Jeremiah and I have spent the majority of our evenings this week at the gym. On Monday, we met with a personal trainer and he showed us a variety of strength/free weight exercises that he wants us to do twice weekly. I've always thought that I had decent core strength (I'm a fan of pilates!) but the ab work he had us doing was extremely difficult--and the lunges and squats, though they didn't feel as hard--had us hurting for days afterward (we could hardly do stairs!). We took Tuesday off to recover, and Wednesday we went back for more punishment--and we also bought heart rate monitors, which are really quite cool. Next week we'll each be taking two tests--the first to determine how many calories our bodies need on both exercise and non-exercise days; the second to determine what our heart rate needs to be during exercise to optimize our fat burn. I'm really excited about finding out that information. Over the last few years, my sisters, friends Rachelle and Betsy, and I have spent countless hours discussing the most effective modes of weight loss. With these tests, Jeremiah and I will have an actual formula to follow rather than (somewhat) educated guesses!
So that's our life as of late. I have to say that I'm fully enjoying getting back into exercise--I have so much more energy and feel way better!
What are your plans for the weekend? Jeremiah and I are celebrating Valentine's Day early by heading up to Duluth on Saturday, where we'll be staying at the AG Thompson House B&B--we're both really looking forward to it! After staying in a B&B in Duluth for our "mini-moon" we've decided that B&Bs are way better than hotels (and often times, no more expensive!) and we'd like to travel around and visit different ones all over the country. While we're in Duluth, we're also planning on checking out the Great Lakes Aquarium and a comedy club. I can't wait! Duluth is so beautiful and really reminds me of Marquette. Ah, Marquette. I really miss it there.
I'll post again after the weekend when I'll (hopefully!) have some pictures. Have a great weekend!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
It's Been How Long?!
I'm not too impressed with myself that it's been almost a month since my last entry. I've never been good at keeping up with journals, and I guess the whole blogging experience is basically the same thing. Also, I tend to feel that the general "mundane" details of our lives probably aren't the most exciting things for people to read... but perhaps I'm wrong. (Is anyone actually reading this?! By the way, family and friends, if you wish to make comments on anything I post, you can do so easily--notice the "comments" link at the bottom of each post--I'd love to hear from you (and know that someone is paying attention to all of my efforts!! :) ) )
This weekend is the big game! I've never been much into football, as in my family, the sport is better left watched by the guys, while the ladies congregate in the kitchen or elsewhere (the farther we can get from the roar of the tv, the better!) but in Jeremiah's family, things are quite different--and it could be argued that the ladies on his side are actually the biggest fans.
Jeremiah is a HUGE New England Patriots fan, and has been for many years (for those of you ready to accuse him of jumping on board just when they started to get good!), and watching his enthusiasm for his team and the sport has gradually drawn me into watching as well. I'll admit, I'm still not up on all the lingo or the finer details of the game, but I now don't mind watching the game on Sundays (and Mondays, and sometimes Saturdays), and I'm actually really looking forward to the Superbowl. I really hope that the Pats win and earn themselves an undefeated season! We're having a few of Jeremiah's co-workers and their significant others over for the big game, where I'll be making football themed food (literally--a football shaped cheese ball and "chocolatey football bites"). What can I say? I love hosting parties--and I get really into the preparation of things. :)
After several months of sitting around in the evenings after work doing nothing but watching tv, we've finally decided to re-join the gym. Our epiphany came one night as we were cooking dinner, and Jeremiah pointed out that we were both already in our pajamas--at 6pm!!--and that perhaps we should look at something better than mindless television watching to occupy our time. When we first arrived in MN, we joined a little gym called Snap Fitness, which was very conveniently located just two blocks from our apartment. We went regularly for awhile, but after the wedding we lost our drive--especially since the place is really small, and variety is limited--so we cancelled our membership when we moved to Edina.
My company offers a (very) reduced rate for its employees when we join Lifetime Fitness, so we decided to check it out. It's the biggest gym I've ever seen! When we walked in, I was literally dumbfounded by the amount of machines (some of them looking suspiciously like torture devices), and people, but by the time we made the tour throughout the whole facility, we were convinced that this was a place we could really thrive in. Besides all of the general cardio and weight equipment, they also have an indoor rubberized walking/running track, an indoor football field (we love to stretch out here!), and 4 studios that house a multitude of classes--kickboxing, step, dance aerobics, pilates, yoga, you name it--so the thought of going to the gym is now feeling more like an adventure than a chore. It's essential that we feel this way, because Jeremiah is completely sick of being a little overweight, and I'm tired of being on this plateau at the same weight for the last seven years (I mean, I'm happy that I was able to lose that 55 pounds and keep it off for seven years, but come on--I'm ready to be fit and actually feel confident about my body!).
