axegoddess’s BodyBlog

I started a couple of weeks ago with morning workouts before work.  I found in the afternoons it was easy to shrug off workout out, especially after a bad work day.  

I worked out Monday and Tuesday (abs, then push, cardio both days) and ended up shrugging off the rest of the week.  Now before the groans start, there is a reason.  I was sore in the abdominals, and starting a second belly dance class on Wednesday evenings–Tribal–so not knowing what to expect, I did yoga in the morning on Wednesday.  

Good thing.

Tribal is all isolation drills.  In other words we drilled a single move for the length of a five minute song, in every possible way.  Isolations are very hard, and very tiring.  Upper abs, obliques, lower abs, hips, legs…everything is worked.  The class is an hour. There is about a 5-10 minute warmup, and a yoga centric cool down at the end for about five minutes.

I hate getting up early, but I did notice that my energy was great the rest of the day.  

Last week, I didn’t quite make it as much as I would have liked, but I did yoga in its place and had my basic cabaret class on Monday.  I was down with migraines on Wed. so I didn’t go to Tribal, nor did I do yoga that morning.  Allergy season is playing havoc.

My thing right now is preparing.  I am going to San Francisco from July 30-August 6.  The 31st through the 5th will be workshops–belly dance workshops, and they are done in the same way my Tribal class is: drills, drills, drills.  I need to build up my leg strength, build up my stamina, and work on my abdominal strength and control.  

So I am adjusting my workout schedules.

On Monday morning, I will get up and hit the gym for abs and cardio.  Or Yoga depending on how I’m feeling.  Monday evenings is Cabaret Belly Dance for an hour.

On Tuesday morning, the gym again for cardio and push.  The afternoon/evening is either belly dance practice, or yoga, or both.

On Wednesday morning, yoga.  That’s all.  Evening is Tribal class.

On Thursday morning, lower body and cardio at the gym.  Afternoon/evening is belly dance drills and yoga.

Friday mornings are pull, abs, and cardio.  Nothing on Friday afternoons.

Saturday and Sunday I plan to reserve for intensive yoga and belly dance practice.  Although Sundays may be just yoga, depending on my fatigue factor.

I am just under five months away from San Francisco.  If I can healthily drop 2.5 lbs a week, that’s about 40 lbs between here and there.  It would put me securly in a size 16/18.  

Cross your fingers folks!

Eating wise, I have picked up some old habits.  I found myself eating the Jeno’s pizzas–you know the ones you can get for 99 cents a piece?  Yeah instead of eating a couple of slices and storing the rest I dust an entire one off by myself.  Bad!  They aren’t huge, but the calories are insane.  Also hot dogs and bologna.  Processed meats are not good, and have a ton of sodium.  

I’m doing well as far as sodas.  I have my Friday coke (one can, sometimes I can’t even finish) at lunch, and drink water the rest of the day.  I don’t miss ice cream, although I do pick up the single servings of Blue Bunny chocolate fudge brownie from time to time when the craving hits. Usually during the girl week.  I bought two boxes of G.S. cookies (Somoas) and they lasted me a month, where at one time they lasted less than a week.  I would take one or two to have as a treat for work, once a week (usually on a Monday, which is crazy busy at work).  Maybe eat  one after dinner at home another night.  At one time I would eat four, five, or six of them.

I need more fruits and veggies.  I need more whole grains.  I need less processed food.  

I do eat chicken, tuna, some lean pork (slow cooked pork roast), and black beans.  I have recently discovered Miso soup, I just don’t eat the bits of tofu (I like the broth, the spinach and the shallots).  I only eat whole wheat bread, although I have had a slice or two of white here and there.  Any cheese I eat is skim, as well as milk.  I drink mostly water, tea, juice, and one cup of coffee a day.  

I found a few things I want to try: quinoa, almond milk, ginger pieces.  

Working on it one day at a time folks.

Well I’m out of commission for at least a few weeks.  

I had a mishap (i.e. I was my normal klutz self) and fell down our back steps Wednesday night.  My left foot has a lump on the side of it and my right knee got smacked against concrete steps.  I can put weight on both, but very little.  There are no broken bones, and I think my foot is likely a strain of the tendon or ligament just under my ankle (my right ankle has taken years of abuse so I know about those things) and my knee is likely a bruised patella.  

This means no belly dance (I can’t do weight bearing moves), no real cardio at a pace that I’d like to do, and definitely no weights unless I’m sitting.  Uneven training is not exactly what I want to do right now.

I don’t even know that I want to attempt yoga right now.  

