Gym Rats

Posted in Health and Weightloss by teamtradermom

I’ve been going to the gym now for about 2 weeks. Before that it had been over 4 years. I had forgotten how much of a subculture there is. Someone should seriously come up with a new sitcom that takes place at a gym. I’ve been studying this little underworld and certain “characters” in particular. Here are the different groups I’ve identified, as well as some specific examples from my gym.

Muscle heads. We all know about these guys. The ones who spend hours in the weight room lifting the heaviest possible weights they can manage. They grunt and make noises so that everyone knows how hard they’re working. Then they drop the weights with a dramatic thud. Most of them wear cut off t-shirts to show off their bulging biceps. They can often be spotted with a Gatorade or protein drink in hand. Some of them truly are cut and buff. Others are wannabes who just like hanging with the big guys.

(source)

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. These 2 are either brothers or best friends. They’re both short and stocky. One has a shaved head and one has longish hair pulled in to a ponytail. They are both covered with tattoos. Every day they follow each other from machine to machine, taking turns doing reps. I’m pretty sure they read up on this stuff too because they’re very enthusiastic and always talk about new moves to try. Neither one is super cut so they fall more in the wannabe group.

Geriatrics. These are the retired set that come in to socialize more than sweat. The guys gather together to talk about the latest news. The women gossip. In general they move slowly on the cardio machines and lift lighter weights, but at least they’re moving.

(source)

The Godfather. This is a guy that seems to be the unspoken mayor of the group. He is probably in his late early 60’s and has black hair (most likely dyed). It’s long and he keeps it slicked back in a ponytail (what’s with guys and ponytails at my gym?). He’s darker complected, Italian looking, and short to average height. Despite being at the gym every day, has a gut. He always wears a black t-shirt with black sweatpants. His routine is to start out lifting weights, in particular the pulley machine. Then he moves to the recumbent bike where he “holds court” as I call it. Literally, he sits on the bike and watches the rest of the room. All the older gentlemen there stop by and visit him, either on their way in or out. He seems to be dispensing advice to them. Or else collecting payment.

Aerobics-aholics. These are the women who come strictly for the classes. Whether it be step aerobics, spinning, or Pilates, all they care about is group fitness. They wouldn’t dare use solo cardio equipment or weights, most likely because they find them boring.

(source)

The Jans. There are 2 ladies who I call Jan and Jan. I don’t know their real names but they look like “Jans”. They are in class every day on time and always leave just a few minutes early, I imagine because they have to get off to work. The teachers all know them. They both have short dark hair. One is tall and skinny, the other is short and has a few pounds to lose. They work hard too. I’ve never seen them quit a set of reps early or ease off the cardio. They want to work.

Iron (wo)men. These are the people in tip top shape that are serious about working out because they are probably training for something. They wear the latest in high tech microfiber sweat wicking clothes and shoes. They are not there to socialize, they’re there to get the job done.

Marathoners. There is a man and women who actually run to the gym every morning and then run some more once they get there. After their time on the treadmill, they go over and lift weights. They’re both thin in a fit, not a skinny way but not super buff either. I have no idea if they are married or just friends but they are together every day.

Routine Warriors. This group of people has a set thing that they do every single day without exception. They never vary their workout because they know what works for them. You can set your watch by these people

The Scowler. I don’t think this lady is really mad I think she’s just so in to her routine that she has her “don’t mess with me” face on all the time. Here is her routine: she starts off on the elliptical machine and does that for 30 minutes at a fast pace. Then she moves to the weight machines and systematically works her way through them. She’s in and out of there in 55 minutes flat every single day and never utters a word to anyone.

There are also some people who don’t really fall in to any one category, but they’re interesting to watch. There is the married couple that come and do their routine together. I’m pretty sure it was his idea to go so early in the morning because he’s always full of energy while she just looks pissed off. She always quits earlier than him and seems to be half-assing everything. He gets annoyed by it too. One day she stopped, went in to the locker room for her stuff and walked out to the car – all while he was still pedaling away on the bike. He just rolled his eyes and kept going. I guess he figured he would make her sit and wait for him.

