Rediscovered DDR

I don't know how many times this happens: I play DDR, remember how much I love it, then stop playing for weeks/months only to start again and remember how much I love it! So for the last few days (I think 3 of the last 4) I've played somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours of DDR a day! (In the range of 7000-9000 steps). The difference this time is achievements.

Yes, I've been on a bit of an achievement kick. I have only about four songs left to unlock on DDR Universe 2. So I've been playing lots and lots of quest mode. I think that when I'm finished getting my achievements, I might go back to DDR Ultramix 3, as I haven't played it in a long while. But for now it's been Universe 2. I'm starting to like a lot of the songs (when I first played it, I only liked a couple).

Hopefully I can keep this up for awhile, getting back into an exercise habit!

What Motivates You?

How do you motivate yourself? This is a question I have struggled with many times over the last few years. When I am not motivated, exercise and healthy eating often fall to the wayside. But even when I have motivation, often it is not the most lasting. Why is that? Well, even though I may say I want to lose weight and get in shape to be healthier, often I am more concerned with looking good. This is great short term motivation (as in I want to look good for a current boyfriend/to impress someone, etc), but it doesn't have any lasting power.

So I think that the most important thing for me in the coming week or two is to get motivated. But whatever motivation I find, it needs to be healthy and have lasting power to motivate me.

In the meantime, what motivates you to stay active and healthy?

Looking Good

Well, I was working today and someone said to me that I look good - she was wondering what my secret is because it looks like I've lost weight! I know this isn't true, I haven't lost any weight lately, but I think I look good because I feel so much better than I did this summer! Exercising is feeling better, and I have been a bit more conscious of what I eat (although I have eaten a few too many cookies lately!) But that was a really encouraging comment, and I wanted to share! :)

End of the Sensor

Well, the sensor ended last night. I am just uploading all the data right now onto my computer. The sensor stayed in for the full three days without problem. I also didn't play DDR during the full three days as I find I move around and sweat a bit too much, which generally causes problems with the tape over top of the sensor. So today, after getting up, I played DDR for a good hour to make up for it! :)

I ran the sensor for help with my levels, and it turned out that everything seemed to be overall rather good for the three days with only minimal highs and lows. I'll probably leave wait a few days then run another one, just to see.

Sensor Success!!!!!

I'm really happy - the sensor's working!!!!! I successfully put it in, and everything's going fine! So in three days I'll get some great info to help out with my levels!!!!! :)

1st Sensor is in!

So my box of sensors came in today and I already have one of them on! I'm hoping everything works out with this one, but I won't know for another hour and a half when I have to put the first blood sugar in to calibrate it. Wish me luck! (I hate it when they don't work!)

Time for Another Sensor!

I've been having a ton of trouble lately, so I've decided to get a bit of help from some sensors. I've had a couple of days where I've been high for no reason and I want to get to the bottom of it! So I ordered a box of four, and they should be in either tomorrow or Wednesday!

DDR Universe 2

Today I played DDR for the first time in months! Instead of DDR Ultramix 3, I decided to play some Universe 2 on my 360 (it was mostly in an effort for the gamerpoints!) It felt great to be moving around again. And the best part was that it was MY choice! No one was pushing me to move around or anything!

I ended up playing for about an hour. I wasn't playing on the harder settings I usually play, but I was still having a lot of fun! I burned over 200 calories and took over 4000 steps, so that's pretty good for an hour's workout!

I honestly don't like DDR Universe 2 as much as Ultramix 3. Ultramix has a better selection of songs, plus the arrows are bigger and the background isn't as distracting. Universe 2 has a couple of really good songs ("Jungle Boogie," "Safety Dance," "Take Me Out" and "I Like the Way You Move" among others) but it doesn't have nearly as many (and fewer good ones!) But it's great to dance to some different songs every now and then!

Am I Able to Exercise on my Site?

I want to apologize. I had a comment on the post "Pilates! Class 1" several months ago and I just found it now. I answered it, but I thought that it would make for a good post as well.

Yes, I am able to do pilates moves while leaning on my site (this is also true of the odd yoga moves that I have done while leaning on my site). I generally have my site somewhere on my abdomen: either below my breast, or else on my side. I switch from the right side to the left side every few days when I change it. I have not tried putting the site on my hip or my arm or anywhere else yet, so I'm not sure how exercising would be if I did. But overall, I have had no problems exercising. I find I can lean on the site and it generally doesn't hurt, which is good because I generally sleep on my side as well (and if it does, then something is wrong with it!)

