So anyway, if you want to see what random things I’m looking at/listening to/thinking about, check me out at:

amor-y-cohetes

That being said, not too sure that I’m going to keep this up as a “health” blog, because I think that those posts can get somewhat repetitive. “Went to the gym, ate this meal, now I weigh this much.” It doesn’t make for a very good read. So we’ll see what this blog turns into, but I really do want to keep up with it as much as possible. There’s no reason not to.

So let me catch you up. My last post was about joining 24 Hour Fitness. I have not regretted that decision for one second. It’s $25 a month and I can go to as many classes as I want to. And I’ve been going at least once a week, but usually more. I especially love my Wednesday night Zumba class. Kisha is the instructor, and I used to take her classes at Joyful Yoga in Chandler. She is a serious ray of sunshine in my Wednesdays. She’s upbeat, positive, funny, and strong. Plus, she does a lot more hip hop in her classes than most Zumba classes, which I absolutely adore.

I have been interested in incorporating weights into my workouts for awhile now, and I finally got up the nerve to try out Body Pump at 24 Hour Fitness this past weekend. Let me tell you, that class is no joke. Especially if you’re out of shape and not used to lifting weights like I was. I made it a point to introduce myself to the instructor (I think her name was Kelly?) before the class and it made a huge difference. She is another super positive personality which I would normally despise, but I really appreciate in a gym environment. She made sure to encourage people by name during the class, including me, which made me feel like I had my name called out from the magic mirror on Romper Room. There was also a personal trainer who was walking around the room correcting people’s form. While I would normally hate to be singled out and corrected, I actually really appreciated the guidance. Some of the advice actually made what I was doing much easier. And when it time to do pushups (Oh my god, I can’t believe I did pushups), she came over and encouraged me the entire time. I thought that was pretty rad. So even though I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck because I’m so sore from the class, I’m going to be making it a part of my regular routine.

This post is already getting to wordy, so I’ll cut it off here, but I will be making a concerted effort to update this more often from now on.

And tonight, despite all of my mental protestations, I made it out to Tempe Beach Park to do the Do Life 5k! There were about 50 people there from all different fitness levels. Miss Heather joined in too! Let me stress the Different Fitness Levels here. I could barely jog the little tiny bit I did before I got overheated and winded, so I had to slow down to walking instead. Thankfully I was not the only one walking. Even though it was hot and even though my muscles were sore from Monday night’s Zumba class, I made it! I walked the entire 3.1 miles with just a little bit of complaining about how hot it was.

I’m going to have to try to get back into the Couch 2 5k program, but you all know how much I love my Zumba. Even considering getting a membership to 24 Hour Fitness JUST for the Zumba classes. There are 2 instructors there that I love, and if I went twice a week, then it would be cheaper than just doing one drop in class on Saturday mornings. Still undecided!

This is the worst part, though. It leads me to be absolutely neurotic about checking my phone at least ONCE an hour to make sure I haven’t missed a message from this absolute stranger that I place so much hope in. Ridiculous, isn’t it. This is the situation I’m in now. This guy and I have passed a few messages back and forth, and I sent the last message earlier this afternoon and he hasn’t responded yet and I’m now rereading my message just to make sure I didn’t say anything absolutely stupid or offensive. I need to chill out.

In any case, I have had a nice weekend. I got to see Amy’s roller derby bout in which she kicked some major butt, and I got to hang out with her/Brian/Eric/Heather afterwards. I haven’t seen any of them in a bit, so it was nice to hang out and catch up.

Today’s highlight: Snobby Joes! I saw Amy’s link to them last month, and I had bookmarked the recipe knowing that I would need to make them in the future. The recipe is absolutely fantastic, BUT when I make it the next time, I’m going to add another green (or yellow) pepper and turn down the spice – this recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of chili powder. I don’t know if my chili powder is extra spicy, but I put in just 2 teaspoons and it’s almost inedible due to the heat! But still, super tasty. Well done, me!

This was the favorite today (which gets played often on my favorite latin station, 95.1!)

Now for a BBQ at my manager’s house, and then off to cheer on Amy at roller derby!

