Workout

Today's workout was a lot of upper body work.

with the 35lb kettlebell:
20 two-handed swings
20 1-handed swings for each hand
20 1-handed swings, alternating hands
20 squats while holding the kettlebell at chest level

body weight exercises using a cable:
20 two-handed rows
20 one-handed rows on each side
20 crossovers
20 reverse crossovers

lunges:
20 lunges on each side
20 jumping lunges

w00t!

Tonight was good. I made dinner - rice, roasted cauliflower, boiled spinach, and stir fried chicken. After that we played DDR for an hour. Lawrence made it 50 minutes through the DDR.

I was surprised that after the DDR, I wasn't completely exhausted. I played on a mixture of medium & heavy, between 6-8 feet. My legs were tired and by the end I was definitely missing arrows that I could have hit normally, but my heart was not racing. I think that's a testament to an increase in endurance through training. I just need my feet to catch up.

IronWeasel

I joined the Ravelry LSG (Lazy-Stupid-Godless) offshoot group - the Anti-Lard Alliance. It's a group to encourage each other to eat better, exercise, and lose weight! For the month of April they had a challenge to complete an "IronWeasel", aka a Lazyman version of the Ironman Triathalon where you complete everything over the course of a month. That's:

26.2 miles running/walking
112 miles biking
2.5 miles swimming - this is 85 laps (not lengths) for a 25 yard pool, and 75 laps for a 25 meter pool.

I want to participate in May. I'm thinking of substituting some of rollerblading for the biking or swimming.

4/29/09 Food

• 2 buttered slices of toasted marble rye bread
• Honey Bunches of Oats cereal with about a cup of 2% milk
• an Oscar Meyer Deli-Creations sandwich (free samples being handed out at the train station) [390 calories, 23% saturated fat, 39% sodium, 33% protein, 25% vitamin C, 30% calcium]

venting frustrations

Last night was partial fail for stupid stupid reasons and I need to vent. I had knitting night so did not get home until 10:30pm. When I did get home, I was pumped up and ready to exercise! We didn't get 20 minutes through playing DDR before the bf starts complaining...

He doesn't like the songs with a lot of jumping because it hurts his feet. We're using StepMania version 4.0 alpha, and it has a different look from the older versions of StepMania. He doesn't like it so I had to search for a different skin for it. He was tired because he hadn't eaten dinner yet and he thought we were going to eat dinner first before exercising. x____x We ended up going to In-n-Out at 12:30am so he could grab a bite to eat. I had a protein-style hamburger because I was kind of hungry too. I didn't get to sleep until 2am last night.

I lectured him last night over not eating dinner. I had some soup and bread before going to knitting night and I expect him to be able to feed himself something when I'm not there (it's not like knitting night is something new). I told him we were going to play DDR for an hour after I got back from knitting night and for some reason he assumed we would be eating dinner first. It was incomprehensible to me - if you're trying to lose weight, you shouldn't eat dinner so soon before going to sleep. He knows this. Exercising also increases your heart rate and blood flow so you're not likely to fall asleep immediately afterward. I'll give him this one because he says he sleeps best immediately after exercising. But then, he also said he doesn't take me seriously when I say I need to go to sleep earlier because I'll often be energetically work on a project until 3-4am. The point is I shouldn't be doing that...I don't get enough sleep and I end up being tired and grumpy all day. Also, getting enough sleep is essential for weight loss.

I felt bad because he looked so sad; it was like scolding a puppy. :( Buttt, I really hate it when I'm all set to actually do something I should be doing and then somehow get prevented from doing it!! I also feel like I'm the only one who is trying to be pro-active about all of this. When we discussed marriage and my relations with his family, he mentioned my weight as one of the issues his family will have with me if we ever officially go that route. I can understand that - I can't control the opinions of his family but I can work to control my body. Also, a few months ago he actually lectured ME about losing weight, saying I wasn't taking it seriously, questioning whether paying for training was actually effective and saying I should be doing more on my own. I took it to heart because I knew I should have been doing more cardio on my own time. Working out 2 nights a week, even if they are tough workouts, is not enough.

The problem is, he never does anything to help.

