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Tuesday, July 30 2002 Today
has been a great day so far. I’ve been slacking off on my exercise again,
hmmm...., but the truth is I’ve been pretty sick. Finally I seem to be
getting better so I should be back to normal soon. I made
a decision last night to stop being selfish and back a cause. I have a group
of women friends and we get together once a week and complaint about all the
injustice that women have to deal with everyday. We come up with a million
and one solutions every time but we never do anything about it. So last night
I thought about it and figured that we can actually form a woman’s group and
start helping people out. We’re having a reunion on Thursday to get our work
program and schedule figured out and hopefully we can start doing something
by next week. Wish us luck. Everything
else has been quite bla. I have not
been doing really good with my food or exercise because, as I mentioned
before, I have been ill. I’m dying to get back into my routine, why is it so
hard ? * sigh * Ok, enough blabbing, I have to go. Have a wonderful week.
Sunday, July 28 2002 Sooooo......this
infection has turned out to be a lot of fun. Really ! As fun as sticking
needles in your feet. Yesterday I thought I was cured and decided to take my
little walk downtown. It was a beautiful sunny day and just ideal for a great
walk. HA! Not so much fun when you’re stomach is fighting a small revolution.
About halfway through the walk I was ready to leave, pronto, but I had gotten
to a sort of “middle” point. You know the one, that one where the only way to
get anywhere is by going back to your starting point. As I was walking my
little “inferno” I started seriously considering just plain falling on the
ground and have somebody come and rescue me and deliver me at home, then I
wondered what kind of evil had driven me to walk in this condition :) After
what seemed days I finally got back to civilization and dragged my tired and
beat up body on a bus and swore to NEVER, EVER tempt my luck that way again. Today
I feel much better, more relaxed and more in control. Of course it’s only a
matter of time because I’m as stubborn as a mule and I plan on exercising
tomorrow so the story continues......stay tuned.
Friday, July 26 2002 For
the past couple of weeks I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, couldn’t
really put my finger on it, didn’t know if it was a cold, stomach flu or
what, I just felt generally yucky. Yesterday I was so soar from doing kick
boxing the day before that I couldn’t gather up enough strength to do
anything (which was very odd) so today, I get up bright and early and decided
to start my day pedaling away on my bike. As soon as I put a foot out of bed
I knew something was terribly wrong, I just didn’t “feel” right. As I walk to
get my workout clothes I knew what was wrong, I had THE STOMACH INFECTION
FROM HELL !!!!!! I had to dash to the bathroom (to much info?) feeling all
wobbly and dehydrated. After my little, ahem, ordeal finished I went to lay
on my bed. I felt dizzy, nauseous and just not good at all. So as I laid
there looking at the spinning ceiling I felt overwhelmed, “well, whooptiedoo”
I said to myself “you’re going to lose another workout day because you’re as
sick as a dog”. I felt dumb for getting sick and mad about losing yet another
workout. No, this couldn’t be happening, I’m just getting BACK into the
workout routine, if I don’t exercise today I know I probably won’t workout
tomorrow or Sunday, that means that the next time I exercise will be Monday
!!! I
laid there for about 15 mins. thinking about my situation (I had already
taken medicine at this point, when you live in a hot tropical zone like I do
you keep these pills handy :) ) and then I started to feel better, not a lot,
just a little, enough for me to get out of bed and not have to dart to the
bathroom, enough to go into the other room and get my exercise clothes on,
enough to drag my sorry ass on my bike and start pedaling away while I
watched the morning news. Granted I didn’t do the whole hour I usually do,
only 40 mins. but in my head that was just as good if not better than
climbing Mt. Everest. I had defeated the monster. So see, no matter what
obstacles try to stand between you and your dream if you truly want it bad
enough you will overcome them in the end :) Have
an amazing weekend all.
