Monthly Archives: July 2019

Working On Self-Care and Taking Time For Myself (or Trying Not To Think Of It As Letting Others Down)

Posted on July 17, 2019 | 1 comment

This past Sunday was going to be a very crazy day for me. I knew I had probably too much scheduled, but I had figured out a way to accomplish everything I had to do and wanted to do. I knew it would be hard to do it, but I was determined to make it to everything so I wouldn’t have any regrets that I missed something I had been looking forward to.

I was optimistic that it would be fine to get everything into my schedule and it was crazy how much I prepared. I looked at the locations for everything and planned what would make the most sense with driving to and from everything to make it everywhere on time even if for some of the things I would have to leave early. I even did prep on Saturday with some of the chores I normally do on Sundays to make sure I had that time free and ready for everything else. I went to bed on Saturday night believing that I was going to pull it off and make it everywhere.

Sunday morning did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. And with a few of the things on my schedule being things I had to go to, I had to start dropping some of the things that I wanted to go to. One of those things was a friend’s birthday party. I had already told her that I was going to try my best to make it but that my day was packed. But I still felt guilty when I told her that I wasn’t going to make it because of other things in my day.

I had a union-related event that I had to go to and I am very glad I was there. It was important for me to be there so I could get some information that I needed plus I was able to provide answers to others. And even though I would have enjoyed my friend’s party, I know having the energy and focus at the union event was more important for me to have.

I also had something after that event that I had to get to, but that will be in tomorrow’s post. Driving to and from things was a bit stressful with traffic and I was worried I was going to be late or miss things. I tried to not stress out about things I couldn’t control. Fortunately, even with all the traffic issues I had, I made it to the things I was able to go to on time.

I know that saying no to events is a part of self-care and it’s a thing I struggle with. I never want to feel like I’m letting someone down or disappointing them if they had thought I was going to make it. But I’m also trying to be better about explaining what my time commitments are like right now so my last-minute changes are not as random. With union election work taking up so much of my time, I’m grateful I’m down one job. I do need the money, but I don’t have the time or the energy right now for anything else on my plate. I know this is a temporary thing and my schedule will be back to normal soon, but I did tell people in my life what is going on so they understand why I’m not always making it to things when I used to always make it. I think explaining it ahead of time does help, but my guilt is still the same and I’m working on that.

With my schedule this past Sunday, when I didn’t make it to things it was because I had other things I had to make it to. But I also need to work on turning down things just so I have time to myself. I am noticing some signs of burnout in my life right now and I don’t want to get to the point where I am emotionally and physically exhausted and need a lot of time to recovery. I need to take the little breaks over time to keep myself in balance. And I know taking those breaks will allow me to be there for other people more than if I burn out and need that long break. I just need to keep reminding myself about that when I have that guilty feeling.

I know I will get through this crazy time and I will keep reminding myself that taking time for myself isn’t necessarily selfish. And even if it is, it is ok to be selfish from time to time when it is not harming others. I think this is something that is a common struggle, but it doesn’t make it easier for me to deal with it. I just have to keep working on it and hopefully, it will become more natural for me to do it one day.

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)

Posted on July 16, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Blog Anniversary (or When Will This Stop Surprising Me)

It’s the anniversary of Finding My Inner Bombshell! 7 years ago I posted my first post on here and I haven’t stopped since. I know I sound like a broken record because I say this every year, but I still can’t believe that I have been able to keep this up. I have blogged 5 days a week since I started. I have written over 1800 posts which is insane to me. I don’t know if this will ever seem easy or normal to me, but maybe it’s good that it doesn’t. Having this feel special and hard makes me work to make it better and I don’t go easy on myself with writing posts. There are plenty of times I have nothing to write about, but I have learned to be honest when that happens and I think that is much better than making up something to write about.

The benefits I have gotten from writing on here are more than I can count. I have become a much better person because of this blog. I have become more honest with myself and with others, which I think has made my relationships with my friends and family stronger. I feel like I am more of myself than ever before and that allows me to bring people into my life that add to it and end friendships with those that take away. I didn’t have the confidence to do that before and I know I kept toxic people in my life much longer than I should have because I was scared of losing people in my life. But as I have written about myself on here, I have become so much clearer in what I want out of life and the type of people I want in it.

And some of the amazing people that I have added to my life have been because of this blog. There are things I have written about that made an acquaintance of mine become a friend because we connected on something that we both kept hidden before. And I’ve been introduced to others because a mutual friend saw a post about something and knew someone else who would love to read the post and talk to me more about it. I’ve pushed myself to meet new people more and go to more events because I wanted to be able to have things to write about. And going to those events has led me to some of the most incredible people that I have ever met.

