Chronicles of the Treadclimber-girl

Five years ago today - I kissed my hubby for the first time. We are celebrating with a nice steak dinner and some Luigi Bosca Malbec. Mmm.

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Well 2009 is coming in with a bang.

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The Master Shower project is going strong. Our tile guy has gutted the bathroom, put up sheetrock, and yesterday he finished the shower pan. Today he's supposedly going to start putting up tile. I can hardly wait. By Friday we may have a new bathroom already? I can't wait! I'm sure Sport will be glad when he finally isn't cooped up in the Zen room all day long too!

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New Year's Resolutions are being met so far too. Even though I was fighting a nasty sinus/throat/ear infection last week, I still managed to do at least 30 mins of yoga or pilates daily (including Saturday). I also stuck to my fruits/veggies diet (at least for breakfast/lunch), and it wasn't until Saturday that I got a little off track. However, it WAS Matt's Mom's birthday lunch at Red Lobster, and I DID skip breakfast, so it wasn't a total loss of a day.

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Remember how I have a YMCA membership? Well, they have this machine called a "Treadwalker" there. There are 2 Treadwalkers at my Y, but only ONE of them is working (and up until recently it was out of service as well - but they fixed it in December finally). WELL, anyhoo. Every day I go to the YMCA, the SAME strawberry-blonde-petite-girl is on the Treadwalker. She must get up at the crack of dawn, or sleep on top the machine, because she is ALWAYS there. I tried for 3 days in December to get to the YMCA before it opens at 5:30am, and get inside JUST as they open the doors, and she STILL manages to hog the machine. I just wanted to TRY the damn thing. She never uses any of the other cardio machines (that I have seen), and she doesn't GET OFF of it after 30 mins (even though there are signs posted everywhere to please share the equipment and only use for 30 mins or less). Beeotch.

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There's 2 ROOMS full of Treadmills, elipticals, rowing machines, 2 kinds of bikes, etc. But only 1 treadwalker, and she acts like it's HERS.

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Come on, doesn't she know you aren't supposed to do the same workout every day, you have to mix it up for best results?

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I would say something to her, but she always had headphones on, and she never seems to talk to anybody. So, I asked the front desk lady about it. She said the "Treadwalker-Girl" will move if you ask her, but yes they have talked to her about it. Blah blah blah.

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so then it was Christmas Vacation, and then I was sick, so I haven't been to the YMCA in a long time.

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FFWD to Monday!

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I get up, go to the YMCA. I'm 10 mins early. I'm thinking of the treadwalker-girl. I'm thinking, ok-self-you may not get to use the machine, it's not the end of the world. You are the bigger person, although it's worth a shot. BUT lo-and-behold. I arrived to an empty tread-climber! it's mine for Monday! YESssssssss!

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After realizing that this machine enabled me to LITERALLY burn 400 calories in exactly 30 mins, just by walking at 3.0 setting . . . I can finally understand why she hogs it. This thing helped me burn more calories than all the other machines could have. I can't jog - I get asthma. but I usually walk at an incline, or do the eliptical as fast as I can muster without risking asthma. But this Treadclimber really really works. It's like walking up and down stairs for 30 minutes without all the lunging. And since the tracks on the climber are spread out a bit (not like on a treadmill where your legs are still together) - it works the INSIDE of your thighs too. HOT DAMN!

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However, I am not a greedy person. Tuesdays & Thursdays I am doing weights, so I didn't even TRY to get to the Treadclimber today (being a Tuesday). I just did my weights and tried not to look over at that machine, but imagine my very minor-disappointment that Treadclimber-girl wasn't there today either. I could have had the machine again today after all. But that's okay. Someone else now has a chance to use it. And it's my weights day, so whatever.

