Tag Archives: SoulCycle

A Weekend Catchup Post (or Maybe The Craziness Made Me Get Sick)

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off

After 2 days of posts about me being sick, I’m sure you are all wanting to read something different. So this is about my crazy Saturday (which now looking back at it might have made my immune system a bit low and made me catch this cold).

Saturday is normally a short shift day for me. I work from 10-2 and have the rest of the day free. This past Saturday I had to open up because my boss was too sick to be there. Plus, I had previously volunteered to work at the show on Saturday night because I knew I would be asking for the upcoming Saturday off. So I knew that I had to be back at work at 6pm for the show shift.

I’ve done split shifts in the past. They aren’t my favorite thing, but they are a necessary evil at my job. Normally, I’d go home between the shifts to get some work done at home and get dressed (regular shifts are very casual but show shifts are dressy business). But since this past Saturday was SoulCycle’s anniversary, I decided to spend my time between the shifts in Santa Monica.

The first shift I worked was a little crazy. There were some projects that we had to work on and the phone kept ringing off the hook, preventing us from finishing the projects in a timely manner. Everything got done, but it was a little stressful. I had some free time between the shift and my spin class, so I hung out in my car and read a book.

Spin was awesome! It was Patrick’s class, which I always enjoy. It really helped get the stress from my shift out of my body and get me ready to go back to work again. I also almost broke a personal record for the most calories burned in spin class (I was 14 calories short of my all time best).

Then I quickly showered and got ready at SoulCycle to go back to work. I ate a quick dinner as soon as I got back in my office and then headed into the theater to work.

My show shift went pretty smoothly. I’ve done plenty of show shifts so I’m familiar with what needs to get done. And while the show was going on I get to read my book (which is awesome because technically during that time I’m getting paid to read!).

I was finally done with work and got everything cleaned up. By the time I left, it had been 12 hours since I arrived at work.

I’m wondering if all the craziness and stress from the day contributed to me getting sick. I was doing well with all of my co-workers being sick around me and then right after my shift is when I started to feel a bit off.

If this crazy day made me sick, that’s ok. It was worth it. I got a lot of work done and did an awesome spin class! I consider that a win even if getting sick is not.

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Posted in Fitness, Health, Work

Tagged cold, job, show, sick, SoulCycle, spin class, work

My SoulCycle Anniversary (or 1 Year Of Spinning)

Posted on January 10, 2014 | 2 comments

This week, SoulCycle Santa Monica is celebrating their 1 year anniversary. There will be some fun stuff in the studio on Saturday (if any of you want to try SoulCycle with me I’ll be going to the 4pm class).

I realized that if the studio is at their 1 year anniversary, I must be getting close to the 1 year mark of my first spin class. My friend Kate and I were trying to figure out when our first class was the other day. I finally scrolled back in my calendar on my phone and it said that my first class was on 1/9/13.

That didn’t seem right to either of us. We couldn’t think of how we could double-check this for sure until I realized that I could look at what day I wrote my first spin class blog post. And since that post came out on 1/10/13, I realized that January 9th was my SoulCycle anniversary!

And how did I celebrate my anniversary of spin?

By going to spin class of course!

I took Charlee’s class because I knew it would be an awesome anniversary class (and the time fit in perfectly with my work schedule). Right before the first song of class, the instructor normally asks if anyone is taking a SoulCycle class for the first time. After Charlee asked that she announced to everyone that this class marked my 1 year anniversary of SoulCycle! And she had everyone give me a round of applause!

That was so incredible (and totally unexpected). While I figure my friends would acknowledge the fact that I’ve stuck with this workout for so long, I didn’t think anyone at SoulCycle would think it’s a big deal. I’m sure people have done way bigger things than that.

After class, I thanked Charlee and told her how much I appreciated her caring about my accomplishment. Her shout out to me in the beginning of class really made my day.

Reflecting back on my 1 year of spin classes has been interesting. I’ve lost some weight in the past year (about 25 pounds), but it’s not as much as I would have thought with the new workout. But so much more about me has changed. I’m so much happier and more confident. I know that I can push my body so much harder than I ever expected. And I’ve stopped feeling like a victim due to my weight.

While I still have so many struggles with everything relating to my weight and eating disorder, I like knowing that whether I’ve lost weight, gained weight, or stayed the same; I can still kick some ass in spin class.

