In my post from yesterday, Conquering a Cottage Cheese Bagel, I shared that I had started working out ten days ago. I thought today was as good a day as any to talk about how I am feeling, probably should have done this more often; but maybe I will more in the future.
Right now I am making breakfast just got back from about 45 minute workout followed by roughly an hour playing basketball (by the end of the hour I was only playing every other play)! I played terrible; could not find my shot. I also got a blister on my ankle, these low cut socks are too low for my new work out shoes. I will either have to bring taller socks or bring my other pair of shoes to play ball in. I grabbed a bagel for breakfast this morning, that means I am doing the cottage cheese thing again today, I have not even double checked the nutrition guide yet! As far as my method goes: I am not really counting my calories, I will get into that later; right now if I just start eating better, not stopping at McDonald's for an Egg McMuffin and two breakfast burritos, it will be a massive improvement. Anyway on the menu: One whole grain bagel, one egg (no salt or pepper -- I don't own any haha), lowfat pineapple cottage cheese, small cup of orange juice, and small cup of milk. Cutting the bread out of the inside of one half the bagel to fill it with the cottage cheese. Probably could make a better/healthier breakfast, but like I said yesterday I just went to the store two mornings after reading the nutrition guide and I never made any plan (also on a tight budget).
My legs are weak; I feel like curling up in a ball and getting a few more hours of sleep. It is getting harder to wake up at 4:30-5:00 am; of course, last night I was staying up too late playing this moshi monster's game to level my nieces monster pets and get them extra spending points (Rox). They spend way too many rox for my liking, but yet I keep earning them more. My throat has a little discomfort from running up and down the basketball court, leaving me with the feeling of being winded. My arms are sore, but if my legs felt like my arms I would be a very happy person. Before I ate breakfast my stomach was feeling queasy, almost like I was going to lose all the water I drank this morning. As much as this all sounds like whining, I feel better. After the first week, I never really felt a lot of soreness. I think that has a lot to do with the amount of work I am able to put in, it is increasing. My form is improving. Even after the first day, I did not feel sore and I went as hard as I could: I did not really understand the work out then and I was trying to keep up with the pace without taking a break. Now that I have seen a few more videos, I know when you get tired and your form gets sloppy take a break and get back into it. On the first day I was throwing up stomach acid, I know it is disgusting. At this point, it is starting to become more effective, I am doing more and not feeling anywhere near as bad.
Well I actually finished breakfast a while ago, the cottage cheese was easier on me this morning. I opened my mouth wide and chomped the bagel with my tongue retracted. At one point I chewed it normally and it did get me a little bit, but as with everything else. I am definitely seeing some progress.
Tomorrow is on me. Nobody to workout with at 5am. Will I dig deep and get up on my own? Maybe I will just do it after I wake up at a normal time. Thanks for listening, I have got to go now. Take care, until next time.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Conquering a Cottage Cheese Bagel
I started working out 10 days ago, every weekday at 5 am. There are 2-5 of us that do the Insanity workout. They did it long before I got invited, but I guess one could say I bought into it after the first week. Literally, I found an unopened copy on craigslist for half the price they sell it for at Beachbody.com, plus no shipping cost, and went halvsies on it. This allowed me to do a workout on my own Saturday and the program dedicates Sunday as a day to rest; however, I had a pretty physically intense day at work on Sunday. It rained on Saturday, basically getting all five jumpers that were delivered that day wet or damp. They cannot be stored wet or they will become moldy, mildewy and smelly. I also had to deliver two combo jumpers, these are big jumpers that have other activities besides jumping, like slides, stairs, obstacles, and basketball hoops. I set up all five wet jumpers in the yard and took them all down later and rolled each one up. Plus I delivered and picked up both combo units and this was all done alone, without anyone's help.
All this, combined with the fact that my brother was in Vegas on a work sponsored convention trip, led to me not getting up at 5 am Monday morning. Nevertheless, I did a solo work out in the late afternoon and called it even. Although yesterday, I have no excuse, I was too lazy to get out of bed at 5 am; my feet were hurting and they still do some, but like I said that is no excuse. I do not feel too bad about it though since that is basically the first time I took a day to rest since I started.
Something about actually trying to get in shape makes conscious the knowledge that McDonald's and Jack In The Box just do not cut it for every meal or at least every other. Actually I have basically cut out fast food burgers in the last 10 days. I have been to Subway a few times, Del Taco once, Panda Express (Chinese) once, and had two sausage biscuits from Burger King one morning. Only four restaurants in ten days is Insanity for me. In some days past, I have eaten three meals a day at restaurants.
