Day 28 - Done, done, done!!!

I was really planning to finish this challenge strong today. I was even considering hitting TWO classes in a row at the gym. But then the day dawned and with it came all the joy that womanhood brings.

Yep. Cramps.

There was no way I was going to wimp out now, but the though of going to lift some weights was so not appealing. (I'm a little behind on my strength training this week.) However, while I tried to determine how I was going to get these 30 minutes in, the sun decided to come out. And I, in turn, decided that 30 minutes of walking outside would be just the thing.

The idea got even better when the Husband decided to accompany me. It became awesome when I realized that it would take a half an hour to walk to Lululemon!! How perfect is that!? I finished the challenge AND got my prize. Here's a pictorial of our afternoon. (Pardon my non-cute eyewear. I have to wear my old glasses from now until my surgery on Friday. We also didn't really do our hair or make ourselves very presentable for the world. Lazy Sunday.)



I did it! It did, indeed, take exactly 30 minutes to walk up to the midtown Lulu. I was very excited and happy. (I was also quite sweaty while I was trying things on. Shhhhhhh.)



My final selections! Some new Groove crops and a Swift tank. I'm happy to hear that they're making more items with anti-stink stuff, because some of my old Lulu has the old stink baked in now.

Since we were in the neighbourhood, the Husband suggested a stop at the awesome Cupcake Shoppe.



It was his treat, so I chose a chocolate on chocolate one and a chocolate chip cookie dough one. We split them at home with a cup of tea this afternoon. Soooo fantastic.

Since it was long past lunchtime, we stopped at a neighbourhood Italian place where we split a baked goat cheese salad and some yummy pizza. Check out my cute lunch date:



February Fitness Challenge Wrap-up:

Cardio: 12 hours
Strength training: 4.5 hours
Yoga: 3.5 hours
Stretching/Abs: 40 minutes

TOTAL: 20 hours and 40 minutes
Average per day: 44 minutes

Not too shabby!! Clearly I need to up my strength training and stop ignoring my abs, but I am very happy overall.

Two new challenges start tomorrow. Tune in to find out what they are!

Day 26 and 27 - So close now...

Phew! I have had a busy couple of days, running all over the city. But all of it good, fun stuff. Here's your recap:

After a bit of a luxurious sleep-in yesterday, I packed up all my stuff and hit the spa! I had every intention of doing a kick-ass workout for you guys before I started the relaxing part of the visit, but the lure of the jacuzzi and the tea lounge was so strong. So I eked out my half hour, with about 15 minutes of it spent on the treadmill walking/running, 10 minutes doing some weights and 5 minutes doing some ab work and some stretching.

Then I got down to the real reason I was there. It was pretty fantastic, I'm not going to lie! Although I'd forgotten how many really wealthy people go to this spa and how out of place that makes me feel. I tried to blend in, but then I managed to spill an entire mug of green tea on an upholstered chair in the lounge and squirt body lotion all over my robe... Oh well!

After FOUR lovely hours at the spa, I took myself to Fresh for lunch and then went to return something at Jacob. Only I ended up exchanging one thing for two things... Funny how that happens!

This morning was sewing class #4 and we made zippered bags:




Isn't it awesome!? Next week we actually start on our skirts. Although I won't be able to take the class until the following Tuesday night, since I'll still be recovering from having my eyes manipulated with a laser!

After class I rushed home and had a quick bowl of soup before meeting up with a lovely group of women and taking a road trip to Aurora to meet the newest member of our posse:




Just a week old, she was the perfect hostess, peacefully sleeping while we passed her around. She even yawned and made unbelievably cute little baby noises, which made all of us squeal with glee. Oh, and she gave us a peek at her dark grey eyes. Such a beauty!!

Once we made it back to the city, I went to get groceries because there was very little food left in our house. I finally arrived home at 6 P.M., exhausted. But I still had something to do...

Remind me why I started this crazy challenge again?