This whole getting back in the game has been downed since week one.  Sickness, injury, and every other thing getting in my way.  It’s so frustrating!  I refuse to give up, although I admit I have slipped in recent weeks in dieting.

I’m just at the end of my rope now.

I have been on the downward spiral of fail since week one.

First my whole getting sick thing.  Now my left hip/lower back is hurting for some weird reason.  I got in one gym day.  ONE.  I made belly dance class the past two weeks but probably won’t be able to do so tonight because I don’t think hip bumps and shimmies are a good idea right now.

It’s so frustrating.  I’m sticking with my eating habits, mostly.  I have indulged just a little, but nothing that has made me feel like giving up.  No sodas.  One cup of coffee a day.  Two to three 16 oz bottles of water a day.  More fruit, more veggies.  More whole grains.  

We did have pizza the other night but I picked a small slice, and dabbed as much grease as possible off.  Mom made gumbo yesterday (which is prime awesome at this time of year–i.e. cold), and yeah I ate more than I should have with (white) rice.  But that’s the worst of it.  I haven’t gone out and gorged on burgers, or eaten half a medium pizza like I used to.  

The working out thing is what’s got me annoyed.  I need to get into the gym, and I need to stick with my classes.  I tried to do some gentle yoga to stretch out the kink but it hurts a lot.  I don’t know if I pulled a muscle or if it’s just arthritis.  I had a bone graph taken from that hip to mend a finger that was messed up a number of years back.  It occurred to me that it is most likely arthritis, but some days it feels like a muscle pull or a ligament strain.  Hip flexors, lower back, or something.

I haven’t done any weights or cardio for the past two weeks.  I hate it.  I am going to go tomorrow and just do what I can.  I don’t want to hurt myself but I don’t want to sit here and get nothing accomplished either.  

Thankfully, my weight hasn’t really budged, although I have lost a pound, which is nice to see.  I haven’t measured so I don’t know in terms of inches but I doubt I’ve lost much there.  

*sigh*

I’ve had this horrible queasy feeling in my stomach the past two days.  Yesterday I was light headed.  Today I have a headache that won’t go away.  I’ve figured it’s one or a little of all of the following:

*I started back on birth control pills last week, after 10 years, to lighten my menstrual cycle (sorry for the guys reading but, hey, it’s life), so it could be one of the usual side effects.

*I was due to *start* this week and the pills are trying to lighten/pre-empt the cycle and it’s making my stomach all wonky.

*The sudden dietary overhaul (which wasn’t major, just some tweaks here and there) has thrown my body into WTF???? mode and it’s trying to adjust.

*Sinus drainage getting into my stomach (which isn’t unusual for me since I have sinus problems most of the year).

*One of my co-workers shared his virus with me.

I bowed out of Pilates last night, and even though I tried some yoga (nothing hardcore, just light stretching), I didn’t do much yesterday.  Today, I was determined to go to the gym to get my Pull/Cardio day in, but I have felt on the verge of puking all day.  

I feel so frustrated because it’s only the fourth day and my plans are falling apart.  I feel so bad that even stretching makes me want to hurl.  I just want to curl up in my bed and sleep.  I can’t have overtrained already, can I?

So I left my gym bag in my car.  If I feel up to it tomorrow, I’ll throw out the legs and abs.  Saturday do cardio.  Sunday Yoga.  Get back on Monday.

If I end up sick all weekend, I guess the upside is that I’d lose a couple of pounds.  I kid, seriously.

I am not a happy girl.

I wasn’t sure how this afternoon’s workout was going to go.  I wasn’t even sure I was going to motivate myself to go–it’s overcast, rainy, and downright lazy.  Quite frankly I felt kind of off kilter (sinuses are all wonky).  But I went.  And I did what I set out to do.  RAWR!

I did a little warm up, just walking around the gym floor.  It also kills a little time to free up the free weights.  It wasn’t horribly crowded, but trainers were with clients and I like to let them go first.  I like to do my weight training first, and then my cardio.

My shoulders protested, and my back reminded me that I totally have been away for way too long, but I did what I could.  I do have to remember that I need to take my time on my reps and not go so fast.  I finished my weight session in 10 minutes, and I feel like I should have taken it slower and through to 15 minutes.  I used 6 lb. dumbbells for everything.  It’s a good easy weight for me to start with, and I got a good burn.  I can probably bump it up to 8 lbs on the press next week, though.  