To date, there are only two problems I can think of that I've had while exercising with the pump. The first has been with the sensors. I find that if I'm exercising, the tape that I use to secure the sensor starts to lose its adhesiveness, and eventually the sensor will fall off. The second has been with the actual pump itself. If you are switching from an exercise on your left side to an exercise on your right, sometimes the pump unit gets in the way. (This is also true while sleeping some nights!) Depending on how long the tube is, this can be even more annoying. But that's really all this one is: an annoyance.

So I hope that helps. I think of the pump as a part of myself - it is always attached to me, so it should not get in the way of anything that I want to do in life!

How it's been going...

Yes, I know, it's been quite awhile since I've last posted on here. I had a bit of a tough summer - I was feeling really down throughout July, and it started to lift during August, but took quite awhile. I really didn't feel like moving around at all. And nothing felt good except reading. So reading was what I did. I think I managed to read about 15 books since July. But now school is here, and I can honestly say I am feeling better. In fact, I have started feeling like I need to move around a bit more (maybe dance or whatever) so that in itself is a huge improvement!

I am not going to puch anything; no goals or anything for right now. I am just going to dance a bit for fun, and hopefully in a week or so I will attempt to commit to something more regular. No promises or anything, but wish me luck! :)

Measurements

I did my measurements yesterday, then weighed myself this morning. I have gained an inch around my waist, a few around my hips, and have gained a few pounds. It's really no wonder that I have felt bloated and unattractive, having gained in the last while. Hopefully this will be extra motivation to be active!

Self Workout Buddy

I have decided to look for a workout buddy using the Self forum. I don't know how well this will work as I do not know how many people from my town look on the Self forums. But I figure I will give it a shot! Now I just have to remember to check back in a day or two...

More DVD's

Well, I bought a few more dvd's today and I am thinking about going back for a few more....but I think the more important thing is that I make a renewed commitment to getting back into shape. I feel awful, and I know I have gained an inch or two here and there. So I need to do something and I need to do it now. So for the next week and a half, I am going to make one small commitment with myself: 10 minutes of exercise everyday. If I do more, then great. Otherwise, just 10 minutes! I have tons of dvds with 10 minute segments so I just have to choose one!

The Writing Life

I found this book at the library the other day and I decided to take it out, thinking it was a book designed to help you with writing. It turns out, the book's premise really is that you can use writing to help you lose weight. I'm not sure that I buy into it, but I do like the idea of the "morning pages" (aka freewriting). The book recommends that you write three pages in the morning based on your thoughts, no matter how stupid or whatever. It says that these pages can actually help you cut through the crap and change your life based on what you really want, deep down. So of course I thought that was a great idea, as lately I have felt terrible inside. I feel like something is missing, like I'm not doing something I should be. So I thought, why don't I freewrite a bit every day? Even if it isn't in the morning....

So I am going to try that, for a little while, to see how it goes. If I like what is happening in my life, then maybe I can try some of the other tips, too.

Slightly Late Weekly Update

I know, I was supposed to post yesterday but I forgot to weigh myself. So I decided to wait until today. Well, since starting the GI diet a week ago (even if I haven't stuck to it perfectly) I have lost 2lbs!

Well, the GI Diet, in general has seemed rather boring. I find myself looking for something to eat around 10 or 11pm (I don't usually get up until 1pm or later, and I'm up late, so to balance things out I have to eat a larger snack at that time). I'm not entirely sure what I can do about this (especially since I do not want to eat ALL the fruit out of my house, even though I can!)

Exercise has been strange lately...I played some DDR last week, went on a few long walks, and did some biking....but lately I just haven't felt like biking. I don't know why, but it hasn't really done anything to make me feel happy. The more I think about it, I haven't wanted to bike since my bro said we would go and trail ride back in June....then turned around at the last minute saying he didn't want to. (I was so mad that night - he wanted to go for a hike instead, but by the time we waited for his girlfriend and left, it was too late so we couldn't really go on the trail).

Weekly Update

Well, I've been sort of slacking on my weekly updates lately....I've been slacking on exercising and eating healthy as well. Especially the eating healthy part. Exercising hasn't been too bad; I haven't really done any dvds, but then again I haven't wanted to. It's summer, and I want to be outside.


I think my biggest problem with exercising is that I am afraid to. Back in February, I attempted a few more intense activities (snowboarding and skate skiing) and had a lot of problems with my glucose level. Well, the problem has continued somewhat....back about a month ago now, I went biking and ended up having to drink two full cans of regular pop to get me through the ride. These haven't stopped me from going out, but I have been more hesitant to go.


