Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Girls Guide To P90X

  I've got a ton on my mind ever since I found out we're moving to Japan, and I really just want to make a normal post to distract me for a bit. Next week is my last week of my first round of P90X! It's been really good for me and I can see myself coming out of this with much better habits than I had before I started. I found Turbo Fire to try next! I may even make a hybrid regimen of the two. Anyway, I wanted to write about my experiences and hopefully inspire readers to give it a shot! 

Getting Started: 
 You will most definitely need:
•A yoga mat. Obviously for yoga, stretching, and other exercises that require you to be on your back or stomach. Trust me.
•A water bottle. Get in the habit of drinking more water. Maybe even get a huge jug and mark it with times so you know how much water you're to drink by a certain time of day. Me, I just freeze some water over night, defrost it and refill it when it's empty or low.
•Weights. I have tens and fives pictured here, but I also have some two pound ball weights. I had to work my way up to tens, and still favor fives sometimes.
•A yoga block. This is possibly optional if you know you're already flexible and awesome at yoga. I discovered that I was not, at least not this series of yoga. Didn't help that I was really out of shape anyway.
Good thing Michael's had this since he was like fifteen.
A pull up bar and/or exercise bands. You know, the stretchy things with handles you get at places like Big 5. We still don't have those, and I'd like some, because I can't do pull ups worth a damn. Thankfully the next tool I list helps with that.
•A stool and/or chair without arms. I relied heavily on this to set my foot on to do pull ups, and you need a chair for chair dips and a stool for swing kicks. We have a stiff pleather futon that I ended up using for chair dips, and high stools for our table.
•Push up bars. Another optional tool we didn't have. I used to be able to do push ups, but I was so out of shape I had to build my strength up all over again. I did knee push ups and more reps. I'm just now able to do normal push ups again.

How to get P90X: You can pay for it and get the full program from beachbody.com for like $90 and up, or you can cheat like Michael and I did and use the internet. Got Vuze or UTorrent? Hint hint. We still got digital copies of all the documents and separate videos of each work out. Sadly we didn't have a printer to print out the exercise sheets, which I recommend.
Which P90X routine? There's the classic P90X, lean, and doubles. I chose lean, because there's no Plyometrics (lots of jumping and stuff that makes my heart feel like it's gonna explode) and it has more cardio to slim down. If you go for the classic, and you seriously feel like it's not enough, try doubles! I guarantee you'll get something out of it if you really want to.
What's it like? There are three phases, each one harder than the last, and each four weeks long. Three weeks of different workouts and a recovery week. Yes it can start to feel a little repetitive, but it's not bad. Plus, each phase had a workout I hadn't done yet. You're led by Tony Horton, who really seems like a genuinely nice guy. He doesn't yell, he encourages you all the way, and is really laid back. He's like someone else's really nice (really buff) dad.
Is it hard? Well, duh. At least for most people. I did this because I was suuuuper out of shape and embarrassed and I wanted to snap out of it. Therefore, when I started, I was like jello, and it was hard. I sweat buckets and I still do. But if you can push past that first and second week, completing the workouts from start to finish doing what you can, I bet you'll start feeling change already. And that's the best part. The soreness, knowing you're doing something right, feeling more alert, looking forward to working out.
But you've got to do more than workout. I realized this immediately and after taking a look at some of the nutrition guides and seeing the other stuff that you can get with P90X, like protein bars, recovery formulas, and shake mixes. My diet was awful. We ate out all the time and I ate tons of pasta and junk. It made me feel sluggish when I worked out. I knew I had to fix it.
Changing your diet: Don't think of the word diet as a bad thing. It really just means what you eat on a regular basis. And the change doesn't necessarily have to happen overnight. It's hard to do. I had to really consciously tell myself to make different choices (especially if we went out to eat), to replace some foods and cut out other foods as much as possible. I discovered I knew what to do (thanks to my mom and the internet), I just had to implement it.
Good:
Veggies whenever you get the chance. Salads (little to no dressing), carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and corn are what I find myself eating a lot or putting into other things. I've also had the occasional bamboo slices in curry* dishes and jicama as a snack. (*Side note, spicy food is known to help your metabolism.)
•Protein bars, like Pure Protein or Zone brands. Great for after workouts, as you need something with protein to help build muscles you work on no later than half an hour after you exercise.
•Raw nuts! Especially almonds, those are probably the best choice, honestly.
•Fish; just cook it wisely! Don't slather it in too much stuff. A simple sauce, baked or grilled, maybe a little bit of sea salt but no table salt.
•Fruit. All kinds! Makes for a fantastic snack or dessert. Just no whipped cream or whatever. Fresh fruit.
•Smoothies. Use Greek yogurt to thicken it up, add some kind of protein powder and look up some recipes online! Seriously so good. Yummy after workouts.
• Light snacks like rice cakes and health food store type stuff. It's actually better if you have a snack every few hours to keep your metabolism going.
Bad: 
Heavy red meats. We eat pork ribs sometimes but I don't like steak or most beef products in the first place. Instead of regular greasy bacon, I now eat turkey bacon, and I still like it. 
•Alcohol. Wine might be okay, but most of the time it's sugary or yeasty and not so good to indulge in too often. We drink occasionally but I always feel terrible when I do.
• Fried stuff. Obviously. No more french fries, or mozzarella sticks, or fried ravioli (sad face), or any of that junk.
•Heavy pasta dishes and other bad carbs. Sometimes having simple ravioli once in a while is okay, and most menus tell you healthy options anyway. If you have a hard time giving something up (like me) just try to really cut down on how often you eat it. Once or twice a week maybe, and not too much.
•Sugar. I love candy, so sometimes I really can't help getting some, but I stick to plain things like licorice or swedish fish, low fat stuff and try to make it last. I stopped eating chocolate so often, or getting something sweet at the store every time we went, and it goes without saying that soda is a no. I don't like to drink soda anyway, unless it's like a holiday maybe. Always always always water or tea. I've really liked coconut water too.
•Chips. Not a good snack to have all the time. Try pita chips, or popcorn (no butter!). I like something crunchy I can mindlessly eat, I think a lot of people do. Just make sure it's light.

