Prevention Dance Yourself Thin

Okay, I've had this dvd for quite awhile, but I had never done the full thing altogether in one sitting before yesterday.

I really like the instructor, Marie Forleo. She's a lot of fun and very encouraging (this isn't the only dvd I have with her, but it was the first one that I got with her). Sometimes I'll do a different workout, then use this video for the cool down.

That being said, however, the actual dances are not my favourites. They're fun, but they're a bit hard. There's this one move that I had a really hard time getting the footwork on (and to make it worse, my brother was making fun of me so I didn't go back to it for several months).

There are 2 dances that are each 15 minutes, which is a bit long in my opinion. I prefer the 10 minute dances personally - there's a bit more variety when you stack them together - 3 in a half hour instead of 2.

So to reiterate: the dvd is fun and I like the instructor, but it isn't my favourite dvd in the world.

Self Diet Club Member!

Well, my free trial of the Self Diet Club finished a few days ago. But thanks to my mom getting me a subscription of Self Magazine, I get to remain a member of their diet club!

Originally, I was thinking that I would stop with the 30 day trial. But since I was getting some results, I started thinking that it might be a good thing to stay with until I reach my goal weight of 160 lbs (plus it might be able to help me maintain my weight at first, too!

Getting Back on Track

Well, due to my brief trip to Minneapolis, which was then followed by Mom and Dad's 25th Anniversary party yesterday, I haven't really worked out for the last four days. While in Minneapolis, I HAD workout stuff with me (I brought a workout dvd and my resistance bands) but I didn't have enough time to workout - due to studying, shopping, and travelling in general. But overall, I ate extremely well for travelling (and I had a few really awesome salads!!!) But yesterday, I neither ate well nor exercised.

So today was my first day working out again. I didn't do a whole lot today as I had to work at the Dollar Store, but what I did do felt really good! I did 15 minutes of yoga from my Om Yoga book (I timed the 15 minute segment and it took almost exactly 15 minutes!) Hopefully today will be a good start to a great week! :)

As to my diet for today, I didn't eat super well (I had a piece of cheesecake and a Mike's) but I ate a LOT less than I did yesterday. And other than the cheesecake and Mike's, I ate reasonably well. But I do miss the salads - I had a really good one from Chili's restaurant: Quesadilla Explosion!!!!

http://www.chilis.com/menu/default.asp?catID=5&tierID=61&Unit_ID=001%2E005%2E0205&menuType=Dine+In

The GRE is Over!!!!

Well, I am finally finished the GRE!!!!

I went to Minneapolis to write the GRE on Friday the 24th. My mom and I drove down on the Thursday (I was able to study on the way down there) and we stayed in a very nice hotel located right in the University of Minnesota campus - it was a 10 minute walk from the hotel to the testing building!

So on the day of the test, I studied a little bit during and after breakfast, then went to write the test. All in all, I did alright - I got approximately 19/30 on the verbal section (520) and 14/28 on the mathematical section (490). I won't know how I did on the essay questions for another few weeks.

I'm just happy it's over!!!!!!

GRE Math

Alright, I have less than one week left to go before I write the GRE...and I'm getting quite frustrated with the math. The book that I am studying from has assured me that all I need are the basics - nothing from an intermediate or advanced highschool math class. And I used to be quite good at math. But I haven't done most of these things since highschool, and so I forget them all. Plus the way the questions are worded doesn't help!

I was really frustrated last night with the algebra word problems - my brother went over them with me and I understood them when he showed me how to do them. But when I later attempted the SAME questions by myself, I couldn't for the life of me remember how to do them!!! Eventually I decided to move on to another topic, (which happened to be geometry) which I did a bit better at (and was a bit more fun doing).

Note about the GRE

So, a few nights ago, I decided to look into the different schools that offer my program to see what scores I'd need on the GRE. Well, of the 4 schools that I looked into, 3 of them said I don't need to write the GRE at all! And for the one school that does require it, I only need to write the GRE General - not the Psychology test!

Even though I don't really need to write it, I have decided I still will. I think that I might as well try to keep all doors open to my program, especially since there are so few schools that offer it.

Self Diet Club Update

Alright, so I have 12 days left of my 30 day trial. I've been quite proud of myself for actually keeping up with their food log (Other than the first day, I have entered everything that I've eaten!) It has also been a bit of a learning experience, seeing how much I typically eat on different days. I've found out that when I am hanging out with a certain friend of mine, I usually eat way more than I should. But in a typical day of mine, I usually eat a bit below what the Self Diet Club recommends I eat.

I've also found that, on a typical day, I don't eat a lot of fat, which is great. I think that on average, about 20-25% of my diet is fat (which does still fall short of their recommended 30%).

Also, since starting, I have managed to lose about 6 lbs. It has been kind of nice to see that their 2lb a week plan works! I have to say, their plan has worked quite well. Even when I have to use up some of their recommended calories on sugary things to raise my blood sugar level, I never feel like I am hungry by the end of the day. Way to go Self!

GRE Update

Okay, so I have about a week and a half left before I write it. I'll admit, I'm terrified! This test scares me a lot! (Earlier today, I was going over some math that I thought I knew pretty well and I did really terrible on it - I thought I was going to throw up! Luckily, I didn't).