On top of being tired, it was raining. I did not want to go to the gym, but I knew I wasn't motivated enough to push myself at home. Plus I really wanted to finish the challenge strong! So I headed to the gym and managed to spend 60 whole minutes on the treadmill doing run/walk intervals with increasing inclines. It was tough, but I did it. And now there's only one more day...

Tomorrow I will announce my March challenges! (Yep, there's more than one!!)

Day 25 - Home stretch

It was a busy day at work today, since we all had to pack up our desks in preparation for a whole office reorganization tomorrow. I also had a meeting right after lunch, so I couldn't linger at the gym.

Okay, I'm just making some excuses, because I did the bare minimum today: 30 minutes on the easy cross-trainer. I watched women's curling while I did it. That's not such an exciting sport.

Because of all the chaos at the office tomorrow, we get a day off! How awesome is that? And I know exactly how I'm going to spend it.

At the Stillwater Spa!

This is my favourite spa in town. The only other time I've been there, I managed to hang out for FIVE hours, enjoying all the amenities. Here's my plan for tomorrow:

- Workout in their gym (Last time I worked out there, Mr. Big came into the gym to look around!)
- Hit the steam room
- Hang out in the whirlpool
- Relax in my robe in their beautiful little lounge with the huge aquarium, cucumber water, biscotti and glossy mags
- Get a massage (Between my insurance coverage and a Valentine's gift certificate from the Husband, this won't cost me a cent)
- Have a luxurious shower (rain showerhead!)
- Hang out in a private television cabana watching... whatever I want!



It's going to be soooo good. Originally I had also booked a facial, thinking I could splurge a bit, but then I booked something for next Friday which will sort of empty my pockets.

I booked Lasik eye surgery!!

My sight will be restored, which will be crazy cool.

But back to tomorrow! After my relaxing afternoon, I might just nip over to Lululemon to look at my options for the end of my challenge. And there's a very good chance that I will treat myself to something Fresh...

Day 23 and 24 - Follow the leader

Lacking my own motivation the last two days, I relied on others to tell me what to do. Which means that I took classes. An hour of yoga yesterday, which gave me a nice sense of calm in the middle of the day, and then an hour long Body Jam class tonight, which is a crazy fun dance class.

I headed to the gym tonight feeling kind of cranky and with a bit of a stress tummy from one of those days. (In the grand scheme of the world, it was actually a walk in the park day, but all the little things sort of added up and made me feel very off.) But then the class started. And, you know, it's hard to hold on to any sort of stress when you're making a fool of yourself, swinging your hips, attempting barrel jumps and waving your hands in the air like you just don't care.



(Um... I did NOT look this good.)

The finish line is now in sight! Four more days... In a mad surge of adrenaline and endorphins during tonight's class, I actually thought, "Maybe I should make this a year long challenge!" But I've come back down to earth now. Four more days. And then on to something new, with regular exercise a frequent, but less official, activity.

Day 22 - So close...

Today I seriously contemplated not getting my 30 minutes. I didn't get up early and go this morning. Then I couldn't go at lunch, because I'd arrived at work late after an appointment, so I didn't take a break. And after work my tummy felt all twisty and there was actually a bit of a snowstorm happening, so I took myself right home.

Made dinner.
Ate dinner.
Ate frozen yogurt.
Watched some Olympics (curling is strange).
Ate the last of the tortilla chips.
Surfed the Internet.
Reread all my blog posts from this month.
Contemplated how I could atone for not exercising today.
Briefly imagined having to start whole challenge over again another month.
Laced up my running shoes.

There was no way I was going out into the winteriness (one of the good things about winter is NOT leaving your house unless you really need to) and the idea of some yoga wasn't really inspiring me. And then I figured it out! Here's how I filled 30 minutes tonight, from 8:33 p.m. to 9:03 p.m. (And not a minute more!)

