Sunday, June 28, 2009

The world is a small, small place.

So, I went to yoga again today. And Sean was back from his hiatus. I'm so glad Sean was back from his hiatus. He's by far my favorite instructor, followed closely by his wife, Karen. They both combine hard workouts with more rest periods than the other teachers. The intensity is higher in Sean/Karen's classes, but I feel more restored walking out of class because they've given me a proportionate amount of rest to go along with it. I guess that's what being the owners of the studio will do for ya. (For the record: I like Sean more b/c he does more strength than Karen, and he's freakin' hilarious.)

Anyway, today was packed. Sean's classes always are. Anyway, it was one of those days where there was about 3 inches between each of the mats throughout the entire studio. The spot next to me was empty until about 5 minutes before class, when a very harried Asian woman about my age rushed into it. You could tell she'd had a bad day. You could tell she needed yoga. We struck up a conversation about how she was a beginner, and then class began.

At the end, we chatted some more. And it came out that she's from my hometown in Indiana (not hard -- I'm from Indianapolis), and we know some of the same people. She taught swing dancing with my college roommate. She's living about a block from me this summer, and is starting med school in the fall. So weird.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

In the 80s

It's officially summer here in my Metropolis. It's sticky. It's humid. It's hot.

It's so hot and humid that they don't turn on the heaters during hot yoga. Hell, the windows are sometimes open. And I'm not even south of the Mason-Dixon.

But, the actual reason behind this post is not the temperatures. No, friends. Today, I stepped on the scale pre-shower on a whim and was flabbergasted by what I saw: 189.0.

Fully clothed I am 191.

It feels good. I know it's that I've been sick, but I hope to maintain it even after I feel completely human again. Suddenly 170, my next milestone, doesn't feel so far away.

My butt is starting to look round (in a good way). I have little biceps growing under my flab. My stomach is flatter. My pouch is much smaller, and under my flab I can feel hard ab muscle.

And it's the yoga. Because I really don't do much else. With the move I fell off the running wagon. I'm going to try to get back on at some point, but the impact just isn't fun when I'm this heavy -- I think for a while my cardio of choice is going to be the elliptical machine.

Oh, and one last thing. For those who have never been to a yoga class, there's generally a set formula. You start with sun salutations. You move into standing poses. Twists. Backbends. Inversions. The yoga instructor calls the poses and kind of sets the pace. But not today. Or at least not for the whole class. Instead, after the first Sun Salutation A, the instructor said, "Do three more at your own pace. When you reach the end, stay in downward dog." It was oddly freeing, and just the right amount of instruction. I knew I had to do them, but there wasn't a timetable.

It was nice for a change of pace. But tomorrow I will go to the ass-kicking Sunday evening class and have Sean make me want to cry. And that will also be awesome.

Friday, June 26, 2009

MAC!

I am the new owner of a 13 inch aluminum unibody Macbook.

It. Is. Gorgeous.

I have decided to name him the British pronunciation of Aluminum and call him Al for short. (Thanks for the idea, Amanda!)

I love him already. :)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Kill me now?

So, I've got the sinus infection from hell. I've bee home from work the past two days, parked on the couch with the OJ and water.

Consequently, I have been pretty quiet on here. For that I am sorry.

I promise that when I feel a little better, I'll let you guys know how life is going. But for now, I'm popping Sudafed like it's candy and wishing I were healthy enough to go to yoga.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Mystery and boookshelf woes solved

Ah, the internet. How I have missed you! I've been without this week (long story having to do with Boyfriend not being on the ball when scheduling utilities appointments), and I've dearly missed the blogosphere.

Now for a few updates:

First -- the veins. I found out through the Google machine that they are reticular veins, or "feeder" veins. They'll probably need to be zapped. There goes $750. :( At least now I'm doing yoga and exercising to keep my circulatory system in good health. I'm really pissed as they didn't start giving me trouble until AFTER I started losing weight and exercising. Way to go, Universe. I'll be glad to have the doctor's opinion on Monday. Regardless, I want them to STOP FRAKKIN' HURTING.

