Deep In Your Heart, You Know...

Well, we had a rather busy weekend that culminated in the SuperBowl last night. I admit that the Calvin Klein commercial certainly caught my full attention because it's rare to see such a beautiful half-naked man up close and personal. Even if it was a commercial for underwear. The power failure of the Super Dome meant that the game ran even longer than past years, and although it was a nail-biter with feats of athletic glory (the 108 yard touch down, for example), it ended late and we were all weary this morning.

I discovered a frozen bag of summer blueberries in the freezer (don't ask me which summer) which I've decided to include in my oatmeal breakfast. Since I'm not quite sure how much water they contain, I'm guessing when I mix together the 1/4 cup dry quick oats, dash of salt, 1/4 cup frozen blueberries and oh, maybe a 1/4 cup water. Nuke covered with wax paper in an over-sized bowl for 3-4 minutes, and voilá, piping hot fruity oatmeal. No artificial color, flavorings, preservatives, sweetners. It's pretty good if you eat it before it congeals to the consistency of wallpaper paste.

I also saw a truly entertaining video regarding Breast Cancer (yes, that's what I wrote) which I'll share right here:


Today's Total Workout:
35 minutes = 3.99 miles
Smith Bench Press (I decided to press max weight today but I wanted to make sure I was adequately warmed up beforehand so I cut back my reps while upping the weights): 12 reps @ bar / 25 @ 95 lbs / 12 @ 115 / 12 @ 135 / 11, 9, 10 @ 145 lbs / 12 @ 125 lbs / 25 reps @ 105 lbs
Lateral Delt DB Raises (super set with Rear Inclined Seated Raises): 6 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Rear Inclined Seated DB Raises: 6 x 15 @ 22.5 lbs (there's a couple of cute boys here today and I watch them, without looking directly at them, between my sets; cute boys who are probably 30 years my junior but I catch them glancing over in my direction every now and then. Yes, we all need incentives and take our entertainment where we can!)
One-Arm Tricep DB Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twist: 2 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting Sit Ups: 125 (I counted)
Lower Ab Kick Outs: 100 (I counted. 100 is as much as I can do without developing an abrasion.)
French Press: 4 x 15 @ 30 lbs
Mat Stretch (My splits are getting much better and that makes me happy. I have a fairly extensive stretch routine that I do every day that I come to the gym, but I wonder if there are things I should change. It's like a dance routine since I move to my cardio mix beat but of course, I'm the only one who can hear it and other than my silent lip-synching to myself, no one really knows what the heck I'm doing. Just as well.)

There are a lot of regulars here today including B who complains that she's losing all her hard-earned muscle because she can't do any upper body exercises. She wants to cut down on her cardio but I remind her that the only reason she does cardio (at least that's what she told me) is to lower her cholesterol levels so that she doesn't need to take medication. She's going for physical therapy which she's highly skeptical will do anything for her. I tend to agree with her. Unless it's therapy prescribed for athletes, most of these exercises are for truly sedentary people. However, I was pretty enthusiastic about her appointment for a deep tissue massage. Hurts like hell, but damn, it feels so good when it's over. (Like that old joke: "Beat me, whip me because it feels so good when you stop!")

I overhear the Apple speaking with one of the nice lady trainers at the gym. She's complaining about not being able to drink 64 ounces of water (8 eight-ounce cups) because she'll have to pee all the time, and she just doesn't like water that much, and if she drinks too much, she'll feel too bloated to exercise. I just kept my mouth shut. I know she's trying but I feel as if she's really not understanding what she really needs to do if she's trying to change her body (ie, lose weight).

The scale reads 111.4 and I'm not surprised because I had a double helping of pulled pork with baked beans for dinner and then mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. By the time I get to my annual OB/GYN appointment and get on the scale, it reads 106 lbs but I think that scale is light. Just to be sure, because I'm such a compulsive person, when I get home I check my weight, which reads 108.0 lbs. That seems correct, given that I've sucked down and probably mostly peed out my entire 1.5 liters of water (3.3 lbs).

I got my hair cut yesterday and feel much better about how I look. As much as everyone tells me how "cute" my hair looks longer, I know deep in my heart that I look much much better, even younger, with a shorter cut. The longer hair dragged my face down. I also think it emphasized the faint laugh lines I'm developing. So with my new abbreviated hair, the emphasis is back on my face, and eyes. Hair should frame your face and bring out your best features. Hair, in itself, shouldn't be your best feature. Unless you're a Veela (yes, a Harry Potter reference).

I think people get stuck on what they think should look good regardless of whether it actually looks good or not. I can always tell when the hair cut works because suddenly, in the mirror, my face seems to "pop" out of my hair. It's hard to explain but you know it's true when you see it. It's the same with clothes (hence the popularity of that show What Not To Wear on TLC).

I also think people get stuck in exercise routines without actually understanding what they're doing or why they're doing it. But that requires a commitment to one's own body that many people seem to disregard. They want the cosmetics to make things seems a certain way, without actually doing the actual work of changing because that might be 1) too hard 2) too much time 3) scary. Scary? People seem to be afraid of fulfilling their potential, of really seeing how hard they can push. I'm not really sure why. But deep in your heart, you know what you're capable of.