My friends, I have gone to the gym five days in a row this week. This is no easy feat, and I feel GREAT! This morning I even ventured to try out the whole "reading on the elliptical" thing, but found that my current reading pieces wouldn't do. War & Peace has too small of a font, and The Best Magazine Writing of 2009 wouldn't stay open without me holding it. Thus, I grabbed the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly and had a great heart-pumping workout while reading about how Zoe Saldana should not be considered for an Oscar as her mainly computer-generated character in Avatar, how Jay Leno sucks (duh), and some great actors of the year simultaneously starred in paltry fare (George, Sandra, Meryl). I felt pretty, pretty good by the end of it.
The rest of the week I designated to my iPod, though. So here's what I was listening to for my workout:
01 Vagabond - Wolfmother
02 Young Crazed Peeling - The Distillers
03 Third Engine - Saves the Day
04 Seventy Times Seven - Brand New (I've come to find angry, vengeful music is great to work out to!)
05 Coral Fang - The Distillers
06 Lazier Then the Furniture - The Matches
07 @!#?@! - Motion City Soundtrack
08 Violet - Hole
09 Beat Your Heart Out - The Distillers (I remembered how much I love The Distillers this week.)
10 This Fire - Franz Ferdinand
11 When I Grow Up - Garbage
12 I Get Around - Dragonette
13 You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates (because it will make you smile as you end your workout!)
Thanks for reading along with my whole workout mania, it helps to write it all down. Seriously, this will surprise Jesse the most, but I haven't pressed the snooze button ONCE since I started getting up early to work out! I was known for being a "gradual riser." Not anymore!
Tonight I'll be going back to the Friday night salsa class, followed by a zumba class! What's on your weekend schedule?
Showing posts with label endorphins are cool huh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label endorphins are cool huh. Show all posts
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
I'm through with the old school, so let's commence the winning.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is Friday and I am in a great mood. And though you may concede this mood to the fact that Friday is my most favourite day of the week, I am also quite chipper because I've just started going to the gym...for the past two days.
I know - ME. If you know me, you know I don't "do" gyms. This is the first gym I've ever joined. I'm much more of a "walk around the city" workout kind of girl. And even occasionally kickboxing DVDs or Wii Fit from the comfort of my home. I tend to be awkward in many situations, and I logged "going to the gym" in that category as well.
However, a gym opened up a block away from me (no need for extra motivation in winter: it's steps away!) and I got a great deal signing up early. I'm way cool with any situation in which I get called a "VIP" (in this case, for signing up early!). And for the past two days, I've gotten up at 5:45am and walked over for an hour workout. Of course, my first visit was a little out of the if-my-life-were-a-sitcom files:
Me: Hi, this is my first time here since I signed up before the gym opened...
Receptionist: Great, let me just give you your official card then.
Instructor (standing by): Are you here for the spin class?
Me: Um...well, I...I have to leave by 7am for work...
Instructor: That's NO problem! We do 45 minutes Spin, 45 minutes Yoga...so you can stay for the spin and stretch out after in the locker room!
Me: Well, I, uh...I've never taken spin?
Instructor: It's okay! Your butt will hurt but you can totally go at your own pace!
Me: Well..... okay!
Then she fixed up my bike thing and I was a bit uncomfortable on that seat, but I was ready to go and her first workout song was "Hella Good" by No Doubt, so I was like, YES! LET'S DO THIS!
Cut to ten minutes later and I can't breathe and if the bikes weren't stationary everybody's going at a speed that would have lapped me about 10 times on a normal track.
Yet - I lasted 35 minutes and got to watch the sun rise over Brooklyn through the windows. The music was good, the instructor was VERY nice, and though I almost fell flat on my face when I got off the bike, the point is: I didn't. Yay! (Small victories.) I have also never felt so good throughout a day in terms of energy levels than when I worked out. I know people always say this, but since I've never had a gym membership nor worked out very early in the morning, I can now attest to this fact.
I decided to go again this morning - but not to spin! My body wouldn't be able to handle that again so soon, methinks. Instead, I worked out on the elliptical for 45 minutes while listening to the "This American Life" podcast. It was fantastico and I sent a post-workout picture of my incredibly red and sweaty face to Jesse, because, yes, I don't think my own husband has seen me post-workout. And no, I'm not posting that atrociousness here.