Some things I just really couldn't do. I still drink regular milk, I still go to Taco Bell sometimes, I still indulge cravings for things I know are bad once in a while. But overall, I discovered that the better I ate, if I tried to go back to eating things I used to (in large amounts, too) I felt terrible. Slowly, I got used to eating better. I try to eat slower, and less, but also a little more often since frequent small meals are more recommended than just three big meals a day.

Does it work? Absolutely, but it's all about your attitude, and you get out what you put in. If you skip a workout, don't give it your all, and eat pizza instead of course you're going to be set back and disappointed. The great thing is, even if it's hard in the beginning, you get better, and can do more, and it becomes this snowball effect and by the first month you'll start seeing your body changing. Maybe only a little, but you'll see it, and that's what's so encouraging.

Dealing with procrastination and lack of motivation. There have been plenty of days where I didn't feel like working out; I was in a terrible mood, or tired, or a little sore, I didn't feel like getting sweaty etc. There are a few ways I dealt with this:
Just fucking do it. I knew I'd feel worse if I didn't, both inside and out. The more I put it off and felt sorry for myself the worse it was going to get. And lo and behold, I almost always felt better once I started working out. I usually had a certain time I'd try to get it done by, but just get it done, even if it's late. Do you have an hour? Then you have time for P90X.
•Think of something you'd rather do, and make that your reward. I said to myself, I'll play this new game after I work out, and only if. I'll watch that movie and get lazy after I work out.
•Think of yourself in perfect shape, exactly how you want to look, and remember that if you keep working out you will look like that. Or, look at pictures of fit people on Tumblr and get inspired. Check out tags like fitblr, P90X, health etc. If you find yourself getting jealous and sad and thinking I'll never look like that remember you have your own body, and you can at least look the best your body is meant to look if you just get up and workout.