And of course, I have to share a day one and year one picture with you!

Because of how the picture was taken, it’s hard to tell if I look like I’ve lost any weight between the two pictures. But the picture I’m more proud of from yesterday is the one I took right before I left SoulCycle to go to work (after I had showered and gotten ready there).

The picture looks a little weird because I’m standing in front of a neon wall, but I think that I look more confident and happy with myself in this picture than in any other that I have taken recently.

One year of SoulCycle done. And I hope that I have a ton of years of SoulCycle ahead of me!

2 Comments

Posted in Celebrations, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged anniversary, class, SoulCycle, workout

Starting The Year Off Right (or Spinning Away)

Posted on January 3, 2014 | Comments Off

I was very lucky to have New Year’s Day off from work. Again, nobody wants to be making phone calls on a holiday. So I tried to make the most of my day.

I did sleep in pretty late. I had gotten home just around 1am but I stayed up a bit later trying to get some work done while I felt awake.

I knew that I wanted to go to spin class on New Year’s Day, I just wasn’t sure exactly when I wanted to go. There were some special classes that day that were 90 minutes long (double the length of a normal class), but I didn’t think my body would be up for that.

Fortunately, Patrick was teaching one of the regular length classes in the early afternoon. That gave me time to get some food in my stomach and relax before sweating out all the fun I had the night before.

The class was great and exactly what I needed. I got in a great workout and according to my heart rate monitor, I burned more calories in this spin class than I had in any previous class! Part of that may be due to the fact that during the weights portion of class, I got heavier weights than I’ve ever used. But I’d also like to think that is has something to do with me getting fitter, stronger, and able to push myself harder.

I left the class super sweaty, but I look at the sweat marks on my clothes as something to be proud of. I don’t even mind walking back to my car in my sweaty clothes without covering up. If people think I look weird all sweaty, who cares? I did an amazing workout.

I got home and ended up taking a nap after class. I was still pretty tired from the day before and the class wiped me out. The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home and reading a book, which helped to make the day a perfect day off from my day job.

But I did do some of my goals for 2014. I got in my spin class and I tracked every single calorie that I consumed that day. I was under my calorie goal and made lots of good choices for the day. It’s tougher for me to plan my meals when I don’t do spin class first thing in the morning, but I’m proud of the job that I did with my food choices that day.

I’m definitely off to a good start this year.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged goals, New Years, SoulCycle, spin class, workout

Looking Back At 2013 (or Where Did The Year Go?)

Posted on December 31, 2013 | Comments Off

I can’t believe it’s the last day of 2013! As the title says, where did the year go? I know that when I was little my mom joked how time moved faster the older you got, but this is ridiculous!

2013 was a year of highs and lows. I wanted to look back today at the year starting with my goals that I posted a year ago.

My goals that I had for 2013 were to continue on my weight loss journey, continue paying down my debt, do 5 5Ks, do my first 10K, find alternative income, take an improv class, and keep blogging.

I did continue on my weight loss journey. I’m not as far as I would like to be, but I’m going in the right direction. While I did pay down my debt, I also spent on that credit card which didn’t allow me to pay off as much as I could have (I need to work on that). I did 9 5Ks this year. But I didn’t do a 10K. And I don’t know if I ever will do one. But coming to that realization was a big step for me. I looked for alternative income and haven’t found it yet. But I’m getting closer to finding what else I can do that fits into my schedule. And sadly I didn’t get around to taking that improv class. But I was looking at the schedule for 2014 and I’m trying to decide which day the class would be best for me. And as you all know, I’ve been blogging 5 days a week every week (and plan to continue that).

While I didn’t accomplish all the goals I had, the lessons I learned about those goals and what I really want was much more important to me.

This past year had some amazing highs and some very low lows.

The big lows for me include my mom finding out that she has breast cancer. But she is over 1/2 done with this second chemo and is doing amazing. We have high hopes that she will be declared cancer free at the end of treatment and this will just be a memory for us. Also, the losses of Dante and Chaucer were very tough for me. I don’t know anyone who could go through losing 2 dogs in 6 days without having a breakdown. While I still am very sad about these losses, I’m able to share what happened without crying now.

