Happy New Year!!!

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I've even attempted to write anything in this blog. Let's see if this time around goes any better.

Being that it's January 1st, New Year's Resolutions are going to be my focus. In this post, I will discuss what resolutions I've made. In subsequent posts, I hope to discuss any progress I've made with them. I won't have the resolution updates more than once a week, but I may post about other things in between.

Now for the resolutions.....

1. My first resolution is to update this blog at least once a week. I figure I should put that in writing. It's an easy resolution to keep track of and potentially easier to do than updating everyday.
2. Getting a new job. This has actually been my goal for awhile but hopefully by Dec. 31, 2011, I will in fact have a new job. I don't just want another fast food or retail job though. Every week, I will try to post about the job hunting progress I have made so far.
3. Cleaning my room and keeping it clean. Bwahahahahaha. This should be interesting. I hope to at least be able to see 85% of my floor at all times. Hopefully with this in writing, I will have the motivation to keep cleaning and maintaining the cleanliness. First step, unpacking from Christmas.
   
4. Lose some weight. I am putting this here without an actual number because I know how hard it is. I mostly want to lose some weight and keep it off. I am not going to post how much I weigh here but I am keeping track of it.
5. Related to the previous resolution, I want to go to the gym at least twice a week. Especially in the last two months, I have been really bad about going to the gym. Ideally I want to go to the gym up to three times a week but some weeks that doesn't work out.
6. Go through my clothes and books, and donate the ones I no longer need. I started going through my clothes in July and, not only did I not finish that part of it, they are still sitting where I left them. I just started going through my books before Christmas. I just have to donate those now.
7. Swear less. Even two years ago, this would not have been an issue. I just need to be aware of the language and words that I use.
8. Practice dance everyday. Oy. Considering I only tend to practice when I have a show to prepare for, this should be interesting. But I think get back to the basics should really help me improve.

I think that's a good start. Some of them may take more work than other but I think I can do it. I probably should have one there about watching less TV or being on the internet less but that might be a result of some of the other resolutions. Hopefully.

Fingers crossed. Here's to a great 2011!!!

Fencing and getting back to business....

Hi there folks. It's been a while. There really is no excuse for me not updating for like five weeks but I am working on catching up, hopefully I will be fully caught up in the next couple weeks. I may update seemingly randomly but that is because I have notes for some days and not others and it's been five freaking weeks. From here on out I am hoping to update daily, not only the post for the day, but also three or four posts from weeks ago. I am determined to see this through.
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So today, Colette and I went to a fencing class. The first class of the session is free, so what could it hurt? The answer is my right thigh. At the beginning of class, we did a bunch of laps (not a fan but not a huge deal). We then learned the proper stance, how to move forward and backward, and how to lunge. Not the most natural positions or movements for my body but it wasn't too bad. I believe the lunges were the culprit when it came to my thigh. We then got the equipment and proceded to poke each other for half an hour to 45 minutes. Literally. I would poke Colette, then she would poke me, etc, etc, ad infinitum. Then we used the forward/backward movements to poke each other. And then we lunged. It got pretty repetitive and Colette got annoyed that I kept poking her in the same spot. Eventually, we learned how to block the attacks. At the end of the class, we began sparring which was officially the best part. So today's favourite thing was sparring in fencing class. While the sparring was cool, I don't think I will sign up for the session - too repetitive and it was hard on my body.

Why am I all of a sudden leaving things everywhere?

Last night, I realized that I had left my lock at the gym. After accidently leaving something else at the gym last week, I wasn't impressed. Especially since I couldn't find it last week. Today, I went back to that particular gym to retrieve the lock. It turns out that not only did I leave the lock there, but I left my gym shoes there as well. It's a good thing that I checked the locker room and not just the lost and found. I went to a different gym tonight and I hope that I didn't end up leaving anything there tonight. So today's favourite thing is finding stuff where you left it.

Somehow, I am not disappointed....

Today, I went to BodyPump for the first time ever on a Tuesday night. It was quite the experience, but not because it was Tuesday. For some reason, the instructor for that particular class didn't actually show up, so the instructor for the class right before it had to find someone else. Luckily, there was someone there that was a BodyPump instructor that could actually teach it. While the new intructor got herself together, the other instructor (who normally teaches BodyStep) did a BodyStep warmup with us. When the BodyPump instructor was ready, we started at the beginning of the workout.
In a typical BodyPump class, you do the exercises in the following order: Warm up, Squats, Chest, Clean and Press, Triceps, Biceps, Lunges, Shoulders, Abs, and Cool down. Today, because it took a while for everything to sort itself out, we had to cut out some of the exercise. We ended up cutting out the Lunge and Tricep tracks. We also only did one minute of Abs. I cannot say I was disappointed about that turn of events because Lunges and Triceps are two of my least favourite tracks. So today's favourite thing was a BodyPump class with no Lunges or Tricep exercises.

But I don't want to...

For some reason, I got it into my head that my sister would be getting home from work early. I don't know why. Apparently, I must have imagine her telling me that would be the case because she had no idea what was talking about. But it gave me hope that she would be home late enough that I would not be able to make it to the gym. Alas, she arrived home in plenty of time. It was sad, especially because being unable to go to the gym was firmly entrenched in my head by that point. I just really didn't want to go to the gym today, and was fully holding my ground against her telling me that I should (I know I should. Should is not the issue, want is the issue), until she pulled her trump card that she is actually paying for my gym membership. Sigh. This entire debate would not have even have been had if she was going with me, but she is still recovering from being sick so she did not go with me. So, I went. It wasn't as bad as I had been building it up to be and as of this moment. I am glad I went. Tomorrow may be a different story because of the soreness, but it's not an issue right now. Anyway, today's favourite thing is external motivation, because if I had to only rely on myself for somethings, they would never get done.

