I am Jester. Hear me whimper.

[raw456]

Yesterday was the Mothers Day Classic here.

8km (5miles) walk. I did it in 87m (I had estimated 90mins) so I was really pleased. This was my first big training walk for the City2Surf in August. It also got me experience at walking in a crowd. There were about 3000 people in my event. By the time we were coming up to the home stretch of the first lap, there were still people who had only just started out.

I did discover that I need to invest in some really good sports socks though. Mine are too thin and by about the 6km mark I could feel a couple of blisters starting.

My feet were really sore afterwards but a long soak in the foot spa and a heavenly foot rub from Hubby helped that. So far today I have no aches or pains which I take as a good sign. I have a couple of small blisters on my right foot, but they are not giving me too much trouble.

I will hit the gym tonight, but I will stay off the treadmill to spare my feet.

[Sapphire Silk]

Went to TKD tonight and totally kicked ass on my form.

Ankle is doing well. Still having some flexibility problems with it, and it does ache at times . . . especially when the weather changes.

But I was given my testing form tonight, and my instructor thinks I'll be fine to test on time with the other yellow belts in my class . . . which makes me very happy.

[Sapphire Silk]

Did my weigh in two days early as we are on break until next Monday. Lost one pound from last week. Forgot to get someone to get my blood pressure. Waist size unchanged, but clothing is feeling looser and I've dropped a pant size (18 to a 16).

Went to the adult class tonight. Practiced no contact sparring techniques . . . tougher than it looks and I was running out of breath. Whew! But the instructor was really pleased with my form and my 1 step sparring and says I'm on track to test May 27th.

[raw456]

Went to the adult class tonight. Practiced no contact sparring techniques . . . tougher than it looks and I was running out of breath. Whew! But the instructor was really pleased with my form and my 1 step sparring and says I'm on track to test May 27th.

Thats Great! Keep up the good work!!!!

I have to say I have been really slack this week due to alot of stress both at work and on the family front and not being able to run due to the blisters on my feet. Have only been to the gym once, and last night I pigged out on pizza, eating way more than I should have.

But I'm hoping to get back into my routine today.

[Sapphire Silk]

Woke up last night to use the rest room, and when I stood up the weirdest thing happened. When I put weight on my sore ankle, I felt a "pop!", and suddenly the pain in my ankle vanished. It had really been bothering me when the barometric pressure changed. It's been good all day, and I've recovered some flexiblity in the ankle.

Clearly I had a slight dislocation along with the sprain. It popped back into place last night.

Went to TKD again tonight, will probably not get home from commencement tomorrow to go in time and definitely can't go Friday or Saturday because of pinning. So next class will be Monday. But had a good class tonight.

There's a big tournament in July that's sponsored by Yong In University (the university my headmaster graduated from, as well as the owner of my school). I'm still planning to compete. Should be fun

[firecat88]

*cues the song 'I Feel Good'*

Very productive last couple of days, as far as working out goes. Yesterday, did about an hour of HR. Today, it was an hour of various pull-ups and arm exercises on the TT, plus 10 push-ups. Tomorrow, who knows? Depends on what time everyone gets home from work.

[Sapphire Silk]

Went to TKD last night and tonight. I've been going to the adult classes because I'm pushing myself to be ready for my green stripe test Thursday of next week.

Last night I got a shot at practicing with the practice board. I have to break a board using my axe kick to pass my test. To do an axe kick, you swing your leg straight up, toes over your shoulder, and bring the flat of the foot down on the target. It's trickier than it sounds. I've got the hang of the technique, and I can kick with some power, but I can't break the damn practice board . Yet.

Tonight we had a guest instructor. He really worked us. I was soaked with sweat when I left, though it was a great class. We worked on a lot of techniques related to good kicking, which is my favorite thing to do.

Knees are giving me a bit of a fit . . . kneecaps are wanting to shift again. I need to start using the regular gym and work on my leg exercises and stretches outside of TKD: I've been slacking off. Ankle is still sore, but getting better bit by bit.

Lost one pound from last week. Need to get someone to check my blood pressure: last week it was 118/78, which is finally getting back to normal range.

I need to lose just four more pounds to hit my goal of 30 pounds in six months! I've got until June 14 to hit my goal, and I know I can do it.

[raw456]

Well last week was a total write off. Only managed the gym once and got a bit out of control with my eating.

This week - Back on Track

Monday I had my training session, boy did she work me hard. I was paying for not going last week, but I got through it.

