Thursday, May 8: 7pm Jazzercise class. *Hot* in there, even with fans going and the A/C. Sign of things to come, as the room does get warm. Sweated more. Forgot somehow to start my HR monitor so I lost my calorie count. New person attending. Yea! That always cheers me up. Hope we made her feel welcome. I thought I would be too tired, but got through class just fine. I’ll sleep well tonight though!

Friday, May 9: gym night. Legs a specialty. I was so beat I took a nap after work and before I went. Well, at least I tried to. There’s a bunch of kids in the complex who like to play just outside my apartment sometimes, and today was no exception. Skateboarding, calling out, etc. I can’t get mad, they’re just having fun and they’re cute kids, but the timing is often just when I need a little rest. I sort of half-dozed.

Hit the gym around 8, did a full 30 of treadmill instead of a short warmup as I just fell into a good groove. Worked incline and big arms, had the heart rate up there without going fast-fast. Then: squats, hamstrings, leg curls and extensions, hip adductor and abductor, and some free weights. Triceps, a little overhead work, upper back. Only 8# today as it was not the regular night for it. Then 30 more minutes of treadmill, more of a long slow burn, HR pretty much 120s-130s. I hope I have the stuff to do the double class tomorrow morning. It’s...soon.

Ann sounds like you and I were feeling about the same last night… I opted to skip the weights and had a good swim instead!..

I can totally relate to the kids outside the window thing.  I lived in an apartment complex when I was in London (Ont) for school last year.  There were 4 buildings in a square with a courtyard in the center.  During the winter it wasn’t too noisy, but once it warmed up there were always kids out there shouting and playing.  Even though I was on the 4th floor, the parking garage was under the courtyard so it was like I was only 2 floors up.  You’re right -you can’t get mad.  I did yell down a few times when they were smashing things with rocks, or when they were yelling obsenities right below my window.  But for the most part I’d just drown them out with music or the TV.  If I really needed a nap I’d use ear plugs.  I never got to sleep in the morning last year either because there was another building going up and construction always started before 7 am.  As soon as the crane started up it always woke me in the morning.

Saturday, May 10: Jazzercise classes back to back at 8a and 915a. Wow, kind of slow attendance-wise. I guess this time of year people are busy. I was about 5 minutes late for the first class but just missed the warm-up. In the second class I did low impact and backed off a bit here and there, as I’m feeling really fatigued. I think I’ve determined how much I can do on a seven-day-a-week basis, and this is just a little past that. Drank plenty of water last night and this morning, though, and stopped for my nonfat latte (iced) and a piece of crumb cake (too dry.) Got on the scale when I got home and I’m down another notch: 152.4. Okay if I can maintain it. Wait, Ann, appraise: last summer/fall, until October, I was stuck at 170 for like forever after being stuck at 175 for like forever. I got back to basics on the calorie counting and dropped to 160 by the end of the year. This year to date has been a bit of a seesaw, but I guess if I get to eight pounds down by the end of this week I should be encouraged. Exercise pants (one of my favorite pairs, long with a little leg flair at the bottom, more slimming than the choppy three-quarter length) appeared to be too big today and I had to hike them up. They’re one of few pairs without the drawstring.

Today: it’s quite hot in Northeast Florida. I’m going to stretch out for a half-hour then set about: hitting a resale clothing store, trying to get gel (not acrylic!) nails, shopping for and making my potluck dish, maybe a walk, maybe a trip to the library, maybe a movie.

The kids aren’t outside at the moment, Catherine, or they’re being quiet anyway. Thirty minutes of shut-eye sounds so good! I’m going to try to keep ultra-hydrated, full of nutrients, moisturized, and relaxed all weekend. I am thinking of skipping tomorrow’s ‘arm’ workout as I’ve worked arms and upper body all three gym trips this week, and maybe I need a rest day. Instead I will perhaps opt for just a walk-walk, or some long slower cardio.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Good stuff Ann!

Hurray for getting off a plateau . . . and for clothes that have become too big. Good for you, Ann.

Well, that 152 was short-lived. I forgot to weigh first thing this morning but by noon I was three pounds up from that. Still, I like to eyeball a new low even if it’s a fluke.

Today (Sunday) was a rest day. I turned the alarm off and slept in. Well, I meant to sleep as late as I wanted, but kept thinking it must be like NOON or something, when it was about 8:30. It was overcast enough this morning not to be able to tell, plus I’d turned my clock on the desk so I couldn’t see it. Made the potluck food, did a small load of workout clothes, and went to the gathering. I got a little curry sauce (turmeric yellow) on my jeans where the big crockpot of chickpeas leaked a little as I was carrying it. Hope that comes out, must google how to get rid or turmeric/curry/yellow mustard stains I guess. Feels weird not going to the gym tonight. Then again I can feel that my body needed rest, even more than extra sleep. I was really showing signs of fatigue. Maybe tomorrow I can do a little extra.

See - we are both in the same place… needing some extra rest.  I took an extra day off yesterday and I am so glad I did.  I think I am going to back off a bit this week during my workouts (but I’m still going to get as many as possible in) so I don’t continue to exhaust myself.

Ann as somebody who loves to cook and eat curry I can tell you if you don’t get it out right away it is impossible to get out.

Yes, that stain is pretty much forever. Glad you tried that recipe. I love it!
Sounds like you needed the rest and congrats on the continued weight loss!

