Smoke and Mirrors: Ow...

May 01, 2003

Ow...

My arms, they are sore. Also, I have not updated in ages. Sorry. The soreness and the not-updating are for the same reason -- I joined the gym down the street last week, and have been faithfully going every night, except tonight, when I decided to take a break. It was cold and drizzly, and I needed to go to the grocery store, and my arms feel like they might fall off at any moment, so I took tonight off. I'll go back tomorrow.

It's all part of the must-lose-weight resolve I mentioned in my last entry. I've been doing well with it so far -- I've lost ten pounds since then. I've stopped eating meat -- I'll miss my kick-ass beef stew recipe, but red meat just makes my stomach hurt lately, and I've been considering cutting meat out of my diet for a while now anyway. I'm avoiding sugary stuff, bread, and such like that, and drinking a ton of water. We have a water cooler at work, and I have a nice liter-sized bottle that I refill and carry around all day. I've even managed to substitute the water for my usual morning Diet Coke without any remorse. The gym was offering a good deal, so i signed up. It's a nice place, and the people there are all very friendly. The guy who runs it sent me a hand-written thank you card after I joined! Weird, but nice. I had an appointment with a trainer, who showed me how to use the weight machines, and gave me a lot of good advice on working out. So, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I go do the weights (I am a pathetic weakling at the moment) and then use a treadmill for 30-45 minutes. All other days, I just do the treadmill or a stationary bike. I'm actually really enjoying it. I think some switch in my brain got tripped when I hit 30, and I decided all this stuff was fun. Either that, or I've lost my mind. Added bonuses: I don't have nearly as much trouble sleeping now, and my anxiety attacks have all but gone away. Good side effects, those. And I swear my pants were looser on me today. I'm enjoying all this enough that, hopefully, I can stick with it. I'd like to; I'm very tired of avoiding looking in mirrors, and having a hard time finding clothes that fit, and being embarrassed by how I look in general. I doubt I'll ever be skinny, but I would like to be a reasonable weight, at least.

Work has been warm and stuffy, since the ventilation system has been off for two weeks while they repair the air conditioning. We prop the entrance doors open, but it doesn't do much good. It will allegedly be fixed next week. But then, that's what they said last week, so I think they're lying. Rat bastards.

Jeff was here last Saturday -- we were supposed to go do the Fenway Park tour, but it poured rain all day, so we watched movies (Signs and Spirited Away, both of which I liked a lot) and had sushi instead. He'll be able to visit more often now, which is a happy thing. He also managed to cheer me up from the vile, evil, horrid mood I was in when he arrived -- I had, minutes before, been doing dishes. I was washing my favorite giant glass stock pot -- a pot that gets very slippery when it's wet. I picked it up to wash it, and it slipped out of my hands, fell into the sink, and shattered all over the place. It also took out three of my roommate's dishes. Argh. Luckily, the glass all stayed in the sink, and the roommate didn't care, because he got the dishes for free anyway. My mom even said she'd replace the pot -- she gave it to me in the first place. We already have a trip to the Corning outlet store near her house planned. But I liked that pot, damn it. I was already cranky when I broke it, and that just pissed me off completely. But I got over it very quickly.

My mind has just gone completely blank, so... um... yeah. I'll shut up now.

Posted by Mary Ellen at May 1, 2003 10:03 PM

Comments

Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying your workouts and discovering all the cool benefits of exercise. I totally understand about the pot - I have a tendency to fret over my favorite dishes and pans.

I have been in the mood for some good sushi for awhile now, and this post just confirms that I should make the time to go get some. There's really no excuse.

Posted by: rawrin at May 2, 2003 02:39 PM

Warm weather finally came for this old man. I can get out to do my exercise walk now, plus some low impact exercises. 'Twas a drag at first but notice that my energy level is rising, my appetite for good foods better and sleep more refreshing than in the winter. Still flailing around at 82.

Posted by: Denver doug at May 2, 2003 07:56 PM

Spring does have that effect, I think... I'm sleeping better because I can leave my window open for a bit of fresh air.

Posted by: Mary Ellen at May 2, 2003 10:57 PM

I knowwwwwww the feeling. Mariann and I are getting ready for our annual vacation to Jim Thorpe PA for the Mountain Bike Weekend festival. Four days of camping, food, biking, fun, and some really sore butts for a few weeks afterwards......I've got a permanent place there, and the tickets were free this year (did a favor for the coordinator last year), otherwise we wouldn't be going. I've also had my tent set up in the back yard, slept out there last night. Probably a good thing, since I'm on withdrawals from Zoloft.....talk about some WILD mood swings! I got the forum working right, figured out the problem. No cookies, though, so if you refresh, you'll have to log back in. Have to figure out how to set those up........

Posted by: heffie at May 15, 2003 12:27 PM