But as well, I haven't been feeling that great lately. Part of it is that I haven't been as active as I have been in the past (ever since about February I haven't been very active at all because school got in the way) and I know that exercise does make you feel better. But I have been rather discontent with my life in general lately. That started back around December, but disappeared when I was busy with school. Lately, these feelings have resurfaced.

I feel as though there is something I should be doing that I am not. But I'm really not sure what it is. I was talking to a friend about it, and he thinks that I may be feeling like this because I don't really have a whole lot to do right now. (Of course, that makes me think I really should be exercising as I don't appear to be doing anything else....but where the heck is all my time going?)

As to the food delimma, my family and I are going to be eating the GI way as of tomorrow supper (I have some leftovers from supper today that I will be eating for lunch first. They're not terribly healthy). The GI diet worked before for us....we were using it not as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. But then Christmas happened, and we never got back to it. That was two Decembers ago. I am hoping that this time it will stick!

So for the next week, I am hoping to get a bit more active than I have been lately. Today I mowed the lawn, then walked for about an hour and a half, so I think that's a good start. Wish me luck!

Dance Off the Inches: Fat Burning Belly Dance

A few weeks ago I was wandering around Walmart and I found this dvd. A few friends and I were talking about trying a belly dancing class, so I decided to pick this dvd up and give it a try. I've been rather busy lately and haven't really done any exercise dvd's of late for one reason or another, but today I finally decided to try this one. I got through the warm-up, but then I decided I needed to do the step-guide because I was having trouble with the first dance. Wow! By the end of the step guide, I was really sweating! I ended up having to stop because my glucose level was getting a bit too low for my liking.

I'm really looking forward to trying the actual dances (hopefully with my friends!) I really liked the instructor, Kili Marti; she really knew her stuff. She broke down the steps so that I was able to follow her really easily (although I had a bit of problems when I brought my arms into the mix!). I had a fun half-hour, and I'm looking forward to using this dvd again!

I'm Back!

I'm back from my trip! I had a ton of fun!!! I also spent a LOT of money!!!!

Overall, I was also rather active. All the hotels I stayed at were right by the malls I went to, so I did a lot of walking. Then, for the last night, we stayed in Canal Park, so I did even MORE walking! (And I took lots of pictures!) I even ate not too badly (but I did drink way too much!) I had some really great salads, and even tried pickerel (walleye) tacos!!!!

So now I'm back home, and it's time to eat more normally! (But I'll have to try making some of those salads myself!!!)

Minneapolis!

Well, early tomorrow morning I am off to Minneapolis for a few days. I should be back sometime on Tuesday. This of course means I will be missing my update for the week, which in my opinion is alright. This week has been horrible! I ate out all week! I tried to do okay, but I guess I didn't try hard enough...plus, things won't be any better if I will be out of town all weekend....

But (and I may have mentioned this in my last post), when I get home I will be going back to eating the GI way. Hopefully that will help get me back on track! Then I'll just have to work on exercising a bit....

Week 8 Update

Okay, this past week I didn't really do anything. I played a bit of DDR, and walked to work one day, but the weather has been so crummy that I haven't felt like doing anything. I have also eaten atrociously....as I have once again been celebrating.

It was my birthday on Friday, so I had a sushi making party. The sushi was fine...but there was A LOT of candy for candy sushi.....

Then Sunday was Father's Day (Happy Belated Father's Day to all the fathers out there!) So we had a bbq, and ate sausage....and drank....then ate chips while playing rumoli....

So last week was bad. And this coming weekend won't be much better - I'm travelling to Minneapolis, and will probably eat atrociously again. Plus I'm going out like every night this week...

But I did have some good news this week: my brother was doing a sun awareness clinic care of the Superstore's Pharmacy. There, they took a picture of your face, then were able to show how much sun damage you have. It turns out I have very little on my face! (Just a bit on my nose, which is apparently very common).

But when I get home from my trip, I am planning on eating the GI way once again. So hopefully that will help me discipline myself a bit better! I just have to work on getting back into exercising, so that's the goal for this week!

No More Excuses!

