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AKASHA66's Recent Blog Entries
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
This extremely nifty bug is the detail on a statue in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy. The best Egyptian collection I have ever seen. This bug was on a statue maybe 15 feet tall, on the chest. Just beautiful.
And on to the gym....
So, because I can never really seem to do anything simply, I spent the week touring gyms, comparing, asking people their opinion, etc. And finally decided the time is right for me to join a gym.
A new place opened only 5 mins walk from my house and on the way home from work. A smaller, no frills kind of gym with the cardio machines you would expect, plus some interesting reclining bicycles that appeal to the lazy-comfier side of me. Also a 30 minute circuit with different machines only for the circuit and a big central timer, maybe a good way for me to start, a whole basement of weight equipment, no classes but two studios, one with a variety of abs, floor work, etc videos on demand and the other with spin classes on video on demand. I never used the group classes at my last gym years ago so maybe this is an alternative I will have the guts to try.
There is a sauna, the showers are beautiful private cubicles with attached dresing rooms, and the trainer made a point of showing me how and how often the showers were cleaned.
Nothing fancy though, some fairly ordinary people around, no big free weights and no big muscle guys.
I need to come up with my own towels and a small lock for the locker that I will only be able to use for the time I am there, so I will have to carry a gym bag around.
It is an investment, although no so bad when considered on a monthly basis as a hobby. I'm going to aim for three times a week to start and see how it goes, and during the slowest time of the day so I don't get intimidated by too many people.
I went to the doctor today for a health certificate, you can't do any organized sports in France without being cleared by a doctor, and it seems that I'm good to go.
Looking forward to a possible way to reduce stress, get better sleep, get stronger and maybe lose some kilos. It is worth a year of my time to give it a try I figure.
I also think this adventure deserves some new towels, something happy and bright, not the faded ones stuffed into the top shelf of my closet, so that's on the agenda too--bright, happy towels.
I'm excited about it, can't wait to start! Wish me luck!
Monday, August 23, 2010
I've been stuck on a plateau lately in spite of plenty of exercise, maybe because of plenty of exercise... have decided to change goal dates for pounds lost, to October for the next nine pounds and change the rhythm a bit and see if it helps. Maybe I have been too aggressive?
But, as I have not lost anything in a long time and have not been able to add to my charm bracelet of loss in quite awhile, I still thought I deserved something for having hung in there despite the plateau.
So... I went out and got the I think best but maybe most expensive salad spinner known to man--the largest size OXO makes.
Gone are the bags of pre-washed salads I have been buying. Back to buying a lettuce, I live in France, lettuce is cheap, plentiful and all but iceberg is easily available, pre-bagged lettuce in France was just laziness on my part.
Salad for dinner here tonight, just a beautiful baby bibb lettuce and seasoning.
And, not to be outdone by the new salad spinner, I went into the olive oil shop on the way home and bought lemon infused olive oil and something I hadn't intended to buy but after having tasted it, I'm not sure how I lived up until this point without it-- really good balsamic vinegar. HEAVEN. Seriously, I think I groaned at the shopkeeper after putting the spoonful in my mouth that he gave me to try. Not a cheap afternoon of shopping!
So, new spinner, new oil, new balsamic vinegar and salads are in our near future, lots of them.
23 salads eaten now will pay off the salad spinner given the price that I would have paid for pre-washed bags. That's not so bad when you think about it, and after that it gets a lot better. 30 cents for a salad for two instead of 1.49 minimum.
But how much I wind up spending on good olive oil and balsamic vinegar remains to be seen!
Monday, August 09, 2010
Inspired by reading someone else's blog about decluttering, I decided it was high time to attack the bottom shelf of my closet--the place my workout clothes live.
I have never had a problem happily flinging suddenly too big clothes into a corner of my closet. That's what I do with them, fling them, wait for a mountain to build up of clothes that used to fit but are now too big, get great visual joy out of the growing pile, then donate whatever is donateable.
But, I have NEVER attacked those workout clothes.
This am, on the elliptical, I took off a tank top that was so much too big it kept slipping off my shoulders. I knew I should weed out the workout gear, but have been resisting forever. I have no idea why.
Then came the decluttering blog. I figured it was divine inspiration, so, with the husband watching soccer on tv, I just pulled everything off of that shelf and tried it on and started flinging. Only a couple of the tank top survived, and I suspect only becuase I hadn't worn them since they came out of the drier the last time, they will probably hit the pile too.
Bottoms that have never fit, like that pair of expensive skin tight black Nike shorts that were on sale a few years ago and that I shouldn't have bought, are now on the top of the 'to wear' clothes.
I took a couple of extra minutes parading around in front of the cat and the mirror with those shorts on.
So, bags will go to the Goodwill tomorrow and I won't even replace any of the tank tops, I'll wear what I have and stop the stupid, huge collection of pointlessly over large workout clothes. Better to just have a few things that fit. And more leaning to the form fitting than the hide- in- sack variety.
I'm shaking my head at myself-- what could I have been thinking???      
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Member Comments About This Blog Post:
in your new adventure!!!
keep us posted...
Now that you have this salad spinner, you will totally start losing the weight. It'll come right off.
That is fantastic! Just keep working at this. I'm no where near my goal, but I keep at it each day, even when my son had Testicular Cancer and I watched myself regain pounds and then get back on track and then have a Gallbladder mess with surgery and regain again. So, now I'm 10# away from being down where I was before, which is frustrating, but I know that if I didn't stay at it, I'd be back up and probably past the 214# where I was when I started Sparks. You are right that all the articles and reinforcement for good living makes a difference. I'm reading "The BECK Diet Solution" as Judith Beck, PhD teaches how to think like a thin person. I got the book at the library and recommend it to everyone.
It is a great accomplishment!!