Then there is the flirt lady. I think she wants to be a body builder because I see her lifting a lot and hanging with that crowd. Her body doesn’t quite reflect it though. She flirts all the time too. One day she was talking to one of the guys and batting her eyelashes at him. The whole time he was staring at her hot blonde friend. I felt kind of bad for her.

Then there’s the Man in Black. This is a guy about my age who falls in the Routine Warriors category except that he’s not quite as regimented. Everyday he wears a black t-shirt and black running pants (maybe he takes fashion tips from The Godfather). He starts out with a 10 min. warmup on the treadmill and then lifts weights. He always looks super tired though, like he’s one rep away from a nap.

And then there’s me. I’m not sure what category I fall in. I do some classes but also do my own thing. I try to vary my routine every day to challenge my body but yet I’m not as hard core as some. Who knows. Maybe I’m in a whole other category I don’t know about because I’m in the middle of it.

I tell ya, if you like to people watch, join a gym. There is no shortage of people and personalities!

11Jan2012

You Capture | Morning

Posted in You Capture by teamtradermom

“Morning’s here….the morning’s here! Sunshine is here! The sky is clear!”

I don’t know why but pulling this post together got that silly song from Friends in my head. I love Joey.

So the theme this week was morning and I tell you what, it’s hard to remember to take pictures in the morning, when you’re busy getting ready for work and what not. But I managed to snag a few pics that pretty accurately depict the basics of my daily morning routine.

The first thing I do every morning is go to the gym. This is what the gym looks like in the 5:00 hour. Not too busy. Although, you’d be surprised at how many early morning gym rats there are. I like working out in the a.m. because I can get it over with AND I don’t have to fight for equipment. One day last week I went after work and good gravy was it crowded. Every single treadmill was taken! I hate that. So, I go early and avoid the rush!

By the way, that picture makes me feel like I’m falling over or dizzy. Not sure that’s a good thing. I was trying to change things up by shooting from a different angle but instead it makes me feel drunk.

When I get home from the gym, I make one of these for breakfast.

It’s a green monster spinach smoothie. Yes it looks gross. No you don’t have to drink it out of an Incredible Hulk glass (by I am silly like that). It’s like the perfect breakfast. You basically mix some kind of fruit (banana, berry, oranges, whatever you feel like), a protein (peanut butter or protein powder), oatmeal (for staying power), yogurt, milk (white, chocolate, soy, almond – whatever you fancy) and lots of spinach. Then mix it all up.

(Heh. Notice the Incredible Hulk shot glass in the background? I totally did NOT plan that but as you can see, the comic book man cave is spreading and taking over the house!)

You can’t taste the spinach. All you taste is the fruit and protein mixture. They are really good, super healthy and believe it or not, it actually keeps me satisfied until my morning snack! Great way to start the day!

Then it’s time to shower and get ready for work – with my trusty canine companion by my side!

He generally sleeps through the whole thing. That is when he’s not stealing treats from the counter.

Then it’s time to head out the door to work. If I’m lucky, Isabella will wake up before I leave and I can kiss her good-bye.

Today she was just waking up as I was heading downstairs so I popped in for a quick kiss and “I love you”.

Ah. This face gets me through the day. I always feel like there’s something missing if I don’t get to see her in the morning.

So have you seen the moon lately? It’s been huge and bright and beautiful! I tried to capture a pic of it early in the morning when it was still dark out but haven’t been able to get it just right. So today I snagged this one on the drive in (I was at a red light, don’t worry – no photographing and driving!).

My intent was to focus on the moon but I love how the rest of it turned out, with the colorful sky up top and warm earthiness at the bottom.

So that’s my typical morning! Like Samson, I’m big on routine. If anything gets too much out of sync, it throws me off. Like the other day when I spent time taking the pics of my smoothie and therefore forgot to take my wallet out of the gym bag. I got all the way to work before I realized I had left it at home with my stinky tennis shoes. CJ was my knight in shining armor and brought it to me. Thank goodness for fearless husbands!

