oceancape

So I thought this would never happen to me, that I would go MIA off here for over a week but alas, it happened to me.  Truth be told, lots of family stuff happening at the moment that I just won’t get into it because it’s kinda making me hyperventilate (scary!), so just thought I’d take my mind off things and chill.

Awesome song I’m listening to at the moment that’s really fly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q2sKm5TbA0&feature=PlayList&p=07856CE16F19C483&index=15 (singer’s name is Taio Cruz) - will definitely put some of his tracks on my iPod when I get it fixed, or buy a new one - can’t afford to do either at the moment, totally shitty!  My life really sucks without music during commutes/working out but just trying to make the best out of it.

So I’ve only been doing hot yoga and eating sensibly since I joined on July 27 I think… I’ve lost 5 pounds since then (so it’s been about 2 weeks I guess?)  I’m actually weighing in at 169.2 or something like that but I’ll wait til it stays like that/drops a bit lower til I update my weight in the tracker as being in the 160s.  Totally crazy! Hot yoga works, and my jeans are totally getting loose for me.  So yeah, that’s all I’m doing and I think I’ll meet my goal of 165 by September 3, or maybe even drop down to 160, who knows? Here’s hoping, the more the better of course.

Hope everyone’s doing well in their own journeys, staying true and positive, and just smiling.  Sometimes when you think you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, it’s really difficult to be humble and think of others who are in worse off situations than yourself, especially when shit hits the fan on all sides (family, work, relationships, personal goals, etc.) but I guess I just need to really remind myself of that - I mean, there are people in the world who don’t even have a family, or food, or their health, so I am fortunate.

So, that’s all

So this is going to be a quick one, since it’s 12:02am and I am ready to pass out (SURPRISE SURPRISE to me!)  I definitely have to wait until 1am though, since my body will definitely let me to fall asleep now, but I’ll end up waking up at a ridiculously early time like 3, or 4am, so gotta wait it out.. I know, I’m weird..

Hope everyone’s having a productive/active/healthy week so far!

I’d like to share a bit with you all (anyone) a bit about the past couple of years in terms of my lifestyle/cause of weight gain.  I had a desk (very stressful) job until recently, and after the job loss, it was stress about not having a job.. anyway, it took me a while until I got back into a routine (let’s say about 4 bloody months).. but during that time, I also was overseas  for almost a month, one month consisted of helping my brother fundraise and prepare for his volunteer trip to Costa Rica, and another month, well I had a “woman” problem, and I’ve just recovered fairly recently (1.5 weeks)… has anyone ever had an ovarian cyst before?  DAMN they are painful things, I seriously have never been in so much consistent pain (20 days+) in my entire life.. I thought my insides were just going to cave in on me, and that I would never, ever recover.

Well, I am happy and grateful to say that I did recover - apparently they are common buggers and most go away on their own, which mine did.  But my doc said that diet and exercise would be good for me to prevent them, as well as going on the pill.  So, I’ll be following those orders.  Yes, so getting back to my story, the past month I’ve been out of commission, just lying down most of the time and trying to get better, which worked but sucked at the same time.

What  I’m trying to say is that the past 4 months have been really up and down for me, and a complete life change, to put it blatantly.  I feel like I am getting my mind and spirit back on track now.  I went to a class at the gym called “Abs, Butts and Thighs” and well enough said… I am feeling the burn.

I thought of putting this out there - I want to make the most out of my workout at the gym.. I usually go for a class, and then do the bike a bit or the treadmill, but I don’t really have a “routine” as in free weights/any other cardio.. a long time ago (when I was training for mountain climbing in Alaska), I worked out at the gym but I had a schedule, so I’d have a paper in my hand and I’d go around and do everything that the paper said and check each thing off, which worked out AMAZING.  I feel kind of aimless now, and really want to get a good workout and make myself WORK- OUT… I feel if I had a list to stick to to take to the gym with me, I’d actually get better results.  Does anyone have any ideas/any good workouts they follow when they go to the gym?  I’m looking to do free weights, strengthen my core, lean up everywhere (tummy, arms, thighs and butt), and just generally get strong as well.  Any ideas or suggestions would be AMAZING.