Things I didn't do I wish I had:
•Taken more before and during pictures. They recommend you take six pictures in different stances before and at different phases of the 90 day work out. I didn't want to/forgot after a while. Still, I can see the results myself. Muscle definition, clothes fitting better, feeling better etc. I have pictures of before I started P90X and it's obvious I've changed.
•Written things down. Measurements, exercises and what I did, when I started using heavier weights and all that jazz. I couldn't print out the chart everything came with, and Tony tells you to write things down in like every single workout, I started to feel guilty. And yet, I could still feel myself being able to do more and pushing myself to do it; I know for a fact I improved. But I would've liked to have seen it on paper.
•I stopped doing Yoga X altogether after about a month and three weeks. I don't know why, but it was so frustrating. Maybe I could do it better now that I'm stronger, but I sorta wish I'd managed to stick with it. Still, I'm doing something in place of it I feel is a decent substitute. More cardio! 

Other tips: 
Tony is always right. He may say cheesy things and you may think he's wrong, but he's not. He knows what he's talking about. "Do your best and forget the rest, don't forget to breathe, engage all your muscles" Tony has a tip for every workout and if you listen to him and really think about it it can be helpful.
•More reps=lean, less=buff. That didn't make sense to me at first and I still don't know how to explain it but it's true. 8-10 for buffness, 12-15 (or more) for lean.
•Set a minimum goal for yourself. Do at least __ reps. Set the bar higher as you go on, two at a time, but if you're feeling tired always try to push for that minimum. Don't skip an exercise unless you really think you're gonna hurt yourself.
•If you want awesome abs, you actually have to work on everything else first. You've got to burn fat on top, not by doing crunches but by doing cardio, because other wise you're just building muscle behind fat and pushing it out. It makes your torso thicker. Thankfully, as long as you follow your workout, you should be fine. Don't abuse Ab Ripper X.
•When your sweat starts to get cold, and your skin is cold to the touch some time during your workout, I learned that means you're burning fat! It's a really satisfying feeling.
•Taking breaks is okay, but make them short. You do have to watch your heart rate, and it might be a good idea to get a monitor, but generally it'll probably be obvious when you need to stop and catch your breath. But don't go sit down and get distracted! Don't sit down at all. It's even worse for your heart and lungs if you sit. Stretch or walk slowly around the house for 15-30 seconds, maybe no more than a minute if you really need it. Then get right back to it!
•If it seems like things are going by too fast when you start, and you have no idea what's going on, don't freak out. Watch it first, pause or rewind. It's a video, you're in control of it.
•Celebrate small victories! I put a tally on my white board each day, and for some reason it was really satisfying.
It might be a little difficult to tell, but I have like actual biceps now, seriously awesome compared to the noodle state my arms were in before. I've lost inches, a pant size at least, my stomach is flatter...I'm not where I want to be yet but this was a great start and it got me pumped to keep going.
I only missed one full day out of the whole plan so far. I thought I might quit early but I guess I wanted it just the right amount to keep me going.

I hope you learned something, and maybe want to start P90X. It's hardcore, but it's doable, even if you're starting from scratch like I did. As the slogan goes, Bring It!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Phone Evolution

  Well I'm officially part of the Smartphone community. I had meant to get a new phone in June, but it was a complicated process, since I had to switch over to Michael's plan. It finally came in the mail last night!
  ....Aaaand I have no idea how to use it. See the phones I've had in the past? This is a pretty big change, even though I have an IPod Touch and I occasionally try to operate Michael's smartphone. It's the Samsung Galaxy S2; I've never been this updated with phone technology. The S3 just came out but naturally it was more expensive and I was actually a little scared to get a brand new model.
  I'm starting to feel technologically challenged with some of the things "phones" do now. I don't even know what to call them anymore, they're more like little computers. Honestly I miss the old flip phone days. I really liked those first two phones in the photo. I've only had one other phone not pictured here, and I think it was an old silver Cellular flip phone. Most of my friends had phones before I did. I don't think I got one until Sophmore year in high school.
  I absolutely hated my last phone. I don't know how it lasted so long, since I stopped treating it nicely a while ago. It's a Pantech Jest, jest being another word for joke, which is what this phone was. I thought having a chunky square phone with a slide out keyboard would be fun or cute or something, but it was such a pain in the ass. I've been wanting a new phone since about a month or two after I got my last one.
  Thanks to Apple, I know what apps I like and have been updating my new phone with my favorites. It feels a little silly, having two technologies with the same functions, but they each have something the other doesn't I suppose. My Ipod has 49gb of music and paid for apps (because I kept getting Itunes gift cards from people). But my Ipod can't text or call, and I can only use things like Instagram when I'm connected to Wifi.
  The pains have been not knowing how to properly use functions that are supposed to be convenient, like syncing my contacts using Facebook or whatever. I have only the default backgrounds and ringtones and it's a brand new slate. It's gonna take a while for me to figure it all out. And with all the stuff I've been doing, the battery has already drained 50% in the 2 hours I've had it on. But I guess that's to be expected.
  Maybe I'll write more about it once I get a better handle on things. Gotta get me a screen protector and case this weekend!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Teen Wolf and True Blood: My Junk Food