And speaking of wanting to feel confident about our bodies, we're in the process of planning our (delayed) Honeymoon! My dad is sending us on one as our wedding gift, and we're thrilled. I've been talking to Tammy (Lisa's sister-in-law who is a travel agent), and she's found us some incredible places/deals--the one we've got our hearts set on is the Sun Palace resort in Cancun, Mexico; we're tentatively planning our trip for mid-April. See the website for the resort here. It's all-inclusive, and adults only--both of which will be really nice. If we do wind up going here, included in the price are the option to go snorkeling and to visit the Mayan Ruins--both of which we're really looking forward to doing!! In fact, it's basically all I can think about lately (perhaps because of the -20 weather we've been having...?).
I hope all is well with you and that you're all surviving the frozen tundra temperatures!
This weekend is the big game! I've never been much into football, as in my family, the sport is better left watched by the guys, while the ladies congregate in the kitchen or elsewhere (the farther we can get from the roar of the tv, the better!) but in Jeremiah's family, things are quite different--and it could be argued that the ladies on his side are actually the biggest fans.
Jeremiah is a HUGE New England Patriots fan, and has been for many years (for those of you ready to accuse him of jumping on board just when they started to get good!), and watching his enthusiasm for his team and the sport has gradually drawn me into watching as well. I'll admit, I'm still not up on all the lingo or the finer details of the game, but I now don't mind watching the game on Sundays (and Mondays, and sometimes Saturdays), and I'm actually really looking forward to the Superbowl. I really hope that the Pats win and earn themselves an undefeated season! We're having a few of Jeremiah's co-workers and their significant others over for the big game, where I'll be making football themed food (literally--a football shaped cheese ball and "chocolatey football bites"). What can I say? I love hosting parties--and I get really into the preparation of things. :)
After several months of sitting around in the evenings after work doing nothing but watching tv, we've finally decided to re-join the gym. Our epiphany came one night as we were cooking dinner, and Jeremiah pointed out that we were both already in our pajamas--at 6pm!!--and that perhaps we should look at something better than mindless television watching to occupy our time. When we first arrived in MN, we joined a little gym called Snap Fitness, which was very conveniently located just two blocks from our apartment. We went regularly for awhile, but after the wedding we lost our drive--especially since the place is really small, and variety is limited--so we cancelled our membership when we moved to Edina.
My company offers a (very) reduced rate for its employees when we join Lifetime Fitness, so we decided to check it out. It's the biggest gym I've ever seen! When we walked in, I was literally dumbfounded by the amount of machines (some of them looking suspiciously like torture devices), and people, but by the time we made the tour throughout the whole facility, we were convinced that this was a place we could really thrive in. Besides all of the general cardio and weight equipment, they also have an indoor rubberized walking/running track, an indoor football field (we love to stretch out here!), and 4 studios that house a multitude of classes--kickboxing, step, dance aerobics, pilates, yoga, you name it--so the thought of going to the gym is now feeling more like an adventure than a chore. It's essential that we feel this way, because Jeremiah is completely sick of being a little overweight, and I'm tired of being on this plateau at the same weight for the last seven years (I mean, I'm happy that I was able to lose that 55 pounds and keep it off for seven years, but come on--I'm ready to be fit and actually feel confident about my body!).
And speaking of wanting to feel confident about our bodies, we're in the process of planning our (delayed) Honeymoon! My dad is sending us on one as our wedding gift, and we're thrilled. I've been talking to Tammy (Lisa's sister-in-law who is a travel agent), and she's found us some incredible places/deals--the one we've got our hearts set on is the Sun Palace resort in Cancun, Mexico; we're tentatively planning our trip for mid-April. See the website for the resort here. It's all-inclusive, and adults only--both of which will be really nice. If we do wind up going here, included in the price are the option to go snorkeling and to visit the Mayan Ruins--both of which we're really looking forward to doing!! In fact, it's basically all I can think about lately (perhaps because of the -20 weather we've been having...?).
I hope all is well with you and that you're all surviving the frozen tundra temperatures!
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