Another Week Goes By And What Have I Done

I realize it’s Tuesday (evening for me) and I’m very late with my update, but this is my life and the way the lowfat cookie crumbles.

Again a week has gone by and my intentions to blog during the week went right out of the window. You guys are used to that right?

So what have I done?

Monday evening I had my second appointment at the gym with the trainer to get a program set up for me. I have to say I’m not really impressed but my expectations were not that high. The thing is, I already had a program at my other gym, I’m not new and I don’t really need the machines totally explained to me – new ones, yes, thank you, but not ones I’ve been working with for years. So again I arrive on time – and I cycled there so I would already be warmed-up – and again the trainer is nowhere to be found and there are two others waiting for him as well. The woman who did my fitness test came over and told us the trainer would be with us shortly and we should go and do a warm up on one of the machines. :( I realize not everyone has the same dilemma as I have, but my time is precious and I already warmed up so I could start immediately! A few minutes into the elliptical the trainer came over and we could start. The two other ladies were complete beginners so for me this trip to the gym was slightly a waste of time. After setting up a program I did a little bit more cardio and then cycled home. So much for that.

Tuesday I was up early to prep my lunch and snacks (because if I go to the gym in the evening I won’t have time to do food prep if I want to go to bed on time). Work was “normal” (if you can use that term for it!) and at 5pm I left to go and meet some old friends in Utrecht – my friend Beth and her husband used to live here but moved back to Texas (where Beth is from – her hubs is Dutch) 7 or 8 years ago and this was the first chance to see them since they moved back. Another friend of ours, Gwenn, also came and it had probably been even longer since I had seen her last! It was great, just like old times, but again slightly bittersweet – it brings back not so nice memories and thoughts around that time and reminds me of my “previous life” in Den Haag. I love them though, and it was really wonderful to catch up. Luckily we were not out too late and I was home around 10pm, then pretty much straight to bed.

Wednesday I already had plans to see another friend Sarah – we’d planned weeks in advance because I’m trying to have only one social engagement a week – Beth being in the country kind of threw a spanner in the works, but I also want to be more flexible with my schedule. So Sarah works at this expat shop in Leiden and I had asked her to bring me some Vegemite and then we could catch up, have a drink, dinner, etc. I hadn’t seen her since this summer and that was brief and not really one to one. Sarah met me at Leiden train station and we ended up having dinner at a place called De La Soul; apparently it’s “soul food” in the Netherlands… and the menu looked good but we ended up having burgers which were delicious (you guys have no idea how hard it is to find a decent hamburger in this country!). Time went by too, too quickly and I had to go home as Leiden is pretty far from where I live. Luckily hubs again picked me up at the train station when I arrived around 10:30pm.

Thursday I worked from home – I actually had a doctor’s appointment in the morning because I wanted to discuss my TOM issues with her. Nothing major, just that I have a lot more pain than I used to have, not only cramps but my back as well. Not much they can do; I got a prescription for painkillers and am supposed to try that for a couple months before we look at other options. I was going to go to the gym after I finished working – but all of my gym clothes were in the wash. I didn’t want to NOT exercise at all, because the old me may have just said “oh well, my clothes are in the wash”, but the new me wants to keep moving! So I walked 3.5 KM into town to use up my nearly expired coupon from my running shop to buy new socks and I also ended up checking out another sports shop that was having a mega sale, buying a pair of fitness/gym shoes (the ones I was using were over 10 years old!!!) and yes a new pair of gym pants. I was explaining to the lovely Karen that yes, I have running pants, but I don’t like to wear them in the gym. I don’t have a lot of insecurities about my body and I’m ok with my ample backside most of the time, but I feel very exposed in tight running pants and feel like my arse is on display. So, now I have 3 pairs of gym pants I can wear and no excuses why I couldn’t go and work out!

Friday after work I went directly to the gym since I didn’t make it on Thursday. I was busy working out and had to ask one of the trainers where the weights bar cushion thingee was (you know what I mean?), and he started talking to me, asking me if I was new, what my goals were, etc. Anyway, we chatted for a while, he told me he was a personal trainer and asked me if I wanted a try-out session. He said he could definitely help me reach my goals of being fitter and stronger but he could also help me lose weight. I explained to him that I didn’t want to focus on weight loss, that I’ve been on this plateau forever yadda yadda yadda (you guys know the drill) and focusing on weight loss drives me mental. He said we didn’t have to focus on it, it would just be a bonus side effect. So I said, sure, why not, I would try it, nothing to lose really, right? I gave him my number, he gave me the name of his website and I carried on with my work out. I arrived home around 8pm or so, had a wonderful dinner with my hubs and a glass of wine and just hung out. Nice :)

Saturday morning slept in a wee bit, did some errands, had a failed shopping trip and then headed off to the kids’ house to celebrate my step-son’s birthday (he turned 11 on Monday :) ). Arrived back home, quick rush to get ready, then out for a quick bite to eat and straight afterwards to a MeetUp my friend M and I had organized for the expats in Arnhem. Was actually really nice, tons of people showed up, lots of newbies! It’s cool to meet so many expats in the city I live in, especially considering it’s not the biggest city in the Netherlands (but the 2nd largest in my province). Sadly my back was killing me after several hours standing so we went home around 12:30am.

Sunday more sleeping in, lots of pottering around and then finally I got my bum in gear for a RUN! It was cold, but I layered up and headed out to Westervoort. I love running over the bridge, along the dyke and through the farmland! It’s so amazing that it’s so close to the city yet so removed from it all. I can clearly still see the couple of people I saw also running along the dyke and smiling from ear to ear. I know it sounds cheesy but I just love to see others running, acknowledging each other and knowing the other one is loving it too! It was a fantastic run, I honestly could have kept going! When my loop was done I was almost at 10KM so I just kept going until I hit that mark. I stopped off at the supermarket (weird, I know, in all my sweaty, stinky, running clothes glory) to get something the hubs needed for dinner, went home, had an amazingly delicious meal, prepped all my food for the next day, showered and then settled in to watch a movie with hubs until it was time for bed.

Phew!! Now THAT’S an update!!

This week:

Monday – Gym
Tuesday – break
Wednesday – Gym (aerobics class with my friend G)
Thursday – don’t know yet
Friday – PT appointment!!
Saturday – too much going on probably nothing
Sunday – Going for a run :)

I was thinking of doing the aerobics class with G only every other week and then maybe if my friend M is up for it I could see her in town on the off weeks. I’m trying not only to be good to myself this year but also be good to my friends. That means making time when I can and spending even one or two hours with them as opposed to having weeks go by and not seeing each other. This year is all about the balance. Food, sleep, work, fitness, friends, hubs. Not in that order :)