Peace, WITHOUT the chicken grease!

Oh endorphins, oh endorphins

so mighty within my body and mind.

What would I do without you?

Would I wither and die from exhaustion?

Would I wander around like wet spagetti?

You lift me up!

You make my mood light!

You sing through my body like a clown on speed!

My steps are lighter when you are at your most populous.

You are free and you make me free!

I could crush a Mac truck with my bare hands

while cooking grilled cheese sandwiches for my children.

Oh, endorphins, you are my drug of choice.

Now if you just came in a little plastic container that I could swallow like I do my multivitamin the world would be perfect!

Thank you.

Ta da!

Yep, that’s right. My brain is COMPLETELY fried due to classes IN COLLEGE!!!!! starting tomorrow and I’ve been reading ahead so that I can be one of those seriously annoying people who read ahead all the time and act all smart and stuff-n-puff. Yeah, I’m a college student now. I’m a freshman! At 38! It’s seriously blowin’ my mind. I think my hair is starting to get sucked into dread locks and I’m having a curious hankering to wear tie-dye t-shirts and ripped jean shorts with long johns under them. I don’t know if that’s actually the "style" that the young ‘uns wear now-a-days (WHERE’S MAH CANE, GLASSES AND SUPPORT HOSE?!?!) but that’s what it was the last time I went to college which I won’t say how long ago that was but I’m pretty sure that gas was about $1.20 a gallon and no one had even heard of a DVD before.

So I’m aiming at a degree in criminal justice. Yes! I’m following the growing herd of people who want to go into law enforcement! But hey, talk about job security. There’s ALWAYS gonna be bad guys, and there’s ALWAYS gonna be a need for people to get those bad guys off the street…or get them into rehab…or make them do community service. Not that I want to become a cop necessarily, but I’m learning quickly that the justice system is something of a hydra. You cut one head off, and two more grow in it’s place. You drop one program, and two more replace it. Viola, instant jobs!

So, what does my going to college have to do with fitness? Well…let me think about that one for a minute…

Oh yeah! I got one! So, like, I’m like, working on improving my body, riiiiiiiight? So like, I’m working on improving my mind at the same time! HOh! I’m gooood…cause I’m a college student.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to be singing the praises of being a college student FOREVER!!! or at least until I’m no longer a college student, or until the novelty wears off WHICH WILL BE NEEEEEEEEVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Not "never" that I’ll stop becoming a college student because there is an end to that, but "never" that the novelty will wear off I’M A COLLEGE STUDENT!!!

Oh, and my biceps hurt and I’m typing like a Tyrannosaurus Rex GIVE ME A DANCE, CRISTIN!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ching ching ching!

Sheesh! It’s like I’m living in some kind of fast-paced magical land where time has actual legs and runs like a frickin’ gazelle. Hey, I might patent that line there…

Anyway, my husband is getting geared up to send in his application to the sheriff’s office. That’s what we were doing all…weekend…LONG. I have NEVER seen so many questions on one application!!! Of course, it was compounded by the fact that for about 6 of the 10 years that they ask for a work history he had on average 7 jobs a year. Which is cool because at least they know that he’s willing to do literally ANYTHING (seriously. he’d be the next canidate to fill in for ‘Dirty Jobs’ if their current host decided to quit) to support his wife and kids, but at the same time it’s a b**** trying to figure out when he worked where.  But we did it! Yay us! So all he’s got to do now is find out some addresses for some references and he’s turning that puppy in!

He’s so excited, and so am I! The only sucky part is that we might have to move to Burien because that’s where the training is. I don’t even know where Burien is. I’ve never been to Burien. But it’s not like I haven’t moved all the way across the entire country and back before, so I’m sure a little hop across a state won’t be no thang.

Anyway again, I’ve gots to get goin’ to DER GYM! I’m actually starting to see changes FINALLY! The t-shirt that I’m wearin’ today used to be kinda tight on me, so I’d have to pull it out to stretch it a little so that it wouldn’t cling to my body. But I put it on today and it was actually lose! Yay me! So even though my weight hasn’t gone down (YET) I know that something is happening.

