SGJR8860’s BodyBlog

Well, anyone who knows me also knows that I am a MISERABLE blogger. A lot of people can’t get by without blogging about twice a day; if I do it once a week that’s a miracle! I’ve still been keeping up with the pool training and with my Wednesday ass-kicking sessions with Scott (the trainer in my YouTube clips, for those just catching up). But there are some major changes in the works.

For one: my partner and I are in the process of packing for a big move in about two weeks to another part of town. The other change brought on by the move is that as of Monday, I will no longer be a Gold’s member. (No pun intended there.) Our new place is only minutes by bus from one of the best facilities I have been to in a LONG time - and a Sport and Health Club, no less! I was a longtime member with their chain years ago, but towards the end of a three-year membership, the decline in customer service and upkeep of the gym left me pretty cold. I don’t think this new facility will have that problem…plus it’s been a long, LONG while since I’ve seen a gym that has an actual working steam room. AND a sauna. AND a jacuzzi. AND a lap pool! AND…well, there’s just too many "ands" to list here. Combine that with the discount I get by joining through my office’s health plan, and it’s a no-brainer.

Speaking of health, the onset of one of those "seasonal transition" bugs has stopped my training dead in its tracks this weekend. Doing lots of fluids and vitamin C to beat it back, so we’ll see if that helps. (That and some Tylenol cold meds.) Hopefully I can get back to the pool before our big move…since that will be ANOTHER weekend where I won’t have the time, but I’ll still get a workout in…lifting lots of boxes, that is.

Since Scott is a Gold’s trainer, what that means for our ongoing arrangement is that he’ll have to train me privately. No worries there! Whether or not this will mean more training clips, we’ll see. Meanwhile, my weight is still going to fluctuate like crazy dealing with this cold, but I will need to re-focus on some serious workout and meal planning after this, if I expect to be in the mid-to-upper 200’s by this time next year.

I guess you could say that just like ole Nate, I "been gone too long." There HAS been a lot going on, though. I’ve got a move to get ready for in less than three weeks, plus I’m working a special event for the Association the first weekend in September. Did I mention that one of my heroes, Bob Harper from THE BIGGEST LOSER is going to be there??? I don’t have tickets for any of the post-exhibit concerts coming up with people like Chicago, Chaka Khan and Natalie Cole, and I don’t even care! Just let me get a few minutes with Bob, and that’ll do me for the whole week!!!

Training-wise, still doing the pool just about every morning. There’s a lap pool at the new gym close to where the new address is. It’s great, but it won’t be the same. But I’ll manage. And Scott’s been in Aruba for the past couple of weeks chillin’ (the lucky S.O.B.! But he deserves it…) I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to do anymore training clips this coming week, but we’ll see.

I also started doing what I call "19 Up/19 Down." Since we’ve been concentrating on workouts that emphasize cardio and endurance as much as resistance training, I started actually using MY BUILDING as a training tool. There’s nineteen floors in our high rise, and after living here for almost eight years, NOW I get the ‘wild hair’ to start using the staircase to train on. No, I’m not RUNNING up all nineteen flights of stairs, but I can usually get up to the top and then back down in less than half an hour. Now I’m working on making it harder by adding push-ups and ab crunches on the down slope, doing them on every even-numbered floor. It is quite the workout! I’m just sorry I only have a few more weeks left to take advantage of it. After that, I’ll have to replace it with something else. Well, the new gym does also have a running track…

I’m back off the Hydroxycut again, this time for keeps. It was just doing too many things I didn’t like with my body and the way I felt, so no more "fat burners", please. It’s better just to concentrate on getting the five to six meals a day in, and to get back to the basics re: what those meals are.

I still want to hit that 240 goal before my 50th you-know-what in 2010. And I just knocked down the 48th. TIME’S A-WASTIN’!!!