I received two great pieces of news just a few hours after my last entry. First, I got a raise - not saying how much, but it's pretty good - and I got a call, from a certain editor at a certain paper I've been hoping to work at. Fantastic. I'm sitting here right now debating whether or not to call him NOW. Like going out to my car, firing up the cell phone and telling him YES, YES, I absolutely would LOVE to come out.
What should I do? Nerves are keeping me from dialing...
A quick blog here before I actually begin doing some work today. Last night I was back to my old treadmill routine at the gym. However, I skipped the weight machines because I had done some serious yoga the night before, and though my muscles weren't screaming they had been worked pretty good, so I decided to let them rest for a day. I read somewhere that you are not supposed to work the same muscles 2 days in a row; waiting allows the little microtears to heal and thus, allows your muscle to get bigger. Whatever. I'll use any excuse I can not to do strength training.
I don't know what it is that I hate about working out with weights. Maybe it's because I don't like to feel the burning, almost painful sensation that comes with lifting. Maybe because it's so tedious. The way I see it, aerobic training helps me release the day's tensions. I'm walking, I'm running, getting out all those kinks that built up while I was sitting at my desk. Strength training just builds up that tension all over again. I walk out of the gym with my quadricep muscles wound tight as a tick and my shoulders aching - not exactly therapeutic. But you know what? I do it anyway. I'm going to keep doing it. Even after I lose all this weight.
Tonight I'm not sure what the workout game plan is. There's a beginners' Pilates class at the gym downtown, but I hate going down there because finding parking - on Sixth Street no less - is such a bitch. There's also a yoga class at my regular gym location, but it starts at 4:30 p.m. and I don't have my yoga mat with me. So I'd probably need to leave here around 3:45 to go home, get the mat and then keep heading south to the gym.
Today Mark and I are meeting for lunch. He wanted to go out to a restaurant, but in the interest of saving money I suggested that we pack our lunches and eat in the park. After all, it's eating together that matters, not the food. We have been on a real money-saving kick lately. We used to eat an inordinate amount of food at restaurants - a Chinese buffet here, a Wendy's chicken sandwich there. I think our weekly restaurant bill was something like $50. That $200-a-month habit was getting expensive, so I started insisting that we brown-bag it. Mark was resistant at first, but now I think we've gotten so good at it that there's only about one restaurant lunch getting eaten a week. Mark usually packs two turkey sandwiches and an apple or bag of chips, and I do Weight Watchers frozen entrees, Hot Pockets or leftovers from last night's dinner. Today I packed a sandwich and Goldfish, though. It would be pretty awkward to eat a Hot Pocket on a park bench.
Yoga class last night was great! I was kind of apprehensive since it wasn't a beginners' class, but I managed to do everything pretty much right. Plus there were only 5 students, so it was really personalized. This woman is a good teacher. I might go to her beginners' class tonight. During the relaxation exercises at the end she came around and massaged all of our shoulders. I literally felt like I had melted into the floor. You know, a lot of people look at yoga as something that doesn't have any physical benefits, but boy, they are dead wrong. It works every muscle in your body, but not in such a way that you bulk up and get that American Gladiator look. Your muscles get toned, but they also stay long and lean. Which is exactly what I'm looking for.
I've also gotten some positive information about my, ahem, possible career move. I don't want to say anything too incriminating right now (you never know who's reading), but it's a big one. If things work out I will be psyched!
I haven't checked my weight in a while. I even bought a cheap little $6 scale at Target, but I don't get on it every day. Maybe I'll check it tonight and see if anything's happened.
Back from the conference. Thank God. It actually wasn't that bad; they fed me and when I wasn't in sessions I was sitting on a couch in the hotel lobby reading Aristotle's Poetics. I read it a few years ago in college and figured I could use a refresher. It's pretty much the original writing handbook. It just takes a while to understand.
Mouth still hurts. Going to the gym tonight to do some yoga and relieve the residual tension. Oh yeah, and doing some cardio beforehand to sweat fat off. Sorry I'm not more talkative.
I forgot that I have to go to some godawful boring conference today, so no time to expound this morning. Perhaps more when I get back. Mouth still sore from yesterday's dental work. Must bring magazine to counteract boredom...
Ouch. The trip to the dentist this afternoon was uneventful, but unpleasant nevertheless. Before I went I looked at all these sites on the Internet about dental phobia and read stories from these people who let their teeth rot out of their head because they were too scared to go to the dentist. While their stories kind of scared me, they also made me want to go get that cavity filled ASAP. I figured a little discomfort would be preferable to losing my molars and having to eat baby food for dinner. Plus a lack of teeth would really cut down on that sex appeal thing I've been trying to hone.
I'll admit that I've had better dental experiences. To begin with, my appointment was at 3 and they didn't start doing anything to me until 3:40. So for about half an hour I sat in the dentist's chair with a little fleece blanket over my toes and a Walkman in my hand, wondering if maybe they'd forgotten about me. I kind of regretted declining the nitrous oxide, as it would have made the time pass a little faster.
