It was a GORGEOUS day in Toledo today, my darlings! Beautiful, sunny, warm, breezy.
OK, not so much with the breezy. IT WAS WINDY AS HELL!
The Vita Guru took off for work this morning, I grew weary of swearing at my own pile of work, so I hopped into the saddle and went twice around the neighborhood. And it took For. Ever. I am not even kidding. It was really difficult to stay upright, I felt like I was going to be flung halfway across the state - if not to Oz itself! - at any moment! But it was a great ride, even if it was really difficult and my legs burn and MY BUTT HURTS!
(I did a bunch of hip lifts after the ride to soothe the aching tuckus, and it seems to have helped quite a bit, but the "sit bones" are still burning and complaining at me. It's hard to convince the junk in your trunk to stay situated such that it doesn't hurt so much!)
My playlist is steadily coming along, as I add songs, remove songs, and rutsch the whole thing around. A couple weeks ago, my bestie introduced me to this song:
Isn't Florence just amazing? Not only is she beautiful and supernaturally graceful, she's got her some PIPES! There's something about this song that gets my heart beating and my legs pumping, and though it's probably going to catch some bugs, I can't help but sing along as I pedal down the road. I've seen Florence live, and have a bunch of her stuff in the Ride playlist, but this one in particular has really been speaking to me lately.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Beastie Boys have also been in heavy rotation. What? I'm a child of the 80s, and I reserve the right to rock out to the soundtrack of my mis-spent youth as it pleases me! (Also, MCA is looking mighty fine these days. Not as fine as Lenny Kravitz, mind, but does ANYONE look as fine as Lenny Kravitz, I ask you?)
In spite of the pain of getting this bounteous booty into shape, I find that the music helps me power through it. It helps me focus, helps my pedaling switch to auto-pilot so I can concentrate on important things, like not getting blown out of the saddle!
Even better, when I got home, I found my order from Foam On The Range waiting for me, so I had my pick of lovely things for my post ride shower. Mmmm, Juniper and Sage SunSoap!
We had a very healthy supper tonight - chicken stir fry with broccoli, carrots, peppers, a slivered up Meyer lemon, and black rice. I felt positively ravenous, but I was very modest in my portion, as the Vita Guru and I need to go for a blood draw tomorrow, and need to fast for 12 hours. I don't want anything messing with my results, because I hate having follow-up visits with the vampires.
So, I'm well exercised, well-washed, and well fed, and I'm so very tired. Tomorrow, a longer ride, and hopefully my butt will stop complaining so much. And with luck, I'll get better about writing about my adventures!
Tomorrow, I'm going to be bad. The Vita Guru and I are heading up to Evans Street Station to meet up with friends for the Oberon release party. I promise I'll ride first!! Oberon is what tells me that Spring is really here.
What's your favorite Springtime vice?
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Dancin' Queen
I've been fiddling with the time I take my medications, so I can get out of bed earlier without feeling like my head is stuffed with fluff for a few hours, and it seems to be successful, so today's gym session was this morning instead of later in the day.
I walked the mile to the gym in a light, yet warm drizzle, and didn't mind the dampness a bit. Especially not once I got the workout in motion!
Many women complain about not being able to get a decent workout because they get too much unwanted male attention at the gym. This doesn't seem to be an issue with the fellas at my gym. They don't pay much mind to the women wandering about, they're too intent on getting all their reps in. And they CERTAINLY don't pay the fat chick any mind, she's not especially interesting...unless it's the fat chick who jingles as she wanders by. I am often approached by men in the gym who want to know what all the jingling is about, and can I tell them where their wives or girlfriends can learn to bellydance?
Part of the fun of bellydance is having pretty shiny things to drape over yourself, and light, airy veils to decorate your arm work. Now, I don't use veils much at the gym, mostly because it seems a little too "Hey, look at me!", even though veils are great for general dance workout purposes. It's easier and more fun to stay motivated to get your arm carriage right when you're flinging around a couple yards of silk or organza. But I will not forgo a hip scarf. The shiny jingly things are not only pretty, they make noise and help you keep both rhythm and technique where you want them. Essentially, the jingling sounds wrong if you're not executing the moves correctly.