And you know what? I may do that spin class twice a week. I'M FEELING INVINCIBLE! And I wanted to make sure I wrote this all down, in a public forum, so that I won't renege on my newfound health-kick. Also, I'm not doing this for any weight-loss reasons: I simply want to be healthy and not run out of breath when I walk up three flights of stairs or jump around at a No Doubt show. I mean, this is who I have to keep up with:
There you have it. I've got "working out" into my routine, what's next? Cooking! Maybe. I flip through recipes almost daily, I have the awesome Epicurious iPhone app, and I have a subscription to Cooking Light magazine (thanks to my lovely mother-in-law!) - I just need to dive in, I suppose. Maybe I'll try one new recipe a week. Just typing-out-loud here, don't mind me. Check check CHECK, as my mind tends to sound when I think of these things.
As you can see, without a wedding to plan and with Jesse out of town, I set my mind to TASKS! I think I'm looking for a lot of self- and skill-improvement to get better use out of my time. It's "working out" just fine so far! Got any tips?!
I know - ME. If you know me, you know I don't "do" gyms. This is the first gym I've ever joined. I'm much more of a "walk around the city" workout kind of girl. And even occasionally kickboxing DVDs or Wii Fit from the comfort of my home. I tend to be awkward in many situations, and I logged "going to the gym" in that category as well.
However, a gym opened up a block away from me (no need for extra motivation in winter: it's steps away!) and I got a great deal signing up early. I'm way cool with any situation in which I get called a "VIP" (in this case, for signing up early!). And for the past two days, I've gotten up at 5:45am and walked over for an hour workout. Of course, my first visit was a little out of the if-my-life-were-a-sitcom files:
Me: Hi, this is my first time here since I signed up before the gym opened...
Receptionist: Great, let me just give you your official card then.
Instructor (standing by): Are you here for the spin class?
Me: Um...well, I...I have to leave by 7am for work...
Instructor: That's NO problem! We do 45 minutes Spin, 45 minutes Yoga...so you can stay for the spin and stretch out after in the locker room!
Me: Well, I, uh...I've never taken spin?
Instructor: It's okay! Your butt will hurt but you can totally go at your own pace!
Me: Well..... okay!
Then she fixed up my bike thing and I was a bit uncomfortable on that seat, but I was ready to go and her first workout song was "Hella Good" by No Doubt, so I was like, YES! LET'S DO THIS!
Cut to ten minutes later and I can't breathe and if the bikes weren't stationary everybody's going at a speed that would have lapped me about 10 times on a normal track.
Yet - I lasted 35 minutes and got to watch the sun rise over Brooklyn through the windows. The music was good, the instructor was VERY nice, and though I almost fell flat on my face when I got off the bike, the point is: I didn't. Yay! (Small victories.) I have also never felt so good throughout a day in terms of energy levels than when I worked out. I know people always say this, but since I've never had a gym membership nor worked out very early in the morning, I can now attest to this fact.
I decided to go again this morning - but not to spin! My body wouldn't be able to handle that again so soon, methinks. Instead, I worked out on the elliptical for 45 minutes while listening to the "This American Life" podcast. It was fantastico and I sent a post-workout picture of my incredibly red and sweaty face to Jesse, because, yes, I don't think my own husband has seen me post-workout. And no, I'm not posting that atrociousness here.
And you know what? I may do that spin class twice a week. I'M FEELING INVINCIBLE! And I wanted to make sure I wrote this all down, in a public forum, so that I won't renege on my newfound health-kick. Also, I'm not doing this for any weight-loss reasons: I simply want to be healthy and not run out of breath when I walk up three flights of stairs or jump around at a No Doubt show. I mean, this is who I have to keep up with:
There you have it. I've got "working out" into my routine, what's next? Cooking! Maybe. I flip through recipes almost daily, I have the awesome Epicurious iPhone app, and I have a subscription to Cooking Light magazine (thanks to my lovely mother-in-law!) - I just need to dive in, I suppose. Maybe I'll try one new recipe a week. Just typing-out-loud here, don't mind me. Check check CHECK, as my mind tends to sound when I think of these things.
As you can see, without a wedding to plan and with Jesse out of town, I set my mind to TASKS! I think I'm looking for a lot of self- and skill-improvement to get better use out of my time. It's "working out" just fine so far! Got any tips?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