Don’t forget to head over and check out more “morning” pics at Beth’s!

If you liked this, you might also like:

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You Capture: Industrial

You Capture: Summer Sun

9Jan2012

Samson Stories: Thief

Posted in Samson by teamtradermom

Samson and I have a morning routine. Samson is big on routine. He’s a Labrador – OCD is in his blood.

Here’s one example – for meals we have Samson sit on a rug in front of the sink while we get his food ready (and by “ready” I mean dump 2 cups of chow in a bowl). We then put his dish down in the designated area and release him. If that rug is not there (if we’re washing it or Isabella is using it as a blanket) he refuses to sit down. He just stares at us incredulously like, “Are you kidding me? You want me to sit on the cold tile floor? Where is my rug? I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS TREATMENT!” Or, if someone is standing on it washing dishes, he looks at them like, “Dude, you’re on my rug and it’s mealtime. Step. Off.”

Our morning routine starts when I get back from the gym. I grab 2 dog treats (half of a milk bone along with something soft like Beggin’ Strips or Pupperonis) and bring them upstairs with me. I let Samson out of his kennel and he follows me in to the bathroom. I put the treats on the counter and then make him sit on the rug. He gets the milk bone after I get a kiss.

At this point, any of you non-dog people out there are going – ew, gross, this lady is weird. She makes her dog kiss her. Every morning. For a treat.

You better your sweet bippie I do! Dog lovers unite!

Samson hates it. Or pretends to. In fact some mornings he flat out refuses. So he pokes my face with his nose and we call it good.

I then jump in the shower and he lays down on the rug (again, if there is no rug there, he refuses to even come in the bathroom. He’s special). When I get out of the shower, I find him either like this:

(I’m always amazed at how he can get his large 90 lb. body to fit all curled up on one rug)

Or like this:

At which point I squee over how cute he is, snuggle his fuzzy face and then throw him another treat.

This is where the mystery begins.

One day a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t find the 2^nd treat on the counter. Turns out I had accidently thrown it in the trash. Don’t worry I dug it out. Hey, this dog will eat flies – he can eat a treat from the trash.

Then a few days later the treat was missing again. Only this time I couldn’t find it in the trash or anywhere else. I searched high and low, then gave up.

The next day it happened again.

At this point I thought I was losing my mind. How could I be misplacing all these treats? Was I going to find a whole arsenal of them in a drawer or something one of these days?

Then I figured it out. Just call me Nancy Drew.

Yesterday I put the treat on the counter, per usual, and hopped in the shower.

I noticed it was gone as soon as I stepped out of the shower 10 minutes later. That’s when I realized that all this time, Samson had been jumping up on the counter and helping himself while I was showering! The little sneak! Not sure why it took me so long to figure this out but I guess it’s because he never usually does this type of thing. We can leave chicken sitting on the kitchen counter and he won’t touch it. He’ll stare at it and drool a lot but he won’t touch it.

Until now. I think the new house has brought out the puppy in him because he’s doing all kinds of things we thought we had moved past – like taking Isabella’s toys, running like a mad dog around the dining room, and now, stealing food.

So our morning routine had to be modified. I still bring the treats up, but now I put them way on the back of the counter, behind all the lotions, soaps and olive oil. What? You don’t keep EVOO in your bathroom? Huh.

Tomorrow is Doggie Day Camp. Hopefully that’ll get some of the stink out of him!

6Jan2012

2012 Resolutions

Posted in Goals by teamtradermom

We’re 6 days in to the new year and I have yet to publicly declare my resolutions.

GASP!

That must make me, like, the worst blogger EVER!

(Wonder how many more words I can put in all caps? LET’S SEE!)

Actually, for once, this blog tardiness is not a result of me being lazy or too busy or tired or a myriad of other excuses. I actually did this on purpose! This year, I decided to tweak my approach to resolutions (the dreaded “R” word). Instead of announcing to the world on January 1 that I was going to bring about world peace, solve the poverty epidemic and find a cure for cancer, I decided to wait a little bit and live with my potential resolutions for a bit.

Turns out those 3 seemed a bit unrealistic so I came up with a new list.

