I went to the gym yesterday afternoon because I had a feeling today was going to be busy at work and I wouldn't be able to leave in time to get my strength training in before BURN. However, I had an email from my boss this morning that she's working from home, so I should be able to get out of here by 4!! Love it!!
Of course, it's super quiet (i.e. boring) here at the office. I've been spending some time at The Daily Plate tracking my calories and exercise. It's a fun site, and I'm impressed with their food database.
Let's see - what do I have planned for exercise this week? BURN tonight, cardio tomorrow, Wednesday is my day off, training with Tara on Thursday, cardio Friday, and strength training on Saturday. I've been trying to burn at least 750 calories (per my HRM) with every workout. I'm hoping to hit a new low on the scale this week.
Oh, this morning I had Jerel take pictures of me in a couple different coats that are too big before we donate them. I will put them up later. I've had one of them since 1994 - it used to barely hit below my hips, now it's almost down to my knees!
I am simply amazed at what a difference 2-3 weeks can make.I bought a couple of pairs of pants at Filene’s Basement on November 10th, one size 10 and the other size 12.I did blog about it – they both fit but weren’t really in the wearing “comfort zone”.I tried them on this morning and they are now ready to enter the rotation!!Even though I’ve only lost a couple of pounds since I bought them, I’m losing inches and that’s what helping me wear smaller (and smaller) sizes!
Last night we did end up going out for sushi.I wore my new jeans, a black cable-knit sweater and my new boots – I have to tell you, I actually felt awesome – like I really looked good.I am smaller now than I have been in 14 years (even though I still weigh about 12 lbs more than I did when I lost weight in 1993) and I cannot put into words how great I feel.
We didn’t go too crazy at dinner – we started with their salmon spring roll, and then just did omakase, letting the chef decide which fish was the freshest.We had some wonderful salmon, tuna, and mackerel sashimi, along with an awesome salmon roll that was topped with roe.We also had one of their toro torch rolls – delicious!
Afterward we walked down to Finale.We hadn’t been there in years, but decided to treat ourselves to dessert.I had their molten chocolate cake and Jerel had the manjari mousse.It was great – totally worth the 90 minutes on the crosstrainer yesterday!
Not much going on today – just the usual laundry, grocery shopping, etc.I’m taking the day off from the gym, but it’s supposed to be warmer today, so I might go out for a wog later.
My boss will be in NY on Tuesday and Wednesday, but it’s going to be busy the next few weeks because it’s budget planning time.What fun!
Only 15 working days until our Sea Dream cruise though – we leave 3 weeks from today.I’m still trying to find a bathing suit that I like.The bathing suit tops from VS were just a little too small in band (and yet too big in the cup – so sad), although one that I ordered hasn’t arrived yet.Maybe it will look better.I also placed an order with Lands End for a few tank tops and another bathing suit, which will hopefully work.
I hope everyone has had a great weekend!! Hard to believe that this is the last week of November!
***Update***
I actually went to the gym around 2 pm. I just had a feeling tomorrow is going to be crazy at work and I wouldn't be able to leave early enough to get my strength training in before BURN at 6:00 pm. I did 15 minutes on the crosstrainer, then an hour of strength training, followed by another 45 minutes on the crosstrainer. Woot!! I'm feeling great!!
Just wanted to make a quick entry on this bitterly cold Saturday here in Beantown. I turned the heat on at home - definitely a first to have it on in November, but I was freezing!
I did 90 minutes on the crosstrainer this morning and felt fabulous. I had some extra time so I decided to treat myself to a few minutes in the steam room. Well, I tend to be a little modest when it comes to nudity in the locker room/shower area/steam room. I'm looking better, but there's no reason for me to be flashing my tummy rolls or sagging boobs, so I took 2 small towels into the steam room - one to sit on and one to cover up my front. There were a couple of other women in there letting it all hang out, which is fine for them. Go ahead - it's just not for me.
