Gearing up for next semester and keeping up my weight training (at least to some degree), I tried out a new workout today that I planned last week. To continue getting stronger and more toned I decided to incorporate drop sets into my lifting to challenge my muscles more but without causing me to bulk up. For example, for the past 3-4 weeks I've been doing 3 sets of bicep curls, each with 15 reps, with 12-pound dumbbells in each hand. Today I still did 3 sets of bicep curls, but I did 15 reps with 10 pounds in each hand, 13 reps with 12 pounds in each hand, and 11 reps with 15 in each hand. I applied this general concept to my hamstring, triceps, shoulder, and quad exercises.
It's a little awkward because they just don't make dumbbells with certain weights, so I may need to switch to using a bar for some of my exercises. I would have preferred to do 12/10/8 reps with 12/15/18 pound weights or something, because there's no way I can do 20 pounds with bicep curls, but oh well, I guess the stars won't align for that. The idea is that you challenge your muscles the most when they are already tired, and I can definitely feel it already, especially in my poor little triceps.
I kept all of my actual exercises the same, and I just varied the weights and reps, but I have already picked my new exercises that I will probably start to incorporate in Thursday's class. I'm going to start do lat pull-downs instead of the lat rows, and there's a slightly intimidating V-machine that I'm going to use for my quads/hamstrings as opposed to the lunges, split squats, and straight leg deadlifts I'm doing now. I'm also going to try to do some rear deltoid raises and maybe throw some push ups in there too. We'll see how I feel I guess :-)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
October pleasure reading
Well I started reading several books in October and I finished one of them and I'm currently reading the other two. Of course, in preparation for the release of HP7, I had to re-read the book, just to make sure I wasn't going to miss anything when I went to the movie :-P Psh, like that would happen. Anyway, I read the British version and it only took me about 3 days. I get a lot of reading done before bed and when I go to the fitness room. It's really easy to run a few miles, then walk uphill for another mile or so at a slow speed, and I get another 20-30 minutes of reading in.
The books I'm still reading are Millionaire Women Next Door (lent to me by my mother) and Smart Women Finish Rich, which I bought for myself a long time ago and have been slowly reading as I find topics I want to read about.
The books I'm still reading are Millionaire Women Next Door (lent to me by my mother) and Smart Women Finish Rich, which I bought for myself a long time ago and have been slowly reading as I find topics I want to read about.
September pleasure reading
So this is a bit delayed, but whatever. I started watching a show called Castle on ABC that's about a detective who works with a mystery writer and I find it pretty amusing. The mystery writer is partnered with the cop so he can get inspiration for his new novels. As a joke, Keegan bought me a book (Heat Wave) that was "written" by Richard Castle, the author on the show. Obviously it wasn't one of those life-changing books but it was still pretty entertaining and I didn't figure out who the murderer was until the end. I guess I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone unless they really like the show, and even then I could only see the actors when I read the story, and I like the roles the actors play. I'm not sure how I would have liked it if I didn't already watch the show when I read it.
#25: Sourdough bread
So I've been really awful about keeping my resolution to make a new recipe every week, but I should finish out the year having averaged a new recipe every other week. That's pretty good, right? At least I made some new things! I'm hoping to make some things using our Crock Pot soon, since I've never used it, and that should open the door to a lot of new recipes. I'd really like to make some stews now that it's (sort of) cooling off.
Anyway, the bread was very tasty! I made it one night about a month ago when we had alfredo for dinner, and then I ate it the next night with some soup. The soup night was one of the weeks Keegan was in Massachusetts, so I got to eat the rest of it on my own :-D Mmmm. One of my friends gave me her old breadmaker and that was my first experience using a breadmaker. It was pretty awesome I have to say, just to mix everything in there and walk away for 3.5 hours.
Anyway, the bread was very tasty! I made it one night about a month ago when we had alfredo for dinner, and then I ate it the next night with some soup. The soup night was one of the weeks Keegan was in Massachusetts, so I got to eat the rest of it on my own :-D Mmmm. One of my friends gave me her old breadmaker and that was my first experience using a breadmaker. It was pretty awesome I have to say, just to mix everything in there and walk away for 3.5 hours.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Born to run! (... sort of)
Last week I said I would run in a Turkey Trot race on Thanksgiving morning with Keegan and a few of his siblings. I signed up thinking it was a 5K only to find out on Sunday that it was actually 5 miles. Whoops...
For the past month I've really been keeping with my running, consistently going at least 5 times a week. I got off track when I went to Austin but since then I've progressively working my way back up. It took about a week for me to be able to run 1.5 miles each day, then I moved my way up to 2, and now I run 3 each day. On Sunday I ran 4 miles but that was the farthest I'd ever run at one time. On Monday and Tuesday I ran 3 miles each, then I ran 2.5 miles on Wednesday. I was a bit nervous on Thursday and I was pretty confident that I'd have to walk the last mile. There were several large-ish hills on the route we ran, and it was outside (obviously) which is something new for me because I always run on treadmills and occasionally the indoor track in Duke's gym. But I did it! My pace on the hills was quite slow, but I wanted to pace myself so I could keep running the whole way. My time was 52 minutes and 9 seconds, which was much better than I was hoping for. I usually "run" (read: jog) at speeds between 5 and 6mph, so 5 miles would have taken an hour at a 5mph pace, so I averaged my faster speed for this race. I think it will help me a lot with running now because when I'm getting tired at the 3 mile mark I can always think "Hey, you already ran 5 miles, you can stick out the rest of this!" I know 5 miles is not really that far (especially considering 5 or 6 of the kids in BME ran a half marathon a few weekends ago) but I still feel proud. :-)
Once I started the weight-lifting class I gained 6 pounds, but since that time I've lost about 9 pounds. So I'm 3 pounds lighter than I was when I started the class, but I know that I'm a lot stronger and more muscular. My clothing is also starting to fit better, so that's a plus. I'm hoping to reach my target weight before our trip to Costa Rica, which is in about 3 months. I think that is plenty of time for me to slim down a little bit, and my gym teacher is really helpful and is already helping me plan my workout schedule for next semester. I don't want to lose all of my progress!