More later!

Until then, KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ PEOPLES!

That’s right, I LOVE MY GYM! I’ve complained about the people who go there just like the rest of you guys, you know who you are and you know who you complain about…the "grunter", "that guy", the "cell phone people"…but all in all, I love everyone at my gym! I want to give a "shout out" to all the people that make my experience there ROCK!!

1. My husband, of course. I love him not only because he works so much to provide for us, but he’s willing to work extra hard to make sure that we have enough money to keep our membership at Thorbecke’s month after month. He’s my number one!! Go husband!

2. Roy!! He’s the manager there at Thorbecke’s and probably THE greatest guy you’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing. He’s completely dedicated to making my gym THE greatest place that you’ll ever want to work out in. You can tell a lot about a manager by the way a business is run, and Thorbecke’s is run TO PERFECTION. He greets you with your name and a smile and is genuinely interested in how your doing. He takes time out of his day to answer ANY questions you have about fitness and answers them with amazing knowledge. Just ask my husband, who probably spends about an hour a day gabbing Roy’s ear off about body building (love ya, babe!).

3. The staff! Not only does the front dest staff  greet you with a smile, but they hand you a work out towel! Awesome! The child care staff know all our kids by name, and everyone always comes home with a picture or craft! THEY ROCK!

4. The members! Up-beat, intense, ready to rock the weights or cardio machines! There are a few I’d like to give homage to individually even though I don’t know their names:

1. The woman who’s WAY bigger than I am. She’s there DAILY on the tread mill pushing it as far as she can. YOU GO GIRL!
2. The old guy with the spandex shorts and short t-shirt that shows EVERYTHING every time he does pull-ups. Boy, does he LOVE to do pull-ups!
3. The other old guy who likes to do lying dumbbell press with his legs up and spread. Yeah, he’s a grunter too. He cracks me up!
4. The old lady who yells at me every time I try to go into the steam room with my sweats on because the sign on the door says, “You must be wearing a swim suit or towel in sauna/steam room.” IT DOESN’T SAY SWEAT PANTS!
5. The guy who works on his shoulders and biceps for 1 1/2 hours every day and his legs once a month (dude, seriously, think “symmetry”. You have the legs of a 9 year old girl.)
6. The 78 year old lady who’s in there pumping iron 4 days a week. Yeah! I wanna be her when I get that age!
7. The women and men who talk on their cell phone while working out. Thanks for giving me the drama to listen to while I’m doing my reps!!
8. The gaggle of cute little girlie girls who just wander around the gym with their Propel water bottles hoping some young stud will wanna hook up with them. I’m rootin’ for ya!
9. The guy who’s in physical rehabilitation and has a nurse who should be working out with him. Rock on, dude!
10. The little Indian lady who lifts more weight than me on every one of the machines even though she’s only about 1/3 my size. You go, girl!
11. And to all the other people who make up the Thorbecke’s community and entertain me while I’m doing my cardio. Yay team Thorbecke’s!!

Oh, and whoever thought of the concept of having a "Parent’s Night Out" once a month that’s free for member’s to bring their kids to the gym for the staff to watch for 3 1/2 hours, YOU SERIOUSLY ROCK!! I’d like to shake your hand, then lick your face and kiss your forehead. Seriously. Right after I had a red lolli pop, so the entire world could see the love I’ve got for ya.

Show some love for your gym! Let people know why you love your gym and what you love about it!

