Pump hard……. Pump often

Last night I went to Dicks Sporting Goods to purchase some workout gear which included some gloves for hitting a punching bag.

So I’m on YouTube looking up videos on how to hit a punching bag and wanted to know the difference between using boxing gloves and these punching gloves I bought. But I forgot the exact name of the gloves so I decided to go to the Dicks Sporting Goods website to look them up.

Well not knowing the exact url of the website I thought it probably would be dicks dot com since everyone calls the store Dicks. So I type dicks dot com and right before I hit the enter button my brain said STOPPPP!!  Try looking it up in a search engine first.

Sure enough I was wrong the website is dickssportinggoods dot com. I don’t even want to know what would have popped up on my computer screen here at work if I had hit that enter button.

Common sense is golden. ROFL.
Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout!

So after looking at many a progress pics of women being honest enough to post images of their backside almost bare to see what’s really going on back there I decided to take a picture of my backside (no I didn’t post it so don’t rush to my progress pics).  I don’t have a full length mirror in my home and I need to get one. And I always take progress pics in my black gym pants and we all know the color black in clothes has a slimming effect. So when I saw this backside pic minus the gym pants I was horrified. Yes I know women tend to think their butts are as wide as a hot air balloon and over react to seeing their butts for the first time in all its "jiggliness" but when I saw mine my heart just sank.

I know I’ve lost bodyfat and I know I’ve trimmed down. But man I still got work to do to loose more bodyfat. My bodyfat percentage is 34% and logic tells me I got fat to burn but to see my backside in all its brown glory was just a reality check.

The good news is all those leg presses and stair master sessions kept the buns sitting more north than south. Which I was glad to see and I like the overall shape it’s just the width that needs decreasing. And my thighs need more tone.

My grand idea of a two piece bathing suit may be more towards Labor Day in September ROFL. One of these days I want to take progress pics in workout shorts. Maybe in July.

Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout.

And that includes the teeth.

I had dental work done today. As in I had a dental appointment for 10:00 a.m. AND 3:00 p.m. How hard core is that?

In the morning I had a root canal, cap and crown. Then came back that afternoon for the deep cleaning. I decided to knock it all out in one day. I still need to come back later this year and get a wisdom tooth pulled.

Wow half of my mouth (and face) has been numb most of the day. It’s starting to wear off but I am once again humbly reminded of the dear importance of being as vigilant about taking care of my teeth as I am of taking care of my biceps.

So I now have this whole new brushing, flossing and rinsing routine. I thought the routine I had was good and the hygienist said my teeth showed I was a good brusher. But with all the stuff they armed me with I’m going to be as great of a brusher as I am leg pressing 270lbs.

I haven’t ate much today. The only meal I had was breakfast and the rest of the day has been protein smoothie, yogurt, soy milk, and a banana. But I’m about to go and get some soup and some mushy vegan mac-n-cheese. Something I don’t need to chew much but can gum down  ROFL.

Just a reminder that we should all make sure we get our regular cleaning and also get physicals. If you are going to have a great body make sure it’s healthy on the inside with a great smile on the outside

Alisa
There’s a reason they call it a WORKout!

Earlier this evening my dear special friend and I went to the movies.  I love buttered flavored popcorn and that’s one of my weaknesses. Gotta have it!  So I decided that my dinner afterward would be very light. I knew after eating the popcorn I would not need many more calories.

Well my friend decided that after the movie he wanted to treat me to pizza……at 9:30 at night I might add. Now I do adore this man very much and I was tickled too happy he wanted to buy us dinner. But pizza that late? Not happening. Not for me anyways. Way too much flour.

So I say to him "you order what you like but I’m not eating all that bread this late".  So by the time we make it back to my side of town and get to a Papa John’s it’s almost 10:00 p.m. He’s like "just don’t eat the crust of the bread".  And I’m thinking and how do I not eat the bread on the BOTTOM? Nope nada. Me and pizza that late ain’t happening. But I did give an option since he seemed to really want to have this dinner with me. I said I’ll eat a thin crust.

He’s buying only one pizza and it would be half what he wants and half what I want. Now I’ve never seen a pizza place yet be able to create two different crusts on the same pizza. And my friend didn’t want thin crust.  So I just said "go ahead and get what you like I’ll make some veggies for myself at home". (Which I did. Sauteed some spinach, heated up some corn, sauteed some tofu).

So he gets like the fully loaded mamma mia of a pizza. The kind that’s so heavy it looks like sliced lasagna. While we are waiting for his pizza a lady walks in to order her pizza and she sporting a few obvious fat rolls. I look at my friend and tell him "that’s why I’m not eating all this bread this late".  And he says "the only people you see ordering pizza this late are those who are fat".  I give him a hug, poke my finger into his pot belly and say "exactly".

ROFL

Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout!

I’m guessing most of you here are old enough to remember that bubble bath commercial "Calgon take me away!"  If not look it up on YouTube.

I used to buy that box of bubble bath/water softener. I liked the one that made my water blue and made me feel like I was in a little ocean. Great memories of feeling like I was a world away from the world.

