:: FITNESS :: Pure Barre

As part of my quest to trim down and tone up before swimsuit season (which will be as early as next month for me -- bachelorette cruise party!), I decided to ditch my beloved bikram yoga + gym combo for Pure Barre + gym.  Today was my first class at Pure Barre... holy hell.

I knew I was in for a challenge, but my word!  It probably didn't help that my legs are still practically immobilized from my last lower body strength work, and I had just upped my game with my upper body routine yesterday.  My body was not ready for this.  I seriously barely made it through the warm up, which is more like a crash course of pilates than the standard "roll your shoulders" warm up.  BUT... through all the sweat and cringing and disbelief over what I had just committed my body to for the next month, all I could think was "Damn.  I'm gonna be smokin' after this... right?"  It was a killer of a workout (or torture, whichever way you want to think about it) and I'm glad I committed to a month of classes.  I'm not sure I'll be able to walk tomorrow, but I will (with lots of arnica and Advil) be back on Sunday.  After all, I only have a month to get my body to look like this. (Just let me pretend it's possible)

Have you tried Pure Barre?  I'd love to hear what everyone else out there swears by to get their body into tiptop shape!

For those gym rats out there, here are some of the playlists I put together that really get me pumped:

*c

:: LIFE :: Goal Tracker Update 2/9/10

Before I get to the goals at hand I just want to say, it’s official: I’m a working girl!  As I sit typing, I’m on the train to work (desperately hoping it’s the right train) and uber excited.  I know this week is going to be a HUGE shock for me – going from days on end with no place to be, to working 9 to 5, five days a week – but I am actually thrilled to be working again.  I even get a desk!   Yesterday was my first day and I had A LOT of information thrown at me, but I was less overwhelmed than I thought I would be, which is a good sign I guess.  While they knew I wasn’t that technically inclined when they hired me, I am working for a web-based company so my capacity for technical knowledge will have to go into ultra-super overdrive now.  I’ll be sure to let you know how the rest of my first week goes.  And now, back to the remaining goals…

:: move to San Francisco           

I had a wee bit of a rude awakening regarding this goal last weekend as I consulted with my mom about the future.  She reminded me that while I will be capable of moving out once the money starts rolling in, I do have some credit cards that need to be paid off and she suggested that I get those down before I do any relocating… L.   Still, it won’t be too long before I move, but I think the more likely move-out date will be closer to April 1^st rather than March.  I suppose I can deal.  I mean, it is my fault I have the credit cards to pay off anyway.  But true to form, I still look at apartments online just about everyday – it’s motivational ;).

:: read more books

I’m getting close – so close to finishing Eat, Pray, Love and it’s so good!  I kept telling my mom that she had to read it, so yesterday we stopped at the bookstore and bought a copy for her and my sister, at my urging.  And for someone who hasn’t been much of a reader in the past, I walked out of that bookstore with some new material of my own; four new books, to be exact.  As I’ve explained before, I have a bit of a shopping problem, and books are no exception.  But I am really excited about my future reads, one of which being Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert’s follow-up to Eat, Pray, Love.  I’ll be adding the rest of my new books to my GoodReads page today.

:: learn to meditate

So one of the many things that Eat, Pray, Love has inspired me to do is meditate.  I’ve always been curious about it and have wanted to do it, but this book really made me want to make that a priority, so I’ve added it to the goal list.  I’m going to have to do a little research figure out which style would suit me, in addition to where I can learn more about the ancient practice and how to do it.  While I'm at it I would also love to get back to my beloved Bikram yoga.  Should be a fulfilling quest…

:: lose 15 lbs.

So yeahhh…  This goal, not surprisingly, is by far the most frustrating.  I’ve been working out more than I ever have in my life and I can’t seem to lose any weight.  And the lack of weight loss is definitely not due to muscle gain because those fleshy little love handles haven’t even gone away, and those are usually the first sign that I’m making progress.  I’m not sure I understand this evil resistance to calorie burning that my body is experiencing, but I will get to the bottom of this!