So finally the hygienist comes in and rubs some stuff on my gums to numb the place where they put the needle. I tell you, they need to make that stuff a WHOLE lot stronger. When they stuck that needle into my gums it hurt like hell. I must have been making tortured faces because after a little bit the dentist removed the needle and said she'd put the rest in after the Lidocaine had started to take effect. Lidocaine, now THERE'S a great drug. I didn't even feel the second needle prick. So after that first shot I just chilled in my chair for a while and waited for numbness to take over.
It didn't. Well, not all the way. The dentist came in after a bit and asked if I felt numb enough. As much as it pained me to think about another dose of nasty-tasting anaesthetic, I told her no. I figured I'd better speak up now, instead of leaping up in pain with a sharp drill in my mouth. So they gave me another shot and I waited. I was getting very good at waiting.
Later they came in again and asked how I felt. Honestly, it wasn't any better. But I felt somewhat numb, and we agreed to start the drilling, with the option to stop and wait (again, waiting) if it hurt. So they started in on that cavity, and they were almost through when I felt some pain. Not terrible, but bad enough for me to make this "unhh" kind of open-mouthed groan. So they stopped and waited. By then the Lidocaine had really started to take effect, and when they came in to finish the drilling I didn't feel anything.
The kicker, though, came when she was putting the filling in the hole. She got this worried look on her face and poked the tooth in front of the one they were working on. She said there was a gray "shadow" next to one of my old fillings that could be yet ANOTHER cavity. I swear, no cavities for 13 years and now all hell is breaking loose in my mouth. But since I wasn't having any pain, we decided to wait and see if it worsened. It sickens me to think that I could be in that chair again within the next decade.
So NO, I didn't go to the gym, I sat at home and watched Friends and felt sorry for myself. My mouth hurts where they put the needles in. But tomorrow, I swear...
Today is D-Day. I get my cavity filled at 3 p.m. Why am I being such a baby about this? Because I haven't had a cavity filled since I was 10, that's why. Sure, I've had several permanent teeth yanked out of my mouth and four wisdom teeth cut from my gums since then, but a filling - now that's scary. I think the drill is what scares me the most. Let's hope that dentistry has advanced a little since 1989. Maybe the drill won't be as loud or as big.
I didn't exercise last night. Instead I did a couple of laps around HEB doing the weekly grocery shopping. We spent almost $100. I seriously don't know how we spend so much money just on food. But we did buy the expensive $11 bag of Iams for the kitties, not to mention costly Elgin sausages...I swear, we should just go vegetarian. We could make sauteed veggies and rice for WAY less than pork chops and baked potatoes...
Hah. I'm off work today. God bless veterans. My apologies if you're working.
Today I celebrated my extra day of freedom by going shopping with my aunt. We went to Kohl's (it sucked), the mall and Target. I swore that today I was going to start my Christmas shopping, and I actually did. I bought Mark a new bathrobe. His has a hole in the armpit and it's not in good shape. I also bought him a 3-pack of boxers, though I might give those to him soon since he only has like 5 pairs that he'll wear.
I also got some really good ideas for Christmas presents for other people. Here's my tentative list; let me know if you have ideas.
Dad: Gift certificate to Ruby Tuesday and maybe a sweatshirt or something
Mom: A pedometer and something else fitness-related, like weights (she's on an exercise program like me)
Steph & Kat: (my sisters) The Body Shop Body Butter and jewelry
Garrett: (best friend) Bath stuff from the Origins men's line
My aunt and uncle: Big Starbucks gift basket and jewelry for her
Tom: (friend) Damn, don't know, something cheap
Coworkers: Homemade chocolate/caramel apples, if I get them anything at all
On Saturday morning I went to yoga class. I bought a yoga mat at Target for $20 so I felt like I had to use it. I really liked this girl who led it, but unfortunately she was a sub and she doesn't do a class regularly. Damn. She went really slow but it was challenging all the same. My shoulders and inner thighs really hurt. I also bought some long stretchy flowing pants for yoga at Wal-Mart later that day. Almost everyone else was wearing something similar and I was one of like two people wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I'm usually not obsessed with doing what everyone else is, but I figured since so many people were doing it then there might be something to it. My legs did get a little cold during the session, so maybe the pants will help.
I am thinking about going to the gym today, even though I haven't had a day off in more than a week, because I'm having a cavity filled tomorrow and I am just not going to feel like jumping around at the gym all numb and sore from the needle. But there aren't any good classes this evening, and I don't feel like doing my usual treadmill-and-weights routine.
Things I want to tell other people exercising at the gym:
Lifting a too-heavy weight and then dropping it quickly can damage the muscle and cheats you out of some muscle building.
Cokes and other sodas should not be sipped during exercise.
If you put the treadmill on a very high incline and then hold the bar in front of you in a death grip, you're not burning as many calories as the readout says.
You should always wipe your nasty sweat off a machine after you're done. No one else wants to sit in it.
Water fountains are not proper places to hock loogies.
Wearing a nylon sweatsuit while jogging won't get you skinnier any faster.
Most women at the gym are not there trolling for dates.
If you are going to be taking all your clothes off at once in the women's locker room, go in a curtained dressing area so the rest of us don't have to awkwardly avert our eyes.
Don't take four magazines off the rack before you get on the bike or elliptical trainer. The rest of us would like something to read other than Guns & Ammo or CIO Magazine.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