That’s how the gym makes me feel and today I need that feeling.

I had a dentist appointment today and when I got to the doctor’s office they inform me my insurance company can not find my coverage. What?

So I call the insurance company from the dentist office and they inform me I have medical but not dental coverage. So I call my manager, who told me yesterday that yes my coverage included dental, to inform him that my coverage did not include dental and he’s like what? So he’s calling the insurance company and they said on my application I checked medical and not dental. And me and him are both like… what?

By this time I’ve been sitting in the dentist office for over an hour using their phone AND my cell phone before I humbly have to tell the receptionist that the day I got hired I lost my ability to read and therefore never signed up for dental insurance and it’s SEVEN months later before I have a clue and I apologize for wasting her time.

Noooo I didn’t say all of that.  I just told her I had to fix my insurance coverage and reschedule my appointment. Then I left to go home and fix lunch.

The bright side is that I got to go home and have lunch. The bad news is that I hate when I waste people’s time because of my errors. I hate dropping the eight ball. You know when there is a big screw up and everybody is trying to find out what happened and then all eyes turn to you. Yea that’s how I felt.

So I leave home to go back to work and while I’m driving on the highway behind an 18 wheeler the truck runs over a section of a blown out tire.  Of course I don’t see it under the big truck until the truck moves out the way and of course I don’t have enough time to switch lanes. I too run over the thing. I’m looking in my rear view mirror to make sure I didn’t leave a part of my car behind with the tire.  Get to the parking garage and forgot about the BIG pothole and hit that (my new car!!!).  Park the car get to work and about 20 minutes later the "you can kiss my ass" bug bit two of my co-workers and they are arguing at such a volume my boss intercoms to our area and ask them to keep it down.

I’ve never understood getting so upset at a co-worker that I’m shaking and about to cry.  Are we related? Do you pay my bills? Do I have to see you on my non-work hours? Do I sleep with your azz? No, No, No, and helllll NO. Then there is nothing about our work relationship to upset me that much. But I guess they don’t have my same logic because they still fussing as I type.

And it’s just 3:00 p.m.

I’m so ready to hit the gym. I’m ready to do my biceps, triceps and hit that 55 minutes of cardio. I did 55 minutes of cardio yesterday and I was pumped and feeling GOOD.

I want that feeling back.  I want the feeling I get when I curl that 50lb bar. I want my triceps to feel the burn as I do the skull crushers. I want my gym.

Alisa

My boyfriend was reading his internet notes and a friend invited him to a party that’s put on by an organization of women that call themselves "thick and sexy".  I’ll refrain from the actual title of the organization to be polite. You have to understand my boyfriend likes "thick" women. Let me be specific he’s a butt man.  (I tell him that a big butt usually comes with a big everything else.) But at last he’s drawn to "thick" women. To him that means nice butt, nice thighs and small waist. Women wearing pants size in the 12 to 18 range is what he calls thick. And yes my butt is in that range as I work hard to get it down to the size 12.

This organization has parties and invite all thick women and the men that love them. His friends know his love for thick women so hence the invite. So BF is thinking he would love to go to the party and check out the thick n sexy. So he’s asking me "do you want to go?"

*cough* …….NO.

And here’s why.

The truth about the code words "thick and sexy". I said "honey, go to the website and look at the photos of the parties and you will see these women don’t look the way you think they do. They will be obese." Sure enough he looks at the photos and hollers "WTF !!"

Now I hope I don’t offend anyone as I hope those who are on BodySpace are concerned about losing body fat and have no interest in embracing obesity. Disclaimer: I apologize if I do offend anybody but I believe obesity is an epidemic.

I’ll just put my view out there. I believe every women should love herself and accept herself. Obese, anorexic, big boobs, no boobs, tall, short, big feet, small feet. Don’t matter. Love yourself because you are blessed with life and you have the gift of being alive.

Now, loving yourself does not mean embracing being unhealthy. If you are unhealthy accept yourself just as you are and work to be a better you. Every day work on self. Inside and OUT.

Obesity has been linked with all types of illnesses and anybody who knows two cents about health knows a high body fat percentage causes many health problems. So it BOGGLES my mind when I see groups celebrating obesity. Like’s it something wonderful.  It’s like they are shouting to the masses. Be fat and fabulous!

This party cost $10 per person and there was no freaking way I was going to pay money to support embracing and loving being obese. I wouldn’t go if it was free. I’m trying to LOOSE body fat not celebrate with people happy they got a lot of it.

BF was disillusioned by the pictures, typed a note back to his friend explaining his definition of thick and said a few other choice words I’m too polite to repeat.

Come on America. We have got to drop our love with being overweight and obese.

Alisa

The bad news is that I didn’t make it to the gym tonight for my cardio session and I did not get home until late.  I’m tired and hungry.

But the really good news is that I spent my evening getting a new car. Before tonight I got around town by city bus and train which limited the time I could spend in the gym since it took me so long to get back home.

Now I can get to the gym sooner, stay longer and still get home earlier and go more often. A lot of my commute time that was on the bus just freed up tonight with this car.
My gym routine is about to go to another level.

