Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Dust Seems To Have Settled (...we hope)

Thursday, Blogger was down for the count.  Friday Blogger came back up and it was a battle of Blogger vs. Bloggers to get posts back up and virtual life resuscitated.  Saturday was such a mix of resurrected posts and new ones that it seemed like deja vu in the Matrix.  Admist all of this, I put up the weekly review HERE (albeit, minus a number of inclusions because of lost progress) and stepped away to let the "dust settle" so to speak.

So here's a recap of my life since Thursday (because I know you've all been holding your breathe).


THURSDAY

Interview &  new job!  

I had a secondary interview Thursday morning and left with a new job!  Say "hello" to the newest member of Cardio Express!  It's a local set of privately owned gyms.  Yay fitness job!

"Celebratory" bike ride.  

After the interview, I wanted to make use of the beautiful weather so I went for a bike ride.  I was only going to go one loop around town, but on my way back decided I needed to stay out longer in the beautiful weather.  Total of 1:20.  I need to get up to 3:00 eventually.

...followed by a celebratory dinner with wine.

We all know that your body is primed for absorbing nutrients within 30-60 minutes of ceasing exercise.  That first glass of wine hit me QUICK!  haha

Burgers, corn, and a Chardonnay


FRIDAY

Friday workout
 
I rode my bike to the gym, swam, rode around doing some errands, and rode home.  It's great doing exercise AND saving gas all in one!  It's been three weeks since I've filled up my gas tank and I still have a quarter tank left! 
 
"Willy Wonka Junior"  

Friday evening I saw a middle school musical that a bunch of friends had directed.  I had been told that it would be "entertaining at least."  After only five weeks of practice, this was the first time the entire cast had been together (talk about nerves for the directors!).  However, these kids pulled off an incredible show!  They're not hitting up Broadway any time soon, but they did an incredible job. 


SATURDAY

Monro Muffler Morning

Yes, my car needed MORE work done.  (Shoot me now!)  After three replacements, my car needs yet another catalytic converter.  This is getting ridiculous!  (Thankfully, it's still under warranty)  They also identified the source of a squealing sound I've been having - my brake pads.  Therefore, I have another brake job to do!

New Team Awesome video

Don't know what Team Awesome is?  It's all explained HERE.  While I was at Monro, I worked on new video for Team Awesome.  Remember the previous video HERE?  During our NC trip, we made a few more videos and I was working on a montage to send out.  I'm sure you'll see it soon.  And no, Danny, the videos did not cause the above mentioned car issues; we were in a different car.  =P 

Bargain shopper extraordinaire!  

After the car was taken care of, I stepped into a phonebooth, twirled around really fast, and did my best not to puke while trying to find the door out in a completely dazed state.  (Superman makes that s*$# look EASY).  Anyways, I needed black athletic pants for my new job and if I may say so, I did pretty darn good even without a cape.  I got a pair at JCPenny's on clearance for $4.97 and another at Target on clearance for $4.98.  I rock!

Errands finished!  Time to work out.  ...and save gas.

I rode my bike to the gym and did another swim workout.  On my way home, I detoured to Autozone to get a new set of brake pads and the grocery store to get food for my starving belly!  Again, three weeks without filling up on gas.  I'm hoping I can stretch it to a full month!

Welcome back to high school.  Surprise!

While at the gym, I decided to weigh myself; I haven't done so in a loooong time (a couple months or more).  I stepped on the scale and...  "No way!  That's got to be off."  I thought maybe I had dropped five pounds.  The scale told me it was fifteen.  I verified it last night on the scale at home.  In the last two months, I've lost fifteen pounds which means I am back to my high school weight.  Surprise!  I was 160 lbs max in high school; 140 lbs during the swim season.  Honestly, I'm not sure what I think of it.  I was SKINNY in high school and I've put on some muscle since then, so seeing that number has thrown up a flag of caution for me. 

Body Composition Do-Hickey

I warn you that these numbers are inherently inaccurate and that I am only sharing them because I believe it's part of the Blogger code (or something like that).  I also decided - while at the gym - to test out those body composition do-hickeys.  The machine has you set your body type, height, weight, age, and gender and then uses a bioelectric impedence analysis to determine your percent body fat.  I set it up with stats of "normal" body type, 6'0" height, 165 weight, 25 age, and male.  I had the trainer at the front desk take a guess as to my percent body fat.  He said twelve.  