And yes, I have gotten to have some great opportunities because of this blog that I wouldn’t have had without it. My introduction to Orangetheory was because I was in a blogger group that was hosting the preview class I went to. Maybe I would have discovered Orangetheory on my own, but I don’t know because I never went to Brentwood much before. I probably would have found it when they opened the Culver City studio last year, but that was several years after I started. But I am forever grateful for that first class I went to over 5 years ago and the progress I’ve been able to make in my physical and mental health. And I’ve been invited to other random and fun events that I know is a privilege and I am so grateful for each and every one that I get an invitation to. I do want to start getting invited to a few higher-level events because I would love to be able to review and share them with you all. But even if I never get to that level, I still am so lucky with what I do get to do.

7 years ago, as much as I wanted to believe that I could keep this up I was also having doubts how long I could blog. I was scared to be open and honest and I didn’t know how long I could keep going without oversharing. Now, I think oversharing is the least of my worries (and I probably do overshare, I just don’t care about it). Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought I’d be doing this still 7 years later. But now, I can’t imagine my life without this blog and having this outlet. So I guess here’s to the next 7 years and seeing what it brings for me!

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Benchmarks and Hard Work (or Having A Week Of Feeling Awesome)

Posted on July 15, 2019 | Comments Off on Benchmarks and Hard Work (or Having A Week Of Feeling Awesome)

I love it when I have a good workout week, and this past week of workouts was one of those. When I have a good week, it’s like I am so strong and powerful and even the struggles I have don’t matter. I honestly wish every week was like this, but I guess it helps me appreciate them more when I have tough weeks too.

Monday’s workout was a strength based class and it was a 2 group class for me. I know that they have talked about turning that class into 2 groups instead of 3, but it still surprises me when it’s not a 3 group class. All my other classes are 3 groups and I love having equal time with all 3 sections of the room. With 2 group classes, you don’t always get to row and I miss it.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks that were similar. We had intervals with our base pace at either no incline or incline. The intervals were between 30 seconds and 2 minutes and the incline work wasn’t too high. I made the resistance level on the bike at the same level I use for all outs for the incline work since that is a tough level for me. I also knew how many incline intervals we had and I didn’t want to burn out. This had the potential to become a bit of a struggle at the end of each block because we ended with a hill and then an all out. So I decided to change things up a bit and do my all outs with my base resistance level but trying to pedal as quickly as I could. It was a good challenge to do and paid off in my other workouts this past week, plus it allowed me to not worry too much about the high resistance levels.

For the floor, we also had 3 blocks. Each block started with a quick rowing exercise. We had 15 strokes on the rower to see how far we could get. The key to doing the stroke tests is to row as slowly as possible while trying to maintain power when pushing back. It’s not easy, but I’ve gotten much better at doing this and can get pretty far in 15 strokes. Then after the rowing, we had 2 exercises in each block. One exercise was a drop set and the other was core work. The drop set exercises were tricep extensions, bicep curls, and deadlifts. And the core work was toe reaches, leg raises, and plank jacks. Even though it was a 2 group class so I had more time on the floor than I’m used to, the blocks really helped to break things up a bit and make the time go by faster.

Wednesday’s workout was a benchmark class. It was the 1-mile benchmark and I was really looking forward to doing it. Even though I have most of my cardio benchmarks from the treadmill, I’m starting to get a few on the bike so I’m able to compare my last benchmark to the current one. I think it’s so much better when I don’t have to guess on my progress and have proof of how much better I’m doing.

I started on cardio so I could do my benchmark first. I had checked my last benchmark time for the bike so I knew what time I was hoping to beat. I didn’t have a specific time in mind, I just wanted to beat my old time. I set the resistance level to be at the level between my normal base and push paces because I figured it would make it a bit challenging but not so hard that I had to slow down. I also had a goal to not stop to catch my breath or drink water during the benchmark and I knew that wasn’t going to be easy. When we started, I quickly found a pace that was fast but comfortable enough that I felt like I could maintain it for the entire time. I figured I would be done in under 9 minutes so I just kept watching the time and making sure I was hitting the distances I knew I needed to be at each time. And I was not just hitting those goals but I was doing better! When I was done, I took 31 seconds off of my benchmark time! That’s a huge improvement and I’m so happy that I was able to do it! After the benchmark, the rest of the cardio time was doing quick distances with walking recovery in between so I was able to take some time and recover.

On the rower, we started with a 600-meter row and then had arm raises with the mini-band. We repeated that pattern but went down 100 meters with each row. And the floor had lunges, single-arm rows, shoulder presses, and crunches. The rower and floor were kept a bit easier than normal because a lot of the class had to do one or both of those sections before the benchmark and doing the benchmark was the focus. But since I did the benchmark first, I did try to push myself a little bit more on both sections to make it a bit harder.

Friday’s workout was a mix of strength and endurance with more incline work for cardio. It was also supposed to be a day to have a new base pace, but I’m still getting used to the base resistance level I use on the bike so I didn’t increase mine. But I did try to work hard at pedaling faster when we were at a base pace so I think that balances it out.