I relaxed for about 10 minutes and then headed out, grabbed my bath towel and went into the shower, hanging the bath towel on a hook outside of the shower stall. When I finished my shower - no towel!! Can you believe one of those beeyatches actually took my towel? I was SO pissed. Talk about not having any respect. It's bad enough half the broads I see finish working out on the crosstrainer/treadmill etc. and don't take a moment to wipe their equipment down, but this definitely takes the cake.
So, I had to grab a few of the hand towels they provide to dry off with and then scoot back to my locker. Luckily I had an extra bath towel in my monthly locker that I could use.
It's okay...karma is a bitch. One of these days she'll get hers.
Not much else going on today. I took a little nap, and I think we're going out for sushi, but I'm not sure.
Yeah, yeah…Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I’m not feeling too badly about my dinner last night – which was so YUMMY!!Jerel says it’s the best Thanksgiving he’s ever had – previously our Thanksgiving in Hawaii 3 years ago was the best, but that has now fallen into second place.I believe we’ll be going to Excelsior again next year.
As previously discussed, I had the special pre-fixe dinner, along with the ½ glass wine pairing.The bisque was divine, I ate half of my salad and Jerel had the other half, I ate all the turkey and veggies but couldn’t get through all of the mashed potatoes and stuffing, and Jerel and I split my dessert.Perfecto!
Of course, the scale was up this morning.Hopefully lots of water will help wash away that extra sodium from dinner – and I’m drinking some green tea today.We’ll see if that helps!
This morning I was up and out the door at 7, did 30 minutes on the crosstrainer and then worked out with Tara for an hour.There were only about 5 other women at the gym – it was awesome!Oh – Tara says I’ll be getting a new program next week.How exciting!We did a couple of different abs moves today – one was “standing bicycles” – stand with your hands behind your head, lift your right leg up and bring the left elbow to the knee, then do the opposite side, for a minute.Then I sat on a bench with a 10 lb weight with my legs out straight, upper body leaning back, then pull legs in and crunch up taking the weight out over the knees – 15 times.Wow, that was a killer.After that I did scissor crunches and could really feel it in my transverse abs.Overall, another great workout.
It’s pretty quiet at the office today.I ordered pizza for the group along with 2 big bowls of salad.Hopefully everything will show up on time.I need to leave around 4:00 because the tree lighting is happening at 5:00 and I would like to avoid the crowds if possible.Jerel’s office closes at 1:00, so he’ll have most of the afternoon off.We finally got around to writing down all the clothing items I’m donating and he’s going to drop them off to the charity.
Tomorrow is supposed to be really, really cold – in the 30’s – so we don’t have anything planned other than the weekly trek to my JC center, and then I’ll go to the gym and do some cardio.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...and have a great weekend!!
Since I was forewarned by an aching back and tender breasts, I guess I shouldn’t be too horribly surprised that TOM reared its ugly head today (4 days early).In a way, it’s good, because now I can enjoy our dinner out tomorrow without worrying about the scale on Saturday.Of course, it’s bad because I already have major cramps which I’m hoping do not continue into tomorrow!
I did have a couple of kickass workouts yesterday and today in preparation for my Thanksgiving feast.Last night I did an hour and 15 minutes on the crosstrainer with lots of intervals and burned 750 calories.This morning I did 30 minutes on the crosstrainer, had a 1 hour personal training session with Tara , and did another 15 minutes on the crosstrainer.I think I burned around 775 calories.
The scale was at a new low this morning – 196 – so I’m tracking it as my official weigh-in for the week.
Oh – here’s a little more irony for you.Today is our 8th wedding anniversary.I guess there won’t be any “celebrating” for a few days!Here’s a scan of the wedding photo I keep on my desk.I weigh about 35 lbs less than I did in 1999 (woot!).
Brrrrrr!!Okay – here’s the downside of weight loss – I have lost 104 lbs of insulation!!It seems like I am cold all the time, especially at home.We live on the 5th floor of our building, and in the past have only turned the heat on when it’s really, really cold outside – usually in January.Well, it’s been in the 30s the last couple of days and I’ve already wanted to turn the heat on.Last night I even went to bed with socks on because my feet were so cold!
Moving on…
Hope posted last night that reading our blog entries about the hard times and how we get through them is very helpful to her.I think she was mostly talking about the food portion of our journey, but I faced a “not wanting to exercise challenge” last night.