I attribute this meal consciousness to the workout. The Insanity DVDs came with a nutrition guide. It is not a diet plan so much as a healthy suggestion of what to eat to give a body the fuel it needs for those workouts. I read through it, most of the way. Just taking mental notes, not really getting a plan together. A few days ago I decided I better go to the store. I got only a few things (on a budget here) that I thought I remembered from my reading: bagels, eggs, orange juice, skim milk, english muffins, and pineapple cottage cheese. To be honest, I am not sure why I got the cottage cheese. I have never liked cottage cheese of any kind. It is not a flavor thing, I cannot even get to the point of experiencing flavor. Just looking at it makes me want to gag. Actually having it in my mouth pushes me to my limits and I must concentrate on not gagging in order to prevent it from happening.
Like I said, it has been a few days since I went to the store. I had not yet gotten up enough courage to try the cottage cheese. I have never had pineapple cottage cheese and there is always the idea in the back of your mind: what if I suddenly like cottage cheese now, what if I have been avoiding it for so long now and I really did not need to. This morning I opened it up and one look at my former nemesis and those hopeful ideas quickly dissipated. I stirred the slop with the knife I was going to use to spread it. It did not help. I started cutting pieces from the inside of the bagel to be filled with this cottage cheese that I was going to eat. The transfer from the knife to the bagel pieces that were consumed actually tasted good. I took that opportunity to try to convince myself, "See, you do like cottage cheese!" I thought. As I started "spreading" the cottage cheese into the bagel, my expression soured and I could hear myself saying, "Ewww, please don't eat that." I was very reassuring, "It will be quick and after all it is GOOD." I was very skeptical, but reluctantly I proceeded. As the first bite entered my mouth and came to rest on my tongue, I could hear someone in the back of my mind screaming with their best Will Ferrell impression, "He actually did it!"
Even now as I recall the horror, my eyes are welling up. Somehow I managed to chew and swallow. Remembering that this was supposed to be quick, I forced two more bites down in the same manner as the first. After which I briefly analyzed the situation; I was not going to make it, there was still half a slice of bagel left. Quickly allowing for my conflict resolution to take over, I folded the remaining bagel slice into half. Being that now only a fourth of a bagel remained, I felt my confidence coming back. I put the whole thing in my mouth and tried as best I could to chew only the bagel leaving the cottage cheese filling mostly undisturbed. It worked, I was able to put the rest down. As I stood there, head down; arms on either side of the sink; a small bead of sweat running down my forehead; and my stomach not quite okay with what was on it's way, I began to wonder, "is this what it means to eat healthier, to torture yourself with things you can hardly swallow? Does it become easier, will I look back one day and remember how hard it used to be?"
I really do not know those answers. As I put away the cottage cheese container, glancing at the contents within one last time, I questioned my purchasing decision; I also wondered if I would finish it before it goes bad. There was something else though, as I walked away from the kitchen filled with disbelief at what I had just put myself through, I felt strange. Strange in a way that, a double cheeseburger or three could never make one feel, I felt victorious. Be it a small victory, it was a victory nonetheless and here I am thinking about doing it again, maybe not tomorrow, but again someday (before this one goes bad anyway). That is of course after I double check the nutrition guide to make sure it does in fact have cottage cheese in some of the recipes and I did not misremember when I was at the store. After all cream cheese gets along a lot better with both bagels and me.
All this, combined with the fact that my brother was in Vegas on a work sponsored convention trip, led to me not getting up at 5 am Monday morning. Nevertheless, I did a solo work out in the late afternoon and called it even. Although yesterday, I have no excuse, I was too lazy to get out of bed at 5 am; my feet were hurting and they still do some, but like I said that is no excuse. I do not feel too bad about it though since that is basically the first time I took a day to rest since I started.
Something about actually trying to get in shape makes conscious the knowledge that McDonald's and Jack In The Box just do not cut it for every meal or at least every other. Actually I have basically cut out fast food burgers in the last 10 days. I have been to Subway a few times, Del Taco once, Panda Express (Chinese) once, and had two sausage biscuits from Burger King one morning. Only four restaurants in ten days is Insanity for me. In some days past, I have eaten three meals a day at restaurants.
