holiday

it's friday morning and i am sitting in my den. hooray! no work today! i woke up initially at 7:15 am, and went back to sleep until after 9. that's more than nine hours of sleep ... heaven. i made a coffee and drank it on my balcony, which was so sunny and warm. i didn't even need a jacket.

i had a great swim in the pool and it's only 11 am - that means i have the rest of the day to do whatever i want. i am going to rearrange my bedroom furniture. it's the one room of my apartment that is always so messy. hopefully a new set up will inspire me to keep it a little cleaner.

today is friday weigh in and i gained again! dammit. i gained 0.6 pounds since last week. combine that with the 0.4 i gained last week and i am up a whole pound. obviously i am doing something wrong ... but what? i wanted to lose 10 pounds and i've got 8.2 to go ... yip eee.

yesterday at the gym i just did strength training on my legs and abs. i did walking lunges (and could do three sets of 10 because i did them first), squats, deadlifts, leg press, and four kinds of crunches. i think i am going to stick with these exercises. my arms get a good enough workout through swimming and when i workout my whole body, i really get the shakes and feel like vomiting. that's not good.

tonight i am going to the keg mansion for some friend's birthdays. if you love the keg, you will really love the keg mansion. it's the same menu but in the restaurant is a beautiful old haunted house - really nice. this (the picture) is really how it looks. have a great easter weekend!

let's talk about the bum

i'm going to start today's post by talking about the bum. yesterday's strength training workout was great. i was still a little sore going into it, but not too bad, and i felt good during and after. here's what i did:

1) 5 minute treadmill warm up

2) deadlifts, 10 reps with 20 pounds, 3 sets

3) overhead press with 8 pound dumbbells, 15 reps, 3 sets

4) squats with 8 pound dumbbells, 10 reps, 3 sets

5) crunches on the stability ball, 15 reps, 3 sets

6) lunges with 8 pound dumbbells, 10 reps, 2 sets (this is still KILLER for me)

7) dumbbell curls with 10 pound weights, 10 reps, 3 sets

8) crunches on the dip machine, 10 reps, 3 sets ... the machine looks like this sort of without the fancy arm pads - i have to keep my arms straight and support my whole body with my wrists (surprisingly easy)

9) leg press, 90 pounds, 10 reps, 3 sets

10) chest press with 10 pound dumbbells, 10 reps, 3 sets

11) reverse crunches on the bench, 10 reps, 3 sets. the reverse crunch looks like this - start with your legs down and toes/feet touching the floor. then crunch up.

my bum felt really good, especially during the squats. when i was fully in the squat position, i could actually feel the muscles in my bum contracting, almost like making a little whimper. i am all for having a stronger bum. heave ho bum!

in other news, eating is not going so great. i just find myself so hungry and then snacking on ridiculous things like "oatmeal squares cereal" - that is so yummy. i really need to get it together. yes, it's still winter out there (let's not talk about that!) but not for long. i do not want to go into summer with extra flub. no way, not again, not happening to me.

in other other news, i think i've decided to try running again. i think my type of sciatic pain can be prevented with stretching and improved ab strength, so i am going to work on that. also, i might see a sports physiotherapist or somebody like that. i've been reading up on it online - people have overcome this in the past and if they can do it, i certainly can too.

is that enough bum talk for you? tonight is date night and top model tv night - and then tomorrow is thursday which is that last day of the work week. thank you religion!

i did it again

good morning. happy monday to you all. :) i'm only saying that because it's sunday night and i'm writing this post in advance. i'm going to write it like it is monday, so when i say "yesterday" i mean sunday, today. i've started confusing myself.

my weekend was pretty good. friday was my weigh in and i gained 0.4 pounds - THE HORROR! anything under a pound and i say it's nothing. except 0.8 - that's pretty much a pounds and should not be taken lightly. i have to get serious now people. i am not in summer shape. i have now 7.8 pounds to go, or something like that. i'll re-evaluate after five.

friday wasn't the best day. it was raining ALL BLOODY DAY. seriously - we got 40 point something millimetres. the previous record was 20 point something millimetres in 1950 ... so that's a lot of rain. i was also pooped from the week. i went to the movies and saw slumdog millionaire. it was good but the hype blew up my expectations and i was disappointed. i always base my movie reviews on whether or not my bum hurts in the movie seat. if the movie is great, i'm so capivated that i don't think about sitting for too long ... but when i find my mind drifting away from the movie and to my bum, that means the movie is B O R I N G. i'm not saying slumdog was boring, it just wasn't as "amazingly revolutionary ... like nothing i've ever seen" as a friend of mine put it.

i went to the gym on friday at work at lunch. since i couldn't walk (from working out my leg muscles on wednesday!) i just did 30 minutes on the elliptical and some arms and abs. pretty good.

on saturday i went swimming. yesterday (today ... shhh) i went to my condo gym and did a full body strength-training workout. my work gym is clothed today for a shoot so i wanted to get it in while i can. i am definitely in pain again - only time will tell if it's as bad as the first workout. it's not bad pain - it's what those fitness buffs call "sweet pain." my arms don't hurt - it's just my legs. after i'm done, i feel shaky and like vomiting. i googled that and it's normal - it just means i'm not used to working out so hard and i've got to keep it up. i will for another month and then if my symptoms persist i'll do something about it.