However, I did some research into the program I want to get into...there are a few Universities that you don't need to write the test for, and all the ones that you do, it's only the General GRE (not the Psychology one). So I'm pretty happy about that!

I also found rough scores needed for one of the schools I'd like to apply to. It looks like I should be okay for the verbal scores (well, I'll put a bit more practice, and definately learn as many words as I can between then and now!). Which leaves my math score. I need to boost it by a bit. But hopefully I can figure everything out by then (I'm going to ask my brother for some help, too!)

As for working out, it hasn't been as big a priority for me the last week and a half. I've been trying to do something every day, but studying has been more important. But to make up for it, I've been trying to bike to work or whatnot, so I'm working out as part of getting to wherever I need to go.

GRE General date set!

Alright, so I finally have a date that I'm writing the GRE general. It's going to be Friday, August 24th. So now that I have a date, I'm going to be studying hard core (I only have 2 1/2 weeks till I write!)

So far, I have read over the strategies for writing the verbal stuff. I have started making flash cards of words I need to learn (I have over 80 made to date). Right now I'm just looking at the high frequency words in my book. After I've started going over the master list, then I'll start adding words from there as well. I'm hoping to start brushing up on mathematical stuff either today or tomorrow at the latest.

Back from Camp!

I'm now back from 3 fun days at camp! On the first day that I got there, I didn't do a whole lot until after supper, when I went fishing. We had a lot of fun and ended up with our limits!

The second day, my mom and I biked to the lake we fished on. It took about an hour, and we went just about 13 km in total! We then walked down to a different lake for a swim. After supper, we went to a nearby Provincial Park for another swim. Right before bed, I did 5 minutes of yoga (from the Om Yoga book).

Today (our last day), my dad and I walked down for a swim; we brought our fishing rods and caught some bass (we were just catching and releasing). We then went for a swim. After supper, we packed up and came home.

I kept track of everything that I ate, so I entered it into the Self Diet Club. Well, I ate over their recommendations. On Saturday, I ate about 2844 calories, Sunday was 2453 calories, and Monday (today) was 2163 calories. I slowly got better, but I could sort of tell that I had eaten a bit more than normal (lol, I'm sure the Mike's Hards didn't help any!)

So all in all, I had a fun weekend. But tomorrow, it's back to normal - both eating and exercise!

Biked to Work!

Today I decided to bike to work. Normally this isn't a big deal, but today I worked at the farthest library from my house within the city. It took me about 40 minutes to get there (and I was going rather fast) due to the mostly uphill journey. It would have taken me 30 minutes to get home due to going mostly downhill, but I met my mom halfway and we took it rather easy coming home. All in all though, it was a great workout and a great day!

Camping!!!!

Yes, I am once again going camping! I will be leaving tomorrow morning sometime (in hopes of getting there in the early afternoon) and coming home sometime on Monday.

Self Diet Club

I signed up for the 30 day free trial of the Self Diet Club (it is free to subscribers) on Monday. So far, I've been quite proud of myself; I've managed to keep track of everything I've eaten from Tuesday till today (I didn't keep track of how much of everything I ate Monday night). Originally I was going to try their plan to lose 1 lb a week, but based on my profile, they recommended I eat WAY too many calories, so I dropped down to the 2 lb a week plan. Well, even that has been a bit too much for me - I've been struggling to eat as much as they recommend! Yesterday I forced myself to eat a bit extra, but today I didn't care (and fell short by about 350 calories). And they recommend that 30% of my diet is fat; I've fallen short on two of the three days so far.

All in all though, this has been quite an informative experience so far. I hope I can keep up with it for the whole month (hopefully this will go over better than the Self Jump Start Diet did back in February and March).

Denise Austin's Boot Camp

Alright, I just tried this dvd today. I bought it on Saturday, and figured I'd give it a shot.

The reason I decided to try this one was after talking to my cousin. She really likes Denise Austin's workouts. I have her dance one, which is awesome after you get used to her personality. (It's a bit hard to explain - she's really upbeat and enthusiastic.....but I guess sometimes it seems she's a little TOO enthusiastic).

So anyway, I decided to try the 20 minute strength workout. Well, this was my first time trying a boot camp workout and man, did I feel it! By the end of the workout, the sweat was pouring off of me!

And the 20 minutes was perfect! If it was longer, it would have been too much (well, I wouldn't have been able to see due to the sweat).

So anyway, the strength segment was pretty good. I'll have to try the cardio and flexibility segments sometime during the next week. :)

I'm Back

Alright, so I'm now back. The funeral was held in the chapel of the Home where my grandfather lived for the last year and a half. It was a very nice service. He was interred later that day.

So (of course) last week I didn't do a whole lot. The first couple of days after he passed away, I helped my mom get things ready for the funeral. The Dollar Store (my second job - the new job I mentioned in May but never said what it actually was) gave me the week off to be with my family. But by Wednesday, everything was ready so I kept my shifts with my other job (the Library).

I fit in a workout or two during the week, but I definately wasn't as active as I have been lately. And I don't think I ate as well as I have lately, either. It wasn't that I ate totally badly. I just ate a lot more (I think my whole family picked at the meat trays a lot!) But I tried to eat fruit as well.

So, long story short, I am trying to get back into my routine now. I went to a friend's house last night and ate rather badly (or too much, anyway). So today I was trying to get back on top of eating right. And I think I did alright! :)