

So I decided to take advantage of my free On-Demand programming and found a Yoga class(?) to try.

Just to give you the whole mental picture...
I moved my coffee table over to the side, so I had a nice big open space in front of my tv.
My floor is laminate (looks like wood), so it's nice and HARD and slippery.
I don't have a yoga mat, so I used a towel.  But only used it sometimes since it too is a little slippery on the floor.
I started off in socks, but slid across the floor so I switched to barefoot.

Overall the class was OK.  It wasn't too easy, but it also wasn't hard.  Again, I feel that it was better than nothing.

And as a result, I'm thinking about maybe investing in a yoga mat and maybe borrowing a DVD (or two) from the library for those days when I can't make it to the gym. 

Any video recommendations?

♥ at the gym

Good morning folks!  Happy Monday!

Just a random thought today...

Have you found love in the gym?  Friendship in the gym?

Most of my social life in CT has come from the gym.  Some people find this really odd, and I get that.  I can't even put my finger on how it happened but looking at my circle of friends here, about half of them are from the gym.

And the love thing...well I've dated a couple of guys from the gym.  Nothing turned in to anything overly serious (more just friendships), but yes, I have picked up guys at the gym, or rather, they've picked me up.

One of these guys told me that no guy that was friendly to me at the gym wanted to be just friends.  I don't believe this. 

What has your experience been?

You like?

Spur of the moment I decided to change the appearance of the blog (yet again).

I thought I liked it but now i'm not sure if it makes me dizzy.

Thoughts?

Hi stranger

Wow, I've really managed to slack this past week and I apologize.  There's a lot of stuff going on and I've been going a bit insane.  If I were a big drinker, this week would surely drive me to drink.  Guess it's a good thing I'm not.  Instead a week like this makes me want to run away and/or hide.  If I could take a trip right now, you bet your bottom dollar that I'd be a goner.

Anyway...

Was supposed to be on vaca this week but had to cancel that due to a death in a friend's family.  Things happen, it's what life is about.

Some random things...

Have you ever felt someone watching you at the gym?  I was doing a back exercise with a resistance tube and some man on a cardio machine was very obviously watching me and kind of making a weird face.  Weird.  Maybe he was jealous?

Worked out at the gym near my parent's house.  I always find working out at a new gym to be interesting.  In some ways it's fun to do something different and get out of your comfort zone, but in other ways it's annoying bc you don't know the dynamic of the gym, or the layout.  The meat heads were doing their job rocking out in the weights area and since I didn't really know the lay of the land I couldn't block them out as well as I usually do.  Oh well, it was fine.

Class on Saturday was GREAT!  Good group, good energy and almost full, which in my opinion makes a spin class better for everyone.  Given that it was a gorgeous day, I was pretty psyched that people made it to the gym.

Off to the gym in a few now, the goal being to kick my own butt (and arms/legs/chest/back) a bit.  Fun times!

Hopefully I'll do a bit better with posting this week.  Fingers crossed.