We had 2 blocks for cardio. The first block had intervals of base pace with no inclines and base pace with inclines. I used my normal all out resistance level to be my inclines and my normal base resistance level for the time without the inclines. It was hard pedaling for the incline work because my legs were tired for some reason, but I just tried to focus on moving even if I was slow. The second block had a 3-minute hill that was supposed to be at a lower incline, so I used my normal push pace resistance level for that section. Both blocks ended with a 30 second all out and I used my normal all out level (which was also my hill level) for those. It was a long block with lots of work, but I guess that’s what makes it an endurance day.

On the rower, we also had 2 blocks. The first block was 4 rounds of 150-meter rows with squat front presses using the medicine ball. And the second block was 2 rounds of 300-meter rows with squat overhead presses with the medicine ball. I did much better during the first block than I did for the second. I don’t know what happened, but I was struggling during the long rows and had to take a ton of breaks. But at least I did make it through the 2 rounds of 300 meters before the rowing time was done.

And on the floor, we had 1 long block. We had 3 main exercises plus plank pull-throughs. The first round we had 1 round of 10 reps of the exercises and then the planks. The second round was 2 rounds of 8 reps and then planks. And the last round was 3 rounds of 6 reps and then planks. The 3 main exercises were chest presses, single-arm low rows with weights, and bicep curls. I did make it to the 3rd round, but because time was almost done I just did all 18 reps for the chest presses and bicep curls instead of splitting them up and was working on the planks when class ended.

Saturday’s workout was an endurance class, and it really felt like an endurance day for sure. The blocks were long, the work was hard, and it didn’t feel like we had much rest. But it also allowed me to end my week feeling so strong.

For cardio, we had 1 long block. We started with a 4-minute progressive push and I was increasing my resistance levels every minute. I started 1 level above my normal base level and ended at my normal all out level. After that, we had a long base recovery (but no walking recovery) and then we had rounds of 30-second push paces with 1-minute base paces. I was using my normal levels for those, but they felt so much harder because we had done so much work before those rounds. When we ended with our 30 second all out, I went back to my all out level and was able to pedal much faster than I normally can for an all out.

On the rower, we had 2 blocks with similar formats. The first block started with a 250-meter row and then we had squats with alternating side leg lifts. Each round we went down 50 meters on the rower and 2 reps on the squats with leg lifts. The second block started with a 350-meter row and went down 50 meters each round. And between the rowing we were supposed to do squats to reverse lunges, but I did just regular squats instead.

And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block started with doing double crunches. Then we had single leg sit to stand with the benches. But what was interesting was that we did multiple rounds of reps for that exercise. We did 8 reps each side, then 6 reps each side, 4 reps each side, and then 2 reps each side. After doing all the reps, then we had another round of double crunches. And the second block had the same interesting plan with how to do the reps. We had 8/6/4/2 reps with lunges, then with hip bridges, and finally with shoulder presses. And after doing all 4 rounds of reps with one exercise we had more double crunches. It wasn’t easy doing so many reps at a time, but when I got to move on to the next exercise I felt so accomplished.

I love how well this past week of workouts went for me and I’m glad I had a full week of good things. I hope that most of this week will go well for me, but I also know that it will probably start getting tough mid-way throught the week. But I know that even if I struggle for the next 2 weeks, I’ll hopefully have another good week in a month where I can prove to myself that I’m making progress even when I feel like all I do is struggle.

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Posted in Fitness

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More Election Fun For Me (or I’m Running For 2 Things)

Posted on July 12, 2019 | 2 comments

We are in the middle of SAG-AFTRA elections and it’s been a very exciting and stressful time for me. I love getting to be more involved with the elections and I’m still so honored that the members who are in charge of my slate believe in me enough to run the social media. It’s hard to stay on top of some things and we have some crazy deadlines, but it’s still more fun than stress when I balance it all out. And I’m looking forward to things that I have planned for our social media after the election season is done too!

I knew that I’d be running for delegate again this election. If I get elected it will be my 3rd term as a delegate and I hope that I do win my spot again. I have loved going to the National Convention and getting to play a role in shaping our union and representing my fellow actors. I know that it’s not a guarantee that I will be elected so I am working on making sure I don’t slack off with my campaigning efforts. And I don’t just want to be elected alone, I want to make sure that my slate is elected too.

I love being a part of a slate. I know that not everyone loves the idea of slates (which are like political parties), but for me, it’s something I enjoy. I love the support of having a team working with me for the election season and having people I can turn to when I need help or have questions. And I get to watch how others lead and learn as well. It’s been a great educational tool for me and I still look up to so many people in my slate and can’t believe I get to work with them.

When you are a part of a slate, you have enough candidates for the positions that will be filled. I know realistically that we won’t win every spot, but you want to have the same number running so that you have the most potential to win positions and you don’t want to split votes if you have too many people running for something. That’s the same with national politics too. Each party only has 1 candidate because you don’t want your party to be split voting for 2 people. So when you want to run with a slate, you do have to plan out what you can run for.

