Web Haunts

Monday November 24

"Being in shape = One size fitting all"

...it's all relative. Just when you think you are in pretty good shape, some different exercise comes along to make you taste that humble pie and put you in your place.

Today was my first kung fu class. The "newest" student there apart from me has about 4 months on me which translates to - I was the only one looking like a big idiot! The first hour I did calisthenics with the rest of the class:

full sit ups - you know where your entire body is coming up off the floor and your face is going for your knees. I started sweating after about 8 and we did 2 sets of twenty. I'm sorry but those little "crunches" just do not have the same impact on your entire stomach like a full blown sit up.

push ups - on a good day (which coincidentally happened to be today) I can do around 6-8. I did 12 today because we hit the floor when we come down. I struggled through the rest of my twenty and then had to do another 2 sets of twenty both in wide arm stance and closed hand (hands under chest) stance. Eegads.

leg lifts - not just lifting the buttocks but trying to push your legs over your head so they touch the floor behind you. Easy when you are on the bed and you have spring action and momentum to help you. Difficult on wooden surface with your hands slipping from the drench of your own sweat.

jog in place - piece of cake

sitting with feet together and breathing out pressing your chest to your feet - no problem

alternate toe touches - other than feeling slightly dizzy, easy.

So in other words, flexibility gets a big A - core strength D!

The second hour was spent learning basic (?!?) stances, bows, fist making and one punch. I then got to batter up my hands doing hand conditioning which is a five hand variation slap/punch into semi hard surface of choice.

WOO HOO!!!

I'm also happy to report there was no changing room drama...the uniform fits and the sash can go around more than once like it's supposed to! WEE HAA.

You can bet your booty that there will be a pic up soon :D

As for the rest, Doc and I are now on the same page and slowly working towards a solution to some of the minor ills that plague me. I see him in a month.

So the new schedule is kung fu M,W,F spinning T and weights over the weekend. I may try for spinning twice a week, but I don't want to kill myself too early in the game!

JeAnne

11/24/2003 12:40 pm link to this post

Wednesday November 19

"Kung fu wu su...not moo shu"

(insert choirs of heavenly angels)

The storm clouds are gone, and I'm feeling much more myself today...an excited self even!

1)I said to hell with waiting til the New Year for the doctor's appointment and scheduled one for tomorrow afternoon. I'm convinced there is something going on and it's interconnected somehow. I've had various little maladies since turning 30 and dropping the bulk of the weight (maladies other than the plateau) and it's got to be related as to why I'm not always feeling my best despite eating healthier than anyone I know. I've made a list of all the things going on, including the ob/gyn things, so that my doc has a total picture. I'm really hoping he can point me in some direction. Either that, or he will call me crazy and ship me off to Bellevue.

2)I found a martial arts school/discipline I LOVE!!! I've been doing all kinds of research into martial arts etc wanting to really find not only a challenging workout, but a discipline and philosophy that gelled with what I was looking for. And I found it!!! I sat in on a shaolin/kungfu class and it was fantastic. Talking to the instructors gave me a good sense of where they are in terms of focus. There are no "tournaments" as they believe competition and advancement is within oneself, they combine combat and healing chi....which means all sorts of good mind/body/spirit mojo and eventually weapons training...YEE HA!! Give this girl a sword! Uma's going to have nothing on me. And the best part is they are non profit so the classes are relatively inexpensive with very little registration (basically to pay for your uniform).

YAY!

No more mindless cardio equipment!! (I may keep spinning, but goodbye elliptical!)

http://www.kungfu-wusu.com/

JeAnne


11/19/2003 01:55 pm link to this post

Monday November 17

"Week 2 Update"

Physically fine, mentally in the toilet.

I'm seeing a Doc on Thursday...I have a feeling all the little maladies I have been putting up with since I 1)turned 30 and 2)dropped 100 are all inter-connected somehow.

I'm just so tired of spinning my wheels. I'm whiny. I'm bitchy and totally frustrated with the constant battle of just being happy with me.

The whole foods thing is AWESOME...I just need to clear up some other problems that have been recurring for awhile.

More when I'm not so cranky.

j

11/17/2003 05:03 pm link to this post

Monday November 10

End of week 1 - Naturopathic/Intuitive Eating

Morning everyone!!!

