Moved!

How am I spending my exciting Friday night? Moving! To wordpress that is.

Catch me here:

http://chocolateramblings.wordpress.com/

Blogging...

So I've been thinking about blogging.

But then what to write about?

I've only been going to the gym sporadically. I still have not weighed in since June sometime and it's starting to drive me crazy.

All my clothes still fit. But tighter or looser is tough to tell, I'm immune to noticing unmeasured gradual change. Hence how once upon a time I gained 50 lbs in 2 years... and that's not exactly a snail's pace!

I know I need to weigh in. Not for the number. For my own peace of mind. To stop the crazy.

Eating has been normal. I've been splurging now and then, but sensible more often than not. And NOT counting calories (what?!).

That is pretty huge for me! But now I need to join these two practices. Eating "normally" and not counting calories AND weighing in on a regular basis.

If I can do that, I think it will be a huge accomplishment!!

I'm going to try blogging on a regular basis again - I think it helps with maintaining some objectiveness on my life.

I doubt I still have readers, but hopefully with time that will change!

Progress and A (Hopefully) Yummy Dinner!

So last week I went to the gym twice. I deemed it "rest week" and felt good about doing so.

This week, I plan to go to the gym 4 times. Today I have already made it to spinning (yay!). Tomorrow I plan to take off. Wednesday and Friday will be A.M. spinning and Thursday will be a Pump class (what time of day is up for debate).

I STILL haven't weighed in. This is why you never stop weighing in! When you haven't gotten on a scale in 2 months - it is SCARY. Even though I'm not dumb. My clothes are fitting better. It can't have anything bad to say - and if it does - who cares?! I know I look better!! Yet still. I fear it. Sigh. Stupid brain!!

Finally - I am so excited to make this for dinner: Ricotta Fettucine Alfredo with Brocoli

Gotta love Cooking Light!

Except I will be adding mushrooms, onions, garlic and chicken to it. What can I say!? I love tweaking recipes. And I love cooking! I just wish I had someone to clean up after me!!!

Changing the Plan

Well. I'm not going to workout today. And I feel 100% ok with this change in plans.

I am still going to spinning on Wednesday and Friday, but Thursday's workout is still in question.

After my 5 weeks of working out everyday, I feel totally ok with a "rest" week :)

Happy Tuesday!

The Plan For The Week

As my previous posts can tell you - I've completed my self described "boot camp", where I would go to the gym every morning before work 5 days a week!

The plan for this week is to still aim for 5 workouts, but I'm not going to make them all in the morning.

Today, I did go to 6:15 am spinning, and I plan to do the same Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I plan to go to Pump after work.

I historically have problems going to the gym after work. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and sometimes I simply can't get out of work in time to make the class I'd planned on.

I'm hoping that the past few weeks I've spent making a habit out of going to the gym will pull me through and I can make it both days after work!

I'm think by now I can totally eradicate the tired/hungry excuses, but in the case that I end up at work late (sometimes unavoidable) I will either go to the gym anyways and try to do my own strength training routine (another thing I suck at!) OR come home and do a Jillian Michaels Shred video.

I will post my progress this week!

And no, I still haven't weighed in. I'm targetting Friday morning for that lovely delight :)

Refreshed! (And Boot Camp Wrap Up)

This morning I got up at 5:30, and went to my 6:15 spinning class! My improvement is definitely obvious now. When the class was over I was still ready for more! Morning classes are only 45 minutes - so going to an afternoon class would give me an extra 15 minutes of work.

After the gym I went home and had an awesome, relaxing morning getting ready for work. Just that extra hour made me feel so refreshed and new! Even when I walked into work a friend of mine made a point of telling me how great I looked today!

Now I only have to work 4 more hours until it's weekend time!!

My plan for the afternoon/evening is to get the house in order so it doesn't have to be done on the weekend! Laundry (washing & folding & putting away - the last 2 are a major challenge for me!), tidying, I may even get crazy and clean the bathroom...

Then I'm going to make Jambalaya for dinner! Yum. Very excited about this. My plan for the rest of the evening is to relax and go to bed early. I seriously need some R&R and SLEEP!! No adventures or excitement for this girl tonight!

As for Boot Camp: like I said, I went to spinning this morning - which concluded the final week (week 5) of my solo boot camp. I succeeded! Hooray!!

What's in store now?

Well I do plan to post my physical changes when I get around to measuring them (no - I haven't weighed myself in over a month!!).

Other than that - I still plan to go to the gym (hopefully) 5 times a week, but I think I will be switching up some morning classes for afternoon classes. Especially next week. My body needs a bit of a morning breather every now and then - this morning was a prime example of the good it can do me to take it easy in the mornings sometimes!!

Have a fantastic weekend!! I know I plan to!

Week 5 Progress Report & Starting to Wind Down

Since my last post I have been 100% successful in week 5, and only one more day to go!!

And the exciting part is that I actually went UP in my squat weight today! I was considering going up in my back weight too, but I was still sore from Tuesday's class so I figured I would put that off until next week.

Previous squat weight: 12kg
Today's squat weight: 14 kg!!

I'm slow at moving my weights up for one big reason. I have a rule:

If I increase my weights, I can never decrease them in subsequent classes.

I think this is a good rule for a few reasons:

1. Since it is a commitment, and I have to put some thought into increasing - I'm less likely to jack it up for "fun" and end up hurting myself.

2. I can't use some lame excuse and take a "lazy" day with low weights. If I did the increased weight once, it should only get easier. No decreases.

How I make this actually work:

If my new increased weight is a little heavy and I struggle, then I let myself skip a few reps during the workout if I need to.

The biggest condition I have for increasing the weight:

I have to be capable of doing every rep/move with the current weight before I can even THINK about increasing. If I'm still skipping reps at my current weight, I'm not ready for an increase yet.

As for the busyness this week. It's starting to recede. Thank god.

Actually, I've worked so much in the past few days that technically I can only work about 5 hours tomorrow. With this in mind I plan to come home after the gym in the morning and have a relaxing shower & breakfast in my own house before heading in to work "banker's hours". Sweeeeet.

Happy Thursday!