In other news: Boyfriend and I have bookshelves.

Thank you to the lovely people at IKEA. I'm still a little upset they didn't have beechwood finish ones to match the bed (which is not from IKEA, but seriously the stains are just the same), but the birch ones go nicely with the desks we just bought.

And, more importantly, we have the internet. And cable. And I thwarted Vista and it let me connect to the wireless router. Seriously, y'all, it was a big fat mess. I finally set it up manually through Vista and it stopped throwing a hissy fit. I cannot wait to get a Mac this fall.

I know I promised you guys pictures of the new place, and I swear they're coming. But for right now, we've just finished getting all the rest of the crap from my apartment into the new apartment. We're still in boxes, and the place is a hot mess. As soon as it is presentable, I'll snap a few shots and let you guys see the awesome that is our new place (or at least, the relative awesome -- we're both students, so we're just glad it doesn't have mice!).

I have many new stories to tell, but for now ... I'm exhausted.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Moving weekend woes

First and foremost, and unrelated to the rest of my post: I've noticed since losing weight that my veins are more prominent. Normally, this would not be a problem, but my blue-ish veins have been pretty visible since, oh, forever now. I have them on my chest and shoulders, and now my legs. UGH. Anyone got any advice? They're not spider veins in the traditional sense (though I have some on my thigh) and they're not vericose. Just blue-green and visible. Anyone? Bueller?

And onto the reason for posting:

I hate moving. I hate it hate it hate it. Boyfriend has a lot of crap, and since we were "only moving upstairs" we didn't really use boxes. BIG MISTAKE, FRIENDS. Use boxes. Do it. Pack in advance. Take a lesson from us.

Right now everything from his apartment is in. I still have a few things over at mine, and landlord from hell can just deal with it. I have until the 25th, and I'm takin' my sweet time. And I'll be taking pictures when I leave so that WHEN he tries to keep my deposit, I have proof.

Anyway.

I've done a lot of lifting. We've done a lot of shopping for new furniture. One such purchase is the beautiful pine table desk I purchased from IKEA yesterday. Gorgeous. Boyfriend has a matching one. Papa Five came out to help us move heavy things like couches and dressers and ended up buying us patio furniture for our big patio (we have a small one off the master that we're not sure what to do with yet). We're planning in getting a small gas grill for South Beach fabulousness.

But then ... bookcases. Boyfriend has ONE and it has been overtaxed. I don't have any, as my books were mostly sitting back in Indiana in my old closet. Now we have his books, my books, and all our combined law books.

And one bookcase.

We tried. We really did. They were out of the color bookshelves we wanted at IKEA. We thought Target would be an OK substitute. It is not. After about 30 minutes of frustration, we're taking the damn bookcase back to Target. And since I've handled all major purchases here thus far, Boyfriend is in charge of bookcases.

I'll post pictures when I don't have boxes freakin' everywhere, and we've found all the extra furniture we're going to need. You'll love my walk-in closet and dual skylights and loft. I promise. But for right now, you'll just have to wait.

(P.S. - despite eating like CRAP this weekend -- I lost a pound. Small victories.)

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Odds and ends

So, on Saturday I realized I didn't get myself anything fun for losing 20lbs. Shame on me!

Consequently, I went to Ulta and got myself some new perfume. Nothing really fancy, just the Clinique Happy Heart. I smelled almost everything in the store, but a lot of them were things I would wear in probably 5 years, not at 23. But I made mental notes for the future, when I need something a little more grown up.

And just a note: for the four people who actually read the blog, I probably won't be updating much for the next week or so. Boyfriend and I are moving! Two bedroom, baby! I've got the keys, and it is Oh. So. Lovely.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Sore! Oh, the sore!

