20 posts tagged “fitness”
I recently did a step class at the gym and got a bit freaked out. In a good way.
The track we were doing called for participants to switch positions with each other partway through the song - à la musical chairs. At the appropriate time I ran to find a new step, but due to the ensuing confusion, I wound up right back where I started.
The instructor, thinking quickly, swapped places with me. I WAS ON THE STAGE!
It was really the end of the track and it only lasted about 15 seconds, but what a strange place to be. The view from the stage is so much different from what I'm used to. I'm loud, but bashful, and I found it really hard to look out at the rest of the class.
It just confirmed that I'm more a cheerleader than an instructor.
Weight Watchers works! Those of you who follow Junkii's weekly updates on Facebook already know he's lost 13 lbs in 5 weeks of dieting. Well, I'm holding my own too. I'm down about 12 lbs as of this morning's weigh-in. It's hard to tell exactly because we don't have a digital scale, but that's a pretty close estimate.
My pants fit way better - in fact, they're starting to get a little too loose - and I can actually see my spare tire dwindling away. It's very encouraging.
And the best part is that we really don't suffer very much. True, we haven't yet found a way to indulge in poutine (no matter how many extra points we gain from working out) but we've managed to score a couple of (small) bags of chips chips, we've had shawarma, and we've even found some great 1-point desserts. All in all it's been pretty painless (once you get used to the feeling of never being completely full).
On the other hand, I can't see doing this alone. Despite the encouraging results, I know damn well I wouldn't have lasted if Junkii wasn't there to help with counting points. So I recommend WW for everyone - but I think it is a great program if you have someone to support you along the way.
After two nights of steady eating (and more than a bottle of wine per person per evening) we knew we needed a bit of exercise. So on Monday morning – Turkey day – we rose early and, after a bite of breakfast, headed off to the Gatineau hills for a hike.
We took the same route we discovered last time – the Blanchet trail – only this time the trail was completely open, so we could do the entire loop. What a beautiful day for a hike – sunny, calm, and cool. And the views were spectacular!
I meant to write this yesterday, but work has been so busy I didn’t even get to take a lunch hour!
Anyway, if you read Facebook, you already know we went to Gatineau Park for a hike this past weekend, and you’ve seen the photos, but you don’t know… the rest of the story.
A few weeks back we took our first foray into the wilds of the park. We explored the short trail near Black Lake (sounds so ominous) and were able to finish the loop in about an hour. Our friends P&K recommended the Blanchet trail near Meech Lake as one that might be a little more challenging, so we were excited to try it out. Based on our trail map, Blanchet trail looked to be about twice as long as the one near Black Lake (ooooOOOOOoo), so we planned for about a two hour hike.
And off we went.
But when we got there, we were greeted by a sign indicating parts of the trail were closed until the end of September, for rehabilitation. Unfortunately, someone came along just as we were trying to decipher the posted map and told us that "the lookout" – located smack in the middle of the closed section – was indeed open to the public. So we figured "Great!" the sign must be out of date and we can hike the whole loop!
Off we headed around the trail, oblivious to the pitfall ahead. After many hills – and more than one incorrect assumption that “this must be the lookout” – we worked up a good sweat and finally made it halfway around the trail. The lookout was a really impressive sight. To come across this vista view of the Outaouais River after an hour and a half of marching through the forest was actually pretty breathtaking.
But wouldn't you know, just past the lookout, the trail was closed. And there was no detour. A few of the other hikers decided to say "screw that” and headed through the barricade into the closed-off section of trail anyway. What were we to do? We followed.
Thankfully we let others go first. About 2 minutes after we crossed the barricade, a few hikers came running back saying they had spotted a forest ranger up ahead handing out fines. So we turned around and, seeing no other option, backtracked.
That kind of sucked. It would have been nice to do the whole trail. Lengthwise, we did what amounted to a whole trail (and it took us 3 hours in the end), so exercise-wise it was a good day, but there’s still a good chunk of the trail that we haven’t seen yet.
We'll have to make plans to do the trail again in October once the rehabilitation is done. We'll just have to ignore the advice of other hikers.
We're now three days into the Weight Watchers program, and already we're finding it onerous to count points. But in fairness, while it's a bit of a hassle to plan out every meal, the portions are in fact adequate (if only just) and we don't seem utterly limited by the types of foods we can eat - we had shawarma on Wednesday, and we're having lamb sausage tonight.
So all in all, so far so good. And I for one want to encourage this diet.