Thursday, July 25 2002 Once
again, slowly but surely, I’m getting back into the exercise mode. You know,
the human brain is something else ! After exercising for over a year,
watching my diet and just being good in general I kind of got bored, yup, you
heard it I said it, the part that actually was “boring” me most was the fact
that I saw NO significant change in my weight. So I became rebellious, I
started working out less, eating whatever and not focusing 24/7 on weight
loss. I thought for sure I’d start ballooning up and that I wouldn’t stop
until I burst or floated away, whichever came first. I was beaten, I had
failed and everything was an illusion. So a couple of months went by and
caught me in this depressing state of mind. I was just “ignoring” the guilt
pangs I got occasionally, blowing them off as a lost cause. I hid my scale
and wanted NOTHING to do with it. As
luck would have it, one week ago I got my scale out from hiding, dusted it
off and hopped on it, I actually expected to see at least 20 extra lbs. on
me. I braced myself and looked down, nothing, the same weight I had 2 months
ago. I measure myself and to my surprise I’ve LOST some cms. How can this be
? So,
after taking a 2 month vacation (sort of) I now have renewed energy and I’m
ready to take on the next year, I now realize that I only have 20 lbs. to
lose to be at my perfect weight and I know I can do that over the next year.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes we might feel exhausted of
everything we’ve done, all the effort we’ve invested in our weight loss dream
and see with despair that there is little or no progress. When this happens
take a step back and a deep breath, look at the big picture and be good to
yourself, in no time you’ll see that you’re back in control and you can
pursue your goal once again. After all, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy
when I made the choice to become a better version of myself but it sure is
well worth it :)
Tuesday, July 23 2002 It seems
that just as you’re starting to settle into a groove life comes and bites you
in the ass. It never fails. My
life was getting just a little to calm and peaceful, didn’t have any major problems tormenting
me, just a little too happy I guess. Well, it all had to come to a halt
yesterday, my landlord’s daughter lives in the apartment right under me,
she’s the kind of person that because she can’t be happy she can’t stand if
anybody else is happy. Now, keep in mind that I’ve been living in this building
for the past 5 years, without a problem. My house, even though it’s in a
building, is like a regular home, as a matter of fact I have a huge patio in
the front where I have my 2 dogs (small dogs) and I’ve had them for the past
5 years. So anyway, yesterday she goes and bitches to her old man about MY
DOGS ! She says that there is hair all over the place and she can’t stand it
anymore. Mr. Landlord man came over and said that either we get rid of our
dogs or we have to leave. Just for a little more insight I’d like to state
that even though there are 6 apartments in the building only 2 are occupied
(me and the daughter) because every tenant that ever lives there eventually
gets into a big fight with the daughter and ends up leaving. So
the problem at hand is what to do ? That’s easy, I’m NEVER getting rid of my
pups, they’re like my children. Anyone out there that has ever had a pet
totally understands what I’m talking about. So my husband and I had some beer
last night and started to brainstorm (some of my best ideas have come from
the bottom of a beer can :) ), after a lot of thinking we decided FUCK IT !
The contract we have expires in February so we’re going to stay here until
then, meanwhile we’re going to go house hunting, and yes, we’re finally going
to buy our house ! We’ll try to find something not too expensive, maybe a
house that needs a little work, something that has a BIG YARD where our dogs
can run until they drop from exhaustion, a house that’s far away from
civilization there’s a little town nearby, about 40 mins. away, a commute I’m
willing to do everyday in exchange for some peace of mind. we’ll turn it into
our dream home with a little work and love. So maybe, even out of bad things
some great things come out. Oh,
the thing that really pissed me off about all of this is the fact that I
missed my workout yesterday because of all of this, no prob though, I’ll make
up for it today.
Sunday, July 21 2002 As
it turned out on Friday my butt was so soar from doing “The Firm-Standing
Legs” that I didn’t do any exercise at all, figured that it would be best to
take it easy than risk pulling my ass (if that’s even possible) so by
yesterday I was FULL of energy. I got up early (strange thing for a Saturday)
and decided to go out on the town and see what was going on. So I got on the
bus and off I went into the BLAZING sun. First stop was at the IVEC which is something like a
culture house, they have all sorts of cultural activities, ballets, theater, festivals,
etc... and they’re all FREE ! So I stopped there and they told me that they
had the Afro-Caribbean Festival going on downtown and they had a photo
exposition of the earth seen from above (pictures taken from the sky) right
on the pier, a nice walk by the sea. I was set ! First I decided to go to the
Festival, so I go there and see some displays, some dances, talked with some
people and then I went to the photo expo which was HUGE, it took over an hour
to walk through it all. Of course, since I live by the beach and the weather
is usually beautiful they do all these activities outside, so I was walking
around, sweating big time, then sat by the pier and watched boats come and
go. Finally I decided it was time to go home, I was getting pretty hungry,
when I looked at my watch I could not believe it, 5 hrs. had passed. I had
been walking under the sun for a little over 5 hrs. I wasn’t really tired but
I did have a bad case of heatstroke. When I got home I took a really long
cold shower, drank about a million gallons of water, had something to eat and
then sat back on my incredibly confortable couch and watched movies. When
night came around I had a sunburn from hell but felt incredibly energized.