One of the highs for my family was my brother’s wedding in September. It was a great event and the first family vacation my immediate family has gone on in a long time. And for me, a huge high was discovering SoulCycle and how much I love the class! I never thought I could love a workout like this and since it is low-impact, it is good for my hips.

It’s tough sometimes to focus on the positives that 2013 had since it is ending with a lot of sadness. But I know that 2014 will be a better year and I look forward to all the great things that are in store for me!

Tomorrow, I’ll share my goals for 2014!

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health, Saving, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged 5K, goals, New Years, plan, resolutions, SoulCycle

Recovering From Thanksgiving (or As Always It’s Back To The Grind)

Posted on December 4, 2013 | Comments Off

I was back to work as usual on Monday after Thanksgiving. It was very nice to have 5 days off from work (it was almost like being unemployed again!), but it’s nice to be back and making money too.

Since there are still holidays coming up, the next few weeks at work will be a bit weird. We have time off for the holidays, odd shifts because of the shows going on, and a work holiday party. So even though I’m back at work, I think I only have one week this month that is a normal work week.

I’m also getting back to my usual food and exercise plan. I gained more weight than I expected over Thanksgiving. I knew I would gain some because of the extra food, but I was still a bit shocked when I got on the scale on Monday. I think some of it was random water and stress weight because when I weighed myself yesterday I was already down 3 pounds.

My focus for the last few weeks of this year are to continue my routines that I’ve worked out. I’m finding spin classes that fit into my schedule a bit better (including a free class at SoulCycle on Fridays right after my shift ends so I can go straight from work). I’m trying to stay good at bringing my lunches to work (good for helping me lose weight and save money). And I’m working on just being happier with myself in general.

I know that I didn’t lose as much weight this year as I thought I would, but I’m on track to be down about 40 pounds this year. To some people that may seem like a lot, and to some people that may seem like nothing. It’s only a portion of what I need to lose, but even if I only lose that each year, I’m still heading in the right direction. And I need to keep that in mind. As much as I’d like to have lost all my weight this year like I did the two times I did the RFO diet, it’s not realistic for me anymore.

But as I spent some time before writing this looking back at my older posts, I’ve realized how far I have come this year. And as I start thinking about my goals for next year, I’m getting excited about what my life might be like a year from today.

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Posted in Fitness, Food, Fun Stuff, Health, Tough Stuff, Weight Loss

Tagged goals, SoulCycle, Thanksgiving, weight gain, weight loss

Happy Thanksgiving (or My Top 10 Things That I Am Thankful For)

Posted on November 28, 2013 | Comments Off

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I’m spending today with my mom’s side of the family in San Diego this year. I’ll be doing a recap of my Thanksgiving (and my Grandma’s birthday dinner) soon. But I wanted to take today to share some things that I am thankful for. I’ve been noticing people posting one thing they are thankful for every day on Facebook. I haven’t been doing that this year, but I’ve decided to do a top 10 list of things that I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful that I have a family that loves me and supports me.

2. I am thankful that even though my mom is going through chemo right now, she is doing amazing and I am every reason to believe that at the end of her treatments that she will be cancer-free.

3. I am thankful that even though I might not love my day job, it pays my bills and allows me to do what I love.

4. I am thankful that I have acting in my life, something that I am so passionate about and couldn’t imagine not doing.

5. I am thankful that I have amazing agents who submit me for great parts and believe that I am going to book something big in the near future.

6. I am thankful for the traveling that I got to do this year (and that my parents could pay for it because I would never be able to afford Maui on my own right now).

7. I am thankful that I am healthy enough to do the 5Ks that I’ve done so far (I’ve got one more in a week).

8. I am thankful that I found a workout that I love and that there are instructors there who truly care about me and want me to get in the best physical shape that I can be.

9. I am thankful that I have amazing friends who support me in what I do and are there to cheer me up when I need it.

10. I am thankful for this blog. It has been like therapy for me. I get out things that sometimes are too hard to say out loud. And I feel like by sharing these things, I have been able to get closer to my friends and family and not feel like I am hiding a part of myself.

So those are the top 10 things I am thankful for. I’m definitely thankful for more than that, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you all! I hope that you get to spend today with people who you love and you have a chance to reflect on the things that you are thankful for this year (feel free to share some in the comments if you’d like to!).