I got a great suggestion from a newsletter I subscribe to (the Buzz from Bikini Bootcamp): "Monday Mantra: No More Excuses
Let's face it — adopting a healthy lifestyle can be challenging at times (like when the person in the cube next to you is scarfing down French fries), and making excuses as to why you should eat that last slice of sausage pizza is easy to do: "it's the last slice and I didn't want it to go to waste," or "I was in a rush, and besides, it was a small slice."
You catch our drift.
However, excuses can sabotage your progress. Instead of making up another excuse for that candy bar, grab your journal and write down all of the excuses you make in order to eat something you shouldn't. Keep your journal handy because you'll likely come up with new ones over the course of your plan. After you've written down your excuses, alongside each one, list a way to combat the excuse. For instance, if your excuse for your morning McDonald's run is that you don't have time to prepare a healthy breakfast, then next to that excuse, write, "Get up 30 minutes earlier" or "Prepare a bowl of fruit the night before."
Sure, you might still make excuses every now and then, but when you look back at your journal, you'll see how easily you can overcome those excuses and come up with solutions that will get you back on track to a healthier you!"
(for the Bikini Bootcamp website, go to http://www.amansala.com/index.html)

So I was thinking that instead of using a journal, I could write them down in this blog. I might use it as a weekly feature, sort of like my Monday Weekly Updates - I'll decide that later. But stay tuned!

Week 7 Update

Well, the good news is that I have been pretty active this last week. On Monday was the last pilates class. Tuesday was gardening, then a big long bike ride to RONS Virtual World and back - easily an hour and a half to two hour bike ride. (That one caused some problems with my glucose level - I wasn't expecting to go bike riding, so I did too much insulin at suppertime. I ended up having to drink two full cans of regular pop, and stop for something to eat along the way. But I made it!) Wednesday was 15 minutes of yoga. I didn't really do anything Thursday or Friday, but then on Saturday I biked to Chapters and back (about an hour bike ride). Then yesterday I walked around Kakabeka Falls a bit. So I wasn't active every day, but I did get a little something in most days.

The bad news is that I'm still not quite eating properly. I did a lot better (I had a movie night and ate mainly cherries and snap peas) but still not great (Boston Pizza yesterday - I got a medium pizza and have been living off of pizza ever since). I think my main problem is portions (like at Boston Pizza I ate far too much pizza, even though I had over half of it wrapped up to come home).

But still, it's a start. My weight has dropped by a pound, so that's a good thing. So now, for this coming week, I think my main goal is to be at least a bit active every day. I'll deal with eating habits once I'm more active. (But of course I'll still try to be more healthy - luckily I love my cherries!)

Bike Ride = Happy

This evening started out kind of sad....everyone was busy, and my friend that I normally hang out with is out of town forever....I think it was really depressing because today was the first day that I really felt it (a kind of do-nothing night that is perfect for video games). So I was extremely proud of myself that I managed to kind of shake off my depression and go for a bike ride! I think I biked for a total of about 1 hour, with a stop at Chapters just for somewhere to go to. By the time I was biking home, I felt a lot happier. I even stopped at the store to buy some more yogurt-covered raisins (I randomly decided to start buying them last week and I'm glad I did! They're yummy, and definitely better for you than some other snack foods! Nutritional information can be found at: http://www.calorieking.com/foods/calories-in-candy-yogurt-coated-raisins-vanilla-sun-maid_f-Y2lkPTMwMTQ2JmJpZD0xJmZpZD02ODE0MyZwYXI9.html)

Gardening!

Ok, I have a little garden in the back yard. We have a two-tiered garden, and I get the bottom tier, and my father gets the top. He promised to clean his garden up a bit this year (he's been growing wildflowers, but they've really gotten out of control!) and I am hoping to have a bit more time to care for my garden.

So I was thinking that I can post pictures of the garden as I go. Today I spent 40 minutes cleaning my tier up - I have decided to start pretty much from scratch, only leaving my button flowers (I think that's what they're called) and my tiger lilies. I'm going to take pictures of the garden so I'll know what I planted for next year (I'm pretty sure I got rid of some pansies in my weeding frenzy, but I wasn't sure if they were pansies or daisies. I wanted to get rid of the daisies because they grow too tall for my garden). I'll post pictures here of what it looks like!

On a side note, as I said, I gardened for 40 minutes. My blood sugar was about 5.4 before I ate lunch, then I went outside and started weeding. Well, I finished and came in and I was 3.9! So I am reasonably sure this was exercise of some sort! Next time I'll have to do less insulin before going out!

Pilates is FINISHED!!!!!

Yes, Pilates is finally over!!!!!!!!! I am incredibly happy! It has been a major struggle to go these last few weeks - the weather is improving, and I am sick of the instructor! Thankfully, I don't have to worry anymore because I'm done!!!!!!