First, watch this:
"You may have never set foot in McDonalds, but you have your own McDonalds. Maybe instead of buying a Big Mac you read US Weekly. Hey, that's still McDonalds. It's just served up a little different."
-Jim Gaffigan

  One of my favorite comedians called me out in his most recent routine "Mr. Universe" by reminding me that those really bad television shows I watch are the equivalent of a Big Mac for my brain. It's true. But last summer when I had just about as much time as I do now and Michael was states away, I was living with my dad, who had a habit of watching tv. Our bonding time was watching certain shows, but I started to wonder what else I was missing out on. I'd been curious about True Blood, since it had been out for a while already, and I caught an episode of Teen Wolf at someones house. 
  You know when you're watching something and at first you're laughing at how ridiculous it is, but then you find yourself asking questions like "who's that?" or "why are they yelling at each other?" or "what happens next?" Yeah, that's what happened with True Blood and Teen Wolf for me. And then I became one of those people who actually waited for new episodes to come out. Gasp! However, I used my computer instead of the television. 
  I'm writing this because the second season of Teen Wolf just ended, and True Blood has a season finale coming up this week (but I'll probably be watching it a day late like always) I kinda felt like discussing it. I feel guilty, like my hands are covered in cheeseburger grease, but hell, I might as well own up to it. Let's just cut right to it.
  So Season 2 of Teen Wolf had kind of a rough start. I admit though, I really liked the new intro. But they introduced a new creature, which had me worried they'd pull a True Blood and start whipping out myth after myth like a terrible magician screaming "TA DA! ANOTHER ONE!" Thankfully, I got used to it, and they stuck to the same track and didn't pull out anymore surprises.
  I gained a lot of respect for the show by the end of it, because they had some really good moments between characters, mostly with Stiles and his dad. I teared up a few times (though I think I'm just sensitive to daddy issues). 
  When Allison's mom got bit and decided to kill herself, I did not give a single fuck. I was talking to the screen, "just do it already, jeeze!" She was an awful character, and I thought they'd redeem her and her husband by letting her stay a werewolf and hiding her or something. So that part I hated. 
  The one character that I found myself detaching from was Lydia. I think they went to far with the way she tried to cover up her crazy when it was very very obvious but she was just "too prideful" to ask for help. By the time that was over, it was just hard to tell what she was feeling and doing. She wasn't very involved in the story line so any time she showed up was weird and kind of pointless. 
  I think the ending played out as well as it could. I didn't see what Scott did on his own coming at all, and they left a few cliffhangers and enough hints not to make me furious with impatience. Overall I like that the show highlighted the importance of love and family, and staying close to the people who really mattered. It had a good simple message. 
 As for True Blood, this show is off the scale ridiculous. Sex, gore, a hundred separate story lines, faeries, goblins, werewolves, shifters, vampires... good lord it never ends. It has long since veered from the books it's based off of, which I don't recommend since they are just as terrible and badly written. 
  But it's that show I can't stop watching. One more french fry and maybe I'll be full? Ugh. This show makes my brain fat. Season 5 is coming to a close and it's been one shit storm after another. Not one minute went by before someone was in peril, or fighting, or crying. It was a roller coaster, and I'm not sure how to feel about it, since I really only watch it because it's my awful soap opera and I don't feel like defending it.
  However, out of all the crap that piled itself up in this show, I still think Terry is one of the best characters, DESPITE his storyline in this season. He's a family man, a big traumatized teddy bear who really does deserve a normal life. He does what he has to. I've just always liked him. Arlene is okay. I don't have much of an opinion on her. 
  My new favorite has become Jessica. And props to this actress! She's really proven to have a wide range in this show. I hated Jessica when she first showed up. She was such a brat. But through the show she's won me over, and now I really like her. Her character blog is also kind of entertaining. Plus the part with Hoyt this season really made me sad, and I don't feel genuine emotion for this show very often. 
  This season finale better be good though, and have at least some happiness because there's been very little of that this season. I hope Luna gets her daughter back, and Russell gets what for from the faeries. Sookie hasn't impressed me much this season, and her storyline has been really weak compared to others. It felt like she was really pushed back this time, instead of being the star of the show. 
  Don't even get me started on Bill. I never really liked him much, and they've done that "oh no, now the good guy is the bad guy!" thing, just like Heroes. It's such bull, I roll my eyes every time he says something stupid, which is all the time. I want Eric to get out of there, but he needs to do something new. He can't just go back to sitting around at Fangtasia, can he? I dunno, it feels like something needs to happen to him. Something different. 
  I like Tara and Pam's chemistry. Two angry stubborn ladies stuck together with occasional accidental emotion? Yes, I like it. I ship it. 
  