Sending everyone good vibes and happy thoughts!

So I went to bed 2.5 hours later than I promised up here (3:30am, NOT 1am) but still woke up for 7:45am, did a hot yoga class and ate sensibly throughout the day.  It’s now a bit after 9pm and I am actually COUNTING DOWN to bedtime, haha, I’ve never really had a “bedtime” per se, but yeah, definitely time for one if I’m going to keep this up.

Funny, though, it’s not the lack of sleep or the increase in physical activity or even the fact that I’m laid off that tires me or stresses me out, it’s the emotional, close-to-the-heart things.  I guess coupled with everything, it’s just really draining.  It hurts the most and tires you out the most when it’s the people closest to you who you never in your entire life imagined you would grow far apart from.  Sorry, just a bit of ramble there… need to eat my dinner (some chicken noodle and veggie soup yeye) and then get the process for getting to bed, ie: TURNING OFF MY BRAIN and just RELAXING a bit

Hey, question for you guys, if anyone’s even reading this (HA HA) - I was feeling damn hungry between lunch and dinner (lunch was somewhat late, around 2:30pm, had a chicken salad sandwich and a side of salad), and at around 5:30 I was starving… so I started eating a banana… eating a banana, and sitting here at my desk, looking for jobs and doing some applications.  And it was so boring, to eat that banana.. I don’t know, I’m not really a gung-ho fruit person… I enjoy fruit when I eat it but I don’t get cravings for fruit, does that make any sense?  My fav is mangoes.. but they’re the best in Tanzania (East Africa)… anyway, where was I?  I was bored eating that banana so I thought what the hell? I have a Magic Bullet, why don’t I make a smoothie? (my new favourite thing to do, haha!)  So I did… put in some frozen strawberries, a banana, a splash of mango juice, and a little bit of Activia vanilla yogurt, and VOILA… had a glass and I was full.  SO much better than just eating a banana.  So my question is this …

When I put everything into the magic bullet, it looks healthy, and I don’t think it’s UNhealthy for me, because it’s pretty much just fruit and yogurt and like literally a SPLASH of juice.. .so, are smoothies (homemade like the one I just described) bad for you? I guess I want to know, and I’m a bit frazzled because they taste SO damn good, and anything that tastes THAT good HAS to be bad for you, doesn’t it? LOL… i know the answer is NO, but seriously, any insight?

So, here it goes, starting tomorrow.

I don’t want health problems, and I want to be active.  If I want it bad enough, I will do it, and that’s exactly what’s happening starting tomorrow.  I was recently laid off from my job, so needless to say stress is an every day part of my life (whose isn’t?) - on top of that, my daily routine has been pretty whacked out.. meaning, no real routine at all.

 My top three problems that I need to tackle (mentally) before starting this journey:

1. GET A REGULAR SLEEP/WAKE-UP ROUTINE 

• Get to bed by 1am (MAX), wake up by 7am-8am (MAX)

2. GET A REGULAR WORKOUT SCHEDULE

•  This will also depend on class times at the gym, but for the most part, it will be at least once a day, whenever the class I want to go to is running
• Continue with the NIKE running clinics

3. MAKE TIME FOR MYSELF (as in, don’t let the needs/influences of others get to me or what I need to do to achieve my goal - and remember, it’s not being selfish, it’s being practical and it’s for my HEALTH!)

My “mini-goal” is to lose 10 pounds by September 1st, right before my doc visit with Gerber.  My overall goal is 140 lbs, which I haven’t weighed since my first year of university.  I’m not a calorie counter by any means, but I know what’s good for me and what’s not.  I’ve done it before, so I can definitely do it (even better) again! 

Well, that’s it for today.  Hope to give updates regularly, and hopefully someone is reading this! I’m definitely looking for motivation from this group, and would love to help anyone out as well!