Living with my list for 6+ days was really beneficial. It helped me see which ones didn’t make sense in my life and which things I wanted to add that I hadn’t thought of before.

The result? A masterpiece of a goals list that can out duel any other goals list!

(Remember in grade school when we used to say things like, “My dad is stronger than your dad!” and then reply with, “Oh yeah, well my dad is taller than your dad!” and it’d go on and on and on? I usually won that game by throwing out the still to this day unbeaten superlative of, “Oh yeah well my dad speaks more Spanish than your dad!” IN YOUR FACE GRADE SCHOOL KIDS!)

(Ok so that worked back then because the schools weren’t as well integrated. Probably wouldn’t work as great now. But still, I stand undefeated.)

Anywho…now where was I?

Oh yes, the greatest resolutions list of all time…I read through several articles (here and here and here) that helped me craft my list. The end result was sort of a combination of goals and to-do items. Some of them are one and done, others are longer term commitments.

So without further ado – here is my list for 2012!

Family and Home:

1. Do at least one family outing a month. Making a run to the grocery store does not count. Neither does going to my parent’s house for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, those are all great things and family time of any sort is good. But the intent of this item is to challenge us to do new and different things. Not only does this make life more fun but it exposes Isabella to a broader range of experiences.

2. Tackle the following home projects this year:

Buy and hang curtains on all the windows. Some of the rooms need them for esthetic purposes, others for more functional reasons (like blocking out the light in Munchkin’s room so she sleeps later!).
Unpack the remaining boxes in the basement. The ones that actually have stuff in them that we use. There really aren’t that many left – maybe a dozen or so. AND THEY’RE DRIVING ME CRAZY!
Do something with the front room. Is that not specific enough? Ok fine. What I really want to do is find a way to visually divide Isabella’s playroom from the dining room but still keep the big open space feel and have the 2 rooms be cohesive yet separate and distinct and let’s see how long I keep this sentence going because it’s got to be nearly the longest sentence in the history of sentences and someone quickly call those Guinness people (not the beer ones, the world record ones but ok fine call the beer ones too).

Create a sitting room within the master bedroom. I’ve always wanted a space in the house that was a devoted reading / meditation space. Someplace cozy and inviting, yet private. Well our bedroom is big enough to carve out a space for that on one side! Yippee! BRING IT!
Add built in shelves to the living room by the end of the year. CJ, this one’s for you buddy! I know exactly how I want it to look but have no freakin’ clue where one would start in building this. Yeah sure we can buy bookshelves but where’s the challenge in that? Besides, I know CJ is looking for one more thing to do (because being a stay-at-home dad, running a city wide volleyball organization, being on the board of directors for another org, actually playing volleyball and being at my beck and call are not enough for him). Overachiever.

3. Break Isabella of the “oobie” habit once and for all – DONE! Well almost. See, I’m already kicking ass and taking names!

4. Move Isabella to a toddler bed. Though I know this needs to be done and is a right of passage for kids, I’m sort of dragging my feet on it. We already have a toddler bed for her but once we transition her to that it means she’ll be free to get out whenever she feels like it and THAT IS NOT OK RIGHT NOW! I kind of like having her caged up. She enjoys sharing a kennel with Samson. KIDDING! The point is I think she’s good in her crib for now but sometime this year we’ll have to make the transition.

5. Have Isabella potty trained by her 3^rd birthday (September 30). That is only 9 months away. Help.

6. Research pre-schools and enroll Isabella in one to start in the fall of 2012. Course this depends on the previous one. Most pre-schools require the kids to be out of diapers. I guess that’s incentive. Or mean. One or the other.

Financial and career:

7. Attend one career professional event a month. I can’t divulge any information about my day job or the company I work for but let’s just say it involves projects and management. That’s all you’re gonna get outta me so don’t even ask for more!

8. Spend less money. Specifically, save 5% of each paycheck in a nest egg AND apply 5% of each paycheck toward paying off our credit card balance. Doesn’t sound like much but given our bills and everyday expenses, that’s the number I feel comfortable with for right now. If I find we have extra money floating around after a couple months, I’ll increase it. What I don’t want to do is over commit at the beginning and then fail right outta the gate. Ya feel me?