  There's a lot more I could say about True Blood but it would take ages and pages. I can't believe I've seen every episode, what is wrong with me? Anyway, I haven't had anyone to gob about it with and I had to get some opinions out there or else I'd pop. I should probably get on with my day now, I legitimately have things to do.


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Tuesday Tumblr Love

I got this idea from everything in between ! 
From ethereal-organism
 I'm on Tumblr at least once a day anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour (okay, or two). I realized when I saw this on Samantha's blog (link above) I keep blogger and Tumblr separate. Well, today I felt like sharing some recent favorite photos on my tumblr or likes and saying something about them!
The apartment set from F.r.i.e.n.d.s; pretty much my favorite show. I rewatched it not long ago.
Sometimes I wish we'd had our dogs when they were fluffy babies like this. I feel like we missed out a little on the puppy phase. So freakin' cute. 
Radeo is my favorite tattooed lady. Maybe someday I'll meet her instead of having a fascination at a distance.
Photos like this are an inspiration, if only out of jealousy. Also, I'm jealous of anyone with obvious back dimples like these. I think they're really attractive. I think if I have any, they're covered by my tattoos by now.
I really really really want this Totoro pillow more than a lot of things. 
Some people might think this is dumb, but this is one of the cutest tattoos I've ever seen. I've always felt like breakfast is the best and most important meal and this inspired me to start thinking of my own breakfast tattoo.
I feel like having a creepy interest in eye jewelry is something I should hide. Forget that, I love this ring and other eye inspired jewelry. 
Favorites are 3, 4, 5, 13, 17 and 18. 
Can I just say I am SO LOOKING FORWARD TO WINTER. I honestly hate summer when it's over 100 degrees. Summers cool for like two weeks. It's already cooling down here and it's getting so nice. I can't wait for layers, hot drinks and snow. 

My last note is I found the kigurumi the girl is in in the top picture, and I'm totally getting it for my halloween costume! So glad I've already decided; most years it takes me till the last minute to figure it out for sure.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Clever Girl