Two laps up and down all 11 flights (actually, it's more like 22 flights, since they're broken in half) of stairs in my apartment building. Just like the stair climber, I kept things interesting by varying the pace (run one, walk one) and the approach, sometimes sidestepping and sometimes taking two stairs at a time.
Three circuits of the following without stopping: 20 crunches on the stability ball, 20 butt lifts, 10 push-ups, 40 leg lifts on each leg, 20 squats, 10 lunges with a knee up on each leg, 10 tricep dips off a chair.
And to finish it all off, a few minutes of stretching.

TAH DAH!



Also, who is the cutest?

Day 20 and 21 - Mixing things up and taking it outside!

I knew this weekend was not going to be very social, because I'm going for a laser eye surgery consult tomorrow, which means I had to wear my glasses all weekend in preparation for the exam. My glasses are neither cute nor the right prescription, so in addition to being stylishly challenged by wearing them, they also give me headaches and make me feel disconnected from the world. Blech!

I still managed to have a great weekend, though! It started with sewing class. (Don't tell, but I totally put my contact lenses in for about three hours on Saturday morning, because I am very vain.) We made adorable drawstring bags! Here's photographic evidence of my accomplishment:



Pretty! (I picked the fun fabric out myself. The balloons should be vertical, but because we made it on the fold, they're horizontal. I'm okay with that, because at least I know what "on the fold" means now.)

A close up of my fantastic sewing skills.


The final result being used for an actual purpose! What could it be?


Eh, voila! A darling wine bag that any hostess would be happy to receive! (But maybe I'm biased...)


After class I hit the gym and divvied up my cardio into 10 minutes chunks, to combat gym-fatigue: 10 minutes running on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the stair climber and 10 on the hard cross-trainer. Done and done! I hightailed it out of there without any real stretching or ab work, I confess. (I am SO lazy with my abs. Mostly because I know that cut-off tops of any sort are no longer ahead of me in life. However, I find that a lot of standing or walking makes my lower back really tired and achy and I'm sure it has something to do with my mushy abs. Sigh!)

Much of my afternoon and early evening was spent having a rockin' house party for two with me and my BF's youngest child. He's a total character and we had fun watching part of a movie, dancing and drawing. Favourite quote of the day came after I suggested he draw a dog: "I am an artist, but I do NOT draw hard things!"

Here he is finally managing to play with my cranky cat a little. Daphne usually hisses at him, but this time she actually batted around the ribbon a bit. An Olympic effort for this feline!



This morning, with the weather report promising 5 degrees of sunniness, the Husband and I bundled up and set out on one of our favourite big walks, first through the enormous cemetery across the street from us and then along a ravine. It was our Olympic walk and we were in motion for about an hour and 40 minutes! So I more than filled my movement quota AND got a much-needed day away from the gym. Yippee! Also, even though our shoes were caked in mud by the end, it was a beautiful walk.

Days 18 and 19 - Are we done yet?

LESS THAN TEN DAYS TO GO!!

Friends, I am SO ready for a day off. I cannot even tell you! I logged a half hour on the easy cross-trainer yesterday before stretching for five minutes and then did a half hour gravity class today. My muscles are sore, particularly because I was lazy about stretching on Wednesday. But I'm hanging on!

I'm also thinking about setting some sort of daily goal for March... As challenging as this month has been, it's also helped me get back on track at the gym (I noticed that my arms looked kind of ripped during the class today) and has given me a sense of accomplishment.

March's goal will not be active! Not that I'm giving up the gym, I'm just going to go on lunch dates again rather than workout out every day at noon. I have an idea about what it's going to be.

Hey, do any of you want to set a goal for March? If so, let me know! You can share your progress in my comments section. We'll cheer each other on!!

OKay, another funny Old Spice commercial. I cannot get enough of these!

Day 17 - Extra, extra!

One of the biggest foes of regular exercise is boredom. Either the exerciser gets tired of the same old routine or the muscles get way too used to what they're asked to do. I have a secret weapon to combat this!

In my stylish Lululemon bag I have a stash of workouts ripped from the pages of the million magazines that I subscribe to. When I need some inspiration, I pull out a workout and follow it! That's what I did today and let me tell you - it kicked my ass! It was 45 minutes of weights interspersed with cardio intervals. I was huffing and puffing! Then I could barely drag myself back to my desk and feed myself some lunch.