You see, Junkii is the corrupter in this relationship - this is no secret. He'd be the first to cop to that charge. He's usually the one to cave in to our culinary cravings. He'll suggest chips, poutine, and KFC much more frequently than I will. But now he's got an extra check to prevent him from cheating - two extra checks, actually:
- He's got to get weighed every week at the WW meeting, which is a good motivation to work extra hard to lose weight.
- He's paying for the program (I'm just tagging along) and really he can't afford to just throw his hard-earned money away without actually benefiting from it.
Now we'll just have to see how long we can both hold out form indulging in our favorite comfort snacks.
Neither of us has been to many weddings. Not sure why – maybe we only know non-committal people – but that’s how it is. As a result, the only things we knew about bachelor parties was what we had gleaned from Hollywood. We knew strippers had to be involved at some point, but other than that we were pretty clueless.
So when we got around to planning our friend’s stag, we were a bit out of our depth. We’d planned parties before, but this needed to be more of a multi-location series of events. We were both a bit nervous once Saturday came around and we got into the thick of it – but we needn’t have worried. It came off beautifully.
Part 1 – Surprise Event
Our research told us that we needed to do something that the groom wasn’t expecting, so we racked our brains to find just the right thing. Junkii was stellar, coming up with laser tag, paint ball, a day at the spa, the casino, white water rafting, waterslides, and an aerial adventure just to name a few. But I liked his suggestion of wall climbing best of all – and we knew none of us had ever tried it before.
So we told the groom to be at our place with gym clothes at 1pm, and off we went to the Coyote Rock Gym. They gave us all a few lessons on how to harness ourselves and how to belay (i.e. make sure the climber doesn’t fall). We each climbed the practice wall twice and we each belayed for a climber twice - then we were set free to explore the rest of the gym!
Which was great, but after just a few more climbs we all found that our gripping
strength was starting to fade. It wasn’t long before we had to pack it in.
Still, we managed to climb for the better part of two hours, and it’s
definitely something Junkii and I will go back to. We just have to wait until our forearms stop hurting.
And of course the groom had fun and was surprised – so we achieved our goals!
Part 2 – Drink
We then headed home to our pad and everyone had showers and enjoyed a beer or two. We got a chance to chill out a bit and then, after about an hour, it was on to…
Part 3 – Dinner
We drove out to Kanata for dinner - a big thank you to both Junkii and Stephen for staying sober. Yes, we hear you saying, “Kanata?!” but you’ll see why shortly.
We went to Moxie’s Classic Grill, which is a beautiful space with pretty good food for a chain. But of course the main reason we went was because all the waitresses are actually hired as models. So the groom was assured of some eye candy while he ate. It’s kind of like an upscale Hooters in that way. The waitresses are all well dressed though, and the décor is nicer.
Part 4 – Drink
Of course drinks were part of dinner, as well as part of the next event…
Part 5 – Roller Derby!
None of us had ever been before, and no one knew the rules, but turns out you didn’t need to. Everything was explained before the bout started.
Our team – the Rideau Valley Slaughter Daughters – were hosting a team from Vermont in this, their last home game of the season. The timing couldn’t have been better - scheduling their last game for the night of the bachelor party! We arrived with 30 minutes to spare, so we'd have time to grab some beers, and took our seats for a quick demonstration about how the game is played.
It’s such a fun sport – and quick. The two 30 minute periods go by in a flash, and they’re separated by a break to give us time to drink more.
We left about 20 minutes before the end, but the Slaughter Daughters were creaming the Vermont team. So there was no chance of a comeback. We’ll be back next season for sure. So fun.
Here's a quick video of part of the match.
Part 6 – Drink (you see a trend yet?)
Repeat step 2, but without showers and exchanging beer for martinis.
We were supposed to go bar hopping at this point, but the groom preferred to just relax at our place for a bit. So we stayed there until it was time for the finale...
Part 7 – Strippers!
The evening ended in the Market at the BareFax Gentleman’s Club. I'm serious - it's actually called a gentleman's club. Like you'll walk inside to see dapper, upper-class fops with top hats and monocles sitting in lounge chairs and enjoying a snifter of brandy.
Okay, I’m not gonna get into any details here about what you WILL find inside – some things are best kept private – but suffice it to say we closed the club and even hung around on the street chatting afterwards.
The day was perfectly timed. We never felt rushed. The groom had a fantastic time - as did we all - and . we only regretted it slightly the next day when the headaches set in. Let’s just say we didn’t over-exert ourselves on Sunday.