Alisa

Ever seen those folks? They can be male or female because it don’t matter. I saw one the other day. This guy I kid you not walked around the gym about 30 minutes talking on his cell phone. Didn’t do a single exercise.  Would walk in the most open centered area and just stand there talking. In the way of foot traffic standing there talking. I was on the elliptical and watched him the whole time as he would stand in the middle of the area and talk. Then walk around the gym floor still talking. And I’m thinking why do people bring their cell phones to the gym floor? What is that nonsense about.  For those who are not aware this looks silly. It does not look cool. It does not make a person look important. It does not make a person the center of attention. It makes a person look like today is the second day the have ever stepped foot in the gym.

Then there is the flex prima donna. This is the one who spends more time walking from the weight section to the water fountain on the OTHER side of the gym then actually in the weight area. I see folks do this and I don’t get it. They never sweat so they ain’t working out too hard. And they never go the water fountain near the weight area. Now maybe they need a walk break but when I see the same person over and over and over again as I’m on the elliptical I got to wonder.

Then there is the “skin is in” crowd. These are mostly women. The ones who wear nothing but the sports bra and no other top when it’s 30 degrees COLD outside.  When I see women in nothing but a sports bra in JANUARY then I’m questioning their motives. And forgive me being judgmental but if your body ain’t tight then wearing nothing but the sports bra ain’t pretty.  Reminds me of a woman I saw earlier in the evening. She was wearing this backless dress and a regular bra. Yes her bra strap in the back was just as obvious as a person with three eyes. Some things are just not pretty.

I was reading the blog of BodySpace member Tride26 and he created a parody of how people convince themselves they are working out and eating healthy (when they really are not) and then confused when they don’t drop the weight. I like the part after a person punks out *cough cough* I mean works out and then goes to dinner. He writes in his parody “for dinner: i’ll have the kahuna grande platter with a side of sour cream and a dinner salad”.

I was laughing at the kahuna grande platter. That was funny to me. That brings me to a thought I was having this morning. Portion size at restaurants. Now I do believe in getting the most for my money no matter what I spend my money on but when it comes to eating out having much more food on my plate than any human should eat at one sitting does not excite me. When enough food comes on my plate to shock me by its size I have to wonder about the sheer volume of food we get when we eat out. Here are my thoughts.

1. No menu item should have the words grande, super, mega, double, triple, large or grand slam in the title and most definitely not multiple said words together. Example: Super Nachos Grande.  Who needs that much food at one sitting?  Think about it. When was the last time you saw a menu item that said super salad or double grilled chicken breast? Ever been to a grand slam fruit buffet? Me neither.
2. Instead of having the “heart healthy” dishes marked on the menu with some cute symbol how about marking all the UN-healthy menu items with a cute symbol. Yep, just mark up the whole menu. Put at the bottom of the menu that the symbol represents menu items that are not deemed healthy for your heart.
3. When you read a review for a restaurant the words “homestyle” or “blue plate specials” or “finger lickin” should send up red flags. Homestyle is a code word for “floured-n-fried”. Blue plates usually contain heavy sauces. Finger lickin means grease a la grande.

By the way if today is your cheat day disregard this memo and get you a grande homestyle blueplate special but forgo the finger lickin grand slam side items.

I belong to the fitness club LaFitness and once you join you can visit any of the fitness centers you like. Even though I have my favorite one that I workout regularly I like to “gym hop” every now and then just for a change of scenery and to see new faces.  One of the centers is close to my house so I go there on the weekends and decided the other week to check it out on a Monday night. I’ve never been there during the weeknights so I wanted to see what the crowd would be like. Can you say “Club LaFitness” as in “party up in here”?  I walked into that gym and I’ve NEVER been in a gym that crowded. Now crowded I can work with but being crowded by people NOT working out is just insane. People were sitting on the gym equipment like they were benches. Folks leaning on the machines talking to the people sitting on the benches. Folks at the smoothie bar getting their chat on like it’s a REAL bar. Now LaFitness normally plays dance music anyways (which actually has a great tempo for exercising) but when you add that music to the atmosphere that night. You had Club LaFitness.

Now I’ll be the first person to admit I like to look goooood when I hit the gym. I’m usually in a pink and black workout get up with matching pink and black sneakers or maybe my green and white outfit with the matching green and white sneakers. But when I leave the gym I’m sweaty as I work out hard. “Workout hard and look good while doing it” is my motto. That Monday night people were dressed in some serious workout fashions and everybody looked good but few were working out!  Oh wait. Let me rephrase. People were moving the parts of the machine as they were chit chatting but it’s like the folks in the gym who are walking on the treadmill AND on their cell phones. The mouth getting more of a workout than the legs sort of folks. That’s what I was seeing that Monday night. The gym social crowd faded out by 8:00 p.m. and I was able to really get my workout going at that point.  If you like a social hour at the gym then this place on a Monday night is THE spot. If you want to get in a serious workout then you might need to skip this spot on Monday night.

I’ll go back every now and then as Monday’s are my cardio only nights and the social scene is great for the entertainment but on the days I need to hit the weights I’ll will be at another gym.