We had food at home last night, he just didn't eat any of it because it wasn't stuff he likes...apparently he won't eat noodles and the veggies in the fridge don't count as food. For some reason he couldn't buy his own meat because he doesn't know what to cook. Well, surprise! I meal plans don't automatically pop into my head either! I'm just getting really fed up with it because he always tells me to decide because he doesn't know. But, he's extremely capricious and considers himself a better cook than me. I can't plan anything ahead of time because he'll feel like something now, but later he won't. Stuff that I cook is "weird" because I like to try different combinations whereas he likes to stick to classic recipes. I definitely do not know as much about cooking as he does, but somehow I'm always the one initiating the meal cooking. He says he could eat rice every day....well we've got a rice cooker and a giant bag of rice. He can cook rice better than me anyway, why doesn't he cook his rice?? No meat to eat it with? Gahhh, go BUY some. Don't know what to get? Well, I never do either! Figure it out! Hey, maybe it will actually come out cooked right if you make it yourself! Why won't he try to problem solve this "issues"? Why does he end up whining to me about them after the fact?

Also, how the hell do you plan to lose weight if you always eat the same old shit that got you overweight in the first place? We both know how we need to improve our diets, but for some reason, I'm the only one trying to do it. We need a variety of fruits and vegetables but he only fruits he'll eat on his own are bananas. I've got a difficult enough time pulling my own weight through this, it makes it so much more difficult when he won't even bother to try!

I think that's enough venting. To end on a more positive note, even though he stopped going to the trainer with me, he has agreed to exercise on his own when I'm with Melody. He also DID agree to exercise this week and play DDR with me for an hour each night to make up for eating at IHOP at 2am the other night. He also woke up early with me the next day and dropped me off at the train station so I wouldn't have to walk there myself after getting too little sleep. This afternoon I'll give Lawrence a call to make sure he prepeares his meat and rice. When I get home, I'll cook up the vegetables and we'll be good to go. Hopefully. I feel bad because he felt bad. He was rather quiet and contemplative last night after In-n-Out and I guess he stayed up until 5am or so playing WoW because he couldn't fall asleep (I woke up and saw him at the computer).

working on a site

I'm working on a super sekrit site, stuff that needs to be done on it today:

- Put images & corresponding descriptions in a table so the resizing won't screw up the layout.
- Create a submittable html form for contact
- Fix YouTube video embedding for IE 6
- Fix layout for Safari

- Affiliate link to "Buy It Now"

Kicks!

Today's workout session was fun!

floor exercises (across a mat about 25 ft long)
- 2 lunges forward, 1 lunge back
- going back, 2 lunges backward, 1 lunge forward
- a variation on inchworm push-ups across the floor (push-up, jump both feet forward with hands still touching the ground, inch hands forward until in push-up position, repeat)
- same thing backwards across the floor (push-up, inch hands backwards, jump both feet backwards, repeat)

kicks on the body bag
- 20 front push kicks on each leg
- 20 side kicks on each leg
- 20 roundhouse kicks on each leg
- 20 combo kicks on each leg where you do a medium kick with one leg and jump off the other leg for a high kick with that 2nd leg

self defense combos
- 10 times on each leg - a backwards push kick followed by a backwards elbow punch, an arm punch (?) where you pivot and smack the body bag with the side of your hand, a front push kick, and then a push
- 10 times - elbow punch left, elbow punch right, left knee kick, right knee kick

abs
- 15 sit-ups on an angled bench

Renaissance Faire fun

Saturday I was planning on taking my brother with me to archery. Unfortunately, we got there too late. It was 8:30, and they were out of spots in the first timers' class. In the afternoon, I continued working on my costume. At night, we went to play badminton at the Arcadia Badminton Club. The courts were full initially, so we played some ping pong first. When we did get a court, my brother slammed into a bench when he dived for a shot. Scared the shit out of us...he was able to get up and sit on the bench, but then he started turning really pale. He stopped verbally responding and his head started to droop. We were trying to keep him conscious, but I guess he blacked out. By then people had started to crowd around the bench, and one person told us to lay him down on the bench. Lawrence and Phillip called 911 and the paramedics came. By then, my brother had started to come to and was saying that he was fine. They checked him out and everything seemed okay. They said that things would have been bad if he was still groggy after coming to. We ended up not going to the hospital and my brother seemed fine the next day, but that still....scared the shit out of me. O_O

Sunday was Renaissance Faire day! I put the finishing touches on my costume on Sunday but still had to wait for Lawrence and my brother to get up. I played WoW in the mean time (yes, we bought the 2nd expansion and are currently paying for one account). We got the the Faire around 2pm. It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. There was a ton of food, vendors, shows, etc. I wanted to buy stuff, but was a little self-conscious with Lawrence's cousins there. I think next time I'd want to go just the two of us so I can spend all the time I want looking at corsets, jewelry, etc. and not feel guilty about spending so much money on the stuff. :) I did end up buying a pair of earrings, and my costume turned out really well.