The last election, I expressed interest in running for a local board position as well as a delegate. But there wasn’t an opening for me. That didn’t upset me or make me feel unmotivated. I understand the politics side of these elections and know why that decision was made. And I was determined to ask again in the future and I did just that this election season. Because I am more involved in the slate this year, I knew early on that it wasn’t clear just yet if there would be a spot for me to run for local board. I was told to just hold on and they would let me know one way or another as soon as they could.

When the deadline for submitting a petition was getting close, I figured all the spots were filled and I would be running as a delegate. Just like last time, I wasn’t upset or sad. I was determined to do the best I could and help my slate get elected and then in 2 years I’d try again.

But then I got a surprise when I got the email that there was a spot for me to run for a local board position! I immediately filled out my petition and got my signatures so I could run because I didn’t want to miss the deadline. Thankfully because of how quickly those on my slate are with signing petitions, I had the required number within an hour or so! After getting my statement and photo submitted, everything was approved and I am 0fficially running for both a delegate and local board seat for SAG-AFTRA with Unite For Strength!

I hope that I win both the seats I am running for. I want to be able to do more than I have been able to do before. I am so motivated to help my fellow members and to be a source of information when others have questions about what is going on. And I know that I can still do this if I’m not elected, but I can do so much more if I am.

And I love the candidates we have running on our slate this time. Gabrielle Carteris has been doing an amazing job as our national president and she has accomplished so much so far. She is running for re-election and I can’t wait to see what she can do with the next term. And for the national secretary/treasurer spot we have Camryn Manheim. She has been an incredible advocate for members before and she wants to continue doing that and to help make our union the strongest it can be. And for the national board, local board, and delegate spots we have such a diverse group of candidates. We represent every category, age group, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and career level. I know one of the things Unite For Strength takes pride in is how diverse we are, and our candidates show just that.

Election season will be over soon, so I won’t be writing about this too much. But I will be sharing things as they happen because I do want to make sure any SAG-AFTRA members reading this can stay informed. And hopefully, when every ballot is counted, there will be lots of reasons for me to celebrate. But I can’t think ahead just yet. For now, I just want to make sure that all members who are eligible to vote do so. If you have questions about the election, my slate, or anything else; please feel free to ask me. I’m here to help however I can and hopefully, I will win my seats so I can do that even more over the next 2 years.

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Posted in Acting

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Making Busy Days Busier (or I Guess I Like To Maximize Only Certain Days)

Posted on July 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Making Busy Days Busier (or I Guess I Like To Maximize Only Certain Days)

I wrote about how I did pretty much nothing on the 4th of July. It was an awesome lazy day and I was so happy to not have any plans and not worry about having to be anywhere at any particular time. I do love my lazy days when they come in the middle of a few busy days which is exactly what happened with the 4th. At least this means I’m finding some balance in my schedule and not letting too much time pass with a crazy schedule or nothing to do.

And I had one of the crazy busy days on the 5th. It wasn’t the busiest day I’ve had, but I really did pack things in. I had my workout and then work like normal. Then right after work, I went to a movie with a friend (we saw “Toy Story 4” and it was really cute). I went home after the movie which wasn’t too late so at least I didn’t have to worry about not having any time at home. But I did giggle a bit over the weekend when I didn’t have much scheduled at all because I could have seen the movie on a day that I had nothing else instead of packing things into one day. But it was fine and worked out nicely. Plus, I like having things right after I’m done with work to split up my day. I used to have my workouts, but now I have early workouts so I don’t have that separation.

This weekend seems like it might end up similarly to last week. I don’t really have much planned on Saturday and then on Sunday, I’m overbooked. The things for Sunday aren’t necessarily things I planned or scheduled so I wasn’t in control of when they would be happening. I might try to push myself to try to make it to everything, but I know that it will be ok if I can’t. There is only 1 thing that I have to make it to and it’s something I really want to go to as well. The other things are things I want to go to, but it just depends on how I feel that day and how my schedule works out.

I’m trying not to overthink or stress about how my schedule is going. Maybe for some people,  it would be better to have things more even throughout the week. But I feel like I’ve learned enough about myself to know that it doesn’t seem to work for me. It almost makes it seem more stressful when it’s not always changing. I know, it’s weird. But I’m weird. Maybe it has to do with when I have to get dressed to be presentable and when I can wear lounge clothes. If I have nothing to do, I usually am in clothes that are more comfortable but not something I would wear in public. If I have little things every day, I don’t get to wear my most comfortable outfits. So if the days are split, there are days I can wear junk clothes and days that are in normal clothes.

It might be nice to have things spread out, but I think that makes me feel either like I’m always busy or always without things to do. I think having the really busy days and the nothing days being their own days is helping me a lot. I haven’t felt the way I have before with wondering how I can find a better balance. I know that the days aren’t necessarily balanced right now, but for some reason, they feel that way to me. And I do want to work on trying to figure out how to continue doing this type of schedule when I can. I’m not always in control of my schedule and can make sure this happens, but I can try my best. When I have things that are not required to be on a certain day, I can work on scheduling it on a busy day for me as long as there will be time for it. I do need to be a bit more selfish about making my schedule work for me and not just working for others.