I have 3 major complaints with the instructor:

1. She didn't really show us any of the moves until the last couple of weeks. That doesn't really help the beginners of the class (aka us) who have no idea what we're doing.

2. It was often hard to understand what the heck she was talking about. This wasn't helped by the fact that she rarely demonstrated the moves for us.

3. She was lazy. There were at least 3 times when the hall the class was in was dirty and had chairs and tables in the way. She only helped clean up the first time. After that, it was the class' warmup. The second time she swept a bit after the cleaning was done, and only because people were complaining. The final time (today) she actually referred to it as our warmup, then disappeared until everything was taken care of! WTF? We were paying her to make sure the hall was ready for the class! Shouldn't she have gotten there 5 minutes before we did to make sure the hall was ready for pilates?

Needless to say, I will definietely not be taking another class with her again!

So to celebrate, the four of us had a drink on our deck. I know, not great for my attempt to buckle down with my eating habits. But at least we actually went to the class before busting out the booze!!!!

Week 6 Update

Ok, I am getting extremely mad at Blogger - I have just lost two drafts of this post in the last 5 minutes! Grrrr!!!!!!!!!

So anyway, I am at about the half way point, and I will definitely be abandoning my arbitrary date of June 30th. I weighed myself this morning and I am up to 192lbs thanks to my month of celebrating. I started off celebrating my thesis being finished, and ended May celebrating my graduation! So I REALLY need to buckle down and stop celebrating! (On a side note, even my Hemoglobin A1C rose a fair bit thanks to my month of celebrations).

This past week wasn't a total loss though - I was a bit more active than I have been of late. My knee is also feeling a bit better, so that has helped. Monday was pilates, then on both Tuesday and Thursday, I was called into work so I biked (it was a library that is rather close to my house.). Wednesday was a 45ish minute walk, and Saturday was some DDR. Sure, the bike rides weren't terribly far, but they were at least something! So I need to continue with this trend and work out a bit more (I'm hoping to do at least a little something everyday - but it's been tough as I have days where I just feel exhausted); it appears to be just my eating habits that need major revising!

So as to my exercise goal, I am abandoning June 30th as the date. I am just going to have to work on things until I eventually get down to a more healthy weight (I am still thinking 160-165 lbs, even though the Self happy weight calculator says I should go down to about 152-153lbs); I am hoping that by the end of summer I will be at a better weight. Then I will just have to worry about maintaining my healthy weight come the new school year; hopefully by next summer I'll be able to buy myself a sexy new swim suit (like a bikini for the first time ever!!!)

For the Self Healthy Weight Calculator, go to http://www.self.com/fitness/nutrition/calculators/happyWeight

Weeks 4 and 5 Update

Ok, since I didn't post last week, I'm doing a combined post right now. I haven't weighed myself, but I doubt I've lost any weight. During the last few days I've started eating a bit better....but I have also had some meals of pure crap (like last night I ate Chinese with a friend). I also haven't really been exercising lately, partly because of my right knee; I'm not sure what I did to it, but it's been rather sore lately. It got really bad over the weekend, then it was feeling better until pilates (yes, pilates is still going - one more week left!) After getting home from pilates, I iced it, which helped it feel a bit better for awhile. Tomorrow afternoon I'm not planning on doing much so hopefully it will feel better.

I've also felt like crap lately, which is due to all kinds of things. I think I've been fending off a cold (somehow I've been sort of successful). But the weather has also been very dreary, so that has definitely not helped at all (I totally don't feel like biking most days! It's very sad!)

So I guess my major goal for the next week is to eat better (well, except Saturday night most likely - I'm graduating, and so partying as well!) and to try to get a bit of exercise without hurting my knee anymore. Biking seemed to be ok, so maybe I'll have to jump on the exercise bike a bit. If my knee continues to bother me, I'll probably have to go and talk to a doctor about it, but hopefully taking it easy and icing it will help!

Week 3 Update

Alright, so things aren't going so well. From Toronto and hanging out with my friends, I actually gained a few pounds this week. Exercise-wise, I wasn't too bad; I didn't do much at the beginning of the week, but I really improved by the end of the week, going for a long hike at the Cascades with a friend, as well as a few bike rides. It was my eating habits that majorly needed improvement. I ate way too much when out with friends. So for this week, I am going to try to work out a bit every day (even for like 20 minutes a day), and pay better attention to what I am eating (get back to using the Self Diet Club).