We've been looking for a way to exercise on weekends that doesn't seem quite as onerous as going to the gym. Gym classes are fun and all, but it seems a shame to be stuck indoors on nice summer weekends. Especially this year when nice days are so rare.
We enjoy biking, but cycling in single file isn't a particularly social activity - it's hard to talk to your fellow cyclists. And We've tried running, but it gets a bit too warm in the daytime to do that comfortably.
Then Junkii hit on the idea of hiking. Granted, it's not quite as intensive a cardio workout as some other activities, but it's beautiful, it's social, it's quiet, and we have a massive place to do it, just across the Ottawa River. So I picked up a detailed trail map at the National capital info centre - a map that cost $5 by the way! Stupid government - and we plotted our route for a Saturday trek into the wilds of Gatineau park.
We chose our trail wisely. The first half of the trek had some good ups and downs, and the second half (when we were getting tired) was mostly downhill. The whole hike took only about 1.5 hours. Not too bad for a first attempt. Now we've got a better sense how to read the map and how long the various trails will take to hike. Hopefully we can make this a regular weekend activity. We've already got several people that want to join us. My Mom and step dad want to join us from time to time, our friends Steve and Krista are up for it, and my colleague Awegechew would like to come along to change up his exercise routine. So we can socialize and exercise at the same time!
And the best part is, if we pick up some snow shoes, we should be able to continue this activity right into the winter!
Tonight being the first nice summer day in Ottawa, we decided to finally inflate our bicycle tires and head out for a little trek before dinner. Of course, nothing we plan ever goes off without a hitch and, after I inflated my front tire, I could hear a leak coming from where the valve meets the inner tube. It wasn't long before the hiss became a gush of air and my tire deflated, along with my spirits.
Fine! No bike ride for me.
So we set about filling Junkii's tires and, just as we pulled the pump off the back tire, the valve needle shot out and his tire went flat. AAARRRGH! What are the odds?!
Oh well, at least we could get them both fixed at the same time. The way our luck works, it would be more likely that mine would go flat, I'd get it fixed, and then his would go flat later in the week.
For me, the only problem was that Junkii's flat was the back tire and, while it was quick-release, I'd never removed a back tire before. It was messy work with the chain and derailleurs, but once I got started it was pretty straightforward. We threw it in the car and headed off to the nearest bike store (thankfully there are two within about a 10 minute walk). $20 later and we were headed home to reassemble our bikes.
By the time we got things back together, it was too late for a leisure ride, but we still went out anyway. We trekked over to Chinatown and grabbed some food, and were able to eat and make it home before it got dark.
Yay. First ride of the season!.
Junkii and I are huge fans of step aerobics - we have loads of friends at the gym through step, and classes tend to be both a good workout and a social occasion. As with any social occasion, the "more the merrier" rule applies. So it was with great joy that we introduced Mom to step last night.
We were both totally impressed with how well she picked it up too. It's not easy to just pop into a step class and pick up the choreography. And, sure, she wasn't flawless - nobody is on their first attempt - but she did a fantastic job. She never gave up, and she never looked totally lost. In fact, several of our classmates came up afterward and when we told them it was her first time, they were shocked.
Over the years, we've dragged quite a few friends and co-workers to step class and, pretty much without fail the newbie has to stop and look confused. Mom never stopped once. Way to go, Mom!
I overdid it at the gym on Saturday. In the morning I went with mom to do two fitness classes - BodyPump (with weights) and BodyFlow (Yoga/pilates). And that was great. In fact, I think we'll try to make that a regular Saturday-morning routine. Junkii and I have been looking to add a set of classes on the weekend, and if we pull mom into the routine, then there'll be one extra person to encourage us to get our butts to the gym.
Of course, Saturday afternoon, I went myself one better. A friend, who was doing her certification to teach fitness classes, asked for volunteers to join her BodyStep class. I agreed, despite the fact that it would be my third class that day.
It's pretty rare that I do three classes in a day, but even so, I don't think it would have been my downfall. I think the thing that caused my kink - the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will - was that the afternoon class substituted a set of pilates back exercises in place of the usual cardio exercises. I basically did too much pilates back work and I guess I pulled/twisted something the wrong way.
So here I sit at my desk, and every few minutes or so I wince, catch my breath, and realign myself. And I know this muscle kink will sort itself out, eventually. I just wish it would hurry up. I took a hot tub last night - which helped - but if it doesn't move along soon I might need to head to a massage therapist. Or at least buy some massage oil and get Junkii to have a go.
