I wish I could cook! I started looking through old cookbooks given to me through the years, thinking I should be able to pick something out and cook it. It sounds easy enough, right? It’s NOT! Almost every single recipe calls for an ingredients I’ve never heard of.. or it want me to do some type of preparation for which I am clueless. And.. even if I _can_ figure out where to buy the ingredients, how on earth am I supposed to be able to identify fresh or good stuff?
Heck.. when Terri answered my breakfast survey, saying she had clementines for breakfast.. I had no idea she was talking about fruit! I thought it was something she had cooked. After I googled clementines and discovered it was a mini-type orange, I started noticing those little things displayed all over the place in the grocery store. I had never even seen them before. Naturally, I bought some. That night my husband peeled one for me, and it was really good. I’m now proud to say that a few days later I actually… for the first time in my life.. peeled an orange-type fruit myself!!
I tried to make another smoothie. This one was a little better but still way too tart.
<sigh>
I started my new workout programs this week. These are full body workouts, not the upper-lower program I have been doing. I was a bit skeptical at first. Most of the exercises are new to me and I wasn’t too sure they would really give me a good workout. Well, I was wrong. I am completely surprised! It will take me a week or two to get the form down.
I bought a blender yesterday. I want to start making my own smoothies. My first attempt was this morning. I gotta admit, it didn’t work very well. I used regular plain yogurt instead of the low-fat stuff, added some frozen strawberries and a banana.. and a couple of ice cubes. The smoothie turned out a little tart. I’m not sure what to do to make it sweeter. Perhaps I’ll use less yogurt next time.
Well, not much else to say.. the years is about to end and I can say I feel quite satisfied with my achievements this past year. I’m looking forward to this next year.
I worked out this morning after more than a week off. I was actually beginning to worry that I might decide to give it all up. But after a few days of deep thinking and psycho-analyzing myself, I pulled out enough answers to get past the slump.
I now understand why I have been so diligent the last several months. I don’t want to bore you (lol!), but I’ll explain it anyway.. at least the short version.
Last April, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. If you are not familiar with that particular type of cancer, I’ll give it to you in a nutshell… they can’t cure it and they rarely try. It’s terminal.. normally a person diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will be lucky to live past 6 months.
So.. my mom lives across Texas, 400 miles away from me. Throughout the summer I would drive down there weekly, spend a few days, then return home for a few days. My mom had her pancreas completely removed (among other organs), which meant a drastic diet change. She required insulin shots 4 times a day, and could not process fats. She had all sorts of problems keeping her blood sugar level and she never knew what to eat or what to do when it dropped to 40 or zoomed up to 500. She only had my dad to care for her. I was in constant contact with my parents when I wasn’t down there. Every few hours, I’d call and tell her what she could eat (she had to eat every two hours)…
Anyway.. in mid August she died. Two days after I returned home I began morning workouts. Never in my life have I ever worked out in the morning. I was consistent, focused and dedicated to my workouts. Yesterday, I realized I was actually trying to regain control over my life. I used my workout program to process my grief. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time.. but it makes sense now.
So.. now that that motivational source is tapping out, I’ve got to look for something else. I suppose more than anything else I will simply rely on the good feeling I have when I start the day after a good workout. It really is a sense of control (albeit pseudo)
Today I was feeling all guilty and bad because I still have worked out since my “week off”.
Then at our our office Christmas party this afternoon, one of the men I work with asked me how my workouts were going. I lowered my head and sadly told him I’d been slacking. Then I opened my mouth and said “I haven’t worked out in… um.. five days.” Suddenly I realized how silly it sounded. We both started laughing and my spirits were lifted. It’s funny how quick we can let slip into a black hole and lose perspective on all this.
I woke up this morning and decided I’m taking the week off (from working out). I’m burned out and bored and just don’t want to do it.
This afternoon I was searching the web looking for a christmas gift to send to a family friend, and I discovered a protein bakery (www.proteinbakery.com). I found it on Oprah’s Favorites Foods list. That means it’s gotta be good. :) Also.. in case any of Terri’s local’s are reading this, they are located in NYC.
This site is great! Each cookie has up to 6g whey protein. That’s about the same as an egg… right??? So I could eat cookies for breakfast and still get my protein! yippeeeee… of course, I haven’t tasted the cookies yet.
UPDATE: Why am I always the last to know?? The protein bakery site actually has a link to Terry’s training site. Gee.. and I thought I’d made a great discovery.
I think the difference between burnout and bored is with burnout, you lack the energy or desire to continue something. When you are bored, you lack the interest. Based on my definitions, I’m bored.
This morning I got up.. ate my eggs and started my workout. But I just couldn’t get into the workout. I totally didn’t want to be doing it. I found myself walking on the treadmill instead of bouncing like a bunny.. and the speed was set the same as always. I cut my lunges to one set.. and almost fell asleep during my reverse hyper leg extensions. I even skipped the Abs all together.. and I LIKE abs!
I’m not really lacking motivation.. I don’t think. I mean, I really didn’t mind waking up early to workout. But once I started the workout.. bam! It hit me.. this negative rebellious force.
Now don’t get me wrong. My body has made some amazing changes in the last few months. I have great defined shoulders and back, I’ve got six pack abs (well, maybe a soft small six pack) and my tricep swing is smaller and thicker. Now you would think the visual changes would be motivation enough. But I’ve actually caught myself thinking, “ok, you’re looking pretty good, why are you even working out?”. Of course I don’t let the thought linger, but for a split second it’s there.
I didn’t workout this morning. Last week, I overslept on Monday and had to move my weekly workout schedule down a day, but I was able to get four workouts in without any problem. Perhaps the ease of making it work last week effected me this morning. In any event, I turned off the alarm and made an unplanned decision to follow last weeks workout schedule.. Tuesday through Friday.
While this really isn’t that bad, I have this teeny tiny worry that I might start pushing it back even more. Like next week, I’d workout Wednesday through Saturday, etc. I don’t want to start doing that. So, Next week (it’s already too late to start this week :), I’ll push myself a little bit harder to get up Monday and workout.
My other big issue right now is that I mixed up the date of our company Christmas party. This year, we are just having an afternoon “bring your favorite dessert” gathering. There will be a prize for the best dessert. Sooo… I spent all day Saturday making my favorite cookies…. LOTS of my favorite cookies. This morning I learned I had written down the wrong date. The party is actually next week! Now I’ve got over 7 dozen Chocolate Florentine Cookies on my kitchen table. There is no way they will last until next week.. it’s been hard enough keeping them through the weekend. Heck, the are my favorites!