Still exercising!

I have written in the past about doing different group exercise classes at the gym I go to. I tend to really enjoy them but some I enjoy more than others. There is something to be said for having an instructor that you enjoy. It makes the workout seem less like a workout. None of the instructors I have had have been bad per se, but some of them have definitely been better than others. There are certain days and times that I go to classes just for the fact that I enjoy the instructor for that class. For example, I go to Zumba on Mondays at 4:30 simply because I like the instructor. I also enjoy the instructor for BodyPump on Wednesdays at 6:30 and Mondays at 5pm and for BodyCombat on Thursday nights (sadly, I can't go to the Thursday night class until my French class is over). Those are definitely the classes I enjoy the most just because of the instructor. So today's favourite thing is Group Exercise class with an instructor I enjoy.

Absense makes the heart grow fonder.

Today, I went to the Monday Zumba class that I love for the first time in nearly two months. With the bus strike, going to that particular class just didn't work out in terms of car availability and other class my sister and I like. I've been to Zumba since the strike began but was never able to make that class. I don't know why I like the Monday class as opposed to the Thursday or Friday classes but I think it has a lot to do with the instructor. She is very energetic and really into and seems less inhibited than some of the other instructors. It helps that I am familiar with the songs now so have some idea of what I am doing and, also, that the class is only 45 minutes as opposed to an hour. I was just really happy to be back at that class. So today's favourite things is the Monday Zumba class at the Baseline Goodlife. (I know I have written about Zumba before but I really enjoyed today's class.)

You mean they are actually used for exercise?

On Wednesdays, at the gym I go to for BodyPump, there is a class that uses those big exercise balls right before my class starts. When I see them, I think "Wow, people actually exercise with those things." Then I catch myself and remember that exercising is actually what they were made for. As I write this, I am sitting by the computer with my feet resting nicely on one of those balls. When I lived in Boston, my desk chair was one of those balls. When I lived at my parents, we had one of those balls in the computer room that we used with the chairs that didn't recline or we didn't feel like actually turning into a recliner. So I don't think I have ever used a exercise ball for it's actual purpose. If the bus strike ever ends, I may have to try that class, but until then, my favourite thing with continue to be using exercise balls for pretty much anything other than exercise.

I can't think of a clever title so this will have to do.

So today I did the BodyPump class at the gym. I have done this class a few times and I enjoy how strong it makes me feel even though I usually have the least amount of weight possible on my bar. I have definitely noticed the difference in my body since starting the class and it is the class that I do that I can tell is working to shape different muscle groups. Many of the other classes seem to be focused more on cardio while this more about weight training. The hardest part is figuring out how much weight to use for each of the different muscle groups. The instructor gives guidelines about how much to use but you also have to base it on how much you actually can do. I bumped the weight for my squats today which seemed like the 'smart' thing to do right before Christmas but it wasn't a huge leap so I think I'll be okay. On a related note, I think I did something not so good to a glute so I have to figure out a good way of stretching it. I have tried a bunch of different stretches but none of the seem to really hit the spot. Any suggestions?

Insert sound indicating relaxation here

While generally I would prefer a massage provided by an actual human being, today my favourite thing is the massage chair that my sister found at my gym. It was sooo nice. It wasn't just one of those ones vibrate. This chair has things that squeeze your legs and another part that goes up and down your back. It felt so nice after lifting weights for an hour. I'm not saying that the vibrating ones aren't nice, but this was just better than that. I would probably write a bit more but I am about to fall asleep.

We will survive

Once again this post will be about exercise. Today I went to the BodyCombat class at the gym. It is a very high energy class that is, as the name would imply, a mixed martial arts based class. Lots of kick and punches. I have done this class for a over a month now and I continue to actually suck at the kicks and punches but I have a good time anyway. It's quite cathartic. It was a new release a few weeks ago that I tried out and it ended up being my favourite set of moves and the reason I continued going to the class. They continue to use some of the same songs from that release along with some older stuff that I am not as familiar with. It takes a lot of energy but it simultaneously revs you up with the high energy music that the moves are based on. I am getting better at it. I find it to be one of the best workouts I get, lots of sweat.

Shaking it up

I started going to my current gym in September. It's a Canadian chain called Goodlife Fitness. I am generally not the sort of person that enjoys go to the gym just to on a machine or four for an hour. I really need motivation. So the group exercise classes that they offer there have really been an added incentive for me to go to the gym. One of my favourite exercise classes is called Zumba. It's a very energetic dance based workout. It's also a lot of fun. Once you've been to a few classes, it's quite easy to follow. The girl that leads my class changes it up quite a bit every week but she also keeps some of the same songs and routines so that you have that familiarity with it as well. I don't believe that Goodlife has the exclusive Canadian rights for Zumba like it does for some of the other group exercise classes it offers so you may be able to find it in other venues. The other dance exercise class I have gone to at GoodLife (BodyJam) is enjoyable as well but it requires you to remember sometimes lengthy routines for multiple songs. Zumba changes the routine with each song, so each song has it's own choreography. I also, personally, do not feel like I have 6 left feet when I do Zumba like I occasionally do when I do BodyJam. (Yes, I apparently gain 4 extra feet, thank you for asking.)