Yes yes yes, just another terrifically wonderful workout with my husband, FitCent. I did my entire upper body today because I started a different workout. I’ve done this one before, it’s the Bill Phillips "Body for Life" program, so I know it works (lost around 60 pounds in 6 months on it), but for some reason, it seemed to work EXCEEDINGLY well today. Chest first, back, shoulders, biceps, then…DUHN DUHN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHNNNNNNNNNNNNNN…TRICEPS
. By the time I got to them, my arms were seriously floppy. I went for my first set of kickbacks and practically was "that guy" that screams when they do their reps. IT FRIGGIN’ HURT! I don’t think I’ve ever had my TRICEPS hurt like that before. If I did, then it was like birthing labor and my mind has blocked it out for my sanity’s sake. I need water…hold that thought…

Okay, they don’t hurt now (flexing). No, it wasn’t a pulled muscle or tendon or someone hitting me with pennies. I just hadn’t really pushed myself in a LONG time. And it showed cause we actually had to hunt around the free weight room  for the 3 POUND WEIGHTS!!! sigh. My husband said that we’re going to have to bring a grocery bag to put all the 5 lb weight plates in so we don’t have to hunt for them when I do my work out. All I can say to that is:

Just wanted to give a shout out to the people who are being pummeled by the storm right now. Mine and my family’s prayers and thoughts are with you. We hope and pray that you’ll be safe through the night and into the morning, that you’ll keep your loved ones close and always know where they are. That you’ll find loving, warm shelter if yours is gone. That you’ll remember that this life is only temporary and that whatever or whomever you lose, God will provide you with what you need. God bless!

Yeah, just look at the comments that I’ve posted the last couple of minutes! Can’t talk cause we’re on our way to the DRIVE IN THEATER!! Woot! Double freakin’ movie (Batman 4 or whatever and Mummy 3) fer SIX BUCKS!

Now on to the important stuff….WORKOUT SESSION WITH DER HUSBAND!

Needless to say, IT ROCKED! We had a freakin’ GREAT time! He pushed me (leg day) WAY beyond what I would have pushed myself. Couldn’t even do more than 10 minutes of cardio before I HAD to stop…I was about ready to ralph all over the Cybex machine.

We had a GREAT time together. It was pretty cool cause I think our positive energy was like, having a gravitational pull on some of the other people in the gym cause two guys were following us where ever we went.

I seriously am going to get him one of those rolly mirrors with a rope to tie around his waist though. The Cybex machine is next to the window, and I caught him lookin’ over at me quite a few times with a distant look on his face. I finally figured out it was because he was looking at himself doing cardio in the window!! SHEESH!! AND I found out that when he called me today from work, I sensed with my Spidy senses that he was eating something BAD. HE told me it was MULTI GRAIN BREAD. Turns out, it was a frickin’ CHOCOLATE PUDDING-FILLED DONUT WITH CHOCOLATE ICING ON IT! What tha…??

Okay, I gotta go! Family date night at the movies!! Spread some of da love around, peoples! Positive energy in, positive energy out!

Peace!

Yeah, I think I’m going to do it!! I think I’m actually going to hit my goal that I set for the month! Do you know what a friggin’ HUGE accomplishment this is for me!??! Yeah, it’s all about me right now, not you, so don’t even go there. Yeah, it wasn’t like I actually set a goal that would take an astronomical amount of effort to reach, but I did it anyway! Yay me!I even kicked some MAJOR butt in the gym today. I was sweating for like, 17 minutes AFTER my cardio was done. I was seriously considering NOT doing cardio because I forgot my mp3 player, but I did it anyway and it ROCKED! I think I pushed it a little harder even because I was trying to Cybex my way to the end of the tunnel, so to speak. I guess I was under the impression in my sweat-induced endorphin rush that if I went faster physically, then time would go faster. Just FYI, that isn’t the case, but it sure made for a rush at the end!!

You know that feeling you get when you push it so hard on an eliptical or treadmill that you feel like you’re still on it AFTER you’re done? Yeah, well, that feeling lasted for about 3 minutes after I was done today, let me tell ya!

I ROCK!

My husband rocks, my kids rock, my life rocks, I rock, what doesn’t rock right now!?

NOTHING!

This pic rocks!

Oh crap, my chicken is burning! That doesn’t rock!

Posted in Weight loss