ELASTIC, SPANDEX AND SLEEVES

I miss elastic waist pants. It was so much easier and faster getting in and out of the ladies room when that was my usual pant option. 

I know there is a lot of negativity around elastic waist pants - it's harder to recognise when you are putting on the pounds being the main objection; that they are not stylish being the second one.  For ease of wear - they were nice.  Now I have all kinds of fastening and buttoning and zipping everytime I make a trip to the ladies room. After so many years of slipping pants down and up in a single motion, it seems so time consuming.


Wish they would lengthen the sleeves!



I don't miss the limited clothing selection I had for years.  My daughter commented that she is enjoying seeing me express myself more through my clothes.  We went shopping together and I am getting more accustomed to having multiple departments to move through in search of things I need to fill in my wardrobe.  I don't really understand why there are so many departments with pretty much the same things being displayed, but I am getting used to it. 

I even bought a couple of pairs of work out pants at Costco.  Taking Zumba class is very different than just working out with weights and I need more supportive spandexy pants to sort of hold things in check.  New workout bras have helped, too.

My single frustration is the sleeves thing.  Losing over 100 pounds has left me in no position to leave my arms uncovered.  I have a lot of baggy, saggy skin going on and sleeves to my elbows are my preference.  For the gym I have worn shorter sleeved tee shirts, but I am not comfortable with the sleeveless or cap sleeve options most workout tops come in.  Luckily I have found a few long sleeved tops and shorted the sleeves for bike riding.  Gym wear is more challenging.

HURTS SO GOOD



None of these beautiful butts are mine!!

 I went to my new gym -  Club One Pleasanton - this morning to try the  Barre class.  I have spent the rest of the day sore and hobbling a bit...not a class for the arthritic knees.  But I did it.  I adjusted as best I could and made it through the entire class. 



No wonder I am sore...



The instructor, one of the owners of the gym, complimented me on the flexibility portions and I explained about the cranky old knees.  She said it varies each time and so there isn't always so much balancing on one leg, so I will be back. 

I am also looking forward to meeting the trainer, Jesse, who everyone raves about. He works kind of regular business hours so I am not sure when I am going to be able to catch up with him...



Oh my - I just lifted my arms up and they are so sore!  Going back tomorrow...

OK. I WENT



I take a LOT more stuff with me than Nicole Ritchie.

 And I took my daughter with me!  I signed her up for a month membership at the gym so we can make this a kick off month for good habits before she goes back to school. 

She is going to try low carb with me - though she doesn't seem to have the basics down yet.  After she ate her sandwich of meat between lettuce leaves instead of bread she asked if Wheat Thins were allowed! Those of us who love and could live on bread do understand it takes a while to make that shift.

I realized after my last post that it really isn't the gym per se that is the issue.  I like the gym, I like to get exercise.  The problem is getting up super early and schlepping all my clothes and make-up and towel and breakfast with me - then working out, showering and dressing in the locker room and zipping out the door to get to work.  That is the part I avoid.

After work is not my favorite time to exercise.  Aside from the crowds, I am anxious to get done and home in a timely manner because if I don't make it, there is no dinner. And if dinner isn't on the table by 6:30 or so - Tom roams through the kitchen eating everything in sight and then the dinner I eventually make is picked at.  Plus - not my high energy time of day.  Though, Ally and I may try one of the 7pm Zumba classes.

So - there you have it.  Like working out, don't like having to drag stuff to get ready for work at gym.  Promise to do it at least 3 times a week anyway.

HOW FAST IT GOES AWAY

I  let my gym membership go about a month after I started the new job - so 2 months ago now.  I loved the gym but it was $100. a month, about 12 miles the opposite direction from my job and in heavy commute traffic.  I know that the only time I would have gone was on the weekends.

Of course I had high hopes for going on walks and using my little hand weights to keep my fitness level up.  I thought I would just put music on and dance like Kirsty Ally said she did.  I researched the possibility of buying my favorite aerobic machine to have at home - at $5000. Tom put the kibosh on that idea.  So nothing has happened.  A few bike rides, that's about it.

And oh do I feel it.  I am all soft and jiggly and I have put in inch on around my hips and waist. I get out of breath just walking.  It is bad.

My employer has a bunch of exercise equipment in his garage that he keeps saying he is going to bring into our warehouse for all of us to use.  We have made some preparations - but I don't know when it might really happen - so I joined a gym.  It is a month to month thing so I can cancel easily.  Lots of equipment, pretty good parking, it's kind of smelly but it's right on the way to or from work. And cheap.

I joined 5 days ago - I haven't gone yet.

DRAGGED MYSELF TO THE GYM

I made it back to the gym today after a week of  viral lethargy, a strange kind of cold which sapped my energy and has made my head fuzzy.  I did a short work out and mopped everything I touched with antibacterials - the best I can do until they come up with antivirals, I guess.

I did weigh in and was unhappy to see I am up 2 pounds but my official weigh in isn't until Monday and perhaps 2 pounds of mucus will evacuate my body by then!  I suspect the oatmeal and toast diet has something to do with it, too.

I am taking Ally back to school on Sunday and that will also reduce the dining out that she so enjoys having me treat her to.  So until Monday I will leave you with this:  GO 49ers!!

WILL POWER IN A MINE FIELD

What is there to say?  Yo Yo Me here.  Although when I got on the scale at the gym on Sunday and saw the upwards creep I was shocked and have been on track since.  I also had occasion to put on the old vest they gave me when I started my job in November and I can't button it.  Yikes.  So then I measured myself and I am many inches larger than I was in early November. 

Not good.  Not the direction I want to be going.  No, no, no.

I could do a show and tell ( but I won't because running around the lobby and office with a camera would be frowned upon) of all the temptations I am surrounded by every night I work and you would understand.  Bowls of candy, trays of pastries and cookie jars which I must keep stocked also popcorn and these amazing flavored peanuts in the bar.  And yes, there are bowls of fruit, too. 

I bring my nice healthy dinner each night and drink lots of water and green tea.  The majority of the time I am not tempted.  I am busy or  good at distracting myself.  It is just those nights that I slip, I can't even say what it is that happens or why some times I am just so hungry and nothing fills me up.

I have always had extraordinary "will power."  I realize at some point after the summer I just stopped having the will.  Now I need to summon it up again.  Times are tough but I need to get tougher!

NEW YEAR - NEW NUMBERS ON THE SCALE

I think I mentioned on my other blog that there was one of those gift exchanges at work where you could pick a gift or "steal" one from someone else.  The manager bought all the gifts and there was a wide array of things.  I was up second and pulled out a 15 pound box of See's Candy!  I knew I would not be going home with that - but what I did end up going home with was a scale!

Now it may seem odd that I do not already own a scale, but the one I had for years wound up in the garage for weighing eBay packages and then...well, I don't know what happened to it.  I always weigh in at the gym, on the same scale.  I found out that different scales at the gym weigh me differently - so I always stick with the one scale.  I weigh with my shoes on at the end of my work-out.  I have no idea if this is the ideal time to find out my weight - I am more interested in downward movement of the number than the number itself.

So the new home scale is very fancy.  It allegedly does body analysis in addition to weight.  All I know is the first time I stepped on the scale I had suddenly  achieved the weight I was in my 20's!  I thought "well this scale certainly needs an adjustment" and then I saw the little kg on the readout.  Oh.  Metric weight.  I ran downstairs to google the conversion and was happy that it showed I was in the range I expected. 

But now no amount of manual reading and button pushing will change the damn thing over to pounds and I doubt that I am going to learn the metric system at this point of my life!  I may as well put this one in the garage, too.