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Posted in Fun Stuff

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My Hip Surgery Anniversary (or Lucky 13)

Posted on July 10, 2019 | 1 comment

I’ve written about my hip surgery on here plenty of times. And I’ve written about the anniversary of my surgery as well. I know it’s something that happens every year, but it still always amazes me when another year passes and I haven’t run into the issues that I am worried about. Before I had my surgery, I knew that I would eventually need a total hip replacement on the hip that was operated on. I didn’t find out until after my surgery that I would likely need the same 2 surgeries on my other hip. I knew that my surgeon wanted to try to wait until I was at least 40 before I had a replacement, but I don’t think he was too optimisic about that. And I was told that I would need the first surgery on my other hip within a few years.

Every surgery anniversary I had I was so happy that I hadn’t needed any other surgeries yet. I was extremely cautious with what I did for a long time becuase I was scared I would do something that would make me need the surgery sooner. I don’t know if it’s because of how careful I’ve been or just luck that has kept my hips in the condition they are in, but whatever it is I’m grateful for it. I don’t want to have any more surgeries. I know that the chance of no more surgeries is extremely unlikely, but I’ve been beating the odds with so many things lately so maybe my hips will be the same.

I have beaten the odds in many ways already with my hips. I was told there were several things that I might not be able to do again, or at least not until I have a hip replacement. I have been most proud of regaining my flexibility after the surgery. It’s still not exactly how it was before, but it’s so close that I think I’m probably the only one who could notice the difference. And I’ve worked on my flexibilty more over the years so many I’ll regain that last little bit one day. The other things I have done that my surgeon didn’t think I could do aren’t as important to me as my flexibility, but it always makes me happy when I know I am doing something that I was told I couldn’t.

I do still have to be careful with a few things because I am at a higher risk for a hip fracture than most people. So anything with a high risk of falling like skiing or skating are really off-limits for me. I could push myself to do them and just try to be careful, but it’s not worth it to me to try. As much as I miss skiing, it’s not worth risking a fracture. There are a few other things that are high fall risks that I have debated about doing, but so far I’ve been avoiding those because I know they are riskier than the other chances I’ve taken with my hips.

This past Sunday marked 13 years since I’ve had my hip surgery. I have easily surpassed the expectations of my surgeon regarding when I’d need my next surgery as well as what I can do. 13 years of beating the odds is pretty amazing. I don’t know if when I had my surgery if I thought about how my life would 13 years later. I probably thought I would have limited movement like I did right before and right after my surgery. But in so many ways, I’m able to do more physically now than I could before the cartilage tear. I know there is no way I thought that would happen.

I do have some issues that didn’t exist for me before the tear happened. I have pain that never existed for me before. The pain is much better than it was right before surgery, but it’s still pain that I deal with every single day. And sometimes the pain is almost as bad as it was before surgery and I struggle to move and walk. Fortunately, that pain isn’t that often and normally it’s much duller and less intense pain that I have each day. And I’m starting to notice signs that the cartilage in my other hip might be starting to tear. I’m not going to worry about it until I have a lot of pain because it’s not easier for a surgeon to operate on me now versus once it’s torn. And the damage is already bad enough that there’s not much they could do to save the cartilage like I was hoping would be possible. When the pain gets frequent and intense in my other hip, I’ll look into my options more. But for now, I know my best option is to wait unless there is a reason I want to have surgery sooner.

As much as I hope that the next surgery will be 13 years away, I know that realistically that it will be sooner. But that isn’t going to stop me from continuing to surpass expectations and do everything I can even though I was told I might not be able to do so. And maybe having that attitude will help me get as many more years in before that next surgery. But every year that passes gives me more hope for what can happen after the next surgery. I had no clue I’d be doing this well 13 years later. I have no way of imagining what will be 13 years after the next surgery.

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Not My Typically 4th Of July (or Taking Advantage Of A Day Off)

Posted on July 9, 2019 | 1 comment

For the past several years, I’ve gone to the same 4th of July party that my friends throw. I usually make drunk fruit, have a lot of fun with my friends, spend the day just hanging out, and watching some fireworks. I love having a casual 4th of July celebration and don’t feel like I need to have some crazy adventure that day, especially when it’s in the middle of the week so I have to work early the next day.

This year, my friends didn’t have a party. They have a puppy that is still young and timid and they didn’t know how she would react to the fireworks. I completely understand this and I think everyone wanted them to be able to stay home and keep a close watch on their dog since so many dogs freak out and run off because of the noise. While I did miss having the party that I love going to each year, I’m glad they were able to keep their puppy safe. I think everyone felt the same way.

But since I didn’t have my usual party to go to, I had to figure out what else I wanted to do that day. I wasn’t feeling too motivated to make plans and a lot of my friends felt the same way. We talked about maybe trying to figure out a way to watch fireworks somewhere, but nothing was really planned and we all said we’d check in the day of to see what we felt like doing.