I attribute this meal consciousness to the workout. The Insanity DVDs came with a nutrition guide. It is not a diet plan so much as a healthy suggestion of what to eat to give a body the fuel it needs for those workouts. I read through it, most of the way. Just taking mental notes, not really getting a plan together. A few days ago I decided I better go to the store. I got only a few things (on a budget here) that I thought I remembered from my reading: bagels, eggs, orange juice, skim milk, english muffins, and pineapple cottage cheese. To be honest, I am not sure why I got the cottage cheese. I have never liked cottage cheese of any kind. It is not a flavor thing, I cannot even get to the point of experiencing flavor. Just looking at it makes me want to gag. Actually having it in my mouth pushes me to my limits and I must concentrate on not gagging in order to prevent it from happening.
Like I said, it has been a few days since I went to the store. I had not yet gotten up enough courage to try the cottage cheese. I have never had pineapple cottage cheese and there is always the idea in the back of your mind: what if I suddenly like cottage cheese now, what if I have been avoiding it for so long now and I really did not need to. This morning I opened it up and one look at my former nemesis and those hopeful ideas quickly dissipated. I stirred the slop with the knife I was going to use to spread it. It did not help. I started cutting pieces from the inside of the bagel to be filled with this cottage cheese that I was going to eat. The transfer from the knife to the bagel pieces that were consumed actually tasted good. I took that opportunity to try to convince myself, "See, you do like cottage cheese!" I thought. As I started "spreading" the cottage cheese into the bagel, my expression soured and I could hear myself saying, "Ewww, please don't eat that." I was very reassuring, "It will be quick and after all it is GOOD." I was very skeptical, but reluctantly I proceeded. As the first bite entered my mouth and came to rest on my tongue, I could hear someone in the back of my mind screaming with their best Will Ferrell impression, "He actually did it!"
Even now as I recall the horror, my eyes are welling up. Somehow I managed to chew and swallow. Remembering that this was supposed to be quick, I forced two more bites down in the same manner as the first. After which I briefly analyzed the situation; I was not going to make it, there was still half a slice of bagel left. Quickly allowing for my conflict resolution to take over, I folded the remaining bagel slice into half. Being that now only a fourth of a bagel remained, I felt my confidence coming back. I put the whole thing in my mouth and tried as best I could to chew only the bagel leaving the cottage cheese filling mostly undisturbed. It worked, I was able to put the rest down. As I stood there, head down; arms on either side of the sink; a small bead of sweat running down my forehead; and my stomach not quite okay with what was on it's way, I began to wonder, "is this what it means to eat healthier, to torture yourself with things you can hardly swallow? Does it become easier, will I look back one day and remember how hard it used to be?"
I really do not know those answers. As I put away the cottage cheese container, glancing at the contents within one last time, I questioned my purchasing decision; I also wondered if I would finish it before it goes bad. There was something else though, as I walked away from the kitchen filled with disbelief at what I had just put myself through, I felt strange. Strange in a way that, a double cheeseburger or three could never make one feel, I felt victorious. Be it a small victory, it was a victory nonetheless and here I am thinking about doing it again, maybe not tomorrow, but again someday (before this one goes bad anyway). That is of course after I double check the nutrition guide to make sure it does in fact have cottage cheese in some of the recipes and I did not misremember when I was at the store. After all cream cheese gets along a lot better with both bagels and me.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Hotwheels Playroom
First off, I must confess I may have been misleading with one of my previous posts at least concerning my knowledge of Hotwheels tracks; it is not very extensive. I have always gravitated toward track building, whether it is for a car or a train. And although I feel as if I have explained this before here it is again:
For Christmas, my nephew got a Hotwheels wall track from his parents or maybe it was Santa; not sure whom I am supposed to give the credit to. I also got him a Hotwheels garage and several cars; oddly enough, I did not know what they were getting him and they did not know what I got him (I bought it at about the very last minute). I had also got him a wall track, but I did not wrap it right away and so when me and my brother talked about it, he told me my nephew was getting too many presents, when compared to what his older sisters were getting, and that I could take it back if I wanted.