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged 5K, family, list, SoulCycle, spin class, thankful, Thanksgiving

Sharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class)

Posted on November 19, 2013 | 1 comment

One of the things that I had been wanting to take my dad to for a while was spin class at SoulCycle. First of all, I wanted to see if my dad agreed with me that it was a good workout (I like to prove to him that I don’t do easy or weak workouts). But the second reason I wanted to take him was because he has been riding a bike almost every day since before I was born and I wanted to see how he would do in an inside bike ride. My dad used to ride his bike to work almost every single day. Now that he’s retired, he either goes out on his road bike or on an adventure on his mountain bike most days of the week. But spinning is different from outside bike riding so I was curious to see how he would do.

We scheduled our spin class to be on Saturday morning. I wanted to make sure that we got one of my favorite instructors for his class, and I saw that Heather was teaching at 9am on the Saturday that my dad would be here! So we signed up for that class right away.

My dad wasn’t too nervous for the class since I had shown him some videos of what the class would be like before we got there. And obviously he did a great job pedaling the spin bike the entire time. Where my dad had some trouble was the coordinator of the different moves on the bike. But I don’t blame him for that. It took me a couple of classes to get the rhythm of everything down. And since I still can’t do all the standing up stuff, I don’t do all the moves on the bike yet.

After the class, my dad agreed with me that it is a tough class and a great workout! And I got to say hi to Heather really quickly and she invited me to be her guest at one of her 7am classes one day (I have to try to start getting up earlier to make it to that class)!

Overall, I’m pretty sure that my dad enjoyed the class. We got a good workout in and I think he’s starting to understand why I love spinning so much! There isn’t a SoulCycle studio that close to my parents’ house, but there is one about 4 blocks away from my brother and sister-in-law’s house so I told my dad that he should take them to a class sometime! I don’t know if it will happen (I don’t think spinning is my brother’s thing), but maybe one day it will!

I’m just glad that I’m starting to share my love of SoulCycle with members of my family. Maybe my dad will come to a class with me again the next time he and my mom are in town…

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged bike, dad, SoulCycle, spin class, visit, workout

The Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is)

Posted on November 15, 2013 | Comments Off

Yesterday I had adventures at two different fitness studios.

First, I went to SoulCycle for my spin class. I seriously love being there. I walked it and people know who I am. They ask me how I’m doing and how my job situation is. They really do know me there.

My class was with an instructor who hasn’t taught at my spin studio in a while (she teaches at Beverly Hills but was subbing for another instructor yesterday). Even though she hasn’t seen me in months, she remembered me. She asked me how I was and mentioned that I had looked good in class.

When I was leaving class, another instructor who’s class I’ve taken was there. I had talked with her a few months ago about my hip issues, and as soon as she saw me she had asked me about it and if I had my next hip surgery scheduled.

Then as I was leaving, one of the front desk people who I know was outside and we chatted for a minute. I mentioned how my dad is coming to town this weekend (as you are reading this I’m probably getting him at the airport) and how he is coming with me to SoulCycle on Saturday. She got so excited and told me that she would be working on Saturday and was looking forward to meeting my dad.

It feels amazing to work out somewhere where people know you and care about you.

On the somewhat opposite end of the spectrum, I went to a grand opening of another fitness studio last night. I’m not going to mention the name of it because I’m sure what happened last night is not representative of what it will be like there and I want to give them another chance.

But I went to the opening night event, and there was nothing there for me to do. There was no information about the studio and the classes. No schedule to look at. And even in the swag bag, no free pass (I’m sure that was an oversight and I tweeted at the owner to see if I could come check out a class for free sometime).

I didn’t feel like I belonged there at all. I think most of the people who were there were friends and family of the owner and instructors and for the first 30 minutes that I was there I didn’t talk to a single person!

Finally, another blogger who was there came up to me and we started chatting. Turns out, she felt just as left out and alone as me! And she’s also a SoulCycle person! She and I both ended up leaving early because there wasn’t really anything to do there except drink and have the appetizers that were being served.

It was just such a funny contrast between the two places. I don’t know if the second studio will feel more comfortable to me one day after I take a class or two. But what I do know is that SoulCycle feels like home to me and I’m so unbelievably grateful for that!

