I have a plan!

Being back at work this week, I'm making an effort to get back into a set routine, instead of getting up whenever and training whenever and doing whatever grabs me at the time.

I always seem to get more done when I'm working - must be the sense of urgency you get from having less available time...?

Anyway, I have a training plan drawn up for the week, so my workouts are all mapped out. I've been right on top of nutrition and have enough supplies pre-prepared that making lunch and snacks for work isn't a drama - always a good thing when you have to be out the door early.

My injuries are annoying, but not a major problem, the hot flushes disappeared and haven't been seen for a few weeks, and there's not an anxious thought in sight. Dare I say I feel pretty normal?

This morning I have a late start, since I have to go via the local post office to track down a missing parcel of much-needed supplements. Seems I changed the invoice address on my order, but forgot to change the delivery address. Oops. Perhaps brain function isn't quite as normal as I thought....

Keeping pigs would be less challenging

This is the usual state of Number One Son's room:



Why do we have furniture in front of the window? You tell me...

And around the corner:



Yes, that IS a clothes hamper right there. Apparently his aim is a little off.

Recipe Alert!

Finally! I've crossed something off my to-do-list and blogged a recipe. I give you....

salad or souvlaki, take your pick!

Seven things

Liz tagged me way back on New Year's Eve and I've finally gotten around to listing seven things you don't know about me. I've tried to think of unknown facts, but if I'm repeating myself here....oh well.

1. Sorting and folding socks is the bane of my life. Blah.

2. I would really love to join the local fire brigade and might actually do it this year.

3. I haven't worn a watch for years. That's a really weird thing for a control freak who has a phobia about being late, but it's true.

4. I forgot I had my appendix out. Seriously. That's not quite as ditzy as it sounds... Back in 2002 I had an ovarian cyst removed, along with the affected ovary. While my doc had me at his mercy, he took the opportunity to whip out a biggish fibroid and my appendix. Then he informed me of this extra-bonus service when I'd just woken up from the anaesthetic. And I promptly forgot all about it until last year when I was trying to pin down the source of some mystery pain.

5. I never had a fringe for the first 21 years of my life. At that point I finally had my hair cut in a shorter style with fringe, and I've never been without one since.

6. I love junk mail. And the local paper, especially the real estate section. I'm really peeved that after living here for over two years, we still don't get the local paper delivered OR any of the "good" junk mail. Supermarket specials aren't quite my style. One of the girls at work saves hers and brings it in for me. Sad, huh?

7. Although I'm often surrounded by mess, I actually have a neat streak and get a kick out of tidying and organising cupboards, shelves etc. I love storage specialist shops and can't resist all the baskets, drawer dividers and other goodies that they sell.

Phew. Those last couple were a struggle.

About those goals...

With less than a week to go now, how am I doing with my small list of stuff to do before my holiday is over?

So far, I haven't finished any of them. But I have worked through over 200 blog posts (and only deleted a few without reading). I've saved some of my favourites for last though, and they're on the agenda for tomorrow.

As for New Year goals, I'm not doing those. As I said to Debstar, setting something up as a goal seems to be the kiss of death for me lately. So I'm just not going to. I am glad to see the start of 2010 though - or more to the point, the back of 2009.

I do love the promise of a fresh new year, the whole clean slate feeling. Wish I could bottle it.

Publishing wasteland

I was browsing through the women's fitness magazine offerings at the newsagent the other day and am totally over:

- Fluffy content, like makeup, horoscopes and relationship advice. HELLO?? Doesn't the general women's magazine market cover this adequately?

- Wussy beginner workout advice. Yes, beginners need help, but how about some ideas to hold their interest once they've grasped the basics?

- DIETS. Lose a dress size in two weeks or Look great in a swimsuit next weekend.

- Skinny models with not a muscle in sight.

- Any mention of "toning".

- Bodybuilding mags full of typos, grammatical and spelling mistakes. And suggestively-captioned "candid" photos. Geez, let's promote the stereotype that bodybuilders are stoopid....

I tried the men's mags, but I'm sick of the token women (somewhere up the back), who may be fit and athletic, but who are apparently only printable if dressed and posed like porn stars.

There are some sports-specific mags that are OK, but when you're a bit-of-everything kind of girl, those don't quite cut it either. I don't want to just read about running or cycling.