A few interesting things of note:

• We saw a guy dressed up in a historical Japanese costume.
• We saw a guy dressed up in a historical Chinese costume (not as well done but unique nonetheless).
• Three women passed by and smacked Lawrence on the butt with their whips.
• We passed by a young girl who started talking to us in period-speak saying that we had it all wrong, and I was supposed to walk behind my boy.
• Lots and lots of boobies popping out everywhere - everyone with any bit of cleavage seemed to also have random stuff stuck in there...shot glasses, finger puppets, etc.
• Lots of cool historical demonstrations and presentations - weapons (spears, axes), crafts (spinning, weaving), skills (blacksmithing, glassblowing).

Picture of us as we're leaving the Faire:

Barbells

Today we picked up the barbells again - it's been a while. Some of the exercises were done with 20 lbs and some with 30 lbs, but I didn't keep track which.

Started off with 15 reps of the barbell clean and press (I recall this one being 30 lbs) - a lift where you're using your lower body to pop/push the weights up.

I did 15 barbell rows on each side.

I did squats with the barbell held straight up above my head.

I did 15 one-handed, one-legged deadlifts on each side. With this, I basically held the barbell in one hand while bending forward and lifting the opposite leg behind me.

With 2 barbells parallel on the ground, I put my hands on the bars and did 15 push-ups from the knees.

The last exercise was 15 reps of barbell roll outs. This is very difficult if your core strength sucks like mine does.

I think there may have been more exercises, but I don't remember.

For dinner I ate half a Chipotle burrito with rice, black beans, steak, cheese, and guacamole, but without the tortilla. This was apparently about 390 calories, which is not so bad for a meal.

So hard to commit

I was going to play DDR last night but I gave myself so many excuses not to.

• I was tired from lack of sleep
• I still had a bunch of sewing to do on my Ren Faire costume
• Lawrence's brother was at our apartment until 10pm
• I shouldn't exercise after eating and I ate because Lawrence already had a late lunch and I didn't want to eat so close to sleeping
• I had to sleep at 10:30pm because I needed to get to work early for an 7:30am meeting

BOSU ball

Last night I did BOSU ball exercises.

Bouncy side up, I had to lean all the way back and then bring myself up to a standing position without using my arms.

Bouncy side down, I had to hold onto the sides and do 10 push-ups, then 10 mountain climbers (bend one leg so my knee is up near my chest, then alternate), 9 push-ups, 9 mountain climbers, etc. :D I was able to go down further than 50% each time, so I did them all from my feet instead of the knees. I did take a lot of breaks tho. :(

Lastly, bouncy side up, I had to step onto the ball with one foot, bending down into a lunge position. Bringing the back leg forward and stepping with it over the ball (so that it's now in front), bend down again into a lunge position. Step back with that leg over the BOSU ball again and repeat. 15 times on each side. Man, that is a lot more tiring than it looks! LOL, I got so tired I fell over at one point. O_o

I tried out some DDR on Sunday and I'm glad to say that I can still do it reasonably well!

soreness...

Hooooo boy, am I sore. Yesterday was very bad on the muscles. Thighs, butt, hamstrings, lower back, shoulders, neck, and forearms all hurt. I'm still hurting today. I hope I have time today for some DDR. I downloaded StepMania and all the DDR arcade song packs. I installed the PS2-USB adapter's driver. All that's left is to plug it in and start playing!

Archery

This morning we went to the Pasadena Roving Archers archery club. Lawrence actually got up with me at 7:30am! We got to the range at about 8:15. We were both right eye dominant, so we held our bows in the left hand and pulled with our right.

We each got an arm guard, a finger tab, a quiver with 4 arrows, and a bow. We actually got there mighty early and ended up sitting around doing nothing until 9am when the class actually starts.

So your first time there, the beginner's class is free. They broke us up into smaller groups for instruction with one of the more experienced archers.

I learned that women a lot of the time have double jointed elbows and when holding the bow, will tend to have the inside of their elbows point upwards. That's bad! I had to make a conscious effort to bend my elbow and ensure my elbow pointed out instead of down.

It was a lot easier to shoot the bow than I expected. Granted, we were using only 15 lb. bows, but still. I expected some sort of rebound force, but there wasn't much. You pull the string back to about the corner of your mouth, and you let go of the string. That's about all there was to it. :) At the end of the lesson, they let you shoot at the targets with the regulars. 2 whistles means step up to and straddle the line. 1 whistle means you can nock your arrows. 3 whistles means you can go retrieve your arrows. As the last event, they attach balloons to the targets with prize money inside. Each person gets 2 shots. I'm excited about going back and practicing more. I might even sign up for that beginner's class eventually.