And since I had to get off the subway early to run an errand after work, I walked the extra 40 minutes home. (I had something spinning in my brain, so I knew that tiring my body out would stop my brain from spinning. It seems to have worked!)

Therefore, I'm counting it as 85 minutes today! Woo hoo!!

Oh, and this made me laugh out loud:

Day 16 - Stretching it out

Oh, this morning was so incredibly February! Do you know what I mean? I actually feared that a bout of seasonal affective was on its way in. I just felt blah and sluggish, despite a sound 8-hours of sleep. And I had trouble focusing my brain at work, which led me to have two morning cups of tea, which isn't normal for me.

So ask me how excited I was to go to the gym?

The worst part about the blah, seasonal affective feeling is the total and complete lack of energy. Like, the very thought of changing my clothes to work out seems incomprehensible. (This must be what people who suffer from serious depression feel like all the time. My hats off to all of you who have survived this dark place.) So I decided that a yoga class was the best thing for me. I'd skipped my stretching all weekend long, so I knew my body could use a bit of lengthening.

Of COURSE I felt much better afterwards. And I sailed through the afternoon and into this evening, where I came home and made yet another new recipe (Bulgarian Lentil and Vegetable Stew from my Moosewood Cooking for Health book - YUMMY and so colourful) and then some more carrot muffins and cleaned the whole kitchen. The Husband is now boiling up a big batch of steel cut oats to carry us through breakfasts for the next week. So I'm feeling healthy and happy and glad that I gave myself this crazy challenge this month. I haven't coped this well with February in years.

Mmmmm... perhaps I need a March challenge?


(We did this in class today. HARD!)

Day 14 and 15 - Love and the bare minimum

The Husband was out of town, only just expected home late yesterday morning, so I knew I wanted to get my workout out of the way first thing. And that's why I was one of the first people at the gym when it opened at 9 A.M. I wasn't inspired to really push any limits, so I just hopped on a cross-trainer and did my 30 minutes all in one go and then got the hell out of there, without even stretching or anything. I even used the easy cross-trainer.

(There are cross-trainers that just sort of go around and don't require much effort and then there are ones where your legs come up in front of you at a right angle that are MUCH harder. I usually use the harder ones, but not yesterday.)

And today, after spending all morning in bed with the Husband, reading and eating breakfast (and Valentine's chocolate and cookies...) and watching funny videos on his laptop, we finally dragged ourselves out and made it to the gym. But once again, I just couldn't bring myself to push myself. Still, I did 20 minutes on the hard cross-trainer and 10 minutes on the stair-climber. I definitely worked harder than yesterday, but didn't go above and beyond. AND I skipped stretching (and abs) AGAIN! Still, I did it.

And then, after some leftover Indian food from last night (super delicious!), we got sucked into a marathon of Last Cake Standing. We were supposed to be cleaning the apartment, but the cakes were so crazy! And then we had more cookies and Valentine's chocolate. And suddenly all the sugar in my system combined to feel like sand in my veins and I could hardly conceive of MOVING!

All this to tell you that it wasn't our most productive afternoon, but the Husband did do a FANTASTIC job cleaning the bathroom and I tried to undo our day of bad eating by making a healthy new recipe - One-pot sweet-potato couscous. DEE-LICIOUS! Hopefully the actual nutrients in my system might propel me to be do something useful this evening.

Day 12 and 13 - I am (reluctantly) rocking this challenge!

I'll admit that I may have whined a bit about having to go to the gym yesterday. First to some colleagues and then to some random woman in the change room. My instinct was actually to get down on the floor like a disgruntled toddler, stamp my feet, bang my fists and shout, "I don't wanna!"

Of course, since I am sensible grown woman (and have self-inflicted this ridiculous challenge), I just complained. And since I also knew that I couldn't be left to my own devices, due to a serious lack of motivation, I hauled my ass (which, by the way, isn't getting any smaller during this crazy stint, because I am eating like a Canadian who needs an extra layer of warmth to get through winter*) to a one-hour Body Pump class.