I hopped on the elliptical and warmed up for five minutes at an easy pace.  Music is always my motivator, and when I’m working out I love to have my MP3 player going.  When I started the actual workout, Angels and Airwaves set my pace, and though I got about 8 minutes into the 20 swearing that I couldn’t make it, I just kept saying "4 songs…"  "3 songs…"  I figure about how many songs it takes to get through a set time and that is easier than saying "15 minutes…."  "10 minutes…"  By the time 30 Seconds to Mars took me to the end of my regular workout and into the cool down, I was smiling like a big ol’ dork.  

But it felt good.  

Foodwise, I did pretty good today.  I had fruit, veggies, turkey and swiss on multigrain bread with no condiments, yogurt, cottage cheese, and no sodas.  I did have two small missteps.  One of the secretaries had Lindt Chocolate truffles, and I was so tempted to eat about six, but I halved one with a co-worker.  Probably should have said no, but it’s chocolate, and (sorry guys) it’s the, ahem, girl week.  Then on the way home, I felt all sorts of wonky.  During that, er, week, I sometimes get anemic, and after a workout, it’s not unusual.  I have a 30 minute drive home from the gym, and as much as I hated to do it, I stopped and got a burger.  I don’t eat red meat often, usually just during my cycle because of my anemia.  I need the iron.  I got it plain–no cheese, no mayo, no lettuce, or anything.  I didn’t get fries, or a soda.  I had water.  

I sat down at work today (it was slow) and plotted out my meals for the rest of the week.  I do need to make sure to have something about 4pm so that I am not working out on an empty stomach.  In addition to anemia, I am also (believe it or not) hypoglycemic.  My blood sugar drops if I don’t eat every 3 hours.  After a workout, it can be even worse.  

Still I don’t feel like I failed.  I adjusted a lot because normally it would be a double cheeseburger with everything, and fries, and a coke. I drank 3 bottles of water, only 1 cup of coffee (as opposed to 2 or 3), and fruit!  Not fruit juice, but actual fruit!

That’s that.  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow for my Pilates class.

We’ve been without classes for about a month, due to the holidays, so it was nice to rejoin my sisters of the beledi and to see Courtney again (my instructor).  I was really happy about the new Danskin pants my mom picked up for me Sunday.  They are a size 20, which is what I’m in right now, but they are a little loose.  Yay!

We did our usual yoga based warm up and stretch, and then did a quick follow the leader.  And then we worked through the choreography we learned before our break.  Most of us hadn’t practiced (I did…nerd that I am), so the first go through was a little shaky but we drilled it, went over problem areas, and by the end of our hour session, everyone was breathing hard and sweaty but smiling.  It’s always a blast.  We laugh at ourselves, but love it so much.  

I love that my waist has shrunk inward.  I hate that my boobs have not gone down at ALL.  It’s like this massive glob atop my abdomen, and then the spare tire around my hips, while smaller than it used to be (MUCH smaller) just…ick.  However, the big lump of cortisol fat I had on my abdomen has gone down a LOT.  

My legs are feeling the session a lot more than anything, although I’m sure my shoulders will cry tomorrow from holding my arms up while dancing.  My abdominals don’t usually hurt right away but they will.  

The dietary shift has, as always, caused stomach issues.  I suppose it’s the healthy stuff cleaning out the junk, though considering the holidays, I didn’t really indulge that much.  I think I need to eat more for breakfast, because by the time I get to my snack three hours later I’m starving.  

I did really well with drinking water.  48 oz total.  However, I need to cut back on the coffee.  It’s hard not to drink it at work.  Might have to bring tea with me as an alternative.

Tomorrow I return to the gym.  Push workout (Chest/Shoulders/Tris) and a cardio session.  I’m starting from scratch again, 2 sets of 12-15 reps to start, and 20 minutes on cardio until I can get my wind back up.  When I stopped going last August I was at 45 minutes on the elliptical.  I will get there again.

Good night!

I had thought about starting back into the gym on Dec. 28th, but quite frankly it would be futile.  New Years, which for our family is just as big an eating holiday as Christmas or Thanksgiving, was glaring at me.  So I opted to wait until Jan. 5th, which is when my belly dance classes start up again.

I have not, however, been idle.  I have two DVDs by Rachel Brice that center on yoga and isolation moves (one is for arms and posture, the other for ab isolations) and I’ve been trading off nights during the week and resting on the weekends, just so that I can limber up and there is some sort of work going on.  

I also found my old measurements from October when I was making a costume, so I have something to refer to.  I’ve managed to lose a little bit in terms of inches, and my weight hasn’t fluctuated much at all.  