How in the world do people manage on those instruments of torture? I was on for 10 minutes, soaked in sweat, before some angel of mercy got off the treadmill next to me… the same guy who showed me how to turn on the machine! I did 20 more minutes at a brisk pace with a bit of an incline and could not stop the sweat from pouring down my face. I need to find a way to keep the sweat out of my eyes… it was the hardest part of the workout. I’m actually considering a sweatband.

Tomorrow will be a day of rest, because I’ll be helping my friend put together an Ikea bed in the evening… and Saturday morning is Zumba!

So I got on and started working away and almost immediately broke into a huge sweat! What the heck, elliptical? I did the “fat burner” program and wanted to die about 5 minutes in. I could only last 15 minutes but I was really pushing hard and I think I got in a fair workout for the day.

I pulled up Ye Olde Weight Watchers website and my 15 minutes of high intensity work on the elliptical = 40 minutes of my walking/jogging on the treadmill. Again I ask: What the heck? At least I know that I can deal with getting on an elliptical machine and it won’t tip over and kill me or anything.

Oh and the red beans and rice? Such a tasty dinner, and wicked cheap too. (And I like Sir Mix-A-Lot a lot.)

But now July is here! Time to try and keep a positive outlook!

Unfortunately I started July off with a disappointing date. It was with the guy from last week. Guess we ran out of things to chat about. We met up at Papago Brewery, had a bit of awkward conversation, and I hightailed it outta there. I then met up with my friend Nikki at Bliss Rebar downtown. I met a bunch of her friends and former coworkers and they were all lovely people… didn’t end up eating anything, but had a few more beers instead. Hooray for adult decisions!

Needless to say, I did not workout on Saturday. Man, hangovers last for eternities now! I did manage to make it out to the grocery store to pick up some necessities, but that was about it. Uh… yeah. Shameful. At least I got some house cleaning done?

Sunday funday. I did attempt to get to the workout room.. but when I got there, none of the machines were working! All of the lights were off and nothing was running so I figured that everything was just closed down for the weekend, and I walked my tush back to my apartment and did 30 minutes of Just Dance on the Wii instead. I think I might have actually sweat more than I would have on the treadmill… maybe. Later I mashed up some avocados for guacamole and went over to Nick and Libby’s apartment for a bit of grilling and sticking our feet in the pool. Everything was super tasty and the company was fantastic.

Speaking of fantastic company, James and George had people over for a BBQ on the fabulous 4th of July. I put my shiny gold bathing suit on and popped on over for a bit. There was so much delicious food there, but the tops was Jordan’s replication of a salad from RnR in Scottsdale: lettuce, candied walnuts, apples, strawberries, gorgonzola cheese and prickly pear dressing. I can’t recall if there were any candied walnuts on Jordan’s version, and I think she used a strawberry vinaigrette on hers… but it was amazing. I really need to copy this idea. I also ate a bunch of other junk, but tried to keep it all in moderation.

And finally, today. Work wasn’t too bad, just quiet because everyone took a nice extra long weekend. After work, I immediately changed into my workout clothes and practically ran to the workout room. I knew that if I even gave myself a second to sit down, I would be on the couch for the evening. So remember how all the machines weren’t working on Sunday? Well, there was a guy on one of the treadmills, so I went to get on the other one, but it still wasn’t working! I guess I looked pretty clueless pressing on the Start button over and over because the very nice guy on the treadmill showed me where to turn it on. DURRRRR. I wanted to give him a giant hug since he was so friendly about it and didn’t act like “Oh look, the fat girl doesn’t even know how to work the treadmill.”

Anyhow, I think I might have been pushing it with my Couch 2 5K plans. I started Week 2 Day 2 today and I couldn’t even make it halfway through. I think part of the problem is that I have been really slack with my workouts (obviously). So, keepin it posi: I’m going to really dedicate myself to working out, this month especially. Since there’s been some delay getting my tuition reimbursement, I haven’t signed up for the 2nd summer semester at school. I think I might just start again in August instead of pushing it during the summer. I know, so lazy, but I’m enjoying having the summer off! Also, I did decide to stay on the treadmill at a quick (for me) walking pace until I got 2 miles under my belt. I’m just going to keep pushing at it until I’m ready to start jogging again.

Until next time!