Oh, last thing. It was amazing how there were all types there. There were a lot more Chinese people than I would have imagined. A lot of parents with their little kids too. There was also one guy who was dressed like an elf (and had a fantasy themed bow with him too). It was all we could do to hold back our giggles. He had the long, thin blond hair with half of it tied up (think Legolas). He was very white and had thin delicate features. He wore all green, even his shoes. I half expected to see pointy ears sticking out from under his hair. I don't know if he was any good but he did hit one of the balloons at the end.

Soup Plantation?

After eating at independent restaurants through the majority of college, I tended to look down on chain restaurants. However, as I found recently, I think that Soup Plantation (at least, the one in Pasadena) is one place worth going back to. We can get yummy salads, a variety of soups, and some pastas/breads. The food is fresh and edible (har har). At $9.70 per person for dinner, we probably wouldn't go there without a coupon. But, with a coupon, we paid closer to $8 per person. Okay, put that way it doesn't sound like much of a difference but I'm sure it would add up. The sucky thing about the "one free meal" coupon is that you have to buy 2 drinks...which costs an extra $4.60. So, you're only really saving $5 instead of $9.70 by using the coupon if you would have drank water anyway.

It's also pretty awesome that they include the nutritional info for all their food on their website.

Kettlebell Circuit

Last night's workout was a kettlebell circuit.

20 double-handed swings with the 16kg kettlebell.

20 single-handed swings with the 16kg kettlebell on the right arm.

20 single-handed swings with the 16kg kettlebell on the left arm.

20 single-handed swings with the 16kg kettlebell, alternating arms by switching off at the apex of each swing.

20 double swings with an 8kg kettlebell in each hand, alternating arms each swing.

15 push-up/kettlebell lifts using the 12kg kettlebells. With hands on the kettlebells, jump feet back into push-up position. Do a push-up, jump feet forward and stand up, lifting the kettlebells. Rinse & repeat.

15 alternating presses with the 8kg kettlebells. "Clean" both kettlebells to the chest/shoulder (this is a technique that brings the kettlebell up in one smooth motion without hurting your wrist). Alternating pressing each kettlebell straight up.

15 suitcase squats with two 16kg kettlebells.

15 on each leg of....I forget what this one was called. I think it was using two 8kg kettlebells. Keep your back and leg straight while bending forward and lifting one leg up behind you. The kettlebells hang straight down from your shoulder. What it makes me think of is that my standing leg is a fulcrum, and my body and leg together act as a lever (thus must stay straight and in line with each other). On one end of the lever, the kettlebells are pulling me down so the other end of the lever must go up.

There was supposed to be one more exercise (15 rows on each arm with a kettlebell) but I took too many breaks and didn't have enough time. Still, this workout was killer. I'm feeling it already today and tomorrow will be even worse. x_x

Yesterday morning when I woke up, I got a piercing cramp in my right calf. Surprisingly it didn't bother me during exercise. I could feel it afterward though.

Aerial Fitness

I saw a listing on Yelp for a Trapeze school once and thought that looked cool, if a bit scary. On Ravelry, I just read about someone taking a "silks" class. That's like the cirque du soleil thing where people wrap themselves up in the fabric that hangs from the ceiling and they do cool poses while hanging in midair. Apparently you can take classes for that too. I did a quick search and found this place in Eagle Rock (which is really close to me!!): http://www.focusfish.com/

They've got aerial fitness classes on Saturdays as well as a workout that uses circus props. It's only $10-$20 for one hour so I'd love to give that a try sometime.

I still need to take some time to go check out the archery range on a Saturday morning - maybe this weekend before I go to the Renaissance Faire. :) They have classes 9am-11am, and the first one is free. They ask for a $5 donation for subsequent classes. If you're interested, and have instructor approval, you can sign up for their Basic Archery Instruction Program. It's a 6 week class that meets every Saturday and costs $60. At $10 a class, that is super cheap!

Renaissance Faire

The LA Renaissance Faire is taking place now through May. Lawrence said he'd be interested in going with me. :) I'm making a costume and I hope to go to the Renaissance Faire this Saturday in costume.

Sunday the Pacific Media Expo is hosting a Collectors' Swap Meet in Monterey Park. I'm meeting Lani and Rona there, so it should be fun!

