Clever title

Hello how are you? I am good. I hope you are good too.

had class last night. woohoo. It was good. I was dying on the squats and had to drop to 5 lbs from 8. But that's ok. They hurt and that's the point. My abs were also killing. I tried extra hard to keep them "engaged" during all my other exercises. Plus I'm starting to like my stomach so I can see results easier.

Here's another thing I like that's gonna sound like bragging but I haven't done this I'm So Awesome thing for a little while, so I'm due. Anyway. While I don't have a nice skinny waist (you should see my sister, it looks like a natural corset, tiny waist) but I don't have a lot of hip/waist flab and fat to form muffin tops. I do not have a muffin top in like any of my jeans. And even if they're super tight, low jeans, I don't look like there's a muffin top. I've seen skinny girls (like the waitress at BPs on the weekend) and in her black tshirt and black pants, cleaning off a table, she couldn't have weighed more than 120 lbs, like a size 4 or something, but she had a terrible muffin top! You know when you can see it starting halfway up the back? Ew! Not this size 6-8!

Anyway. that was a nice aside.

So class was good. I had some tuna helper (sodium I know I know whatever) for supper, and coleslaw. Easy healthy supper. I'm alright with it all around. Watch the serving size. But I used to pig out completely before my classes and besides still feeling full for class, I was able to push it out hard. But then I started eating lighter before so my tummy would feel better, but I couldn't push as hard in class. I think i've got to eat a more hearty snack on Monday and Wed afternoons then a lighter supper. I need the energy!

I think i'm gonna hit the nearby mall at noon to just look around. I still need to buy a shirt to go with that skirt I made. Then I promise to take a picture!

Lunch is just some coleslaw (sweet and sour, not creamy) and an english muffin. I've also got a ton of fruit and a muffin and cheese and carrots.

So far the scale hasn't shown me that 137 again. But it is still 138 with clothes on so that's good. I temporarily forgot my plan to push it really hard for a few weeks to get to the amazing 135. I didn't eat poorly, but I just forgot to be extra focused! Supper tonight is gonna be pasta with bean and meat sauce. I've got some bean vermicelli that I might try. It's extremely low cal because it's pasta made of vegetables only (it's really skinny and see through when cooked). But you have to be careful because other vermicelli is still flour based or whatever. I guess they're also called cellophane noodles. They only need like 2 minutes in hot water and they're done. I've never made it with anything besides stir-fry but I'm intregued now. (you should go to the asian part of a grocery store or something, they're really really cheap as dried nest kind of things. The problem is you have to cook it all because you can't get the nest apart.) Has anybody else tried these things?

Today is gym with my sister. Hopefully i'll run a little bit. I hate that i'm finding it harder to run instead of easier. I think I'm pushing the speed a little too much. I keep it up above 11 km/hr, often moving up by 0.5 km/hr for each minute up to 12.5 or so then stepping back down. That's too fast to not be exhausted by. I think if I do run I'll just do a nice steady pace at 10.5 or 11. (these are 9.2 and 8.8 minutes/mile respectively, and I usually go faster than this - I'm awesome!) Then on to the chin-ups which I'm already super amazing at but I want to get better. I think I'll put it on 30 lbs counter weight and try and do 3 sets of 8. We'll say my new chin-up goal is to do 8-12 chin-ups with no counterweight by Christmas. I think it's doable and then I can think of a new goal for next year.

The reason I go on about the goals is not just because I do it so it must be right. ;) it's also because I read it in one of the many newsletters I subscribe to from personal trainers (free! And while they do try and sell you their latest manual or whatever, there's lots of Q&A and good info). This is from Jimmy Smith Training lately. He says you shouldn't workout. You should train. If you just go in there and "workout" you wing it and there's no progress and nothing ever changes. If you train, you have a goal and a deadline (pretend you're an athelete, training for the big game or something). Otherwise you're wasting your time. Even maintenance can be a goal I think. Like you don't want to lose strength or speed (like I feel like's happening to my running) but don't necessarily want bigger muscles or to be sore the next day. Once you've met 1 goal, then you can change up your training to meet a new goal. That way you keep your body guessing and burn more calories also.

Is anybody doing a "training" thing now? Have you set any gym goals? (again I dont' like the "go to the gym 3 times a week" necessarily because it doesn't have much room to get better or to make you work harder. It's just a timing thing. I like "log 6 miles on the treadmill/week" or "200 minutes on the elliptical/week" that way after a couple weeks of that you can up it. More measurable you know?)