So, I've been a little workout monkey this week. I've been to the gym every day since Wednesday. And today, I did the gym AND yoga. I mean, I didn't die, but daaaaaaaamn am I gonna be sore tomorrow. I can already feel my calf muscles and my triceps talking to me. Correction: my triceps are SCREAMING at me.

But I was in the mood to kick a little ass today -- my own. You see, I have survived my first year of law school. And I now have all my grades. And I have a pretty rockin' GPA -- one that puts me at roughly 15% of my class. Not bad for a girl who was wait-listed originally, eh?

And because of my good mood, I may have been slightly over-zealous. I know I burned ~425 calories at the gym. I know the hour and a half of yoga I did has got to be AT LEAST another 300. Evidently I am freakin' Rambo over here.

Tomorrow I'm going to give myself the day off. Or, if I feel up to it, I may go in to the gym and do the elliptical or ride the bike. No running tomorrow. No yoga.

And now -- I must go to the store, b/c I am out of snacky things. And I am hungry. Must be all those calories I burned. :)

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Week II of the Running

This was my second Week 2 run with Robert Ulrey's Couch to 5K.

Can I just say how much I love Robert in California? Because I do. Sure, he picks weird music. But he's just so encouraging! There's just enough pep in his "You can do it!" and "This is your last one -- go for it!" to actually motivate me without making me roll my eyes at his enthusiasm.

But anyway, today I was feeling extra adventurous. So, instead of following the program, I set the treadmill to 5.0 and just ran while listening to the podcast. I wanted to see if I could make it to 7 minutes -- and I did! It coincided nicely with one of my 90 second intervals I was supposed to be running. So, then I did the 2 minute recovery walk at 3.6 or so, and kept up the intervals like Robert described.

I felt GREAT after. So great, that I walked halfway home, about a mile, before catching a bus the rest of the way.

I've decided I'm definitely a gym runner. I love the treadmill. I can control everything -- no hills will jump up and surprise me. I know exactly how far I've gone and how fast. The treadmill keeps me going, b/c if I just decide to stop (like I sometimes do when running outside) I fall off and the entire gym laughs.

And, it's summer, so the campus gym isn't nearly as chock full of beautiful people as it normally is.

Perhaps the best part, though, is that today was national running day, and I didn't even know it. What a great day to fall in love with it, eh?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Shopping confessions.

Today after yoga I headed down to Target. I was out of laundry detergent (and not out of stinky workout clothes), and needed a size smaller yoga pants. The other ones still fit, kind of ... but they're too loose at the waist, causing me to show my belly more often than I'd like in class.

But as I was walking into the store, I saw a woman who had to be around 400lbs. She was still walking, but barely. She was right in front of me, and I could hear her breathing heavily, just walking from her car to the store.

I know some people get disgusted when they see people this large. I've never been one of those people. I get ... sad. I get sad to the point that I have to fight back tears. I've never been that large, but I know what it's like to feel trapped and hopeless. I know what it's like to breathe heavily after a flight of stairs or ache after everyday activities. And I know how it feels to think you can't do anything to change it.

I wanted to go up and hug this woman. I wanted to tell her that I had to come to the store today because, with just a few changes, my pants were too big to let me do yoga without worrying about being indecent. I wanted to, but I didn't. I don't know where I would have started. I didn't want to offend her or upset her more than she's already hurting.

Maybe the reason I didn't talk to her (save my terror of offending people) was because, when I see someone noticeably large, I think, "that could have been me." Or "that could be me." I am particularly paralyzed when that person has oxygen, or can't walk. Even writing it, I'm feeling a tinge of panic.

So, there's my confession. I'm a big girl who's uncomfortable around big people. Not because I look down on them or any of the reasons people tend to dislike obese people. No, I am uncomfortable because I understand how they got there all too well. And even though I'm losing weight and loving my exercise plan for the first time in my life, I'm terrified that I may end up like that.

I hope that woman could feel my heart reaching out to hers, even if I didn't say anything. I hope she knows that she can change it.