This was my second attempt - 5.7% body fat and a BMI of 22.4 (first attempt was 4.8%).  I should correct the weight to 155, but at the time I didn't believe the scale at the gym.  There is also an "athletic" body type - I don't know what that means. 

"You must be the one I saw Whizzing by!"

While I was at the grocery store, I was stopped by a lady in her 80's who told me "You must have been the one I saw whizzing by on the road."  You caught me!  She does a lot of walking and is on the treadmill a lot this time of year because of bad allergies, but she praised me for being so active and healthy.  She urged me to continue doing it because "even if it's a lot of work, being able to run long distances cannot be bad for you."  I'm telling you this for future reference.  An elder of mine told me to continue training.  I might just keep that in my back pocket for future use.  But it was great talking to her.  I'm always happy to have my fitness activities spark conversation.


Ok, you can breathe now.  You are caught up on my life!  haha

We had a few half iron racers this weekend too.  I can't wait to get caught up on their lives!!

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Questions
1.  How do you celebrate little things in your life?
Do you think of a workout as a celebration like I do?

2.  Have you ever been in a play or musical?  Do you have kids who are in them?

3.  When you shop, are you able to look beyond the bargain items (sales, clearances)?
I shop solely for sales.  Outside of a rare occasion (and some foods), I never pay full price for anything.  I've had the "bargain shopper" mentality drilled into me.

4.  Would you like or not like to be back to your high school weight?
I'm not sure myself.  It was such a surprise that I'm not sure what to think. 


Stay fit.  Stay healthy. 

11 comments:

Michael said...

Wow, there's alot in this post. I feel totally caught up!

Ummm...would I like to be at my high school weight again...heck YES!! That would be awesome, at least for me.

I think it's cool that the older lady told you to keep going.

Congrats on the new job and the bargain attire! Sounds like a great day!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the job!!! Your meals look like mine haha.

The hand held body fat analyzer has a 4 % error range and you there are guidelines as to when to do it: in the morning, no food, no water for 4 hours before, no caffeine/alcohol for 48 hours before. Hope this helps!

Dr. said...

I celebrate the little things with a margarita (or 5)
Congrats on the job!!! Way to go.

Richelle said...

Congrats on the job! Can't wait to hear more about it!

I thought "do-hickey" was a term that only Minnesotans used, ha ha!

I usually celebrate with a glass of wine or beer. Sometimes with chocolate. Sometimes with both! :)

I was in the drama club in middle school and high school, so I have plenty of experience being in plays and musicals. Lots of fun memories!

I usually try to buy things on sale and I clip coupons. Sometimes I do pay full price, but I try not to.

I am currently at my high school weight. I will probably lose about five pounds over the course of the summer due to training.

Matthew Smith said...

Three weeks without a fillup? You're the man. Nice work! Way to score some incredible deals on your new pants for your NEW JOB! Congratulations!

ajh said...

Congrats on the new job.

Anonymous said...

Ali: you got the right idea!

Richelle: re: do-hickey we live in a global world now :)

Matthew: during college I could go over a month. If I could get my life back together I could do it again.

I've heard it said that if you can maintain your high school weight throughout your life you'll live a healthy/good life - whatever that's worth.

Samantha said...

yayyy! Congrats on the fitness job!

Cari Mugz said...

Congrats all the way around! On the new job - no gas for 3 weeks and yes even the 15! I would love to get back down to my high school weight!! YOU GO!

it's all about pace said...

Questions
1. yes w/o are celebrations sometimes...


2. I sang a solo in a musical once...

3. I'm a pretty good bargain shopper but I have two teenage girls... it's expensive


4. I'm still 10# or so over HS weight.... but I wear the same size pants... BTW HS was 26 years ago...

Katie said...

Congrats on the job, that is super awesome and exciting!!

I'm happy to weigh 15 lbs less then I did my senior year. I vividly remember a coach from another team telling me at one of my last races that I was really good for a "bigger" runner :/ NOT what you want to here at 17. Although looking back I can see his point especially when my comp. was 90 lb 14 year olds that flew around the track.