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged SoulCycle, spin class, workout

A Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big)

Posted on October 17, 2013 | 1 comment

Since I’m not working right now, I’m trying spin classes at times other than those that I usually go to. When I’m working, I’m pretty limited in when I can go. And I see the same instructors each time (who I love so that’s ok). So I wanted to check out some new instructors to see who else I like. Hopefully one day I’ll have a day job that allows me to go to other classes and I like knowing which instructors I want to go to.

When I’m working, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the 8:30am class with Laura. This class is early enough so I can go home to shower and change before work. While there are showers at spin class, I prefer going home so I don’t have sweaty clothes in my car all day (and then I don’t have to lug a bunch of stuff with me). But this week on Tuesday, I tried the 10:30 class with Charlee. I’ve never had a class with her before, so I was a little nervous (I still can’t do all the standing up stuff and I don’t like to be called out for it).

I got my usual bike in the corner that I like so I was out-of-the-way but still had a good view of the instructor bike. And it wasn’t a fully packed class which was nice too. When Charlee came in, she started greeting people, and I assumed that those were people who had taken her class before.

We started class with a run on the bike (pedaling as fast as you can go while standing up). I did it sitting, but going really fast. And then Charlee shouted out “Way to go, Jen!” while looking right at me.

I hadn’t introduced myself to her before class so I was a bit confused. Then I realized that she knew everyone’s name in the room. Even people who were at their very first class ever. Charlee must had looked at the sign up list and had learned the names of everyone in class!

That’s so amazing! It made this class feel much more like one of my regular ones instead of a new instructor. And I have to say that I loved Charlee’s class (I’m hoping to make it to her class again today). Sadly, once I’m back at work next week I don’t know when I can be in her class unless I have a random day off (or shower there and race to work). But it’s nice to have another instructor who’s class I really enjoy.

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged SoulCycle, spin class, Spinning

Sharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class)

Posted on September 5, 2013 | 1 comment

Over the weekend, I also got to go to spin class (technically, this day happened before the badass spin class). I’ve been trying to bring more friends with me to spin class, and this time founder of Ms. In The Biz, Helenna Santos-Levy, joined me!

We had been trying to go to a spin class together for a while. I usually go early in the morning, but since Helenna works late nights, that wouldn’t work. Fortunately, we were able to meet up on a day that I didn’t have to work.

Helenna had been to a spin class before, but never at SoulCycle. I had warned her it would be tough, and I’m pretty sure she believed me ahead of time. We took class with Jenny C., who led the beauty ride that I did a few months ago. This was my first class with her since that ride and it reminded me how great her classes are and that I need to find a way to fit her class into my schedule (it will be easier when I’m unemployed again).

The class was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed that day, and I’m pretty sure Helenna had fun too.

It was great having another friend share in my favorite workout. I know that Helenna and I are going to try to meet up for another spin class in the future.

Something I realized in this class was how I’ve been treating having friends in class with me. A lot of the time, I feel like I want them there so I can prove to them that I do a tough workout (I went through the same thing when I used to work out with Richard Simmons). I know for a fact that some people don’t believe that it is a tough workout because I am able to do it multiple times a week.

But after having a super supportive friend in class with me, I realized that I need to stop feeling that way. People are going to believe what they want about me, and if they want to think that spin class is a super easy workout then let them think it. I just want to have friends with me to enjoy something that I love and maybe to have more buddies to go to class with.

I think this new thought process does have something to do with trying to be more positive. Feeling like I’m always trying to prove something to someone isn’t healthy for me. And honestly, I probably won’t change their minds no matter what anyway. So I just need to focus on having an awesome time with my awesome friends.

1 Comment

Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff, Health

Tagged friends, SoulCycle, Spinning, tough, workout

Tag Archives: SoulCycle

A Weekend Catchup Post (or Maybe The Craziness Made Me Get Sick)

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My SoulCycle Anniversary (or 1 Year Of Spinning)

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Starting The Year Off Right (or Spinning Away)

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Looking Back At 2013 (or Where Did The Year Go?)

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Recovering From Thanksgiving (or As Always It’s Back To The Grind)

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Sharing My Soul (or My Dad’s First Spin Class)

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The Tale Of Two Fitness Studios (or Knowing Where Your Home Is)

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A Smile In Spin Class (or Sometimes The Little Things Are Big)

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Sharing Some Soul (or Another Day Another Friend At Spin Class)

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