Break

Whew, a short semester is no joke. I'm looking forward to a short break from research and presentations and trying to keep the time zone differences straight. Going to school half a world away is a unique challenge sometimes.

Now that I can come up for air, I've got time for other interests.

Like cooking. Jeff and I have enjoyed cooking on the few nights a week we are able to enjoy dinner together. Working opposite schedules isn't ideal, but it's shaken up our dinner routine and made us appreciate cooking when we have the chance to do it together.

Exercise is back on the plate! I've slacked the past couple of weeks. I decided a new workout was needed, so I found Les Mills Combat and decided to try it out. I really enjoy the kickboxing in some Jillian Michaels and Turbofire workouts, so I figured I'd dive right into the whole thing. I tried one workout last week and LOVED it. I'm looking forward to this week, although I'm pretty sure it's going to kill me.


I also finally tried paintball! Jeff loves it and has been trying to get me to go for years. We finally got the chance today.

It was a fun experience, although there weren't too many people there to play. Somehow I managed to get shot in the neck twice, so that's fun. Those welts will be an interesting story all week. I was told I wasn't too bad for a beginner, although slow. What can I say, running and diving didn't sound all that appealing ;)

We have plans to try again when we can get a group of friends together and make it more fun. Maybe pull some other newbies in so I'm not all on my lonesome.

I took a break from shooting getting shot for a round and took some pictures of Jeff playing.

I'm going to finish enjoying a day where no homework is due! I have a handful of discussion posts left to do by the end of the week, but that's nothing now that the big research project is done. I even managed to enjoy a book...in the span of two days. I need to stop reading so fast, it's getting expensive.

Fitness

This week was pretty good as far as fitness goes. My goals of no fried food and no soda have been successful so far. I just have to make it through work tonight and resist the delicious smell of french fries from the first floor of my building.

Workouts:
Tuesday - sprint/jog/incline intervals and sauna
Friday - aerobathon! Kickboxing, crossfit, and zumba with the teens at work

I'm also getting trained in archery tomorrow. I don't know what that entails, but it'll probably work my arms?

Next week will be harder because I'm working nights. Here are the goals for next week: no fried foods again and four workouts.

Fitness This Week

I put my iPod in the washing machine last week. It was very dead after the spin cycle. The BX did not have iPod nanos in stock. I bought a shuffle, but realized I was losing playlists and fitness, which tracks how far I'm running. Since I've been enjoying running, I didn't want to give that up. Amazon refused to ship an iPod nano to me, so I'm waiting patiently for it to ship to my mom who will very nicely ship it to me. Sometimes living overseas is fun...

The iPod mishap screwed up my fitness routine last week.
M - I went to the gym - I don't remember what I did though! (This was the morning I killed my iPod...)
T - Turbofire Fire 45
W - Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones
Th - Nothing. I bought the iPod shuffle Wednesday evening and thought it charged all night but it did not. I was so frustrated I sat on the couch and did nothing. Whoops!
F - 2.7 mile run with Jeff and 100 pushups!

I was very excited to tackle 100 push-ups. Jeff and I ran and took breaks along the way to do pushups, crunches, and planks. I lost energy for the ab work quickly. I became very stubborn about doing as many pushups as Jeff though. I was a little sore Saturday...

Today I did jog/sprint/incline intervals on the treadmill. I'm enjoying pushing myself through running, but I also need to start working on some incline/hill work so I can make it to Fuji this summer.


My food goals this week:
-No fried foods
-No soda

While I've been doing pretty good with working out, food continues to be a struggle. I get stressed or impatient or tired and I reach for fried foods. Jeff and I get lazy on weekends and binge. I grab a soda just because. I'm trying not to guilt myself over all of it, but just focus on the next week and doing better. I have salmon defrosting in the fridge for dinner and I just finished my morning juice, so I'm on the right track!