Anyway, the wall track he got from his parents I assisted in putting that together. Although, I should probably say my brother assisted and I put it together. The issue my nephew had with the tracks is that he does not completely understand how to operate them, he is not quite 4 and the package states for children 4 and up. A loop that was rubber-band wound to push a car through it had to be removed from the track because he could not use it. Therefore, I was left to improvise or deviate from the set instructions. I probably would have done this anyway, but this has allowed me to imagine other ways of utilizing the same track pieces and not just sticking with what the box says to do. However, I just bought another track, mostly because it had a loop and since it was not rubber-band wound, was wondering if my nephew could use it. Unfortunately, the packaging does little to explain what happens when the track is set up. I have not put it on the wall, but I was snapping all the pieces together and this track eliminates the ability to deviate altogether. It almost snaps and slides together as one single entity. Therefore, lacking the standardization, I thought was implied in the other track that I did put together and also some of the tracks I had looked at pictures/videos of online at the Mattel shop. This only disappoints me more than I initially had been. All this attention I have dedicated to potential track deviations has led me to realize there are definite improvements that could be made that could allow children to apply their own imaginations.
Thoughts: there are a lot of 1 into 2 track pieces that use diverters or trapdoors; however, I have not seen a 2 into 1 piece. An inverted diverter or trapdoor would actually make more sense to me because the car will automatically interact with them in a 2 into 1 system as opposed to requiring a kid to push a lever or open the door to send the cars down a different path. Tracks are also confined. It is hard to explain what I mean by this, but I just feel like though the tracks connect, when you connect two sets you have two systems not one combined system. I think that could be changed, but it would require some redesigned pieces.
I should probably get to the point of this post, it is just a big idea that goes along with all the Hotwheels I have been thinking about lately. Although this is a big stretch from the track design I have been critiquing:
It is an idea to create a playhouse and track system. My thought was the playhouse would look like a car on the outside maybe even have functional wheels and be a mobile/transportable system. The inside would be covered with wall tracks, playsets, and artwork. I mentioned this idea to my brother and he did not say much about it. I am assuming he did not give the idea much thought. Not sure how he managed to do that, I cannot seem to stop thinking about this.
For Christmas, my nephew got a Hotwheels wall track from his parents or maybe it was Santa; not sure whom I am supposed to give the credit to. I also got him a Hotwheels garage and several cars; oddly enough, I did not know what they were getting him and they did not know what I got him (I bought it at about the very last minute). I had also got him a wall track, but I did not wrap it right away and so when me and my brother talked about it, he told me my nephew was getting too many presents, when compared to what his older sisters were getting, and that I could take it back if I wanted.
Anyway, the wall track he got from his parents I assisted in putting that together. Although, I should probably say my brother assisted and I put it together. The issue my nephew had with the tracks is that he does not completely understand how to operate them, he is not quite 4 and the package states for children 4 and up. A loop that was rubber-band wound to push a car through it had to be removed from the track because he could not use it. Therefore, I was left to improvise or deviate from the set instructions. I probably would have done this anyway, but this has allowed me to imagine other ways of utilizing the same track pieces and not just sticking with what the box says to do. However, I just bought another track, mostly because it had a loop and since it was not rubber-band wound, was wondering if my nephew could use it. Unfortunately, the packaging does little to explain what happens when the track is set up. I have not put it on the wall, but I was snapping all the pieces together and this track eliminates the ability to deviate altogether. It almost snaps and slides together as one single entity. Therefore, lacking the standardization, I thought was implied in the other track that I did put together and also some of the tracks I had looked at pictures/videos of online at the Mattel shop. This only disappoints me more than I initially had been. All this attention I have dedicated to potential track deviations has led me to realize there are definite improvements that could be made that could allow children to apply their own imaginations.
Thoughts: there are a lot of 1 into 2 track pieces that use diverters or trapdoors; however, I have not seen a 2 into 1 piece. An inverted diverter or trapdoor would actually make more sense to me because the car will automatically interact with them in a 2 into 1 system as opposed to requiring a kid to push a lever or open the door to send the cars down a different path. Tracks are also confined. It is hard to explain what I mean by this, but I just feel like though the tracks connect, when you connect two sets you have two systems not one combined system. I think that could be changed, but it would require some redesigned pieces.
I should probably get to the point of this post, it is just a big idea that goes along with all the Hotwheels I have been thinking about lately. Although this is a big stretch from the track design I have been critiquing:
It is an idea to create a playhouse and track system. My thought was the playhouse would look like a car on the outside maybe even have functional wheels and be a mobile/transportable system. The inside would be covered with wall tracks, playsets, and artwork. I mentioned this idea to my brother and he did not say much about it. I am assuming he did not give the idea much thought. Not sure how he managed to do that, I cannot seem to stop thinking about this.
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