In case you're not familiar with said class, it's endurance weight training. So each song targets a different muscle group and you just work the shit out of that muscle group until you want to cry. And then you move on to the next muscle group. It's actually an amazing workout and I was super proud of myself for showing up and putting in the effort.

Today, after I mastered some new stitches (and making gathers!) in my sewing class, I spent some cardio time at the gym while watching the ski jumping trials. You know what? Ski jumping looks kind of easy to me. Which, of course, means that it's really, really hard. Because generally all those things in life that look easy are impossible. (I've just talking myself out of learning to ski jump.) Anyway, I ran some intervals for 10 minutes and then did 25 more minutes of intervals on the stair-climber, before stretching and doing some abs for about 5 more minutes.

And, since the Husband is out of town until tomorrow morning, I spent my afternoon familiarizing myself with the mysterious world that is Fabricland, while buying a pattern and some fabric and notions. Then I hit a matinee of "Precious," which pretty much broke my heart.

Tonight, mending my sad heart with some puttering and prep for my first Valentine's Day as a married lady! Looking forward to having the Husband back home. (I'm going to try to sneak to the gym first thing, before he arrives.)

*Yes, I do realized that our winter has been crazy easy. There's hardly even a trace of snow on the ground and the "storm" we were supposed to get last week never materialized. But still I am putting treats in my mouth at every turn. Maye a treat hiatus should be next month's challenge?

Day 11 - Thank goodness for celebrity tabloids

I know this is going to come as a shock to all of you, but I... didn't want to go today! Seriously. Apparently I never desire better health and a smaller behind enough to actually want to work out. Sort of depressing, no?

But of course I went. And it was cardio day, so I grabbed some old issues of People from the pile at the gym and hopped on a stationary bike.

(I have a ridiculous amount of magazine subscriptions, because it's my business and I LOVE them, but I don't subscribe to or generally read entertainment tabloids. It's all lies. I believe nothing. However, I will happily flip through them at the supermarket or while trying to get my cardio done.)

I've often read that stationary bikes aren't really your best choice for cardio, because you're just sitting down rather than moving your whole body like you do running or stair climbing. So when I was setting up my program on the bike, I chose to workout at level 12, which is smack dab in the middle of the levels. Often I will choose level 8. Level 8 seems to be my default setting. But I thought I would get more out of it at level 12.

Friends, I was huffing and sweating and struggling through the hills! (I also set it to random. I avoid long, steady-state workouts most of the time. Better results with intervals!) All I could think was, "What the hell is level 24 like!?" Thank goodness I had faux celebrity gossip to get me through.

So: 30 minutes of cycling and 10 minutes on the cross-trainer.


(This is where I wish I'd been biking!)

Day 10 - Stronger...and yet weaker

I woke up feeling like myself again this morning. Thank goodness! Although I also started the day with a serious case of the yawns and a nagging sense of weariness. Perhaps it was the emergence of actual winter, what with the light dusting of snow settling over the city. It didn't help that our offices are currently under construction, meaning that many of us have been moved to temporary desks scattered throughout our beautiful two-story, glass-ceilinged atrium. There isn't much lighting in the atrium, so when it's gloomy outside, it's gloomy in there. Thankfully my deskmate helped me hook up a lamp, so I could see. My mood was also helped along by the illumination.

But, and I'll be honest with you here, I didn't want to go to the gym! You're probably not surprised by that statement, but I kind of am. This little challenge is really highlighting how often my good intentions are derailed by powerful negative thoughts. Hardly a day has passed that I haven't had to force myself to get up and go. But you know what? I haven't regretted going even once! Go figure.

Anyway, I knew that a class was the best option for me today, since my own motivation was somewhat lacking. I chose to do some strength training at a gravity class.

A what? you say!