Week Two (Late) Update

Ok, this is rather late. I was in Toronto all weekend, and I've been rather busy since I got back and forgot to post. I ate rather crappily in Toronto (it wasn't the absolute worst, but I ate at a few all you can eat sushi or Korean bbq places), but I managed to get some exercise (from walking) the two days I was in Toronto. Before that I was travelling to St. Catherines and back, and I really had no time for walking anywhere.

So this week, I have been trying to get back on track (again!) I will give the week 3 update on Monday!

Week One Update

Ok, so I started out with lots of enthusiasm at the beginning of the week, but by the middle of the week I totally lost momentum. I did pilates last Monday, then walked for about 45 minutes both Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, I haven't really done anything active; the weather was crappy, and I totally didn't have time.

I attempted to use the SELF Diet Club, but I was also unsuccessful with that. Part of the problem was that I was celebrating school (and my thesis!) being finished. I also ate out with my dad one night at a Chinese buffet (I had no real way of keeping track of things, and no hope of being able to enter it into the Diet Club), Saturday night was a celebratory dinner with my parents (plus celebrating my Dad's birthday) and then last night was supper at my Grandmother's. So not much luck with watching what I eat. Hopefully I'll do a bit better this week.

However, I weighed myself this morning, and I'm down to 186lbs! So I think I am down 1lb.

The New Exercise Goal

Okay, so my exams are almost over - I have one more tomorrow and that's it - and my thesis is almost done. So now that the majority of stress from school is out of the way, I figured it was high time to get back to worrying about my health. So first thing today, I weighed myself; I am about 186lbs/187lbs (our scale isn't super accurate). As it is right before my period, I would estimate my actual weight to be 184lbs/185lbs.

My goal was to get down to 160lbs for June 1st, 160lbs being right in my ideal weight range (according to the BMI for my body). As it is the end of April, I have just 6 weeks until the beginning of June; if I lost 2lbs a week (which is safe to do), that would only be about 12lbs, bringing me down to about 172lbs/173lbs. So instead, I propose a new goal, which is more realistic than the other one at this time: go until the beginning of July. That gives me an extra 4 weeks (for a total of 10 weeks - bringing us to June 30th), bringing the total weight loss from a possible 12lbs to a possible 20lbs. That means I can possibly be 164lbs, which is quite acceptable for my BMI (I originally chose 160lbs because that is in the mid-range, and that is about what Tyra Banks weighs - she is about my height and has my shape so I thought that weight must therefore be attainable for me. But somewhere between 160lbs and 165lbs is quite fine with me!)

So, to obtain this new goal, I will be modifying my eating habits. I will be working out everyday (but if I miss one day a week, that is fine). I know this may be a bit tough for the next little while - there are a few celebrations I will have to plan for, but I know this won't be impossible! I will be trying to get back into the SELF Diet Club to help me be mindful of what I'm eating. And I will be reporting back on this blog with a weekly update and weigh in to see how things are going!

Exam Time!

Well, my first exam is this Friday. But I also had a big project that was due this past Monday, and I got another draft of my thesis done...so needless to say, I haven't really been working out at all. But I did go to Pilates this past Monday. Other than that though, I've been trying to catch up on sleep - due to me worrying, 6am has become the norm....

Pilates Round 2!

Well, a few weeks ago we finished our pilates class....and decided to take a second session with the same instructor! This time around, we got another friend to join as well, so now there's my mom, myself, and two of our friends. It should be a lot of fun!

Crunch Fat Burning Dance Party

Well, this is one of the dvd's I bought yesterday. On it, there are 6 different dances (2 salsa, 2 hip hop and 2 retro groove) as well as the warm up and cool down. I didn't do the whole thing because I didn't have time (the total video is about 45 minutes long). So I just did the warm up, both salsa dances, then the cool down. The salsa dances were a lot of fun! They went by really quickly, and they were really energetic. The choreography was also rather different - I've never done a "v-step" before!

I'm not sure if I'll be doing this very often as I'm more of a fan of the 10 Minute Solution dvd's where you can do as many 10 minute segments as you want. Also, due to time issues lately (ie school), 45 minutes is too long. But I do really like Jennifer Galardi, and this dvd was no exception. I'll give another update when I try some of the other dance routines on here one day! :)

This Weekend....

This weekend is going to be crazy! I ran into my thesis advisor last night, and she has asked me to hand something in between Wednesday and Friday of next week (as in my first draft of my actual thesis write up!) So I'm going to have to put in long hours to get something done. But on top of that, I have a big project coming due a week Monday, so I'll have to get some work done on that as welll!! Added that I work Saturday afternoon, I'm going to have extremely little time for anything this weekend. But hopefully I'll be able to fit a few minutes of exercising in here and there!