Today marks the end of my first week with this naturopathic plan. Just for the record though, I'm not looking at it as a "challenge"...after 8 weeks I'm going to evaluate and keep going, tweak or try something new. No more living for free meal or free day. I've decided to instead save my special meals or dessert for just that...special occasions or when I really want it. It's so much easier for me to stay away from junk when I'm not dipping in every so often. I would rather work really hard and then be able to enjoy my thanksgiving meal for example or have something sweet with the occasion warrants it...either a special occasion or really wanting something ie quality chocolate or full fat ice cream.

So 1 week completed:
*One cheat chocolate break down (the first day..have been clean since then) and one meal where I added a complex carb...a variation off plan but a healthy eating choice.
*Energy is fantastic.
*No drop in gym endurance..in fact I think my cardio stamina has already increased.
*Bathroom like clockwork.
*No headaches.
*Learning real hunger - For the first time in my life I've discovered my biggest meal in the day should be lunch or meal 3. That is when I'm really really hungry. Then I've been fine tapering off the remaining meals.
*Scale - Down 5 pounds and back in my plateau 5 lb bouncing range. (I gained a couple "lbs" the week between the end of challenge 2 and going to St. Lucia . Then I lost a pound the week I was in St. Lucia and gained a couple more the week of TOM so most of this is water)


Goals:
*drop more body fat (according to the tanita in st lucia I'm still in the 30's percentile and want to get into the 20s)
*maintain/increase strength
*keep going with the eating...I think I'm *finally* onto something both physically and mentally!!

The problem I have with most people who do the low carb route is they have to make up for it by 1)increasing fat (and most of the time it's unhealthy) and 2)using processed low carb crap. I mean what's the point of doing a low carb diet and then ingesting all this manufactured, processed low carb syrup, bread, beer, tablets etc?

What I like about what the book and what I'm doing just now is:

*Eventually complex carbs do get reintroduced
*It's not so low in carb that you feel that wonky/dizzy thang that people complain about (you never hit ketosis)
*I'm finally eating the recommended 10 servings of fruits and veggies per day...how many people can say that?
*Like Tony the tiger, I feel great!

Thoughts? Comments? Criticism? Y'all have been entirely too quiet!


JeAnne

11/10/2003 12:17 pm link to this post

Thursday November 6

"WAZZZZZZZAP!"

What's going on you may ask...

Is she head first in a costco sized bag of cool ranch Doritos?
Has she found gallon sized Ben and Jerry's?
Has she packed up and moved to the Carribbean? (*sigh*)

None of the above.

I've just been a crazy fool at work! However, have patience friends. I have updated lots of pages (k1 and weight related) that I will be putting up tonight. As for the what's going on now? That page will need to wait but I promise to have it up by the weekend.

It's all good though!

j

11/6/2003 05:11 pm link to this post

Sunday November 2

The Body Holiday

DISCLAIMER: No, I do not work for LeSport...I just had one of the best vacations of my life!!!

LeSport's ( www.thebodyholiday.com ) motto is "Give us your body for a week and we'll give you back your mind". I have to say, they do everything possible to make this come true and for me, it was the perfect balance of activity, relaxation, and letting go without overindulgence.

Getting there: A nightmare. We travelled AirJamaica and their first mistake was when we booked the flight and they told us there were no flights from Newark. We hauled our butts to JFK and stayed in an airport hotel in Queens the night before to arrive for an early morning flight. Well the flight never happened. We took off for about 10 minutes and then landed again due to some "mechanical failure". Over the course of the day, we went from staying on the plane to disembarking for a "brief" moment, to taking off by 12:30, to not taking off at all. We found out at around 4pm (our flight was at 7am) that we weren't going anywhere. We were given food and hotel vouchers and rebooked for a flight the next morning. The lack of communication was what aggravated me the most. The customer service was atrocious and I would be hardpressed to fly with them again.

The upside: LeSport gave us an extra day on the end so that we would still have a 7 day vacation. They did not have to do this, and I thought that it said a lot on their part that they did it with no fuss whatsoever. When we arrived, our spa schedules had already been switched to make up for the day lost etc. They rock.

The feel of the resort: Exactly what we wanted. This is not an "American" style resort ie an American "Ken and Barbie bubble on a tropical island" (a tour operator's description of Sandals). I would say that 75% of the occupants were from the UK or Europe. The resort is spread out so even though it was at 94% occupancy, we didn't feel that way. There was always room at the pools, at the spa, on the beach or in the classes/activities. The beach front is private so there were no visitors coming up to you selling you wares or offering to braid your hair. (Although we did see a Sandals boat everyday coming over to do snorkling on our part of the island!!) The resort is fairly remote so it's not lined up along the beach with a string of other resorts which I also liked. Everyday there was a list of activities posted...that's about all the pressure you got to participate. No cruise director in your face trying to pep you into doing something ...if you want to be on the beach all day, it's ok. The resort is definitely "health" oriented mind, body and spirit with the activities, the food, and the spa.