It's this super cool thing that they have at my gym. It was actually one of the selling points of me for this particular location. (Also, it's two minutes from work.) They are machines with pulleys and stuff that allow you to work out against your own body weight. And you can adjust the angle of the machine, to either work out harder or easier. Let me find a picture...



See?

The classes are just a half hour, which really flies by, and the workout is hard. I still remember the first time I tried it and during the first 2 minutes of squats I thought to myself, "Oh, I am way beyond this. I'm not going to get enough of a workout." And then I remember how my muscles were burning and I was gasping for breath about a minute later. Truly.

So this was it today. I jogged for a few minutes prior to the class, but skipped any post class cardio. Weary won out. (Although, I had WAY more energy in the afternoon!)

Day 9 - Near derailment

So, remember yesterday's post? Where I said I was going to get up super early and hit the gym before work? Well, that dream died late last night as I lay awake in bed for way too long. There comes a point when I'm going to get so few hours of sleep that it's just not worth it to get up early.

This morning I hopped out of bed, had a shower, took two bites of oatmeal... and threw up. (I know I'm a newlywed, but I promise you that I'm not pregnant!) I promptly sent an email to work and crawled back into bed.

My biggest worry was stomach flu, particularly since a lot of people around me have been hit of late. But it seems to have just been something I ate. We were short on spaghetti sauce last night ad so we added some salsa that was in the fridge. Neither of us could identify how old it was, but it smelled okay...

Anyway, I got some rest and by this afternoon I seemed to be mostly okay. I ate some toast without any problem. So then I started to worry about the FFC. I knew that there was NO way I could drag myself to the gym, but I didn't want to miss a day.

And then I had a brilliant idea: YOGA! I have a dvd here, which has an easy workout on it that's just 35 minutes long. I took it really easy, but it felt good to stretch and move a bit after a day of napping and cocooning.

Hopefully tomorrow will dawn with a better tummy and some renewed energy, because I have A LOT to catch up on at work and there's still 18 days of this challenge to go!

Day 8 - Scheduling issues

I'm not sue if I've mentioned this before, but I am a Planner. (Notice the capital "p." That's there for a reason.) I thrive on knowing what's coming up and how it's all going to play out. Not that I'm totally inflexible! Although, when my plan goes awry, it does sometimes send me into a tailspin.

(All the mothers reading this are now thinking I should never, ever have children!)

Anyway, today I knew that my workout was going to have to wait until after work, because I had a work event lunch-thing to attend. (A big lobster and seafood feast thrown by the New Brunswick tourism board. Totally a waste for a veggie like me!) I put on my extra fancy professional outfit and went in to work. It wasn't until after 11am that I noticed my Entourage calendar said I was free all day. Free until noon tomorrow.

Sigh. The event is tomorrow. So I suddenly had to revise my game plan and head to the gym at lunch. On one hand - a good thing, because there's a greater likelihood of me not wanting to go after work. On the other hand - a sudden change of scheduling, which required me to quickly get my head in a different game.

But I did it! I got there and I exercised:

5 minute jogging warm-up
25 minutes of weights
5 minutes of abs and stretching

Now I have to figure out how I want tomorrow to go... I'm considering a pre-work workout. It's been a long while since I've dragged myself out of bed before the sunrise to get my sweat on. And I'm even thinking it might be a spinning class, which I know will be ridiculously hard. But one of the side effects of all this exercising - besides feeling strong again - is that I'm inspired to push myself outside of my wimpy workout comfort zone. And that's a good thing!

Meanwhile, I just made my first almost vegan bit of baking. These Carrot Spice Muffins. I say "almost vegan" because we used real yogurt rather than soy yogurt. And guys - they're tasty!!

Oh, also, this is an awesome commercial:

Day 6 and 7- Excellent weekend!

I had a fantastic weekend! It started with my new sewing class on Saturday morning, which had me practically skipping down the street with anticipation. The two hours flew by, but were full of major sewing milestones for me: I threaded a bobbin, I threaded a machine, I pinned fabric together and then sewed it, and I finished seams in three different ways, including on a serger. While I realize that these are only baby-steps to most sewers, to me they felt like awesome accomplishments.