  Miss Foxxy Lady thinks she's really cool. Why? She continues to evade our efforts in blocking off gaps in our backyard fence and somehow escapes and embarks on a spastic adventure of running to the nearest yard with dogs and taunting them.
  When we first got her she got out a couple of times (the first time giving me a damn heart attack, since we'd just brought them home) but I think that was out of fear. It didn't happen again until a couple months ago, and now she does it at random. I used to be able to leave them outside for a while and they were content just running around the yard barking at other dogs a few yards away.
  But remember a few entries back I talked about someone cutting our zip ties and opening our gate? You know how we figured it out in the first place? They left the gate open. I didn't know, so when I let the dogs out they saw the exit and decided to go exploring, and one of our neighbors kindly told us they saw our dogs running around.
  Sometimes it's pretty heart stopping. Usually it's just Foxxy, but she's a bad influence so Toki tries to follow when she can. I'm getting pretty freakin' sick of it, because it tends to be when we wake up after letting them out for a while that Foxxy has escaped. (Side note, if you think it's weird I'm using two x's, it was Michael's idea to spell it that way on her tag.)
  After her daring escape last night, we thought we saw where she got out and put up some zip ties to try to pull the gap together. But this morning I woke up to stressed out barking from the neighbor dogs, and I could picture Foxxy running around on the other side of the fence taunting them. Lo and behold, I was right. So again, we put up a concrete block on one side of yet another gap and zip tied it.
  I have a feeling she'll find a way out again though.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

In Memory Of

  My mom told me yesterday that our family cat Trinket, the blue Korat, passed away yesterday. Her health hadn't been great for the last while, but then again she was 18 years old. This cat was older than my brother. She moved to Arizona with us. She outlived two of our other cats. We always had Trinket.
  She was shy but always very sweet. She'd often hide when people came over, and it was special when she came out to say hi. She was the kind of cat who knew when you were feeling bad and she'd come curl up with you. Once, she bolted out the back door and we thought we'd never see her again. But two weeks later she showed up again, wide eyed and a bit skinnier; who knows how a house cat had survived outside more than a few days. She never left again, though.
  The part that upsets me most is I wasn't home when my mom and brother took her to the vet, to be with her in her last moments. And all we keep getting is bad news, whether it's a pet or a person passing away, it seems to be one right after the other. And we can't go home and mourn with our families. It's really not fair. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Memories Through Music

 Music means everything to me. Most of the time I immerse myself in music and it can make me feel a number of powerful emotions. Certain songs are potent reminders that can take me back to where I was one of the times I was listening to it that was especially memorable. Often it's a car ride, or a dark room, and sometimes an entire artist can remind me of one person that's been in my life if I listened to them a lot while we hung out.
  Because of this sometimes music can make me really sad, or make me feel a whole lot better. It can put me in a bit of a trance or a deep state of mind. Right now some of these songs are all I have left of relationships I've had in the past with people. Not just romantic ones, either. Some of them I'll tell you about. Others...I might be really vague about.
  1. Always by Erasure reminds me of my best friend. We're pretty far away from each other so it makes me a little sad. Despite the fact that's it's kind of a cheesy song that a ridiculous game uses as background music.
  2. The Offspring also remind me of Deroy and some of the car rides we've had, but it also reminds me of my stepbrother Scott who listened to them a lot.
  3-5. These next couple songs always always remind me of when I first dated Michael. He also showed me Linkin Park, but I'd already put up several Michael songs so I didn't want to overload it. I listened to Anytime a lot when we broke up.
  6-7. Tool and APC remind me a lot of someone I dated for a long time. I actually don't listen to them much anymore because they take me back to the mindset I was in then and flood my brain with things I don't want to think about.
 8. Another ex showed me Lamb of God, but I quickly detached the association simply because I fell so in love with this band, I didn't care. It's still one of my top favorites, and I'd just die if I got to see them live.
  9. This is the ex boyfriend section. Although I already loved SOAD, I listened to it in the car a lot with a certain someone. For some reason I remember when we'd stopped for something and he was singing this at me from outside the window.
  10. Welcome Home reminds me of Marshall, a really dear friend that I used to talk to a lot. He really listened to me and it was nothing but a platonic friendship and I was so appreciative of him. I miss him.
  11. Buttons, a song I can never listen to without thinking about a drunken night.
  12. Maroon 5 in general just reminds me of car rides to Flagstaff and Mesa with a friend I used to have, and that whole weird time.
  13. I gave her the CD this is from and she pretended not to like it because she was embarrassed, but told me thank you later.
  14. The only song I remember clearly from that awkward two months. I still wish I was friends with this guy, but he won't have any of my nonsense. I guess I can't blame him.
  15. Red Hot Chili Peppers also reminds me of someone I had a not-quite relationship with. I don't talk about it ever.
  16. I got a lap dance from Wyatt to Fuck The Pain Away for my bachelorette party. Oh man, I couldn't stop laughing.
  17. That Boy That Girl was a song my friend Steph and I used to blast and know every word to in high school. Come to think of it, she showed me the last song too.
  18. Honest Mistake takes me back to middle school when I was close to Shanea. She showed me the music video, which was back in the days when I had hardly seen any music videos ever so it was really memorable.
  19. Float On reminds me of several people, both I've had feelings for in the past. It makes me feel peaceful, though. I still know them and we go way back.
  20. Tongue Tied   reminds me of when I lived in Phoenix and the two friends I made and still talk to now.