The morning of the 4th I tried to take advantage of having a day off and sleep in. But because I am so used to my sleep schedule I wasn’t able to sleep in too much. I think I maybe slept 20 minutes later than normal, but I did stay in bed much longer and had a lazy morning reading and relaxing. Then I decided to take advantage of having nothing to do all day and work on a big cleaning of my house.

I was in the middle of cleaning my bathroom when suddenly the room felt like it was spinning. I have a history of vertigo and just thought I was having an episode. I thought maybe the smells from the cleaning supplies triggered it or I was dealing with low blood sugar. Then I noticed the things hanging on hooks in my bathroom were swaying back and forth and realized we were having an earthquake! I sat down on the edge of my bathtub to wait for it to stop since I didn’t want to run through my house to get under a table while things might be falling. It was a very large earthquake, but far from my house so it wasn’t too strong where I live. But it was still a scary moment since we never know when an earthquake will start easy and then get bigger. We actually had a larger earthquake on the 5th which made me worry too.

After the earthquake, I had to do a little unexpected cleaning because a few things did fall over. My DVD collection tipped over so I had to reorganize that (and it made me start to think about getting rid of the DVDs) but that was the only issue after the earthquake. So once I cleaned that up I went back to my regular cleaning like vacuuming and mopping. I know, I’m so interesting and fun spending my day off and a holiday cleaning.

Once the cleaning was done, I decided to see if any of my friends ended up making a plan to do anything that night. We were all in the same mindset with not feeling motivated to go out and do something. I don’t know if it was because of the earthquake, the weird weather we’ve been having, or we all were just tired. But nobody (including myself) really felt like trying to make a plan just to see fireworks. I’m glad we were all in agreement so nobody felt like they had to do something and we all just spent the evening on our own.

I did some more reading and watched a bunch of random tv. I tried to get to bed at a reasonable time since I had an early morning the next day but I still ended up going to sleep a bit later than I would have wanted to. Plus, there were illegal fireworks going off in my neighborhood throughout the night keeping me awake. There were so many illegal fireworks that I doubt the police could really enforce the law. It was annoying, especially when they were still shooting them off after midnight. I think it ended around 1:30 am when I finally got to sleep.

I’m sure that I could have gone out and had a fun 4th of July, but I had a perfectly fine day off at home doing boring things. I didn’t feel like I missed out on anything even though I do love getting to see my friends at parties. I am in a place in my life where I can be happy being a bit of a hermit and doing what is the responsible thing to do over the fun thing to do. Plus, I did get a lot of stuff done around my house that I needed to do and I didn’t have to worry about it over the weekend, so that was a win for me. But maybe next year, the party I usually go to will happen and then I’ll have easy plans that don’t require me to do much organizing and planning to take advantage of them.

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Keeping Things Normal For A Holiday Week (or Steady With My Workouts)

Posted on July 8, 2019 | Comments Off on Keeping Things Normal For A Holiday Week (or Steady With My Workouts)

I had debated about changing up my workouts this past week. I do like to work out on holidays when I can, and fortunately, that usually works well with my normal schedule. But with the 4th of July being on a Thursday, I couldn’t figure out what to change up to add that workout in (and I didn’t want to have 4 workout days in a row). So I kept my usual 4 workout schedule and it was a good variety of classes.

Monday’s workout was a partner workout for Canada Day. We were all in groups of 3 and technically everyone had the potential to be the pacer. Whoever finished their work first was the one who started the rotation, and the group I was in seemed to be very equally paced and most of the time we all finished around the same time.

There were two blocks for the partner part of the workout plus a third block that wasn’t partnered. For the first partner one, the person on the treadmill worked on .4 miles (for me on the bike, it was 1.6), the rower had 4 rounds of 100 meter rows with squat jacks, and the person on the floor had 1 round of exercises (pop jacks, hip bridges, v-ups, and plank jacks). Even if you didn’t finish when one of your partners was done, you switched. For the second partner block, the treadmill person had 4 rounds of .1 miles and squat jacks (I had .4 on the bike), the rower had an 800-meter row, and the floor person had the same exercises but the reps were cut in half and you had to do 2 rounds. We switched often enough to not get too tired, but not too quickly that I didn’t feel like I was getting my workout in.

And for the last block that wasn’t partnered, we had 3 1/2 minutes at each section of the room. The treadmill/bike had 4 rounds of 30 second all outs with 30 seconds of recovery in between. The rower was the same pattern but we could either use the recovery time to rest or just row very lightly. And on the floor, we had the same exercises as the partner workout but the reps were down to 6.

Wednesday’s workout was a power day and it was a great class for me. Everything was fast and powerful and I love how those types of workouts make me feel. I feel invincible and like I’m flying and it’s a feeling I try to find other places in my life. But it seems like they really only happen the way I like them to in power based workouts.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a 90-second push pace. Then we had a walking recovery in both blocks. For the first block, we then had a push to an all out pace before another recovery and for the second block, we had a base pace to an all out. The 90-second interval was the longest one we had and everything else was so quick. I was using my usual resistance levels on the bike even though they were short intervals. When the resistance is higher, I’m not able to pedal as fast. And as I’ve mentioned before I’m playing with the idea of having different resistance levels for push and all outs based on the workout. So for this one, I was a bit lighter on the resistance to help myself fly on the bike.