Yes, Catherine, I think it’s possible I was overdoing things a bit, and adding some less restful sleep didn’t help. (Barking dog last night which seemed to go on forever.) I thought I had found that balance and could go seven days a week, but then of course I stepped up the cardio Weds and Fri night, and that mere nine hours or so between Friday night’s hour of cardio and the two hours of Jazzercise didn’t seem to be enough for renewal.

I realized this past week that I’ve started *not* looking forward to Jazzercise class as much as I did, but the new sets will be coming out soon, and I think perhaps it was just a matter of being more tired. And I need to be more mindful of hydration, as I know I’m sweating like a fiend these days.

Shawn, as soon as I got home I rubbed detergent in the curry stain, both on the jeans and in the nylon bag I’d carried the crockpot in (I guess I had it slightly tilted as I walked fast from the parking lot to the room where the gathering was.) It came out of the bag beautifully. There’s a slight shadow on the jeans (I used cold water and did not dry the jeans so as to avoid further setting the stain.) I hope to use a pre-treating item before the next time I wash them. Since they’re the only jeans I have right now that fit (last year’s are big) I hope it doesn’t show too much so I can still wear them. Or, I need to work harder to get down to that size ten.

Ann we have curry plates and utensils at my house!

Well, the jeans don’t look too bad. But I figure I will have a load of workout clothes by Wednesday night and will give them another wash. Someone on a web site recommended Lestoil. Lestoil?? I didn’t know they still made the stuff. It’s a brand I remember from childhood, when my mom was alive.

Forgot to log last night: Monday, May 12: 7pm Jazzercise class. Had a new sign-up. She was quiet and seemed tentative, but she tried nearly everything and hopefully enjoyed it.  I did okay. Wasn’t quite 100%, but better rested than the past few days.

My sister uses Lestoil to get grease out but I don’t like it because I’m sensitive to the smell which seems to linger in the clothes. I use Dawn dishwashing liquid instead. For non-grease stains, I use a pre-soak.

Interesting. Dawn does work great. I had some orange spray degreaser and used that on the stain first, then rubbed in the Gain before washing in cold water. I think it’ll just fade. Couldn’t quite decide whether curry was a grease based stain or not. There was a little oil in the recipe, but the turmeric is a dry powder, so it’s water soluble.

Tuesday, May 13: 7pm Jazzercise class. Kind of disappointed; I finally had my heart rate monitor on, remembered to reset beforehand, and pressed start. I only burned like 270 calories in the class. That’s a lot less than I’d thought, and less than previous times, plus a lot of the time when I looked down in the aerobic portion my HR was in the high 140s. If that’s the case maybe it’s why I haven’t been losing any weight. Will have to monitor some more. I did only use 4# weights, and I did 7# weights in the end of the 5:30 class, which I didn’t count or monitor. I seem to do much better at burning calories at the gym. Maybe I was dialed back more than I thought tonight. Decided to make a CD of songs from Jazzercise class for the woman who is going through chemo. Hopefully she’ll enjoy listening to some of the tunes, and some new ones as well.

Wednesday, May 14: gym night. 20 minutes warmup cardio, a good mile plus on the treadmill. Then stretching, then chest press, the other chest machine, shoulder lift, lower back extension, rowing machine (first time), then free weights. Overhead raises, tricep kickbacks, pec crossovers, pec flies. Then lat pulldown machine. Refilled water bottle, then did 60 minutes cardio: 25 min elliptical, 15 minute stair climber (first time), 20 minutes treadmill. That stair climber is a nice workout. I had to be careful with my steps, though, in the mostly-darkened TV room, as I felt very tentative about hitting the steps balanced and was a bit paranoid about slipping and crashing backwards. Good workout though, I felt it in my calves, hamstrings, and I’m sure tomorrow my glutes will be reminding me. Totally felt better about how I looked in the mirrors with a short-sleeved shirt on rather than sleeveless. HR monitor said I burned 655 calories. Not bad. I kept a pretty even pace on the cardio machines, but sweated the most on the stairs. Friday, I think I am going to try short intervals of running and see how I do.

Ooh, I can feel the effects of that stair climber today. Certainly worked the backside and legs! I was worried about being sore in the upper body from the rowing and weights. Actually I feel pretty ‘even’ today—general sense of having worked the muscles without pain.

Good Job Anne!!  I used to use the stair climber when I worked at the Y when I was in high school.  I know it is a good workout!!

Thursday, May 15: 7pm Jazzercise class, plus I sneaked onto the floor for the final two routines of the 5:30 set, an ab routine and an abduct/leg thing. Did some stretching and grabbed a resistance tube in between to stretch out the muscles of my upper back from their workout yesterday. I joked that if I didn’t get over 300 calories on my HRM tonight I was going to “kill myself.” Then added that it was an empty threat as I would likely be too tired. 377 calories, it said, so a hundred more than Tuesday… same exact set. I used heavier weights for some of the resistance, and maybe moved that little bit harder, though I didn’t feel I slacked Tuesday at all. Was dripping sweat tonight too. 377 is more like it but I’m really not getting quite the burn I thought I was. OTOH, felt mighty worked-out by the end, especially my calves and arms.

Catherine, you said it, it was a workout (the stair climber). And will be more so once I get more comfortable with it and don’t hold on so much. I think it was the semi-dark, the small step, and my sense that I could fall off backwards that freaked me out.

I think I need a warm scented bath tonight. Let the muscles relax.

Good stuff Ann way to keep moving!