I don’t know if you could tell, but lately I’ve been feeling pretty dumpy. And when working out, chocolate and wine can’t do the trick, music is the remedy.
Here are my three feel good beats (and album) of the week:
1. Brokenhearted- Karmin
2. Electric- Shawn Desman
3. Don’t Stop the Party- Black Eyed Peas
4. The entire Project X soundtrack. It’s the bomb, yo. (Especially Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi)
I am having a massively uncool day.
It started with my stupid decision to review the immigration website. Obviously MORE changes have been made, so we will have to take those into consideration before sending our complete application. I don’t even want to go into it because it’s just so much information and it’s so overwhelming and it makes me grit my teeth and scream. ugh.
Then: bootcamp. My co-instructor pretty much wrote up this entire class. It was good, but for some reason my body was just not responding. Do you even know how embarrassing it was to be an instructor and be behind your entire class? As class went on, my inner feelings were just combusting into a ginormous ball of embarrassment, failure and anger. I almost couldn’t wait for it to be over, but as soon as it was, I was even more mad at myself for mentally giving up.
Once Tyler gets home from work we are heading over to the Registry to register my car (finally) and get me an Alberta license. From previous experience with the Registry, I know this is not going to go well. I mean, I DID threaten my life to the last agent I dealt with.
I’d say that I can’t wait for sleep time, but that’s not going so well either. I hate my pillow, the mattress, the dog taking over my space and the lack of darkness in our room. Plus, I’m not as exhausted at the end of the day like I was when I was living in Boston. No 9-5er to keep me awake; no real time demands of me. Nothing. I try to keep myself busy during the day, in hopes of having a good night’s sleep but it just hasn’t happened yet.
AND. I miss my ‘normal.’ I miss classes with the girls, the CBC bus, drinks with Boston friends, going home to be with family, being independent, making money. Insert another ‘ugh’ here. I so so so badly want to hurry up and get in my groove, with my own friends and my own schedule. This time of unemployment and new environment has really just showed me how independent I really am, and how much I loved my surroundings.
Maybe that’s all just a defense mechanism. As soon as I feel helpless, I blame any and everything I can. I need to appreciate everything I have been given and all the positives that are in my life. Sometimes it’s just hard. And now that I have this blog, I can use it to just write down my feelings. Once I know it’s all out in the open, I feel slightly better. MUCH better than when I used to bottle my feelings- only to have them massively explode into something that never needed to happen.
On a happier note, this is my to-do list for the rest of the week:
So here are some links to things I have starred this week on my Google Reader:
1. A Day in the Life. Bonnie, a personal trainer who currently lives in Calgary as well, also stems from California. In this post, she talks about the differences– and I totally agree with her. Trader Joe’s and In-n-Out for the American win; Man of my life and having 2 dollar coins for the Canadian win.
2. Some More Fitness Center Pickup Lines from Jack Sh*t, Gettin’ Fit. I can’t pick out a favorite, because they’re all hilarious. And if I were still single, I would totally test one out. Because I am weird like that.
3. I want this outfit. Like, now. I wore my bright pink Wunder Unders with a Purple tank and my super duper bright NB sneaks to the gym today. Yeah, I got looks. And yeah……I loved it.
4. I’m 99.9% sure these pancakes will make their way into my diet sometime in the near future. I mean, how could they not?
5. Can you differentiate frenemies from bitchy friends? This post tells you how. After you read it, write a list of all your friends then put an “f” for frenemy and “b” for bitch next to the designated names. This is really just for your quick reference. You might want to re-evaluate some of your friendships. Burn that paper right away, because if any one of those gals find it- well, it won’t be pretty.
6. And I thought I was a whacky fitness instructor/trainer. This dude went WAY out of his way to get in touch with some of his clients.
7. For your exercise-related reading pleasure, this article reveals information regarding the link between exercise and depression. Do you think it’s crap? Go do 100 pushups and tell me what you think.
8. 
I am always telling people in my classes to breathe. And when I do, they look at me and roll their eyes. Then, I count all the blue faces when they’re doing tons of pushups and I have to remind them again. Breathing comes naturally, so don’t stop doing it- even when your pumping 5092735 pounds of iron, mmmk?
Anything you’re loving this week?