On the rower, we had 1 long block that had 200-meter rows and medicine ball work. We started with 1 round of a 200-meter row and then the exercises. Then we did 2 rounds of the row before the exercises. And the pattern continued with adding more rounds of the 200-meter row before the exercises. We were supposed to be doing lunges with medicine ball twists for the exercise, but I changed them to be squats with medicine ball twists.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block was single arm clean to press using weights, push-ups, sit-ups to squats, and bicycle crunches. I did split up the sit-up to squats to be separate moves since I can’t usually do them together, but other than that I was able to do everything normally. And in the second block, we had ground to press with weights, triceps on the straps, and straight leg lifts. The straight leg lifts were a bit tough for my hip, so I changed them to leg raises which are still a challenge for me. But at least it’s a challenge I know I can do and not a challenge I spend a ton of time trying to do and not getting it done.

Friday’s workout was a struggle for me. I didn’t sleep well the night before (not because I was out late, I just had a rough night of trying to sleep) and both my hips were hurting. I knew I would need to be easy on myself to not do any more damage to my hips, but fortunately, most of the things I had to modify were easy enough to figure out a good alternative.

We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and for cardio and the rower we had a similar plan. The first block was the workout in one order and the second block was doing it in reverse. For cardio, we had rounds of push to base pace (30-second intervals, 45-second intervals, and 1-minute intervals) with a 90-second distance challenge at the end. For the first block, we started at 30 seconds and ended at 1 minute with the distance challenge after. The second block started with 1 minute and went down with the distance challenge at the end. I was using my normal push paces and did the distance challenges at the level between my base and push. I had to take lots of breaks for my hips, but I got it done.

The first block on the rower had a 150-meter row, 300-meter row, and 450-meter row with squat twists using a medicine ball between the rows. The second block started at the 450-meter row and went down. I took so many breaks on the rower. I think my hips were just not happy with how I have to sit on the rower and they kept feeling like they were going to lock up and occasionally I had the nerve pain that I don’t get that often. It did scare me a bit how much it hurt, but I took it easy and fortunately it wasn’t hurting me the entire time.

And on the floor the first block had bear steps, y raises on the straps, and plank rows using weights. I tried the bear steps but my hips were not ok with them at all. The option we were given to do instead were bicycle crunches so I did those and was just careful with how far I straightened my legs. I also did the plank work on my knees instead of toes because I wasn’t feeling stable. The second block was supposed to be all ab dolly work, but I modified a lot. We were supposed to do hamstring curls, knee tucks, and roll outs. I always replace hamstring curls with hip bridges so that wasn’t too odd for me. I did the roll outs on the straps instead of the ab dolly. And I tried to do the knee tucks but my body just wasn’t working how I wanted it to. So I did a few reps of those before just doing the other 2 exercises until the block was done.

Saturday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was a tough day! It felt like we were doing work with no breaks and it really pushed me as well.

For cardio, we started with a 4 minute distance challenge. Then we were supposed to do rounds of half the distance from that challenge and 10 squats. I was able to get in 2 1/2 rounds of the half distance and squats before time was done. It was really hard to get in and out of the bike, but I still was happy that I was using that instead of the treadmill.

On the rower, we started with 4 rounds of 100-meter rows with 10 medicine ball squats. Then we started a really challenging row block. First, we had a 500-meter row with 30 seconds to recover after. Then we went down to 400 meters with the same recovery. This pattern continued until the block ended. 30 seconds of recovery isn’t much, especially when you are trying to get out of the foot straps to drink some water. I know a lot of my recovery times were a bit longer, but I did manage to do each row without stopping which I think made up for it.

And on the floor, we had one long block. We had 6 exercises, but it worked 3 major muscle groups with back to back exercises working the same muscles. We had high rows and pull-ups on the straps to work the back muscles, sumo squats and single arm snatches with weights to work the legs, and bicycles and situps to work the core. It was hard to do 2 exercises that worked the same thing back to back and I was taking breaks a bit more often than normal. But I also know that needing to take those breaks could be a sign of working harder and not me being weak.

Overall, it was a great workout week. I didn’t mind missing a workout on the 4th of July when I did get a lot of great classes in with my normal schedule. Hopefully this week will be similar and I’ll have another week that makes me feel amazing!

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One More Mid-Year Check-In (or Preparing For The Second Half Of The Year At Orangetheory)

Posted on July 5, 2019 | Comments Off on One More Mid-Year Check-In (or Preparing For The Second Half Of The Year At Orangetheory)

I’ve done a few different check-in posts lately, and I promise this is the last one for a while. I set a lot of goals for myself for 2019 and part of those goals are Orangetheory goals! I partnered with my friend Andrew for setting some 2019 OTF goals and of course we had to check in with each other on our goals.