9. Save money for Isabella. I’m going to do this by setting aside all loose change at the end of each day into a jar, with the money to be applied toward ~~my shopping habit~~ Isabella’s savings/college fund when it’s full or at the end of the year.

Great. She’s already trying to steal money out of the jar. Or maybe she thinks her oobies are hidden in there….

Spiritual and ethical:

10. Find a church that we all like and attend regularly (at least twice a month). Neither CJ or I are religious people but we are spiritual. Meaning, we don’t believe that any one religion is right or wrong nor is there one that we are particularly affiliated with. We do believe in a Higher Power, faith, etc. We know that a church atmosphere, vibe and teachings are good things for a kid and we want Munchkin exposed to that. Plus they give you free wine.

11. Get back to daily prayers/talks with my Higher Power. Speaking of faith, I’ve gotten out of the habit of having talks with the big guy upstairs. I used to be religious (pun intended) about saying prayers every night. Somewhere along the line that fell by the wayside. But I find that I do feel more centered when I take time to unload and turn things over. Amen.

Physical and health:

12. Adopt one new healthy habit each month:

January – Add a fruit and/or vegetable (preferably both!) to each meal
February – Read daily meditations/affirmations
March – Do some type of physical activity IN ADDITION to regular workouts
April – Drink at least 64 oz. each day (includes water, tea, or juice. Does NOT include pop or alcohol) – honestly, this will be one of the hardest for me
May – Make a daily gratitude list
June – Try to walk 10,000 steps every day
July – limit sweets to once a day
August – Meditate for 5 min. every day
September – Train and sign up for a charitable walk/run
October – Try new foods at least 3 times a week
November – Find time every day to do something special for myself
December – Work out 5 days a week (this one might be cheating a little since I already do this. HOWEVER, my theory is that December is so crazy that I want something fairly easy I can stick to)

WARNING! The above picture is what I look like at 5:00 a.m., pre-workout (i.e. still half asleep). You’re lucky I was able to crack a smile.

Social and cultural:

13. Attend at least 4 cultural events this year (e.g. Broadway shows, concerts, museum exhibitions). Back in the day, I was the queen of cultured. I was practically a pearl! However, when Isabella was born and funds got tighter, these types of things were some of the first to go. But I miss them. I LOVE to do fun cultural stuff. It makes me a more well rounded person and shit.

14. Regularly participate in events put on by the social clubs I belong to (speakers events, parties, happy hours, etc). I belong to a lot of social type organizations (6 that I can think of off the top of my head) and they all have events. It got to the point that there were too many to choose from so we didn’t go to any at all. Well that just left us feeling alone and like big giant hermit crabs. Not that I’m saying we’re huge people, or that we have crabs. Cuz we aren’t. AND WE DON’T! So we need to get back out there. Hang with friends. Get to know people better. Eat and drink a lot. Stuff like that.

15. Go on a date night with CJ once a month. This is harder than it sounds. Any parent out there will agree with me – you have to pick and choose baby-sitter moments. Do you get a sitter for date night or so that you can run a bunch of errands uninterrupted? And if you have several events in one month, it gets expensive (cuz you start to feel guilty for pawning the kids off on mom and dad or your close friends all the time). All that to say date night tends to get tossed out the window in favor of other things. Like sleep. And Grey’s Anatomy.

Phew! That’s quite a list! Seems daunting and at first glance you might think there’s no way I can get do all that. But if you break it down and really look at it, some of the items can be combined (like attending a cultural event with CJ would kill 2 birds with one stone).

I’ll try and post at the end of every month how I’m doing. Some may get done and crossed off. Some may change. Some may have progress but not yet be completed. And some new ones may get added!

HERE’S TO SUCCESS IN 2012!

3Jan2012

Parental Warning

Posted in Isabella/Munchkin by teamtradermom

Parents. Whatever you do. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT under any circumstances give your baby a pacifier.

