fitnessprincess’s BodyBlog

I hope that you are having a terrific vacation - one that is healthful and happy. If you are like me you are visiting with friends or family. This means you may be far from your local gym. So, what are you doing? Are you working out or have you decided to forego your workouts until you get back home? I hope your answer is that you are working out but if you aren’t and if the reason is you don’t have access to a gym then I want to let you know that if you want to, you can indeed go to a local gym and workout while you are on vacation.

If you are staying at a hotel, most hotels either have a gym or have made arrangements with neighboring hotels or gyms in the area so that their guests can workout and usually at no added cost either. Simply ask at the front desk. If it turns out your hotel doesn’t have a gym or such an arrangement, that’s not the end of the world. Most local gyms offer trials of anywhere from one week to a month for little or no cash. These trials usually provide you with all the amenities - towels, lockers, classes, etc. Simply ask. Another option is your local YMCA. Actually that’s where I am working out this vacation while I visit with my mom. The ymca will usually give visitors one or two free passes. They also run specials. I am working out this week for free at the ymca using a coupon from my mom’s Town Planner calendar.

If you can’t find a gym or ymca near you, that’s not the end of the world either. You still have plenty of options: outdoor walking or running for cardio, weather permitting, in door stair climbing (if you are staying in a high rise hotel, stair climbing is a phenomenal workout!), and last but not least body weight exercises performed in a circuit (squats, lunges, pushups, crunches, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees, dips, etc.). Whatever you choose to do, I hope you choose to do something. Have a great holiday and here’s to a terrific New Year

"There are no accidents"
-from Kung Fu Panda, the Movie

 Sigh!  I believe this to be a profoundly true statement.  This weekend I went way off course - so far that there is no way I could call what I did an accident.  It is a stressful time of year - the end of the semester and while that signals a winding down for students for faculty it is anything but that.  We have to prepare and grade exams and prepare our lectures, syllabi, etc. for the next semester all at the same time.  On top of this I decided last month I was going to continue after my last competition of the season to diet down  during the holiday season.  Hmmm…Well, I "binged" though I hesitate to call what I did that.  I ate everything I have been dying to eat for the last six months all weekend long.  I must say that I did it consciously knowing full well what I was doing and doing it anyway because I just wanted to eat, to not track my food, and to eat all the delicious things I haven’t had for what seems like forever. 

I have to say that this has been a real struggle for me in terms of this past year.  When I lost weight on WW no foods were ever forbidden to me and I can truthfully say I never felt deprived and that has been a real issue for me in terms of contest prep.  When I worked with CSF I was truly miserable because everything I enjoyed was forbidden.  Things have been much better with Dr. Joe but there is still that tension there created in part because of the macros I have to make which favor protein and leave me little in terms of carbs which are my preferred foods.   I love cereals, breads, beans - all of the starchy carbs and I can’t "afford" them on my current diet.  I think this is an issue I really need to resolve so I can move forward. 

Guilty as charged!  LOL!  I do apologize for my long absence from this blog but sometimes in life things happen - chuckle!  So let me fill you in:  mid-November I made a trip west for business to present some of my research at an international conference I participate in each year.  It is my absolute favorite meeting:  great location, great science, great people, and great food.  The meeting takes place on a college campus at their conference center.  The planners offer a large number of meal plans including vegan, vegetarian, diabetic, and low fat.  They even publish the meals in the conference guide so it takes all the worry out of the meals at the meeting.  They also have a superb gym at this college.  It is located across campus and it is about a 20-min walk to get there but well worth the effort.  So I did great at the meeting in terms of my diet and exercise.  Coming back though was another story entirely!  I thought I was being super wise and stopped at Subway to pick up a veggie salad once I got off the plane.  Ate it at home and felt pretty proud of myself.  I usually binge when I travel, am tired or anxious.  Well woke up the next morning and headed off to work and had to turn around and head home - I was ill - nausea, diarrhea - ugh! you get the idea.  Food poisoning is my guess.  Knocked me out - my abs were sore after a day and a half of heaving.  Good workout I guess (snicker).  I wasn’t even sure at this point if Thanksgiving was in the picture and I called mom and told her that.  Wednesday I found I had just enough energy to make it from point A to point B so I went home and that’s when things really went to heck.  I was famished and I ate everything I could see Wed night.  Come Thursday (Thanksgiving), I woke up with every intention of being "good" and did cardio (WATP 3-mi walk with walk belt) but I found that I was still not satiated and so I ate freely and had a terrific day.  No real regrets there but this continued Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too.  Not so good.  Monday I got back on track and am doing fine now so it is difficult for me to be too upset or disappointed in myself.  After all it is the off-season and no one except for me myself and I is making me diet down further for Xmas.  The only thing I do feel a bit sad about is that I am basically now where I was two weeks ago.  That said - hey! at least I AM where I was two weeks ago and that’s a far cry from where I was at this point last spring following my April competition. 