We originally planned to do a check-in sooner, but life has been crazy for us both and we didn’t quite get that done. But at least we are checking in now so we can make sure we take steps in the second half of the year to do our best to reach those goals.

I’ll start with my check-in.

My first goal is one I’ve discussed recently in a few posts. I want to do 200 workouts this year. I am making great progress toward that and I feel fairly certain that I’ll make it by the end of the year. It helps that I have a regular schedule of doing 4 workouts a week so I don’t have to think too much about it.

My next goal is to use the bike more than the treadmill. I wasn’t totally sure about this goal because I really do love that I have amazing accomplishments on the treadmill. So in order to force myself to work on this goal, I was determined to only use the bike for a chunk of time to get more used to it. Well, doing that has made me realize that I probably do better on the bike than I do even on my best days on the treadmill. I haven’t used the treadmill at all this year so even if I used it occasionally for the rest of the year, the majority of my workouts for 2019 would be on the bike. But I have no plan on going back to the treadmill now and look forward to just using the bike.

Next, I set the goal of getting a PR on the rower. I haven’t gotten my PR just yet, but I’ve done some great work toward getting that done. And even if I don’t end the year with a PR, I’ve made so many changes with my rowing that have made me stronger and faster on there. It’s just a matter of time before I get a PR.

I also set the goal of tracking the work I do on the floor more. This goal has been something I haven’t quite figured out. There’s not an easy way to track it as I do with the bike and the rower, but I’m going to work on what I can do so that at least I have some floor work tracked.

And finally, I set the goal of bringing more friends with me to class. I’ve been trying to get some of my friends to class but their schedules haven’t been matching up with mine. But I’m determined to get at least a few of them to a class before the end of the year!

And now it’s Andrew’s turn.

“My first goal this year is to go to a minimum of 3 times a week to Orangetheory.”

While this goal hasn’t been met overall for 2019, I’ve stepped up this goal to *four* times a week and while I haven’t been perfect — it’s really driving me to push myself (better late than not at all, right?!) 

“Next, I want to level up on my push pace.”

This one is tricky because while I didn’t level up on my push pace, I for sure have been leveling up and pushing myself on my ‘All Out’ pacing. I pretty much only hold back on the all outs so I don’t fall, not because I feel like I can’t do it! So that’s a win in my book!! 

“For my third goal, I want to FULLY prepare for my classes.”

Lol. Nope. 

“And finally, be a better tracker.”

I still have no idea about my benchmarks or my measurements (although, I did try a ZOZO suit at the top of the year which….. told me enough lol!) Right now my main focus is just remaining consistent!! 

Even though Andrew and I both have goals that need a bit of work, I think we are both making some amazing progress and I’m proud of us both! Also, I wanted to share the link to Andrew’s merchandise. He’s got some amazing stuff on there, including his limited Summer Bod gear. You should all make sure you check it out and subscribe to his YouTube channel if you haven’t already.

Now, it’s time to make the second half of the year even better than the first half!

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Happy 4th (or Taking The Day To Be Grateful For What I Have)

Posted on July 4, 2019 | Comments Off on Happy 4th (or Taking The Day To Be Grateful For What I Have)

For those of you in the US, Happy 4th of July (Happy Thursday for anyone outside of the US)! I’m very lucky that I have today off of work so I’m spending the day relaxing and enjoying a nice day off. I’ll be sharing more about what I do today next week, but I wanted to have a quick post today about being grateful for today and this holiday.

I know that I am very lucky to live in this country. I can enjoy freedoms that not everyone has and I know that I am privileged compared to many others even if I feel like I struggle. I have a wonderful house, a job, food in my fridge, running water, electricity, and many other things that so many of us forget are not standards for everyone around the world. I do have to remind myself about how lucky I am sometimes because I forget that when I’m in a low moment. But most of the time, I do appreciate everything that I have.

It does feel like some of the freedoms we have are under attack right now, but I’m grateful that so many people continue to fight for them. I am trying to be an advocate for others to have the right to choose what they feel is best for their health or their political representation. Even if someone disagrees with what I think is best for me, they have the right to make that choice for themselves and I want them to have every opportunity to make that choice. And I am grateful that we live in a country where we can have these political differences and for the most part live in peace.

I’m so grateful for the community that I surround myself with. I have the most amazing friends in my life and they do make so much about my life better. Even if I’m not always the most social person, they make my life awesome. Just the text messages I get from my friends make me smile and always help to turn around any bad moments I’m having. I know that sometimes I’m not the best friend when I’m having a tough time, but they are still there for me when I need them. And I try to return the favor to any of them when they need a boost or some cheering up.

Hopefully, all of you have some things to be grateful for as well. Even if you don’t have today off or are having a rough time in life, there should still be something good happening. And it’s nice to have holidays and moments like this to be able to reflect on those and remember how lucky we all are.

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