I'm really not afraid of sharing stuff like this.  Maybe it's weird but it just kinda came to mind and I wanted some material to post. I hope you can enjoy at least some of it.
 

P90X Progress

July 13th vs August 13th
I'm almost done with week 9 and I am past day 60! Finally I can see more drastic results; just look at a month ago versus now! I've slimmed down and gained some muscle. Yesterday I put on a pair of shorts that didn't fit a few weeks ago!
The bumps in the road, however, have included the fact that I skipped Yoga altogether last week (oops) and that I've had some not so healthy meals in the last week or so. It's hard to eat healthy on a budget, and it's even harder when your neighbors invite you over for pizza.
Instead of Yoga this week, I did an hour and fifteen minutes of Just Dance 2 and 3, and 45 minutes of Dance Central. I don't like Dance Central as much because it's more complicated and I don't get nearly as much exercise out of it as I do on my Wii games. If you hadn't guessed, I'm getting really fed up with Yoga. Yes it's good to stretch and hold poses, but lately I haven't had the patience for it. I also really want more cardio so I can push myself these last few weeks and really get something out of it. I'll probably be supplementing my Yoga days with Just Dance for the last few weeks I have left.
After I do Kenpo today, I'm one month away from completing P90X! How crazy is that? So I should be done September 13th. I'd like to do the newer P90X, and I may even try insanity. If I can't find anything right away though, I'll do more of this P90X. Pretty soon after I'm done we'll be getting ready to move, and hopefully I'll have time for exercise but things are going to start getting crazy at the end of October so we'll see.


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Kitty Chirps

Right as I was about to upload this on Vimeo (and sit back and wait for a minute per second of the video, ugh) Michael reminded me that I have a nifty little feature on my IPod that uploads my videos in a matter of minutes instead of an hour like most video uploading sites. I don't get it, but it's certainly efficient. Anyway, I mentioned cat chirps and Michael told me he's never witnessed a cat do that before, so I got Ramses to chirp at the laser light to show him! It's weird but cute. I think they do it when something is out of reach; my cat Trinket did it as she watched birds at the window. Ah, the life of an indoor cat.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Still No Projections

   I really thought we'd know where we're going by now, but still nothing. No official graduation date either. Yesterday I got to listen to Michael and a bunch of his army friends talk about it, and so far the rumors are that they've sent too many people to Korea (so hopefully Michael won't go) but also maybe too many people to Ft Bliss (which is where we hope to go the most). Even if we get something, it may change, but there's a possibility that the guys can also trade locations.
   When we know we'll be telling people. I guess Michael thinks they might give them their projections after they finish the section they're studying in class. Mostly I'm just pretending I don't care, even though I do, so I can get to the end of the day without going crazy.
   I've learned a lot about the army. I've met more decent people than not, but those indecent people really are something awful. It's a pretty inefficient system, not as punctual as I thought, and very choosy with what they decide to provide for soldiers and their families, not to mention how easy (or very difficult) these provisions are to access.
   I think the thing I hate the most is if Michael is sick or injured it's incredibly difficult for him to get treated. He has to wake up early (earlier than he already has to) and get in line for sick call, and often he runs into people who scoff at him for going. The second is how long they keep him and the others on base when they don't need to. One of his friends had to go to the hospital for heat exhaustion because they were standing around in the 100+ degree weather for way too long.
   It's just irksome, and I worry about him more than myself. I'm also wondering how this move will go. The army can pack and move our things for us, but we also have three animals. I've never moved with pets before. I know they'll live through it but it'll likely be stressful for all of us.
    Looking back it's still strange that I'm even in this situation in the first place. I never thought it would happen. I'm just so ready to get out of Oklahoma.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Review: Karin, the Anime (aka: Chibi Vampire)