This is my kit of essentials and my projects for the day:


And this is a close-up of my first stitches:


I also learned a whole bunch of things and smiled a lot. Oh, and ate some candy (it's stashed all over the studio) and met some nice women.

All of that positive energy followed me along home and, since I had to pass by the gym anyway, I took the energy right on in and got my workout out of the way:

20 minutes of high-intensity running intervals on the treadmill
20 minutes of intervals on the stair-climber
5 minutes of stretching

Afterwards I had permission from myself to go home and be a little lazy for a while. (It helped that I came home to find that the Husband had spent the morning emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the kitchen, making the bed and folding all the laundry! I heart the Husband!) To me, a lazy February afternoon meant catching up on a couple of shows from earlier in the week while baking some cookies for my outing today, and then doing some reading and a bit of writing. All in loungey pants, of course.

As evening set in, I headed out to meet the husband for dinner and to see Avatar in 3D Imax. I was thoroughly entertained by the film, but severely uncomfortable throughout. Apparently there was something wrong with the heat in the theatre, so it was about a thousand degrees and the 3D gave me a headache and made me a bit nauseous on top of it. So I can't say that I wanted the film to go any longer than it did. But I'm glad I saw it, so I can understand what all the hype is about. (If you've seen it, check out the trivia section on IMDB. So interesting!)

This morning I was so comfy and cozy at home in our sunny apartment that even the thought of venturing into the cold to go to the gym felt cruel. But I managed to drag myself away from the flannel sheets and stack of magazines and just get it done:

30 minutes internals on the cross-trainer
(I didn't even really stretch. I had places to be!)

I ran home for a quick shower and change before the Husband drove me to the east end of the city to meet some girlfriends for a wee road trip to Aurora, to visit another girlfriend who is due to give birth pretty much any time now. We had a great visit over tea and treats (hence the cookie-baking yesterday) and marveled about how the next time we saw our friend, she would have a baby in her arms. Amazing!

Now, Sunday night feeling sets in. It should be an interesting week at work, since there's some construction happening in my office and as of tomorrow afternoon, I will be displaced to work out of our glass-ceilinged atrium. Weird. But different! And I'm all about change being a good thing.

First week of February is done!! And so far, so good. But clearly my cat is finding this month much more taxing. This is how she has looked the whole time I've been writing this post:

Day 5 - Scheduling issues

I was a little worried all week about when I would make it to the gym today. Because I had lunch plans with a friend, so that was out, and then I was heading out after work to join the Husband's farewell party. (He got a new job that starts on the 16th, so he SYTYCDC crew was bidding him adieu.) I toyed with the idea of getting up early and going before work, but I knew that was unlikely, so the only real option was after work before joining the fete.

Now, I had only met a few of the Husband's work peeps, because it seemed like every time there was some sort of event, significant others weren't included, so I obviously wanted to look cute. Meaning that post-workout frizzy hair wasn't an option. So, once again, if I hadn't made this little pact, I for sure would have skipped the gym. Instead, I went in and worked out!

5 minutes warm-up on cross-trainer
20 minutes weight training
5 minutes of stretching

And then I took my time fluffing post-workout and my hair still looked quite good for the event. It's all possible!

This was also part of my day:


Representatives from SeaWorld came in to promote the park and they brought two penguins and a two-toed sloth. Then penguins waddled all over the office, charming everyone, while the sloth clung to its trainer and looked strangely Alf-like. All in all, a good Friday at work!

Day 4 - Just barely

Okay, so we all know that being a girl allows us to have more wardrobe choices, the ability to multi-task and the permission to cry at sappy television commercials. All good things. But we also know that being a girl comes with some dark, awful territory.

Yep. I woke up with some serious cramps. The kind that occur when the lining of your uterus sloughs off. And the thought of actually getting out of bed, showering, putting on clothes and going to work seemed almost impossible. So you can just imagine how I was feeling about even the concept of exercise.



