Strategic Planning

This weekend I made it back to my parents' house. The lack of electricity deterred me from returning sooner but finally their reenactment of Little House on the Prairie ended (really LIPA, nine days without electricity?) and I was able to come get my winter coat. If I thought I had in bad in Manhattan without a winter coat, my parents had it so much worse without heat.

My parents' house.

Their driveway.

I like to go home for many reasons. I like my parents. They are interesting people and they feed me. It is also less expensive to purchase household items and groceries on Long Island. It's extremely inexpensive if your parents frequently purchase those things for you and then slip you extra cash. When I go home I avoid binge drinking, I eat real food, I go to the gym, and I avoid spending money. Going home is great. And my cats are there.

And there's enough room to make a laundry color wheel in my parents' laundry room.

On Saturday I slept in and then ran errands. The cable and internet is still down at my parents' so I felt motivated to get things done. And I was trying to keep my mind off smoking. Today is DAY SEVEN. I headed to the Roslyn Equinox for a solo workout around 6 PM. When I work out by myself, I prefer to go during less packed hours so I can choose my equipment freely and not fight for space.

I did 20 minutes on the CrossRamp. I know I've written about this machine before, but I just love it more than any other cardio machine. It's like an elliptical but better.

Because it's totally normal to photograph yourself like this.

I'll be honest - I'm a little self-conscious of my flabby arms right now, but I hate wearing sleeves to the gym. This photo captured how unshapely they've gotten. I do feel stronger from the yoga though. My embarrassment motivated me to do an arm workout:

Chest press with 15 lbs weights (15 reps)

Shoulder press with 15 lbs weights (15 reps)

Skull crusher with one 15 lbs weight (10 reps, rest between 5)

Tricep kickbacks with 7.5 lbs weights (15)

2 sets

I had perused the August 2012 issue of Oxygen and found the workout below earlier in the day. It seemed like a challenging quick workout I could do on my own and it said it was Army-inspired, which I found fitting for Veteran's Day weekend. It kicked my ass.

20 crunches

20 prisoner squats

20 staggered-hand push-ups (left hand forward)

20 sit-ups

20 prisoner lunges

20 staggered-hand push-ups (right hand forward)
30-60 second plank

I did forty prisoner lunges so I'd have twenty for each leg and a 60 second plank. And then I prayed for mercy. Those staggered-hand push-ups are so freaking hard! I've decided that I will do this workout on cardio days at least once a week. I am going to be able to do one set no problem by New Years.

Today I went to Raj Shtrom's vinyasa flow yoga class at the Equinox in Great Neck. They've redone the bathrooms and showers since the last time I was there and it looks lovely.

Raj's class beats me normally, but after lifting last night, my arms could barely support my weight. I am the lamest yoga practicer in the world, but I am going to stick with it. I want to make sure that I am in shape and that my strength is balanced. I feel like I started back at round zero and that I shouldn't make the same mistakes I've made in the past as I return to working out and better eating.

My gym requires valet parking on Sundays.

I'm proud of myself for not smoking cigarettes for an entire week, but I'm a little worried about keeping it up when I go out. I went out for drinks three times last week and didn't have a cigarette (although I did go to a cigar bar one night.) However, I do get text messages like this one:

Do I need to give up benders? Does this mean I'm growing up? Can I have a six-pack if I give up beer?

Enough of these deep philosophical questions and on to the important things.

Today is Veteran's Day, one of the most important days of the years. I love veterans and have the utmost respect for servicemen and women. I especially love Marines. They're pretty sexy. Take the time today and tomorrow (and every day for that matter!) to thank the men and women who risk their lives to make sure that you and I are safe and free. Thank you veterans! God bless you!

Post-Bender Gym Sesh

So it's no secret that I drink... a lot. I manage to make it to work on time (frequently early!), call my mother daily, and I can run a 50K. If I can take 18 minutes of my marathon while single-handedly keeping Dewars in business, I think I am entitled to behave in any fashion that I want. If that means that my super sees me twice a weekend just to change my clothes, so be it.

Today I was back at work, facing another 12 hour day (yes, I am also a workaholic), and I dominated my performance review. Booyah! I decided that retoxing in celebration was probably not the best decision, and headed to Equinox for a little latenight sweat session.

I started off with 25 minutes on the cross ramp. I don't particularly care for the dreadmill and the cross ramp keeps me entertained. My Achilles has been acting like a bitch, and I figured the dreadmill would just kill it.

Maybe running around town in these this weekend has something to do
with my lingering Achilles pain... nah.

Sweating is the best thing to restart your work-week after spending your weekend in fur and reindeer ears and  falling crawling out a window to smoke a pack of cigarettes.

It upsets me that the giraffe always has to sit in the corner.

I rocked out to some Cut Copy and Neon Indian and got my cardio on. I didn't push myself particularly hard, but I figured I made it to the gym and I shouldn't test to see if my heart would give out. No one likes to see a girl keel over in the middle of the gym.