   I bought this DVD set for myself from the manga store down the street a while back in June for my birthday. Before that, quite a while ago, I bought the first novel version of the graphic novel.
   This is a really silly anime. Much sillier than something like Chobits. Although like Chobits, it's randomly erotic and inappropriate, and I needed to know what happened in the end so I watched it all the way through.
   Karin Maaka is from a family of vampires, but she was born an unvampire; she makes blood instead, and can go in the sun and eat people food etc. Her blood increases and she has to inject it into someone.
   She discovers her blood increases an inconveniently frequent amount around the new guy at school, and goes from avoiding him to trying to understand why and fixing it. For whatever reason, he doesn't have big anime eyes like everyone else and they all make comments about it.
   Honestly the voice acting is pretty terrible in both languages, as is the dialogue. Karin repeats things like a parrot when confused, and everyone says really obvious things really slowly as though the shows is aimed towards kids. Contradicting that are pin up shots of Karin in the intro and lots and lots of jokes and references about her breast size.
   This is why it took me so long to watch the show. It was a lot of lighthearted cheesy hoo hah and Karin being embarrassed about everything and her family cleaning up her messes. But it actually got better. Eventually. Around episode sixteen out of the twenty four episodes.
   Then it actually got pretty serious. I was surprised. My favorite characters ended up being Karin's sister Anju, who went pretty far just to get Karin to do what made her happy, and Karin's grandmother, who had this whole sad back story to explain her blood crazed antics.
   My least favorite things about the show included the character Winner, an uber obnoxious teen "vampire hunter" who claims to be desperately in love with Karin and has no freaking clue about who/what she is, and Karin's relationship with her best friend. I don't know if it's Japanese culture, but Karin told a lot of things to that boy her blood increased around and was always lying to her best friend and I hated it.
   I don't want to spoil the end necessarily, but I was okay with it. I actually wouldn't have minded if it had ended in tragedy and made up for all the goofiness with some badassery, and it tried to do that but backpedaled out of it at the last minute. I couldn't decide if I would've been upset over either kind of ending, and in a way they attempted both. Shameless crowd pleasing, it's not for every show.
   Overall it was cute, and a good story that took a little long to tell. I'd give it a 6.5/10. Not horrible, worth sitting through, but maybe not for you if you really can't get into it. It also would've helped if whoever did the subtitles for the english dub hadn't left all of the lowercase 'k's out. That was a little weird and disappointing, but I couldn't find it online.

Tldr: Cute, but not for everyone.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

A Dose of Corgi: The Laser Pointer

Yesterday while we were at the pet store, I wanted to get a toy for one or more of the animals to keep them entertained. Ramses is going through her demon cat days where she can't seem to get rid of her energy fast enough, and takes it out on the little things she can get her paws on: hair ties, socks, receipts on the table, hair pins, my Sailor Moon dolls, pens, random things on Michael's shelf and pretty much anything else she can pick up and carry off. As a result, these things get found by the doggies and are immediately destroyed. Poor Sailor Venus will be limping for the rest of her days :(
We landed on a very sturdy ball for the dogs and a laser pointer intended first for the cat but I've known dogs who enjoy chasing a little red light, too. Turns out Toki just can't get enough of it, and Ramses will jump and chirp at it too. (If you've never heard a cat chirp at something they want to catch you're missing out, it's cute.) However, I think Foxy doesn't necessarily see the appeal, but doesn't want to be left out. If Toki's not playing, she's not all that interested. It's kind of funny to see her put effort into being included.