I jingle on by, take a place in front of the big mirrors, and commence to dancing. Today I added an extra song so I could work on abdominal isolations - mostly undulations, but also belly pops and rolls. Core strength is essential when you're intending to ride a long distance!
(To put the distance in perspective, if I were doing it all in a straight route, I'd finish about 20 miles shy of Cleveland!)
Anyway, I did the basic warmup, then started the abdominals...and noticed I had acquired an audience. A pair of very muscular guys, both about 6 feet tall, watching intently. Well, OK. I closed my eyes and kept going. I had this luscious tune to dance to, after all:
Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps (State of Bengal Mix) (YouTube)
"So...uh...bellydance, huh?" He sounded a little shy, and wouldn't make eye contact. His friend elbowed him. "You could introduce yourself, dumbass." I couldn't help it, I burst into giggles. "Hey, guys, it's OK. I know it's not usual to see someone dancing at the gym."
The first guy introduces himself. He's James. His friend is Chris. They heard me jingle on by, and got curious. Then they got surprised. Chris was pretty gregarious. "Baby, that was HOT! Where did you learn to do that? What music were you listening to?" I showed him my playlist and let him hear a little of the last song. He elbows James again, who is trying to be surreptitious about checking out my left hand.
Oh. I see.
"Ah, sweetie, thanks, it's flattering, but I'm unavailable." He jumped a bit, startled that he wasn't as sly as he thought he was. "I don't see a ring!", he grinned. But he didn't argue or fuss, he proferred his hand and said it was nice to meet me, and asked if it was OK to talk to me about dance if he saw me at the gym again, he wondered if men could do it, too. Adorbs!
From thence, the boring part of the workout. Seventy-five minutes on the bike, at a pretty steady, if somewhat moderate pace. Then chest pulls, 30 reps at 50 pounds, and butterflies, 30 reps at 50 pounds. A hot, hot shower. Twenty minutes in the sauna.
A brisk walk the mile back home, and I was done. Pleasantly tired, but not completely wiped out. And amused by the fellas who tried chatting me up.
My ass, however, is still tender. I will be so grateful when the nerve endings over my sit-bones stop firing pain messages at me! Alas, it will be some weeks before I'm able to come home from a workout without yelling "MY BUTT HURTS!" when I walk in the door.
You think maybe I can find some ass-deadening cream or something?
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
I walked the mile to the gym in a light, yet warm drizzle, and didn't mind the dampness a bit. Especially not once I got the workout in motion!
Many women complain about not being able to get a decent workout because they get too much unwanted male attention at the gym. This doesn't seem to be an issue with the fellas at my gym. They don't pay much mind to the women wandering about, they're too intent on getting all their reps in. And they CERTAINLY don't pay the fat chick any mind, she's not especially interesting...unless it's the fat chick who jingles as she wanders by. I am often approached by men in the gym who want to know what all the jingling is about, and can I tell them where their wives or girlfriends can learn to bellydance?
Part of the fun of bellydance is having pretty shiny things to drape over yourself, and light, airy veils to decorate your arm work. Now, I don't use veils much at the gym, mostly because it seems a little too "Hey, look at me!", even though veils are great for general dance workout purposes. It's easier and more fun to stay motivated to get your arm carriage right when you're flinging around a couple yards of silk or organza. But I will not forgo a hip scarf. The shiny jingly things are not only pretty, they make noise and help you keep both rhythm and technique where you want them. Essentially, the jingling sounds wrong if you're not executing the moves correctly.
I jingle on by, take a place in front of the big mirrors, and commence to dancing. Today I added an extra song so I could work on abdominal isolations - mostly undulations, but also belly pops and rolls. Core strength is essential when you're intending to ride a long distance!