No wonder I've been sticking to landscaping mags. Or the IKEA catalogue....

Spot the difference

Bike Boy often conducts scientific experiments. This involves pouring a commercial beer into a glass (in this case, Kilkenny) and then pouring a glass of his home-brewed copycat version. Then he holds them both up to the light, squints at them, sniffs each one, and finally sips from both glasses.

His verdict on this occasion: "Mine's better".

I just think he's happy with a beer in each hand.

Slowly does it

I feel a bit like I'm eating elephants again at the moment. Damn injuries! They're making stuff that's always been no big deal suddenly incredibly complicated.

Today's workout was more than a bit frustrating. Once again, I went light on the weights (yeah,just wait till next week!), and attempted this:

Bent over barbell row. 2 sets with pronated grip, 1 set with supinated grip. That last set pinched a bit in my left forearm, but I got through it.
Bench press. 1 set wide grip, 1 set medium, 1 set narrow. No real dramas with this one.
Inverted rows. I stuck with overhand grip and while it was hard, that was more due to lifting some extra weight *ahem* than to any pain.
Barbell overhead press. I expected problems with this one, but it was surprsingly OK. I was concerned about my lower back, which tends to object to any overhead stuff while standing. So I did it seated with the bench backrest adjusted for support.
Single arm barbell biceps curl. Right arm - yeah, baby! I've never tried these before, they're fun... Left arm - the first rep resulted in my yelling OUCH! very loudly and dropping the bar. *pouts*
Dips. The last four or five times I've tried these, my left triceps have gone into painful spasms. So I chickened out and did French presses instead.

Well, the best I can say is that I got through it. I'd love to be smashing my workouts again, but I suppose I'm just going to have to exercise some patience. Because I'm so good at that. *snort*

One positive thing is that the work my physio's been doing is finally starting to pay off. I can now get some movement in my lower traps without my shoulders immediately heading skywards. The range of motion is still pretty small, but I'll take any improvement, thanks.

I really feel the difference when I do any kind of rowing movement. Maybe there's hope for building some size in my back after all?

One workout down, the rest of my life to go

The training spark has been lit!

I really hate writing my own programs. No idea why; I just have this mental block when it comes down to it. I can easily and happily write program after program for clients, but if it's for me.... blah! So I've been dicking around for weeks, dithering over what to do, and consequently doing nothing much at all.

And then Liz planted a seed the other day when she mentioned she was selling her copy of Berardi's The Metabolism Advantage. It took root in the back of my mind, although I didn't realise it until last night when I was emailing a client some recommended reading.

I turned to my bookshelves to see what else I could think of, and my eyes fell on the orange cover. Hmm. I picked it up and took it with me on my way to bed, flicked through to the training program section and... BINGO! Exactly what I want.

So this morning - in spite of not getting to sleep until around 1:00am - I was up at 7:30 and started on Day 1: legs. My favourite! I kept the weights light so as not to cripple myself with DOMS tomorrow, and only had an issue with the overhead barbell squats. My lower back decided that was a big no-no. So I switched them for prisoner squats. Close enough.

I did notice that my left arm wasn't keen on the mixed grip I was using for deadlifts. The supinated grip seems to be a problem - I'll have to keep an eye on that.

Now for a walk and some stretching....

For my first trick....

Well. Here I am, on holidays, with lots of time for blogging at my disposal and.... there's not much happening. I don't seem to have the inclination. Or anything to say.

So I'll revert to type and start with a list.

I have two weeks left of my holidays, and in that time I plan to achieve the following:

1. Finish an art project I started on Saturday. It's a couple of small fashion-inspired pieces I'm working on to frame and hang on the wall of my walk-in-robe.

2. Get back into a proper training routine. This one is a bit hampered by my current physical limitations, but if I can't lift heavy shit, then I'll just have to do something else. Note to self: sulking and doing nothing is not a good alternative.

3. Cook, photograph and blog at least one recipe. It's been way too long.

4. Tidy up properly and find homes for the random pieces of flotsam that have accumulated around the house.

5. Catch up on reading my favourite blogs. Something is holding me back, and I suspect it's the scary thought of the 200+ posts in my feed reader. Ugh. I do NOT promise not to hit the "mark all as read" button in some cases....

That should keep me busy. :)