Where do I start? How about after I took Layla for a long walk yesterday, I ended up dragging my booty to the mall. I really shouldn’t have, but I made out like a bandit. I got 2 dresses and a necklace from Banana Republic; a dress, sandals and pajamas from Gap- and all that was for about $120. Not too shabby.
As soon as I got back home, I turned right around and ended up going to Tyler’s football game. Where he managed to dislocate his shoulder. Not good, since today he is off golfing with people from work. I hope it doesn’t make it worse! He was having so much fun on the field and it was only the first game. Perhaps my persuasive powers to get him back in the gym will finally take into effect now that he knows he’s gotta keep himself strong to prevent injuries!
With all that hubbub, I was only able to squeeze in an at-home workout last night. Not really what I was aiming for, but it was better than nothing. I ended up doing about 20 minutes of kickboxing, then another 25 minutes of strength stuff: stability ball reverse lunges, plie squats, weighted stability ball oblique twists, chest press and flys.
Today, though= different story. I completed the Fitnessista’s Schweaty September Workout
Mine was only slightly modified:
Cardio #1
1. Shake Senora- Pitbull (Warm up)
2. Americano- Lady Gaga (Speedier)
3. Pass at Me- Timbaland (Tabata; 20 seconds work, 10 rest, repeated 8x)
Strength 12-15 reps of each move 2-3 sets
Front/Back overhead press (Using a body bar, do an overhead press, then bring the weight down and behind your head so it almost rests on your shoulders. Then press it back up and have the bar come down in front of your face, almost resting on your chest. Each full front/back movement counts as 1)
Shoulder raises (first set: lateral raise; 2nd set: front raise; 3rd set: combo of the two)
Cardio #2
1.Princess of China- Coldplay and Rihanna (moderate pace, increasing the resistance every 1 minute)
2. Papa Don’t Preach- Madonna (30 seconds speedy; 1 minute recovery)
3. Love on Top- Beyonce (moderate speed)
Strength 12-15 reps of each move 2-3 sets
Right leg squat + bicep curl, regular weighted squat, left leg squat + hammer curl, 25 calf raises
Step Ups: 1 minute each leg
Cardio #3
1. Boomerang- DJ Felli Fel (2 minute warm up then pace for the rest of the song)
2. Please Don’t Stop the Music- Rihanna (Tabata; 20 seconds work, 10 rest, repeated 8x)
3. Back in Time- Pitbull (moderate pace)
In my workout, I did the elliptcal for Cardio portions #1 & #3 and used the spin bike for #2. Here is the playlist I used for the hour long workout. It timed out perfectly- even with the machine wipe-down times!
Now, I must write up tonight’s bootcamp! I will check back in with that workout later tonight 🙂
PS: This is my first month in the Foodie Penpal program run by The Lean Green Bean. I just got my penpal today, and I am super excited to send her a package full of goodies! The best part: She has a list for US and Canadian residents and penpals are paired with those who reside in the same country to alleviate any customs/shipping problems. Love!!
Hi. It’s Monday. It’s a new week. Sometimes it’s a great excuse to just start over. Especially if you had Dairy Queen or beer over the weekend. Which, of course I didn’t do. Ok maybe I did.
Sunday nights I usually turn into a Negative Nelly because of my workout and food choices (or lack thereof) but come Monday morning, I am excited to get going on a week filled with wonderful, challenging workouts…and healthy eating decisions.
Here are a few pics from the weekend that make me proud to be me:
Check out that arm! I see some definition and I’m not even flexing! Wait, you can see it? Here’s another:
And I rocked a side pony that doesn’t make me look too hideous
Tyler has a football game after work tonight, so I have a full day to dedicate to me. After the laundry is done, kitchen is cleaned and floor is scrubbed, of course.
Now, I must gripe:
One month from today is my favorite holiday of the year, and it’s not even celebrated here. This is seriously not cool. I was willing to give up everything to be with my man, but my favorite holiday should not have been thrown in the mix. Therefore, I will be decked out in my red, white and blue attire (complete with beads, Kysh!) on July 4th.
Speaking of me being in Canada with no job for the next year or so, does anyone want to buy a brand new iPod Touch that hasn’t even been opened? This lady is in need of serious cash flow.
I’m off to workout and pump a little bucket if endorphins in my system!
nutcaseinpoint 