Saef, I just glanced through your post without really reading it and thought for a minute you said that you had a "clothes hangover." I suppose that would be what would happen if you spent a whole day shopping and spent too much money!
Jessica, actually, I **do** have a clothes hangover, from too much recent eBay shopping.
I don't have room in my pre-War apartment-sized closets for all the stuff I've bought, particularly shirts. I am a sucker for a bargain price on a nice, crisp, tailored shirt that I can wear to work, particularly one by Faconnable or Ralph Lauren or, for some reason, Tommy Hilfiger.
Like, I'm going out to dinner tonight -- just at my neighborhood's corner bistro, but still -- & I'm annoyed because I can't decide which bright-colored summery linen shirt to wear.
6/14:
Dumbbell circuit B + back extensions
Stationary bike - 8 miles
Yoga - shoulder opener & hip opener flows
6/15:
Treadmill sprint intervals
Planning yoga after work
I'm having some issues with my image as well, though I find myself conflicted. I love the athletic look, but still wish I were skinnier. I still don't see myself as slim when I look in the mirror, even though I know that I am.
60 minutes arc trainer, hill intervals, resistance at 9
60 minutes Pilates class
My form at the teaser is compromised because I have trouble keeping my legs together. My spinning classes have left me with strong outer thighs & weak inner thighs, so I have a definite turnout if I stand without thinking about making my feet parallel.
9:43 minutes warm-up rowing on the Concept 2 to reach 2,000 meters
60 minutes weights
45 minutes elliptical, random intervals, resistance at eight, half backward
There is no getting around it; I'm not deluding myself when I look in mirrors. The P90X shoulders and arms workout routine (that would be disc 03 in the set) has quite discernibly changed my arms & shoulders over the past two months.
Now I can't say I'm "doing P90X" because I made my own idiosyncratic use of what this video demonstrated. I got the disc in mid-April, watched it maybe three times, wrote down the routine & began doing it in the gym. I did make some modifications: I only do each sequence once, rather than twice, and I swap out two of the 15 different exercises for others. I do it three days a week, quite faithfully.
I don't lift very heavy: I use 10-lb. weights for all but the front & lateral side raises, when I use 7.5 lbs. (Just today I bumped up to 12.5 lbs. for most of the exercises because I think it's now time.) I do 16-17 reps, usually 17, which may make the lighter weight somewhat more explicable.
Still, there is a very visible difference in my arms.
I do still have bat wings, but now feel okay about going absolutely sleeveless this summer, which was my goal.
At this point, I don't know what it would take for the bat wings to vanish. Because of the peculiar "drape," the way they hang off my arm, I really think it's mostly excess skin & that doing even more & heavier weights or putting myself though the effort of losing 10 more pounds is not necessarily going to take care of that problem area. But I'm getting to the "Oh, f&%$k it" stage where I don't care & I am willing to show them in public anyway once the weather turns & we get uncomfortable 90-plus-degree days & tank tops are the way to go.
Woohoo Saef! That is fantastic! Enjoy the tank tops!!!!
I still have the bat wings. I think they would be there no matter what I weigh. I don't see them most of the time but if I hold my arm out to the side and don't flex, they are still there.....
weak inner thighs, so I have a definite turnout if I stand without thinking about making my feet parallel.
This is one of the components of my long-running "injury". I'm currently spending lots of time I don't have retraining the mind-muscle pathway (abs, glutes, knees, VMO especially and probably a few others I can't remember at present because my mind is so busy concentrating on the pathways). It's exhausting and there's no time for other gymn stuff. Or much else. But I couldn't carry on as I was.
A cautionary tale, saef. Act now. Oh, and VG work on the tris etc. Roll on tank top days.
I have the bat wings, too. I was just last night wondering what I could do about them - I do a lot of tricep work and they are still there, so I may just have to live with what's left.
Why do weak inner thighs make you stand with your feet out? I do it too - more on the right than the left, like most of the women in my family. They keep telling me it is something with my right hip.
After spin class, I cannot sit on my heels; my quads are too tight & it hurts. But after I work my legs & core in Pilates class, I can sit back easily. I think I should do this stretch every day. (I think it's called "hero" pose in yoga.)
At work, working and working on a report. But I've brought in my exercise mat, so every 45 mins or so I get down on the floor and do a few things. I know it's not possible for everyone but it's working here.
ETA: too many 'work' words in the above. I should have more relax, enjoy, chill out, outside type words. Well, that will come, I'm sure.
Last edited by silverbirch; 06-18-2011 at 12:36 PM.
I really enjoy lurking (for the most part) in this thread. You all do the most interesting stuff for exercise.
After wrestling with the dogs all day I rarely have any energy left for gym stuff. Much less learning new stuff. I'm still doing the same 5 routines my trainer gave me 3 years ago with the weights (with more weight and reps of course). And my yoga routine is about 15 years old.
But it all works. Add in the 2 bike rides on the weekends and some kayaking and I'm pretty darn fit!
Who else do you know who can deadlift a 50 lb. dog (with 2 other dogs attached to her waist - 85 and 25 lbs. respectively) and carry her 100 + yards to the car? And then neatly sidestep all her upchuck while still having the other 2 tied to me?
I suppose that would be what would happen if you spent a whole day shopping and spent too much money! 