(To put the distance in perspective, if I were doing it all in a straight route, I'd finish about 20 miles shy of Cleveland!)
Anyway, I did the basic warmup, then started the abdominals...and noticed I had acquired an audience. A pair of very muscular guys, both about 6 feet tall, watching intently. Well, OK. I closed my eyes and kept going. I had this luscious tune to dance to, after all:
Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps (State of Bengal Mix) (YouTube)
"So...uh...bellydance, huh?" He sounded a little shy, and wouldn't make eye contact. His friend elbowed him. "You could introduce yourself, dumbass." I couldn't help it, I burst into giggles. "Hey, guys, it's OK. I know it's not usual to see someone dancing at the gym."
The first guy introduces himself. He's James. His friend is Chris. They heard me jingle on by, and got curious. Then they got surprised. Chris was pretty gregarious. "Baby, that was HOT! Where did you learn to do that? What music were you listening to?" I showed him my playlist and let him hear a little of the last song. He elbows James again, who is trying to be surreptitious about checking out my left hand.
Oh. I see.
"Ah, sweetie, thanks, it's flattering, but I'm unavailable." He jumped a bit, startled that he wasn't as sly as he thought he was. "I don't see a ring!", he grinned. But he didn't argue or fuss, he proferred his hand and said it was nice to meet me, and asked if it was OK to talk to me about dance if he saw me at the gym again, he wondered if men could do it, too. Adorbs!
From thence, the boring part of the workout. Seventy-five minutes on the bike, at a pretty steady, if somewhat moderate pace. Then chest pulls, 30 reps at 50 pounds, and butterflies, 30 reps at 50 pounds. A hot, hot shower. Twenty minutes in the sauna.
A brisk walk the mile back home, and I was done. Pleasantly tired, but not completely wiped out. And amused by the fellas who tried chatting me up.
My ass, however, is still tender. I will be so grateful when the nerve endings over my sit-bones stop firing pain messages at me! Alas, it will be some weeks before I'm able to come home from a workout without yelling "MY BUTT HURTS!" when I walk in the door.
You think maybe I can find some ass-deadening cream or something?
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Does This Post Make My Ass Look Fat?
So, 10AM didn't happen today. My sleep was interrupted, which allowed me to experience the side effects of my medication that I usually sleep through (we'll talk about that in the next post). But I didn't wuss out!! I just called the gym and rescheduled with a different trainer, later in the day.
Since Jay has a weight lifting plan for me and he wasn't in when I got there, I didn't lift today. I'll meet with Jay tomorrow, and we'll get into the lifting. But Jake - what the hell, with the J names? - did the weigh in and measuring and looked over the MS bike training plan...and then wanted to talk about my weight loss goals.
Arrgh!
What the hell is it with health and fitness professionals who assume that when you want to get fit, your primary goal is weight loss? This attitude is what kept me from being diagnosed with (and treated for) Major Depressive Disorder. I'd tell the doc I felt like hell all the time, and I'd get quacked at about losing weight and how I'd feel so much better if I just did that! Ugh.
But I digress. That is also something for the next post.
Anyway. I explained to Jake that my goals had nothing to do with the scale, that I expected that I would lose some weight, but that was not going to be my primary focus. The Vita Guru talked recently about not training for the scale, and he's right, though not for the reasons he thinks. It's not just vague goals that cause failure, it's complete lack of motivation when your only goal is a number on the scale. I could drop a hundred pounds, and still not be able to complete 100 miles on my bike over 2 days. That said, some numbers are a halfway decent indicator of progress.
So, let's get to it. I SAID I was gonna let it all hang out. Here's how I'm looking right now:
Upper arm: 10"
Thigh: 23.5"
Bust: 43"
Waist: 36"
Hips: 48"
Weight: 234
Who is just the most ADORABLE little pork chop? Ms. Fat Bottom is! (I forgot to take a picture! I'll do that tomorrow.)