The guy on the cross ramp next to me teared up while watching Ben propose to rabbit mouth Courtney on The Bachelor. I was furiously booty texting. So um yeah. Apparently you shouldn't tell someone he should stop acting like a dick and start using his more often if you'd like him to come over later. Oops.

I just couldn't get a clear shot of this guy as
he went to get a tissue to dab away his tears.

I did some upper body work. I brought the new Oxygen to the gym but it seemed like every article required the cable machine and I just wasn't in the mood to struggle to figure out how to set that thing up by myself. I used 15 and 10 lbs weights to bang out some shoulder, tricep, and bicep moves. Regretted being an über bitch because I could tell I was definitely not getting laid after running my mouth (or would that be my fingers? Yes, I insult via text.)

I did some squat kicks and moved onto my trusty adductor and abductor machines. Then I took some creepy photos of myself.

I'm going to get myself arrested when they finally
catch me taking pictures in the locker room.

I should've manned up and did some ab work but I was ready to peace out and the showers had already closed so I needed to head home, or otherwise you wouldn't be getting this post. It's time to get out of these sweaty clothes, but I will leave you with this piece of awesomeness.

P90X - Ab Ripper X and Shoulders & Arms DVDs

So guess who finally got to try P90X? I jumped out of bed this morning (okay, maybe I sprawled out covered in baby blankets for about twenty minutes), put on my workout clothes (my C9 shorts are getting a little snug, FYI), and went to grab my new yoga mat from my car. It was time to work my abs.

With great anticipation, I inserted the Ab Ripper X DVD into the player. I was so excited to see Tony Horton in action. He promised 349 moves of core crushing greatness. I couldn't do all 349. I suddenly realized how out of shape I have gotten since my peak fitness in February 2010. I could also feel my trail run abused quadriceps screaming for mercy. None of the moves on the Ab Ripper were new to me, but I did like the format. It's about 15 minutes long, gets straight to the point, and provides modified intensities. It would definitely deliver results.

Then I moved on to the hour-long Shoulders & Arms DVD. I haven't worked out my upper body in forever, but miraculously I still held my own. P90X Shoulders & Arms is five rounds (if you include the Bonus Round) of shoulders, biceps, then triceps exercises. You repeat each round. I really enjoyed this workout. My favorite exercise was the Deep Swimmer's Presses. This kid taught me how to do them in high school and I love them. You perform a bicep curl into a shoulder press, and then reverse the move to complete one rep.

The Two-Angle Shoulder Flys were also a good move, and flipping hard. I'm at my parents' house and I was able to rustle up a pair of 15 lb weights, which may have been a little heavy for this. You sit up straight on a chair (I went with the toy box) and perform one fly, then you lean over your legs and do your next fly. Everyone completes 16 flys. Of course I misunderstood the first round, and thought that 1 rep was one fly at each angle, and couldn't believe that I was supposed to complete 16. Turns out that would be 32. Oops.

I learned a new move today called Crouching Cohen Curls. I'm not very good at them yet, but you squat down, and put your elbows at the inside of your knees. Then you curl your biceps. I didn't use a mirror for this workout, so it was difficult to check my form. I'm trying to stop relying on mirrors so much, because 1. needing a mirror to workout is inconvenient and 2. I want to be more aware of my own body and muscles.

I am thrilled that I finally get to test out P90X after five years of watching (loving/obsessing over) the infomercials. I borrowed these DVDs, but I think I may become the proud owner of my own set in the near future.

Gaining Confidence to Workout Alone and March's Ultimate Arms Workout

I rarely hit the gym floor by myself. Sure, I'll hop on a cardio machine if I have some extra time before a class, or I might use the adductor/abductor hip machines (205 lbs baby, booyah!), but I used to actually show up and lift. It occured to me recently that I don't even know where most of the equipment is located at the 85th & 3rd Equinox location and I used to be there all the time. I subscribe to Oxygen magazine, which is the great women's fitness magazine, that is full of workout advice and exercises. My goal is to be able to perform these workouts on my own when I can't or don't want to attend a class.

A lot of classes are full-body workouts. You can't and shouldn't do a full-body workout every single day. This leads to overtraining, injuries, and late-night binge-eating. I've decided to focus on spin and yoga classes, and then do no more than one full-body workout class a week. I am going to do my own lifting. I tried Oxygen's March triceps and biceps workout yesterday and my arms are feeling it! I used 12.5 lb weights, and skipped the stability ball preacher curl (just couldn't be bothered to run around 3 floors looking for a stability ball when I had a class starting in 10 minutes.)

Triceps Exercises (2 sets of each)
1. Body weight bench dip (12 reps)
2. Lying triceps extension (12 reps)
3. One-arm triceps kickback (12 reps on each side)

Biceps Exercises (2 sets of each)
1. Alternating biceps curl (15 reps each arm)
2. Hammer biceps curl (12 reps)
3. Dumbbell preacher curl on stability ball (skipped but I would've done 12 each)

I chose to superset the triceps/biceps exercises during the first set, going from one triceps move right into the biceps move before resting and moving on to the next exercises. Oxygen recommended this to save time and increase caloric burn.