Next Saturday I’m going out on the town again except this time I’m putting on
sunblock :) Have
a great weekend, go out, walk around, enjoy being alive !
Thursday, July 18 2002. I
don’t know what’s going on with me, yesterday I had a really hard time
getting motivated to go on my bike, I felt weak and my stomach was bothering
me and then, today, I feel very BLAH! My eyes are literally closing from how
tired I feel. I think I have an infection and my energy level is just
dragging right now. Today,
by mid-afternoon I knew I had to do something or risk passing out so I ran to
the store and bought a Diet Coke and a Milky Way (my mouth was watering just
thinking about it) and I devoured them in a split second. I was actually
surprised at myself because it’s been ages since I wanted a candy bar so bad.
I know I have some bug :( I
was reading some diaries and I realized that a lot of people over exercise (I
think I’m one of those). The problem with this is that you push yourself too
far and you end up crashing in the end. No energy and no motivation. I’ve
decided that I’m going to “plan” to exercise everyday but if my body tells me
otherwise I will listen to it. Last week for example I worked out every other
day and I was PUMPED !!!! This week I’ve worked out every single day and it’s
Thursday and I feel like I could pass out any moment. Ok, I’ll admit, I might
have an infection or something that could be making me feel this way, in
either case today I should have NOT exercised, I was not feeling right while
I was doing it. Oh well, tomorrow I’ll pay close attention to my body before
I do anything :)
Wednesday, July 17 2002. So,
yesterday I learned something new about myself, I can’t boogie to country
music. As a matter of fact I look like an ass even trying :) “What does she
mean ?” you’re probably wondering, well, it so happens that about a month ago
a dear friend gave me an aerobics video that exercises to country music, I
hadn’t tried it out because I honestly thought that it wouldn’t be a good
workout (it only lasts 30 mins.) but for some reason last night I was feeling
brave. I was jazzed up, so I decided to pop my country aerobics video in and
give it a try. It starts nice enough, some stretching, warm up, and then,
suddenly, all hell breaks loose. I
can totally see that these “aerobic” steps are those that you would do at one
of those country bars, the instructor is calling the steps out by name and
the movements are speeding up as the music starts speeding up. I was all
feet, stepping all over myself, tripping, flapping my arms wildly when I was
supposed to be doing something with a lasso. My cat, at one point of this
wild rampage, went underneath the bed and stared at me cautiously, wondering
if I had finally lost it or what.
When the 30 mins. were finally over I caught a glimpse of my red face
in the mirror and realized I had just had a blast ! I
would have never even imagined it would be so much fun and I have to admit
that I woke up this morning feeling very soar so I must have burnt some
calories. You know I’m including this video in my routine ! Afterwards
I did my beloved “The Firm” 5 day abs, 20 mins. of yoga, then took a
delicious shower and relaxed. I’m hooked :)
Tuesday, July 16 2002. After
giving it a lot of thought I decided to come back to my journal again. What happened
?, you might be asking, well, actually a bunch of things. First of all I was
without a pc for a looong time and it was impossible for me to keep updating
my journal, then, when I finally was back online it seemed like to much of a
hassle to continue with my journal (time consuming) but honestly, so many of
you have been so concerned and interested in how I’m doing that I decided to
come back. A
lot of things have happened in the weight loss front, I’m still going strong
I just added more variations to my routine. For a while there I took up
walking (about 5 miles a day) which was actually a lot o fun and inspired me
to get back into my regular groove.
Now I’m alternating one day of SERIOUS cardio with one day of weights
and it seems to be working just fine. My
weight seems to be varying from 171 lbs to 168 lbs. which is great, this
always happens before you get to a new set point, in my mind I think that my
body is trying to adjust to it’s new size and weight and that’s why there is
a slight fluctuation. I’ve been watching my diet and I’ve noticed that I
don’t eat as much now as I did before. I
LOVE MY FIRM TAPES !!!! They are by far the BEST exercise videos I have ever
done, I’m seeing RESULTS ! I’m very motivated with the 5 day abs program and
you can definitely see results on my tummy :) Ok,
I’m rambling, I’m just happy to be back and I’ll be updating regularly again.
Don’t forget to check out my exercise page so you see how I’m doing.
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GRAPHICS
BY: GRAPHIC GARDEN