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Although, I am secretly proud. As I got off the TreadClimber Monday morning (after the maximum 30 minutes), I heard someone say "Thank you." Yes, that's right. I used a machine that nobody's been able to use in many a morning. But I SHARED. I got off after 30 mins, and freed it up for the public. I didn't hog it. I worked my inner thighs and burned 400 calories, but I did it the RIGHT way. And I was thanked for it. Damn that felt good.

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Walked the dog for 2 miles yesterday too, and Matt & I did Wii Fit for 30 credits each. Not minutes, credits. For those of you who know the Wii Fit, that means it could have taken 1 hr to get those 30 credits. But we did it. I kinda did 3 workouts on Monday. Do I get extra credit?

Double-0 ready in spite of my gut

Photo Credit

I'm so excited for the new James Bond Movie - Daniel Craig is a good Bond (he's no Sean Connery, but he will do very very nicely for today's Bond).

We are planning a nice dinner out tomorrow night, and afterwards catching the movie.

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I hope my stomach can handle it. I caught a nasty bout of food poisoning (or Stomach Flu, it's a toss up which one) on Monday night/early Tuesday AM. It was disgusting. I literally lost everything in my system. I couldn't keep down Pepto Bismol, Crackers, Water, nothing. It was just a mass exodus. On the upside, I did lose 3 lbs according to the Wii Fit. So, maybe it wasn't a total loss. After getting some sleep in between the nausea, then working some in the morning (working from home). I spent most of the day in bed sleeping on Tuesday, and then finally was able to get up and be sociable for my hubby later in the evening. My tummy was not quite right, until - wonder of wonders - I had some McDonald's French Fries and a Diet Coke. I cannot tell you why such an unhealthy food would be such a great help, but it was like life pouring back into me. I even had McDonald's again for lunch on Wednesday (stayed home to take it easy but still worked from the house). Matt says just because I'm sick doesn't mean I can eat junk all the time. I told him I was being very careful. Nothing but crackers, gatorade, fruit, and tuna, water and then finally some Fries and a Diet Coke. I was grateful for the variety and for the nice happy tummy feeling.

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I'll let you know if the 3 lbs stays off.

Ohmmmmm . . .

Photo Credit goes to our friends Jason & Liz, from the cruise.
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Well, my neck pain seems to have subsided for now. I am relieved and glad, but also trying to take it easy. This was the worst one yet, lasting 5 days. I cannot keep living like this.
Let's hope this is the last time.
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In other news, I had my yearly checkup at the doctor, and she says I'm in great health, just need to lose 10 lbs. Well I could have told you that. So, I've been making an effort to do something active every single day. Even if it's something little, like walking the dog for 3 miles. I am trying to keep moving. The neck thing put a kink in my normal workouts (I didn't want to over-stress the muscles), but I can always WALK. So I did. The Wii-Fit tells me I'm down 1.8 pounds today, so that rocks!
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Another friend Jason, is taking me out for Sushi for lunch today, in celebration of my up-coming birthday. YAY! I cannot wait for some Salmon Sashimi. Ooh yes.
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Weather - it's getting colder out. Today the high is 61. the HIGH. I love this crisp fall weather.
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Tonight, we are probably hitting No Mas again for the Castleberry Art Stroll. I am looking forward to it. More walking (ie: working out). yay!
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Saturday is the party. We have an estimate of nearly 30 people coming, so I am very excited about that. Saturday afternoon, I'll be getting a much needed cut & color at The Hair Lounge. YAY! I'm soooooo overdue for getting this done.

Of White Russians and Sirloin . . .