I do have to say that improving what I eat is my next big step.  Portion control was my first, and it was much easier than I thought it would be.  I do have days (especially during the, ahem, "girl" week) that I might eat more than I should, but I find that I stop before I get horribly uncomfortable.  Even for the holidays, I kept hearing, "is that all you’re going to eat??"  I mean we had food out the wazoo, as is the family tradition here in Louisiana, but I kept the bites of each small so it didn’t feel like I was over eating.  I very thin sliver of turkey, a small spoon of rice dressing, green beans (we don’t do the casserole), one roll as opposed to six (yes bread is one of my addictions).

I took my niece for her 10th birthday to Incredible Pizza.  It’s sort of like Chuck E. Cheese, but much cooler (the whole 1950’s diner thing).  And it has a huge buffet.  I did take very thin slivers of pizza, but I also ate salad and a little pineapple with cottage cheese.  And I skipped dessert!  And we totally worked it off playing skee ball, mini golf, mini bowling, and bumper cars.  I was actually sore this morning and I know it was the 30 minute skee ball session.  

I have a pair of yoga pants I bought when I was in school a couple of years ago (has my university’s logo on the leg).  They are a size XL, which is like an 16/18.  Those are my first goal.  I can pull them up now (yay!) but it’s roll city over the waist band, and they are just uncomfortable.  I am currently in a 20, and while it is comfortable, it is still a tad snug.  This time last year, I was just easing out of a 24 and just comfortable in a 22.  I’m hoping it doesn’t take another year to drop another size.

The big hope is that the bra size drops soon.  I am tired of lugging them around.  I have considered, once the weight gets where I want, that if they are still somewhat of a burden, then I will have to undergo some sort of surgery.  At present I am harnessing (for lack of a better word) 42DDDs.  I’m pretty sure the cup size *should* be an E but I’m sticking to what I have.  

Back in ‘05 I dropped from 225 to 198 in six weeks, just by altering my diet and working out five days a week at home.  I was in school, so I had time to work out before or after class, with no job.  I dropped down to a 40DD.  I was so ecstatic.  I know it’ll be harder because I have more weight to drop and I’m older, but I plan to be there again.  Eventually I’d like to be in a comfortable C or a very small D.

That’s pretty much it for now.  More to report later.

This is my introductory post to this blog.  

I had been keeping journals about working out and belly dance in Livejournal and on MySpace, so there will likely be a lot of crossover posting for folks that I know who are not here.

Right now, I am in the process of starting (once again) from scratch and getting my motivation back.  

My last journey into working out was going quite well.  My trip to England last year in February quickly reminded me just how out of shape I was.  I mean, I was carrying around 250lbs. in addition to a full suitcase, a carry on bag and a camera bag.  I was winded pretty quickly, the concerts I attended were rough and tumble and I felt the soreness and the aches a lot quicker than I did in my youth.  

I started over the summer, and although I got a few stop/restarts, by August I was on a regular workout schedule and making progress. I managed to drop below 230lbs.  I started belly dance classes at the beginning of August and it has done wonders for self image and acceptance.  Think about it–working out in a gym, you can hide your stomach, or your overabundant breasts, but in belly dance, there is nowhere to hide it.  In class we had to have form fitting shirts or expose our middles so that the instructor could see if we were doing the movement correctly.  

Louisiana was hit with two big hurricanes in September, and that knocked my schedule off kilter.  The stress of two storms in about two weeks, catching up at work, and clean up at home just left me with little time.  I did keep my classes going, because it was something that I loved, but otherwise, the gym sort of fell to the side.  

I’ve felt the difference.  My body (which suffers from fibromyalgia) hurts more.  The fatigue is winning the battle.  I was at the same point when I began, and so now it’s a question of getting back into it and sticking with it.

My classes always fall on Monday, so the rest of the week is mine.  I found success in starting when I did a push/pull/lower body split over three days.  I began taking a pilates class on Wednesdays to help with core strength (and it helps with Belly Dance tremendously), but that, too, has fallen away.  So I am planning to get back into that schedule, with adjustments.  I was doing three to four days of cardio and had worked my way up to 45 minutes of full activity.  I have to drop back down again, but I plan to be at that level again soon.

My only other concern is diet.  I have improved on cutting out sodas, and cutting back my red meat intake (once or twice a month now, only for the iron, as I am anemic).  I need more vegetables, more whole grains.  I have gotten myself into the habit of small meals/snacks every 3 hours and it has helped somewhat.  More water!  More water!  More water!  That’s my latest mantra.

So that’s it for me.  We’ll start (as with all good things) on Monday.