The food: There were four places to eat. Tao was the fancy reservation needed restaurant. There was also another restaurant and then the club house which was more buffet style set up. Under tao there was a health deli opened during the day for all healthy choices...salads, sandwiches, soups and sugar free/gluten free desserts, smoothies etc.. The restaurant portions were perfect or what we would normally consider on the "small side". Though the buffet allowed for indulging, there were plenty of marked healthy offerings...again your choice. We largely had dinners at the grill area..each night was a different theme and we loved it. Wherever we ate, the food was delicious and the offerings pretty varied day to day.

The activities: Here is what I did: snorkling, tubing, high energy aqua aerobics, swimming, archery, meditation, hiking, cardio karate, beginning pilates and water volleyball. This is not even half of the activities offered. It was an absolute blast and I had the time of my life trying all these things out. DH and I also did a soft adventure through the resort where you go with just a "bodyguard" on an adventure of your choice. We chose some driving through various villages, a hike through a waterfall and past an active volcano and then snorkling at Anse Chastenet which lies in the heart of an ocean marina reserve. Again, there was no pressure to participate in the activities and the classes were never full.

The spa: We had scheduled treatments every day. They have recently changed from doing two 20 minute sessions per day to doing 1 50 minute session per day. I definitely liked the longer session...more time to zone and also more time to schedule other things in your day. While we were there we had swedish massage, rejuvinating facials, hand and foot reflexology, hydrotherapy (our favorite) and aromatherapy. The spa sits on top of a hill and there is a gorgeous pool up there with breathtaking views, saunas, hot and cold baths as well. Fantastic.

The room: We splurged on an ocean view and it was fabulous. We had a balcony one floor up with an incredible view of sunrises and sunsets on the ocean. The room was spacious with plenty of amenities and marble flooring to be easily cleaned of ocean sand! We arrived to two bath towels, two spa robes and flowers on the bed. There was a mini fridge in the room with chilled champagne glasses, rocks glasses and a decanter of water which was filled every day. We could have coffee delivered to us every morning before breakfast time and the service was impeccable from changing a light bulb to making up the bed in theday and turning it down at night.

The entertainment: An air conditioned piano bar everynight and then different nightly bands on the plaza in front of the restaurant. Jazz, steel drums, african drums, saxophone...all wonderful.

I cannot say enough good things about this resort. They also had a champagne/cocktails night where we got to meet the general manager and the chefs. It was also an opportunity to see the staff dressed down and relaxed. The staff truly seemed to enjoy themselves. No one wore a nametag and they made it their business to get to know your name. It had a "family" feel to it and it honestly seemed genuine to us.

St. Lucia is gorgeous in and of itself. Lots of history, culture and natural beauty. Because of the volcanoes, you will not get pristine white beaches. But you will get gorgeous hilly/moutainous countryside with tiny villages interspersed.

We would go again in a heartbeat and plan to!
Let me just say that it was one of the best vacations of my life. I ate seafood, veggies and fruit til my face practically fell off. I also had dessert every day at lunch and dinner! I still lost a pound over the week, due to the activity and the healthy meals balancing out dessert I would recommend LeSport to anyone who wants the option of staying healthy over a tropical holiday.

Now I'm back and having to decide where to turn next in terms of weight loss. I did a program there called "BodyAware" where I had consultation with a nutritionist there etc. In some ways I was pretty pleased that she didn't offer me too much more than I already know...that means I've been doing my homework! She did however let me borrow a book on a Naturopathic diet. It is rather strict for 8 weeks, but the idea is to retrain your body and metabolism...specifically insulin resistance. Between this and intuitive eating, I think I'll find a direction to go in for awhile. As for activity, I didn't touch weights at all while I was there. I did however love the classes and it was a difficult time getting me out of the water, that's how much I love to swim. My next goals involve finding a facility that either offers classes I want or has a pool...or both. I really want to do martials arts and there is one place that also has gym facilities in addition to classes. My gym membership is up in a couple of months (I think!) and I think I'm ready to try something else.

JeAnne


11/2/2003 06:53 am link to this post