Yesterday, work wasn’t too bad and I was out by 4:15 pm.However, I really just wanted to go home and hang out with Jerel and Tigger.It was cold and windy, and I was tired, but I told myself all I had to do was my strength training – I could skip BURN and just do cardio on Tuesday.I just didn’t feel like not getting home until after 7.
So, I went to the gym and did a 5 minute warm-up on the crosstrainer, and started my strength training routine.I knew I had until 5:30 pm to sign up for BURN.Well, I got through my upper body workout by 5:20 pm.By then, the endorphins had started to flow and I was feeling more awake, so I went ahead and signed up for BURN.I’m not really sure how I convinced myself to take the class – I guess it was more mind over matter.I knew I needed to get a good cardio workout in since I had taken Sunday off, and I would really like to lose a couple of lbs this week in spite of Thanksgiving.Plus, I always feel awesome after I take a BURN class.
I actually got the treadmill up to 7.0 during my sprint intervals.I’m still trying to work in my new running shoes…I think I need some thicker socks because my feet feel like they’re moving around too much.It was a great class – and I slept like a baby last night (well, except for the couple of times I had to push Tigger off of me).
My boss was supposed to be off today, but has so much work to do she decided to come in for a half day.I was going to try to scoot over to the gym at lunchtime to try a special session of Boxing BURN but now I won’t be able to, so tonight I will do some cardio on the arc trainer and crosstrainer.
Not much else is going on.My VS order should be delivered today…I’m hoping everything fits and looks good!
Our weekend was wonderful.Saturday after weigh-in I went to the gym and did my strength training, along with 30 minutes on the crosstrainer.I also got my bangs trimmed, and then went home and took a nice long nap.We went out for drinks and dinner – I should remember that I only need 1 cosmo no matter how yummy they are – no need for 2!By the time we finished a bottle of wine with dinner I was fairly smashed.
Luckily I wasn’t hung over yesterday.We finally made it to Natick to do our stock up shopping at BJ’s.We also went to the mall and both got some new boots from Rockport.I bought a pair of Levi’s (yes, size 12 – I might be wrong thinking that Talbot’s runs big) and a pair of gloves from The North Face.It was quite the successful shopping trip.
I did take some liberties with my eating this weekend, but don’t feel I went too overboard –except for the alcohol on Saturday night.Yesterday we had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory – I had the chicken tacos, but no cheesecake.It didn’t even tempt me!I plan on being very good this week, although it’s not going to matter because TOM will be here any day – I feel its arrival is imminent.I really wish it would go back to showing up every 28 days rather than every 23!
As for exercise, tonight will be strength training and BURN, tomorrow is cardio and Wednesday & Friday mornings I’m seeing Tara.We leave for our cruise 1 month from yesterday so I have some work to do before I get into a bathing suit!
I'm reporting a nice loss of 1.6 lbs this week! I sort of thought it would be more, but hey - I'll take what I can get. A little further into onederland is always good!
Wow...another week has flown by (well, mostly). I am so happy it's Friday!!
I am very proud of myself. I got up this morning at 4:45 am, went to the gym, did an hour on the crosstrainer and then ran most of the way home (it was raining and very chilly). I knew I wouldn't want to go work out after my mani/pedi, so it was this morning or nothing. Yay me! Tomorrow is what I am hoping will be a great weigh-in, so I don't want to do anything - or not do anything - to mess it up.
Jerel has class tomorrow - yay, last one on a Saturday - so I'll go to my weigh-in after I drop him off. I need to do my strength training, and I also want to get my bangs trimmed.
On Sunday we really need to go to Natick - it's our last chance before Black Friday! I have to go to REI to check out their waterproof pants (for Antarctica). I'm going to need to try them on because I have no idea what size I should get - of course, who knows what size I'll be by the time the end of January rolls around! Luckily though, I'll have layers on underneath so it's okay if they end up a little big. I'm sure the penguins aren't going to mind!
I hope everyone has a terrific Friday and a wonderful weekend!!