Actually, I'm not upset with those numbers. The weight is 11 pounds less than it was the last time I saw my (new) doc, and my curvy measurements are pretty proportionate. I'm fluffy, and it's a cute looking fluffy!
That said, it's also fluff that I cannot be dragging around on my bike. The more weight you're dragging, the more you have to work to drag it, so the fluff needs to go and the muscle needs to be built up, and I need to increase my stamina and lung capacity.
I like to start workouts with a bellydance warmup. It's a good way to stretch everything and get moving and motivated, and it keeps me on top of the moves I worked so hard to learn over several years. KayLouise developed a great warmup choreography to the first selection, designed to be done once for a short warmup, or twice for something more substantial. I always opt for twice! My warmup music today:
Omar Faruk Tekbilek - "Shashkin" (Hefner Remix) (YouTube)
Naked Rhythm - Deep Lotus (4Shared Streaming)
...and then? SEVENTY-FIVE MINUTES on the bike. Which doesn't sound like a lot if you've got stamina, but I don't have much of that yet. Thankfully, I'm piecing together some good riding music!
And now? My ass hurts, boys and girls. Not as much as if I'd been out on the road, but I'm still a smidge tender, and ibuprofen and I are getting on really well today.
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
Since Jay has a weight lifting plan for me and he wasn't in when I got there, I didn't lift today. I'll meet with Jay tomorrow, and we'll get into the lifting. But Jake - what the hell, with the J names? - did the weigh in and measuring and looked over the MS bike training plan...and then wanted to talk about my weight loss goals.
Arrgh!
What the hell is it with health and fitness professionals who assume that when you want to get fit, your primary goal is weight loss? This attitude is what kept me from being diagnosed with (and treated for) Major Depressive Disorder. I'd tell the doc I felt like hell all the time, and I'd get quacked at about losing weight and how I'd feel so much better if I just did that! Ugh.
But I digress. That is also something for the next post.
Anyway. I explained to Jake that my goals had nothing to do with the scale, that I expected that I would lose some weight, but that was not going to be my primary focus. The Vita Guru talked recently about not training for the scale, and he's right, though not for the reasons he thinks. It's not just vague goals that cause failure, it's complete lack of motivation when your only goal is a number on the scale. I could drop a hundred pounds, and still not be able to complete 100 miles on my bike over 2 days. That said, some numbers are a halfway decent indicator of progress.
So, let's get to it. I SAID I was gonna let it all hang out. Here's how I'm looking right now:
Upper arm: 10"
Thigh: 23.5"
Bust: 43"
Waist: 36"
Hips: 48"
Weight: 234
Who is just the most ADORABLE little pork chop? Ms. Fat Bottom is! (I forgot to take a picture! I'll do that tomorrow.)
Actually, I'm not upset with those numbers. The weight is 11 pounds less than it was the last time I saw my (new) doc, and my curvy measurements are pretty proportionate. I'm fluffy, and it's a cute looking fluffy!
That said, it's also fluff that I cannot be dragging around on my bike. The more weight you're dragging, the more you have to work to drag it, so the fluff needs to go and the muscle needs to be built up, and I need to increase my stamina and lung capacity.
I like to start workouts with a bellydance warmup. It's a good way to stretch everything and get moving and motivated, and it keeps me on top of the moves I worked so hard to learn over several years. KayLouise developed a great warmup choreography to the first selection, designed to be done once for a short warmup, or twice for something more substantial. I always opt for twice! My warmup music today:
Omar Faruk Tekbilek - "Shashkin" (Hefner Remix) (YouTube)
Naked Rhythm - Deep Lotus (4Shared Streaming)
...and then? SEVENTY-FIVE MINUTES on the bike. Which doesn't sound like a lot if you've got stamina, but I don't have much of that yet. Thankfully, I'm piecing together some good riding music!
And now? My ass hurts, boys and girls. Not as much as if I'd been out on the road, but I'm still a smidge tender, and ibuprofen and I are getting on really well today.
--Missy, the Fat Bottomed Girl
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