Tuesday I did a 5km walk. My knees were protesting by the 4km mark, but I kept on going.

Today I went to the track by the river. I'd pick a spot further up the track and run till i got to that spot, then walk for about 30secs, then run again. On the return trip I alternated walking where I had previously run and vice versa.

Guess how far I ran? = 1.25km I was so chuffed with myself.

Tomorrow I'm back at the gym for some weight work.

The kilo's are not dissapearing as fast as I would like, but more and more people are telling me I'm looking better and better, and thats more what I'm aiming for anyway.

I pick up my new bike next weekend, so I will be able to add that to my regime.

[Sapphire Silk]

Well, remember, muscle weighs more than fat. If you're building new muscle, you'll have slower weight loss, and even maybe gain at times.

Eventually you should lose more: muscle metabolizes calories more efficiently than fat does, so you burn more.

[Cat]

Cat's been slowing down the work outs...I have cut out "home-gym" until I get back from NH, so I am only doing "work-gym" (and there is only one elliptical, so annoying)

Next week, no work outs at all.....I just know with my luck I'd pull something before I hit the mountains.

And I gained a wee bit of weight.....nothing bad

[Jester]

I've been both good and bad.

I kinda slacked off leading up to my vacation, but was working my tail off at work.

On vacation, I actually rented a bike for our first two mornings, and did a hard 12 mile ride each morning to erase my hangover. Little Red swore up and down I was not going to exercise on our vacation, and I proved her wrong.

Day 3, I did a little bit of work in the second hotel's fitness room. After that, though, with Little Red having infected me with her sickness, I didn't do much of anything but drink. And by our last day, even that was a struggle.

Since getting back from vacation on Tuesday night, all I've done is stay in bed or go to work, as I've been battling that damn illness/cold/whatever the fuck it was.

Yesterday was my first day off of the decongestant (though I do still have a slight lingering cough), but just sat around the apartment watching tv, getting exactly nothing done. I need to get some serious cleaning done in the apartment, but can't seem to get started.

Need to get moving into doing something, though....

[Sapphire Silk]

Sorry to hear you've been feeling poorly

It's hard to get the routine back from a cold. I ended up saying, "fuck this shit," and just doing it when I had a cold back in February.

The ankle was a different story. I was chomping at the bit to get back to working out from the moment I injured it. It was bothering me last week during TKD: I worked out four days in a row and on the fourth day it was feeling pretty sore.

However, I am more than ready to test for my Green Stripe on this coming Thursday. All the hard work I've been putting in since going back to class is paying off: I'm testing on time

Weight loss is plateauing a bit, though. I'm not sure if it's that I'm building some muscle mass, or if I need to do something different with my diet. I've been keeping a journal, and I'm burning about 1000 calories more than I take in.

Originally, I thought I had til June 14th to make my 6 month weight loss goal of 30 pounds. Then I realized: I started in January. That means, I hit six months in July, not June. Still, I've only got 4 pounds to go to hit my goal

[firecat88]

Full hour on the TT today, and I made sure to make full use of the machine. I did half an hour of upper body stuff, and another half hour of leg presses. Am I tired? You betcha. Do my legs feel slightly noodle-ish? Oh yeah. Is it worth it? Hells yeah. I've been sleeping better, my stomach is having fewer upsets, my knees and hips haven't been bothering me.

Something weird I noticed, though, that maybe someone here who's more medically knowledgeable than I am can explain why this is. It's very strange, and I've been kinda noticing it as I've been working out more, but one of my legs is thinner than the other. It's as if my left leg, for some reason, is losing fat faster than my right leg.

[Sapphire Silk]

Something weird I noticed, though, that maybe someone here who's more medically knowledgeable than I am can explain why this is. It's very strange, and I've been kinda noticing it as I've been working out more, but one of my legs is thinner than the other. It's as if my left leg, for some reason, is losing fat faster than my right leg.

It could be you're losing more fat there . . . we tend to lose it first were we put it last.

Or, you could be building more muscle mass on the thicker leg. People tend to be leg dominant the same way they're eye and hand dominant. So you may lead with that leg, or use it more without realizing it.

[Sapphire Silk]

Weigh in day today. Lost one pound from last week. Total weight loss since January: 27 lbs.

Blood pressure check: 146/84 Not good. Not good at all. I'm going to have to go back to the doctor.

Have to skip TKD tonight. Evil Empryss had a last minute meeting to go to with the Evil Princess, and asked me to baby sit the Evil Prince.

I'll go tomorrow. Thursday is testing. Friday will make four days for this week.