Exercise DVD Extravaganza!!!!!

I'm super excited! I just went to Walmart, and they had the last few 10 Minute Solution DVD's that I wanted....and they were only $10 a piece!!!!! So I got them (Pilates and Slim and Sculpt Pilates) plus Crunch's Fat Burning Dance Party (which was also on for $10 - I've been eyeing that one up at HMV but it's $21.99 there!).

So hopefully I'm now set for awhile....

Update on the Last Few Weeks

Well, here's what's been happening since my last post:

-It's a bit warmer out, so I've gone out for a few walks.
-I've tried out a few more videos
-I've been upset over my thesis and haven't really been working on it
-I've also been feeling incredibly tired and drained lately (even my 20 minute workout I did hasn't helped much).

So I've started working out a but more, but it hasn't been an everyday thing yet. I've also been tired and stressed, and not working on things definitely hasn't been helping! But at least I have started moving around more again!

Maybe I should take Warner's advice from his blog: http://buildafort.blogspot.com/
:)

Papers Papers Papers!

Well, I have to level with everyone....I haven't really worked out at all lately. I just finished writing three papers that were all due within two days (one Wednesday, two Thursday). I was so worried about them, that every waking moment was spent thinking about them in some fashion....it was so bad I was having trouble sleeping! (I missed class on Tuesday morning - I couldn't fall asleep until around 6:30am, and woke up 12:44pm....I had an alarm set for 8am but I do not remember it going off!) So I was either working on my papers, in school, or trying to catch up on sleep. So even though I could have fit in 10 minutes of working out here and there, I really didn't feel like it.

This was kind of stupid of me, not to work out at all, as I know I feel worse for it. A few nights ago, I just felt like I needed to MOVE! But I didn't want to waste precious time that could have been spent on the papers (even though near the end I often did waste the time anyway)

But the papers are all handed in! I have a bit of a break now, and so hopefully I can catch up on some sleep and get back into the workout groove.

1st Time Snowboarding!

Well, earlier this evening I went snowboarding for the first time ever! Back in highschool I always said that I wanted to try it, and now I finally did!

I was a bit worried that I'd break something, but luckily nothing really bad happened. The worst was getting off the chair lift - I sort of fell off it and hurt my wrists a bit. But I'm typing, so hopefully no harm done! :)

At first we just walked up the hill about half way so I could try it. Well, my bro's girlfriend (who was the one I went with) instructed me on how to get going. I got the board on, then flipped onto my knees (lol, which are still a bit sore from the skate skiing adventure!) but then I had trouble getting up! Eventually I did, and I went a little ways before falling on my butt. So now I couldn't flip onto my knees!

Again, I eventually managed to flip onto my knees, but then I really couldn't get up! I shimmied over to a nearby chair lift pole to help pull myself up. I then went for a bit longer before falling again. That was when we decided to attempt the whole hill.

Sadly, that never happened. Halfway up the chair lift, I felt shaky. When we got to the top, I did glucose and discovered that I was extremely low! I ate a ton of candies, stopped my pump, and waited a bit, but my glucose didn't improve! I ate some more, then sent my bro's girlfriend to get me some more food. Eventually my glucose started going up, but at that point I decided it was safer to walk down the hill. Whoever thought snowboarding would be so energy consuming?

I'm thinking that something more is wrong here. I'm going to have to go and talk to my diabetes educators to see what I can do about these super lows.

The one thing I didn't like were the boots. They're so stiff, walking down the hill was kind of uncomfortable. (lol, yeah, I know - you're not supposed to be walking long distances in them)

All in all, even though it was cut short, I had a fun time. I'm not sure if I really liked it, but I figure I'll try it at least once more to give it a fair try. Hopefully next time I won't go low!

Skate Skiing!

This past Friday (the 22nd) I went Skate Skiing for the first time! My bro was in for study week, and he's the only person that I know of who skate ski's, so he took his girlfriend, our mom and myself out to try it. It was a lot of fun!

We went out to Kamview (http://www.nordictrails-tb.on.ca/) because on Friday nights they have skiing and rentals for $10! It was an awesome deal, especially because my bro was the only one who owns skate skis. (My mom and I both have traditional cross country skis).

Well, skate skiing is far more intense than traditional! We practiced a little bit by the chalet, then we went from the chalet to the beginning of the Northern Lights trail, (http://www.nordictrails-tb.on.ca/images/maps/kvmap.pdf for map) which is only a bit further than 1km. Well, I decided to stop and do glucose and I was extremely low! (It was really crazy because my glucose had been rather high before we went). So my brother went back to the chalet to buy me more food.