It may seem harmless at first. In fact it may seem like a life saver to stop that little new born from crying.

But trust me, one day, that seemingly small decision will come back to bite you in the ass.

And nearly kill you.

We’ve spent the last 3 days trying to break Isabella from her “oobie” habit and I think it’s breaking us instead.

First we tried taking her to a 12 Step meeting and having her admit she was powerless over the oobie. She didn’t really get it though so we had to go another route.

We did it gradually. The first step was to limit her oobie use when we moved in to our new house in September. We basically said she could only use her oobies for sleeping, so during naps or at night but not otherwise during the day. She resisted at first but eventually was super good about it. She’d even remind us that we forgot to put her oobie away if she brought it downstairs after a nap.

Then I started limiting her to only one oobie while sleeping (normally she would use 3 – one in her mouth and each hand).

That one was harder for her to buy in to.

5 days ago, while thinking of what New Year’s resolutions I wanted to make for 2012, I decided to take them away from her for good, starting January 1st. I told her about it too, to prepare her. Basically I warned her that in 2 days she would have to give all her oobies away to other little babies that needed them, like how we gave them some of her toys after Christmas. She seemed on board with the idea! No protests. We talked about it many times over those 2 days. Then, come Sunday morning, we packed them all in to a baggie and put them out in the donation pile (secretly I stashed them in a cupboard when she wasn’t looking, just in case. I guess I needed a safety net too!). Again, she was cool about it.

Until nap time. She wouldn’t lay down and sleep for anything. She wasn’t crying, she was jumping and singing and talking and running back and forth. Anything BUT lay down. I fought with her for over an hour. Finally I gave up. I knew we were going over to my sister’s house later and that she’d probably fall asleep in the car. She did.

Then nighttime came. More lolly-gagging. We pretty much ignored her and let her do her thing.

That’s when the crying started. And it kept going. And going.

We’d check on her every 20 minutes or so. At one point she looked at CJ and just pointed to her mouth like, “Um dude, did ya forget something?”

Finally, after an hour, I gave her on old broken oobie (one that had the top cut off). It was no good for sucking on but I figured she could hold it and get some comfort that way. My heart was breaking for her. I knew it was like we had taken away her best friend, one that she’d slept with every day for over 2 years. We had ripped her little heart out.

And my heart was broken too.

CJ couldn’t take it anymore and retreated to the basement, wearing headphones, and worked out on the elliptical. Finally after about an hour and 20 minutes of crying, she wore herself out and stopped.

Silence, sweet silence.

We were both afraid to move or make a peep though for fear of waking the beast!

And we dreaded the next night.

Monday morning when I got her out of bed, I told her what a good job she did sleeping without an oobie and how proud I was of her. She said, “I didn’t have an oobie in my mouth…it was very hard…I cried…mommy gave me a broken one…” She already knows the art of a good guilt trip. I dread the teenage years.

The same shenanigans happened come naptime on Monday. Goofing around and not wanting to sleep. Finally after about an hour she fell asleep. Last night, more crying and carrying on. I don’t know how long it lasted because I was super exhausted, pleaded for mercy and begged CJ to hold down the fort while I went to bed at 8:30pm. I think it lasted for a while though.

Then tonight, more crying. Only this time it stopped after 40 minutes. Progress? I sure as hell hope so. Some of it was that she didn’t nap at all today so I know she was exhausted. But I hope it’s progress too.

My nerves are fried. I feel like a PTSD victim. Every time I hear a cry or wail, my blood pressure shoots through the roof. It’s horrible. It was all I could do tonight not to curl up in our closet and hum gospel hymns to myself in hopes of a miracle.

I read somewhere that the transition could last anywhere from 1 night to a week. A week! Dear God, no. I don’t think I can take anymore. I’m liable to break at any moment!

So parents, let this be a lesson to you. No matter how cute they look with one. No matter how tempted you are. No matter what your parents say.

Do. Not. Give. Your. Baby. A. Pacifier.

This message has been brought to you by PDLPGP (Parents Don’t Let Parents Give Pacifiers).

Thank you.