But, dear readers, I felt a true obligation to all of you and to myself. And at noon I dragged my myself over to the gym, encased myself in spandex-y workout wear, and performed the bare minimum: 30 minutes. I spent 15 minutes on the treadmill running high-intensity intervals (I'm still having trouble believing that I managed that) and then I climbed aboard the cross-trainer and did a much more gentle 15 minutes of intervals there. I didn't even really stretch. I was done. I was released.

They say that the endorphins from exercise can actually help with cramps and I did have a few good hours post-workout. Until about 3:30pm, when the sloughing began again. I could not rush home to the loungey pants fast enough!

Four days down!

Day 3 - Namaste

Today's FFC entry was an hour long yoga class that was suitably challenging and soothing all at once. You know, I used to do at least one yoga class a week, but in the past few years it has fallen off my radar. I figure that if I'm going to change into workout clothes, I want to burn some calories! And yoga just doesn't help in that department.

The thing is, ever since I first started running many years ago, all of my natural flexibility started to go away. My muscles got shorter. And even though I always stretch at the end of my workouts, it's just for a few minutes and it doesn't really cut it. Lately I've been noticing a lot of pain in my body - hip flexor issues and major upper body tension. Pain that I am too young to have!

So I'm going back to yoga! At least once a week. And I will admire the good triceps all of those plank to floor to cobra poses give me.

(I can do this one)


(I cannot do this one)


But there's something else I wanted to share with you guys tonight! In my ongoing effort to make this February fabulous rather than freezing and funk-inducing, I am starting an intro to sewing class on Saturday morning! I'm taking the class at The Sewing Studio and I'm super excited. My mom is an incredible seamstress, but my junior high foray into this crafty endeavour ended in two broken sewing machines and a pair of pants that were reminiscent of the Gorden Gartrelle episode of The Cosby Show. (Anyone remember that one?)

Day 2 - Thank goodness for the FFC

I am not going to lie. Something about the February-ness of this day made me lethargic and, well, blah this morning. If I hadn't publicly challenged myself to the FFC, there's no way I would have made it to the gym. But I dragged myself over at lunch and turned my day around with a little exercise. If that sounds annoying, I do apologize!

Here's what I did:
5 minutes of jogging to warm up
15 minutes of upper body weights
15 minutes of intervals on the bike (while reading the "Sexiest Man Alive" issue of People, which I found in the bin at the gym)
5 minutes of abs and stretching

My afternoon was infinitely better than my morning and I'm choosing to credit the workout for that. Now I don't feel guilty that I'm parked on the couch waiting for "Lost" to start!!

I...ummm... have a thing for Sawyer.



This is very strange for me, because I normally don't experience celebrity lust. And when I do, it's more often for the clean-cut, smart (read: sorta nerdy) guys. But there's something about Sawyer... (And I freely admit that it's the character of Sawyer that makes my heart pitter patter rather than the actor Josh Holloway, about whom I know nothing.)

Who is your celebrity (or fictional) crush?

Day 1 - So far, so good!

I had a triumphant start to the February Fitness Challenge! (Let's call it the FFC from here on in.) I tore myself away from my desk after an interview with Canada's favourite handyman, Mike Holmes, and hit the gym. Here's how I fared:

5 minute jogging warm-up
35 minutes of weights, focused on lower body
5 minutes of high-intensity intervals on the StairMaster
Stretching, so I can walk tomorrow

It's a very good beginning and so far I think February is pretty okay. It helped that my evening included a meeting with my book club to discuss The Old Man and the Sea (which I really enjoyed) and then a viewing of The Lovely Bones (which was passable, although not nearly as good as the book and in need of some serious editing). The movie left me totally creeped out, though. I practically ran home from the subway through my very, very safe neighbourhood.

Oh, by the way! There's been some interest in my FFC. I say, "the more, the merrier," so do join me. Post your own daily results in the comment section and I will root you on! (Pssstt... If you didn't get to it today, there's always tomorrow...)



(This is totally you and I battling it out! But in a supportive, friendly way.)