:: relearn French

I’m beginning to doubt my inclusion of this on my list of goals because I’m not making any progress as of yet.  Unlike the previous goal, I haven’t even tried, mainly because between the working out, the reading, the baby shower and my new job I’m not sure when I have the time to review my old college textbooks on the subject.  On the bright side, now that I have this bonus time on the train every morning and night, I think I’ll come up with a schedule for how to utilize it: i.e., Mondays – blogging, Tuesdays – reading, Wednesdays – French, and so on and so forth.  By George, I think that just might work!

So you see I’m creating quite the busy life for myself these days, which is actually something I’m cool with because there’s just so much I want to do and it’s about time I hopped to it.  I don’t want to feel like I’ve wasted time in this life—well, more time.  I’m a recovering procrastinator and this goal tracker is like my AA or something – you know, like steps to take to help me break the habit.  I have no doubt keeping a full-time job will make this all a little harder, but you can’t really call it “achievement” if you didn’t have to work to get for it, right?

:: GOAL TRACKER :: Update 1/25/10

:: get a job!
I have some good-ish news to report on the job front.  After 6 months of sending my resume off into the veritable abyss that is the job market, I got two nibbles.  One for a part-time position and one for a full-time position.  Obviously my preference is for the full-time position, and luckily that is just the more appealing job to me anyway.  But I did already get an offer for the part-time position, which was bumped up to full-time when they heard that I was up for another position -- hot dawg!  However, even though it would now be full-time, the position is only temporary and on an as-needed basis.  So I'm still holding out for the original full-time job.  I just completed my second interview with them this morning and I'm hoping to hear back soon on whether or not I'm continuing on in the process.  It's a long process apparently, but I'm more than happy to be patient through it all if it means I'm going to have a job within the next month.  So I'm asking y'all to keep your fingers crossed and send good thoughts my direction please!!

:: move to San Francisco
Still contingent on my job search, so at this point it's on hold.  Of course for those who know me, you know I tend to have my head up in the clouds a bit, and so of course I started looking at what apartments are available now and just briefly starting coming up with a furniture layout in my head for the ones that I really liked... I'm a dreamer, what can I say?

:: read more books
I am happy to report that I'm finally getting back on track with Eat, Pray, Love and I'm nearing the end.  I'm not even going to bother with A New Earth at the moment because I'm just not all that excited about finishing it right now.  Great book, but just not the time for it.  And unfortunately, while I am very excited to be a part of the book club The Book Lushes, I am going to have to sit out on the first book.  I just feel swamped with the all these interviews and preparing for my sister's baby shower.  One book is enough for right now.  Don't hate me, Sarah!  I'll hop on the train on the next book!

:: relearn French
I haven't quite put those CDs and computer programs to use yet (and by that I mean not at all), BUT I do have the pleasure of listening to my boyfriend's new French roommates converse in French on occasion, so I'm hoping to pick up a little from them.

:: lose 15 pounds
Ummmm, yeah.  I don't know when working out meant that you gained weight, but apparently that's what I've been doing.  I know you can gain muscle mass, which weighs more than fat and so increases your overall body weight, but I really didn't think I was building that much new muscle.  I mean, I do weights and strength training but I use light weights and do repeated reps.  I just figured that muscle helps you burn more fat so I should include that in my routine.  Yet somehow, I've gained two pounds back... >:(.  And I haven't even been eating any more than usual either.  So I think I'm going to stick to just cardio and maybe one or two calisthenics, and hopefully I'll see an improvement soon.  But today was an awesome workout, p.s..  I ran 2.5 miles today and probably could have gone longer if my feet didn't feel like they were on fire.  I think a change in my music playlist really kicked my spirits up a notch.  Today's playlist included:

"Highway Star" -- Deep Purple
"Paranoid" -- Black Sabbath
"Fuel" -- Metallica
"Mony Mony" -- Billy Idol
"Little Bird" -- Annie Lennox

It's good stuff.  I highly recommend it ;)  Now I'm off to run errands and take care of stuff I neglected over the weekend - whoops!  I don't regret it though because my weekend was fantastic -- brunch with boyfriend and friends, checking out a new neighborhood, taking a break from everything, Big Love...  nothing wrong with that.

:: GOAL TRACKER :: Update 1/19/10

So I don't think it's enough to just have my goals hanging out there on the side of the page.  I should probably be talking about them and updating you if I'm ever gonna give myself the chance to stick to them.  So here goes...

:: get a job!