Agility exercises

My first thought when I heard "agility" was the dog agility stuff from playing NintenDogs. Last night at the gym, Melody brought out the speed/agility ladder - a basic rope ladder with plastic rungs. I did various stepping/hopping in and around the rungs, sideways, forward and back. I had to do lunges - 2 forward, 1 back. I also had to do push-ups - alternating between wide push-ups 3 spaces apart and narrow push-ups in a single space, moving all the way down the ladder and back.

All in all, it was rather fun. :) It was pretty cardiovascular too. I had to take a minute or so of a break towards the end to make sure I didn't over extend myself. With the last exercise of hopping 2 spaces forward and 1 space back, Melody threatened dire consequences if I hopped on the lines. I was getting pretty winded by then, but it's amazing how much a threat like that can force you to really focus on what you're doing. :)

I don't look at myself in the mirror all that much, and a lot of the clothes I wear now are stretchy so it's difficult for me to gauge if I've lost any weight. However, just this week I've had 2 friends tell me they can tell I'm losing weight. :D That's always a good sign! The first friend mentioned it while taking my measurements (for a Ren Faire costume...but that's for another post on another blog). The second friend asked me if I was still working out with a personal trainer, and then said that he could tell when he saw me today.

Shoujo binging

Lawrence, of all people, just recently got me hooked on some shoujo again. He watched Skip-Beat! at work and loved it because of the assertive female lead. I got hooked on it too...it's hilarious and has some great character development. That includes the female lead as well as the male leads and the minor characters that enter the story. There's a nice dose of romance and the bits about acting don't seem superfluous.

The first season of the anime just recently ended. I haven't seen any news of whether or not a second season will be coming. I soon after remembered that Lawrence mentioned it was an ongoing manga as well. I continued the story in the manga where the first season of the anime left off. It was so addicting I stayed up late into the morning just to continue reading it...

The mangaka is Nakamura Yoshiki who incidentally also created Tokyo Crazy Paradise. That was a great shoujo manga that I started reading 4-5 years ago. I never got to finish reading it, and now it seems that various groups have finished scanslating it.

Muscles

For some reason, I think I get more sore when I work out with Melody on my own.

Last night when I was frogging my Multiplicity Sweater (way too big in the body). I took measurements of the pieces for reference when I redo it. I also took measurements of my body...just to see. That's when I flexed my arms and noticed that I could definitely feel the muscle. However, there's a sad sad layer of fat over it all.

On my days off I need to be doing a lot more cardio. I can't rely on just exercising 2 times a week.

Normal exercises again

I forgot to post about last Thursday so I'll combine that with today's workout.

Last Thursday was a circuit -

Body weight cable exercises - You hold onto these cables that are attached to the top of one of the weight machines. They aren't attached to weights though. You're not moving weights up and down, you're moving your own body up and down. You control the difficulty through the angle at which you stand. The lower you lean, the harder it is.

Kettlebell press squats - We used the 8kg kettlebells for these. I saw them and thought, "Oh cute, we're using the baby ones!". After 20 kettlebell press squats on each side, they did not feel so small anymore. You swing (not lift) the kettlebell up to the chest and hold it there in a neutral position. Then you do a squat, and on your way up you extend your arm, pressing the kettlebell straight up.

Ab exercises on the rolling wheel of death - apparently its real name is the "fitwheel". Check out a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3laF2XjZ0g.

The last exercise was on a BOSU ball. Lean all the way back on the ball and without using your hands, lift yourself up and off the ball to a standing position. Sit back down and lean back onto the ball again and repeat.

Today it was just me because Lawrence got sick -

We started with a lunge that turned into a step up onto a bench, and then a hop up. Step back down into the lunge, and repeat.

Next were one legged inchworm push-ups. You start standing up, with one leg lifted behind you. Keeping your standing leg straight, you bend over and put your hands on the ground. Inching forward with your hands, you move into a one-legged push-up position and do a push-up. Inch back with your hands and stand back up. Repeat alternating your legs.

Lastly I did more of those body weight cable exercises - bicep curls and the reverse. Melody is big on repeating an exercise using the "opposing" muscles. With the bicep curls, I stood facing the cables, leaning backwards, and lifted myself up, keeping my elbows down so my fists met my shoulders. For the reverse exercise, I stood leaning forward, facing away from the cables with my arms outstretched above/in front of me. I then had to bend my elbows so I leaned forward even further and my forearms were pointing behind me.

Last of all was a body weight cable exercise where I stood sideways holding the cable above my head with arms outstretched, leaning away from the cable. I had to bend sideways at my waist, away from the cable, and then bring my waist back to a straight position. This is always more difficult than it looks.

I can't wait to take a shower and cook some dinner now. :)