Well you know you're doing well fitness-wise when you have a fun/wine-induced weekend like I did, with hardly any sleep on Saturday night, and the Wii-Fit tells you you haven't gained ANY weight from it! I mean I usually go up and down 2 lbs over the weekend on a light-non-party weekend. But I MAINTAINED! woo hoo!
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now, if I can only start the numbers going DOWN . . .
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Last night, our "white-russian" James came over for a photoshoot and dinner. Bless his heart, I will miss him dearly. He's moving to Las Vegas for Medical School, next week. Sigh. Not only is he one of those wonderfully zen, calm, and philisophical folks, but he's very GQ too. One of those really good friends to sit on the porch and puff on a stogie or sip red wine with, and talk about anything, or philosophize (is that a word?) with. Matt took some fabulous portraits of him. I am not sure if they will be posted or not, but I really enjoyed them. Go James Bond! We dined on Sirloin Steaks, Green Beans, and Au Gratin Potato Balls. Thank Goodness for Omaha Steaks! Of course, I don't buy from Omaha Steaks unless they are having one of those $60 specials.
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Sunday is the Mikamy Meadows Party! YAY! I bought all the party supplies/food last night.
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Funny news about Matt - he's suddenly into Pellegrino. I think it's adorable.
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Disturbing news: Gay Man Offended by Bible - did he JUST NOW read it? Is he going to sue the Koran publishers too? We all know what the Bible says on that topic. WTF - are we supposed to censor the bible now? Idiotic lawsuits. And supposedly the man is representing himself too. Gee that's a great idea. ***In a recently released statement, a Zondervan spokesperson wrote: "Zondervan doesn't translate the Bible or own the copyright for any of the translations. Instead [our] company relies on the scholarly judgment of credible translation committees."***
I have nothing personally against Gay people - don't misunderstand me, but my goodness this is ridiculous! This case holds about as much water as the Victoria Secret Thong lawsuit. Gimme a break!
I "get offended" at the Bible too, but usually because it's putting my dumb*ss back in line and I don't want to be corrected, etc. and for gosh sakes, I get offended by lots of things I read, but that doesn't mean I go around suing every newspaper, magazine, or book publisher out there. geez louise. blahg!
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Ooh Matt may have a new client. See their blog = Zularis Naturals Blog or Zularis Naturals.com

Wii Fit

We pre-ordered the Wii Fit. In our endless quest of trying to get Fit, and hoping that the new, next best toy would be the answer to our fitness issues.
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yeah I'm lovin the Wii Fit. It works only if I do it every day for 30 mins a day.
I've been pretty good about doing it, but not getting my full 30 mins which is why I'm not losing weight very quickly. however, I can tell it is working slowly but surely.
There's all these exercises, and the program gives you "fit credits" or minutes for each exercise.
If you do an exercise and you don't do it correctly or you are too shaky (it measures your core balance, etc), then it will only give you 1 min even if you worked out for 3. So, by that standard, you COULD be on it for 1 hr, but it may have only credited you the 30 mins of "fit credits" you did. Also, you have to navigate thru the menus to do different exercises. IT's not just one big workout, and navigating the menus can eat up your time also. So usually if I was REALLY good, I could do a 45 min timeframe of working out on it, and get 30 mins of "fit credits" and then I'm meeting the bare minimum they recommend. There are some really good yoga moves on there. I like it.
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It's great for the core though, I need to get my abs in shape now.
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Matt needs to do it more consistently. The program is funny, it will ask me "how is Matt doing? I haven't seen him in a while" and such. It will actually gently "scold" you if you don't do it often enough. so cute. I need the motivation though! it's not evil/mean tho, it's just matter of fact. Matt finally got on there once when he had missed 13 days. It gave him a hard time about being inconsistent, but also it said it missed him. LOL.
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The other spiffy thing, is that you can just turn it on to weigh yourself and get your BMI for the day, and then turn it off and go workout elsewhere. It has a screen where I can input time for the workouts I did away from home, and then it gives you a nice graph of your weight loss (or gain).
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It gives you tips on sleeping better, eating better, etc.
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Once when I weighed myself after being off it for 3 days, I had gained 2 lbs. So the program asked me why I thought I had gained. It had this list like "drinking too much" , "snacking too much" etc. Hilarious! You can't progress to the next screen without confessing your "Sins" haha.
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damn vacation - I gained FOUR lbs. What a depressing number! blah.