While this goal has eluded me for the last 6.5 months that I've been back up in Nor Cal, I refuse to continue on like this; penniless and ineffective.  On the bright side, I do have two (that's right, TWO) interviews this week.  One is courtesy of a staffing agency that I teamed up with last week and, while it's just a part-time gig, it is a step in the right direction and could lead to bigger things.  The other found myself by just checking out websites that I liked and seeing if they were hiring.  And I'll be hearing back soon from an internship that I applied for back in November.  I know an internship isn't exactly going to get me out of my parents' house any sooner, but it would be a really amazing opportunity and I'll be working from home so it's something I'll be able to do in addition to a full-time job.  Fingers crossed!!

:: move to San Francisco

This is goal is entirely dependent on the first one, so I don't really have much to report here.  But it is becoming seriously imperative that I accomplish these two goals quickly, folks.  Besides just wanting to have my own place again, I am struggling with my living conditions right now.  My parents' have a decent-sized home, but when my sister and I were finally both out of their hair they kind of stretched their arms and used the extra space for what suited them, and who can blame them?  But now that I've moved back in, with all my crap, the house that once felt like the 4-bedroom that it is now feels like the size of my old 1-bedroom apartment.  My computer and printer is set up at the kitchen table, my closet is split up between two rooms and the garage, and 3/4 of my possessions are neatly packed away in big plastic bins at a storage facility.  It's the pits.  So I'm really hoping to see one of these jobs work out...

:: read more books

So I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love and A New Earth for waaaaay too long now.  It's an amazing book, but for some reason I just can't seem to properly dedicate enough time to it.  I always think of something else that I can use that time for, which is usually no where near as satisfying as completing a good book.  But as my list of books I want to read grows, I realize that I better step on it if I'm ever going to get to the new ones.  And with the helpful suggestion of my friend Sarah to join her in the book club The Book Lushes (hint: one of my interviews is for a company related to this group), I have even more reason to make reading a priority.  After all, I'm going to feel awfully pathetic when I have to click "Leave The Book Lushes" link at the bottom of my settings page because I couldn't read the one book we're assigned each month.  Oh the shame!

:: relearn French

As an Art History major, which I was, you have to have 2 years of either French or German (I know right?  Where's the Italian option?).  I chose French because I have a ridiculously romantic heart and a love for all things French.  It's hard to learn a new language when you're 22, but it's even harder to remember it once you've thrown out your book bag and sack lunches for the last time.  So I've armed myself with both CD and CD-Rom versions of a French teacher.  By the end of the year I hope to be singing along with (and understanding) my entire collection of French music!

:: lose 15 pounds

I know it's not always good to use your weight as your indicator of progress, but when I saw the scale read... well let's just say it read the number I used to weigh plus 10 when I checked it after the holiday shuffle, I was a little disappointed.  I knew it was fat and not muscle adding the pounds because I certainly was not working out.  So if I can just get back down to my old number and then some, I should be a pretty happy camper.  So far I'm doing great!  It's my third week of my new routine and I've only missed this last Saturday because I flew to Newport for my sister's birthday.  But I was back on schedule again today and still feeling awesome about it!  And, my weight has already come down two pounds.  Not a huge success, but I'll take it.  On the other hand, my beautiful baby Belle has gained 2.5 pounds, and all since moving in with Grandma (my mom) who has gotten pretty good about sneaking bits of chicken and fish into her food bowl when I'm not around...  What an interesting correlation.

 

:: LIFE :: Goal Tracker

Since one of my reasons for creating (correction: REcreating) this blog is to sort things out and keep myself motivated while I make big life changes, I figured I should have some way to keep track of those changes, be they big or small.  So I created my "Goal Tracker", off to the right there, to remind myself of the things I really want to do.  And again, posting them for all to see is just going to make me want to check them off THAT much more so I don't have to face public shaming.  Now I just threw together a quick list of my main goals for the moment.  It will probably undergo some minor changes here and there, but I'll be sure to post my progress as well.  Oh and if you click on "read more books" it should take you to my Good Reads page of the books that I have planned to read.  And yes people, I've only read 24 books in my 25 years of life...  hence, "read more books!"  sheesh...


Anyone else have goals they are working towards?  We can keep each other on track and motivated!