Anyway I am back in full swing and will post again tomorrow! 

Guilty as charged!  LOL!  I do apologize for my long absence from this blog but sometimes in life things happen - chuckle!  So let me fill you in:  mid-November I made a trip west for business to present some of my research at an international conference I participate in each year.  It is my absolute favorite meeting:  great location, great science, great people, and great food.  The meeting takes place on a college campus at their conference center.  The planners offer a large number of meal plans including vegan, vegetarian, diabetic, and low fat.  They even publish the meals in the conference guide so it takes all the worry out of the meals at the meeting.  They also have a superb gym at this college.  It is located across campus and it is about a 20-min walk to get there but well worth the effort.  So I did great at the meeting in terms of my diet and exercise.  Coming back though was another story entirely!  I thought I was being super wise and stopped at Subway to pick up a veggie salad once I got off the plane.  Ate it at home and felt pretty proud of myself.  I usually binge when I travel, am tired or anxious.  Well woke up the next morning and headed off to work and had to turn around and head home - I was ill - nausea, diarrhea - ugh! you get the idea.  Food poisoning is my guess.  Knocked me out - my abs were sore after a day and a half of heaving.  Good workout I guess (snicker).  I wasn’t even sure at this point if Thanksgiving was in the picture and I called mom and told her that.  Wednesday I found I had just enough energy to make it from point A to point B so I went home and that’s when things really went to heck.  I was famished and I ate everything I could see Wed night.  Come Thursday (Thanksgiving), I woke up with every intention of being "good" and did cardio (WATP 3-mi walk with walk belt) but I found that I was still not satiated and so I ate freely and had a terrific day.  No real regrets there but this continued Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too.  Not so good.  Monday I got back on track and am doing fine now so it is difficult for me to be too upset or disappointed in myself.  After all it is the off-season and no one except for me myself and I is making me diet down further for Xmas.  The only thing I do feel a bit sad about is that I am basically now where I was two weeks ago.  That said - hey! at least I AM where I was two weeks ago and that’s a far cry from where I was at this point last spring following my April competition. 

Anyway I am back in full swing and will post again tomorrow! 

Guilty as charged!  LOL!  I do apologize for my long absence from this blog but sometimes in life things happen - chuckle!  So let me fill you in:  mid-November I made a trip west for business to present some of my research at an international conference I participate in each year.  It is my absolute favorite meeting:  great location, great science, great people, and great food.  The meeting takes place on a college campus at their conference center.  The planners offer a large number of meal plans including vegan, vegetarian, diabetic, and low fat.  They even publish the meals in the conference guide so it takes all the worry out of the meals at the meeting.  They also have a superb gym at this college.  It is located across campus and it is about a 20-min walk to get there but well worth the effort.  So I did great at the meeting in terms of my diet and exercise.  Coming back though was another story entirely!  I thought I was being super wise and stopped at Subway to pick up a veggie salad once I got off the plane.  Ate it at home and felt pretty proud of myself.  I usually binge when I travel, am tired or anxious.  Well woke up the next morning and headed off to work and had to turn around and head home - I was ill - nausea, diarrhea - ugh! you get the idea.  Food poisoning is my guess.  Knocked me out - my abs were sore after a day and a half of heaving.  Good workout I guess (snicker).  I wasn’t even sure at this point if Thanksgiving was in the picture and I called mom and told her that.  Wednesday I found I had just enough energy to make it from point A to point B so I went home and that’s when things really went to heck.  I was famished and I ate everything I could see Wed night.  Come Thursday (Thanksgiving), I woke up with every intention of being "good" and did cardio (WATP 3-mi walk with walk belt) but I found that I was still not satiated and so I ate freely and had a terrific day.  No real regrets there but this continued Friday, Saturday and Sunday, too.  Not so good.  Monday I got back on track and am doing fine now so it is difficult for me to be too upset or disappointed in myself.  After all it is the off-season and no one except for me myself and I is making me diet down further for Xmas.  The only thing I do feel a bit sad about is that I am basically now where I was two weeks ago.  That said - hey! at least I AM where I was two weeks ago and that’s a far cry from where I was at this point last spring following my April competition. 

Anyway I am back in full swing and will post again tomorrow!