We were debating on whether to continue onto the Northern Lights or not, but my glucometer was too cold. So my mom and I headed back while my bro and his girlfriend kept going. I still felt low after going just a little ways, so eventually my mom and I decided it might be best if I walk back - walking took way less energy than skating. (I felt bad because walking sort of ruined part of the trail, but I kept to the right, off of the traditional trail and right on the side of the skate skiing part. My mom told me not to worry about it - I had to do what I had to do to get back safely).

So I want to go and try it again, but I'm not entirely sure what I'll have to do to get a bit further safely.

Workouts May Help Clear Up Acne?

Alright, I just found this article from msn that says working out may help to clear up acne! I thought this was really great news, as my skin is quite acne prone. I've also noticed that in the last few months, I've had worse breakouts. Conveniently, I also haven't been as active these last few months! So maybe this is true. I'll have to keep an eye on things, and see if my skin clears up in the coming months!

To read the article, go here: http://healthandfitness.sympatico.msn.ca/The+breakout+workout/NewInHealth/Acne/els_Acne_Sweat.htm?isfa=1http://healthandfitness.sympatico.msn.ca/The+breakout+workout/NewInHealth/Acne/els_Acne_Sweat.htm?isfa=1

An Update, or What's Been Happening these last few weeks....

Well, I've had an eventful few weeks.

I broke up with my boyfriend last Monday....which has sort of seriously derailed my plans. First of all, I was extremely upset, so I missed my Pilates class (I went to a friend's place instead - I was definitely not in the mood to face a class full of people). It took a few days until I felt ok....I still feel sad, but I figure that will eventually pass.

I did go to this last week's pilates class (Class 4), and I'm starting to feel the exercises a bit better. I'm thinking that maybe I'm doing them properly now or something...my mom felt the same way.

Other than that though, I haven't really done much of anything these last few weeks (since the breakup). Well, I've gone out with friends, and just generally tried to stay busy. But I haven't played DDR or done any exercise videos. Part of that has been due to school, and part of that to me being busy....but I also genuinely didn't feel like working out (even though I know working out usually makes me feel happier).

But it's into February, and I'm still gunning for my goal to be 160lbs by June 1st of this year....that means I have 16 weeks (126 days) left as of today. So I'm thinking that I will be getting back into it as of today (well, tomorrow by my schedule - it's 2:00 in the morning, and I count it as the 10th as of waking up!)

I feel like I haven't been eating very well, so along with exercising, I am going to start using the Self Diet Club again. I figure that at the very least, that should help me be more mindful of what I'm eating. I'll have to tell everyone at my house this tomorrow, so maybe I can get them in on it - and we can all work towards a healthier lifestyle together!

Pilates! Class 2

Alright, so today was my second Pilates class. This one went a lot better than last week. I think we are starting to get the exercises now. Either that, or we don't really care if we're doing everything right, so long as we're trying. But it was fun! :)

Pilates! Class 1

Alright, so my first class is over! It was supposed to be a beginner's class, but seemed to be more of an all levels class. There were tons of people there, of all ages, but most of them had already taken a pilates class with the instructor. So the instructor didn't really explain things for the few of us who have never tried Pilates before. In fact, the instructor didn't even show us what was going on - she used some other lady instead who knew what was going on.

Needless to say, the class was....interesting. Of course, it's hard to judge the class off of the first day, so tune in next week to see what my further comments will be! I may also give a pilates dvd I picked up over the holidays a try - if I do, I'll be sure to post about it here!

Pilates!

Tonight, I'm starting a pilates class! I'm excited - I've never tried pilates before. I'll post again later to let everyone know how the class was!

I'm Ba-ack!

Well, the holiday season is officially over! Today was Ukrainian Christmas Eve, so we had a supper at my grandmother's house at which I totally overate! Couple that with the last few days (which I'm pretty sure I overate during all of them) and it's definitely time to get back on track!

However, all has not been a total loss this holiday season. I have only gained a few pounds, nothing major, so my exercise goal isn't totally derailed. I have also picked up a few new exercise dvd's which I am excited to try. I picked up a pair of skates and have gone out once on them (so stay tuned for new skating adventures). And I am the proud owner of the new DDR. So hopefully the winter of 2008 will be a fun experience in getting in shape!

And remember, the exercise goal still stands: 160lbs by June 1st!

Happy Belated Holidays, and Happy 2008 to everyone!