For the past month I've really been keeping with my running, consistently going at least 5 times a week. I got off track when I went to Austin but since then I've progressively working my way back up. It took about a week for me to be able to run 1.5 miles each day, then I moved my way up to 2, and now I run 3 each day. On Sunday I ran 4 miles but that was the farthest I'd ever run at one time. On Monday and Tuesday I ran 3 miles each, then I ran 2.5 miles on Wednesday. I was a bit nervous on Thursday and I was pretty confident that I'd have to walk the last mile. There were several large-ish hills on the route we ran, and it was outside (obviously) which is something new for me because I always run on treadmills and occasionally the indoor track in Duke's gym. But I did it! My pace on the hills was quite slow, but I wanted to pace myself so I could keep running the whole way. My time was 52 minutes and 9 seconds, which was much better than I was hoping for. I usually "run" (read: jog) at speeds between 5 and 6mph, so 5 miles would have taken an hour at a 5mph pace, so I averaged my faster speed for this race. I think it will help me a lot with running now because when I'm getting tired at the 3 mile mark I can always think "Hey, you already ran 5 miles, you can stick out the rest of this!" I know 5 miles is not really that far (especially considering 5 or 6 of the kids in BME ran a half marathon a few weekends ago) but I still feel proud. :-)
Once I started the weight-lifting class I gained 6 pounds, but since that time I've lost about 9 pounds. So I'm 3 pounds lighter than I was when I started the class, but I know that I'm a lot stronger and more muscular. My clothing is also starting to fit better, so that's a plus. I'm hoping to reach my target weight before our trip to Costa Rica, which is in about 3 months. I think that is plenty of time for me to slim down a little bit, and my gym teacher is really helpful and is already helping me plan my workout schedule for next semester. I don't want to lose all of my progress!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Siamese couples
I saw this article in one of my random news searches and I thought it was interesting because I did notice a lot of these things during my first year of marriage.
I think the most interesting one is the 7th point --
"7. THE SHOCK: You won't want to spend every moment with your new husband.
Your spouse may be your best friend, but he won't suddenly become your only friend.
WHAT'S A COUPLE TO DO?
"My husband and I have no problems maintaining individual friendships," says Meghan E., 29, of Richmond, Virginia. "The poor guy shouldn't have to be dragged to every new chick flick simply because he's married to me." She's right. Go out with the girls, and give him nights with his guys. You'll come home and swap stories—and your marriage will be the better for it."
Couples that have to spend every moment together are (in my opinion) absolutely pathetic. There's something fundamentally wrong with your relationship if you have to go on all your errands together, eat lunch together every day, and have all your extra activities together (play on the same sports teams, hang out with all mutual friends, etc). I also think there is something wrong with you if you want to do all those things together. I think the real question in those cases is why can't you spend any time apart? And don't try the "we just love each other so much!" bit because are you honestly going to be a better couple because you watch your husband buy a book or he watches you buy groceries? I think that's a sign of insecurity with the relationship and slight obsession to try to force it so that you're together all the time. What, do you have no friends? Everyone needs private down time, no matter how much you love your spouse. (Or maybe you don't want down time and your spouse secretly does and won't tell you... more food for thought for those couples).
Keegan and I have been married for almost a year and a half now (!!!) and it does bother me a little bit when I go out with friends or something and I'm asked "What, no Keegan tonight?" Since when does being married mean that we can't have our own friends? That's not to say that we don't also have many more nights and weekends where we hang out together on our own, I just don't understand the mentality that married couples can't still be two people. Most annoying are the other judge-y couples who think they are superior because they do spend every waking moment together. Nope, definitely not superior, just sad.
I think the most interesting one is the 7th point --
"7. THE SHOCK: You won't want to spend every moment with your new husband.
Your spouse may be your best friend, but he won't suddenly become your only friend.
WHAT'S A COUPLE TO DO?
"My husband and I have no problems maintaining individual friendships," says Meghan E., 29, of Richmond, Virginia. "The poor guy shouldn't have to be dragged to every new chick flick simply because he's married to me." She's right. Go out with the girls, and give him nights with his guys. You'll come home and swap stories—and your marriage will be the better for it."
Couples that have to spend every moment together are (in my opinion) absolutely pathetic. There's something fundamentally wrong with your relationship if you have to go on all your errands together, eat lunch together every day, and have all your extra activities together (play on the same sports teams, hang out with all mutual friends, etc). I also think there is something wrong with you if you want to do all those things together. I think the real question in those cases is why can't you spend any time apart? And don't try the "we just love each other so much!" bit because are you honestly going to be a better couple because you watch your husband buy a book or he watches you buy groceries? I think that's a sign of insecurity with the relationship and slight obsession to try to force it so that you're together all the time. What, do you have no friends? Everyone needs private down time, no matter how much you love your spouse. (Or maybe you don't want down time and your spouse secretly does and won't tell you... more food for thought for those couples).
Keegan and I have been married for almost a year and a half now (!!!) and it does bother me a little bit when I go out with friends or something and I'm asked "What, no Keegan tonight?" Since when does being married mean that we can't have our own friends? That's not to say that we don't also have many more nights and weekends where we hang out together on our own, I just don't understand the mentality that married couples can't still be two people. Most annoying are the other judge-y couples who think they are superior because they do spend every waking moment together. Nope, definitely not superior, just sad.
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