get my ass back in shape!

We have an Xbox 360 with Kinnect, and I love it.

I’d be getting in much better shape if I used it more regularly, which I would be able to do if exercise didn’t leave me in so much pain.

Not digging this vicious cycle, but at least I have some tools on hand to help with getting exercise when I’m not in too much pain.

Our apartment is 1.5 blocks away from an indoor public pool here in Warsaw.

Last weekend, my husband and I went by and bought a pass. Unlike every other pool I have been to, you don’t pay for a monthly unlimited pass or a daily entry fee.. instead, you purchase credit for whatever amount you want, and then when you enter, you get 15 free minutes to change and shower. After those free minutes are up, you pay 0.29 or 0.26 gr (like cents) a minute and the time s counted at the end of your visit and deducted from your purchased credit.

I have not actually gone for a swim yet, but have it on my list of things to do today.

I’ve been in Poland now for about two and a half weeks and have been losing weight for the sheer fact that I’m no longer in the US.

In the two months I spent back in the US, I gained about 20 pounds. I did not set out to gain any weight, and especially not that much, but going to so many social activities coupled with too much (and too much of the extra fatty, delicious stuff) food and little-to-no exercise did just that.

It clicked with me while at a research gig where I got weighed and had a body fat percentage taken. I weighed in at 146 lbs, which is the heaviest I have ever been. I realize that its still within the healthy BMI range for me, but for the first time I felt fat.. and disgusting.

If I hadn’t been leaving soon after that, I definitely would have taken action anyway, but leaving the country and the crazy parade of too much good food thankfully ended when I left the US.

Don’t get me wrong.. I loved seeing everyone and sharing so many meals and drinks, but I wasn’t keeping my intake in check at all, and this served as a nice little reminder that I’m no longer the 20 year-old girl who can eat whatever she wants in unlimited quantities without gaining weight.

I don’t have a scale here, but I know I have lost some weight because I look/feel a little better and my clothes are no longer snug.

Our gym has a yoga class two nights a week.. I’ve gone 4-5 times now. I think our instructor is a little odd, but it feels good to be going through these motions again, and I somehow had forgotten about this whole breath thing. This class has been great in that it has reminded me about breathing.. feels so good.

The other day, my husband suggested we get some badminton equipment. We did, and have played almost every day since getting our gear. This has been the first time I’ve ever played, and I really enjoy it.

The first night we played, I remarked that I was surprised I was sweating. Playing a game and having fun can be a pretty decent workout!

Now that I have finished teaching for the school year, we have relocated our home base and are living somewhere with access to a full university fitness center.

A week ago, we bought a monthly pass, and in the last week, we’ve gone to the gym four times.

The first visit, as it always is, was a beast and left me in a lot of pain, but I think my body is slowly starting to get back into the swing of things. It feels good to be more active, and to live in an area where females working out is not a spectacle and is not something I would be shamed for (for working out in a mixed facility, not for working out).

Keeping activity while living in a town in rural Morocco has been proving to be a challenge.

The gym I checked out with my friend a few months ago is really hot inside, which makes me not want to work out there.. especially now that temperatures outside are rising.

To fight the growing flab, my husband and I are trying to build activity into our daily lives. We both spend most of our day inside the house, together.. usually sitting in the same room.

This week, we started adding in things like doing sets of squats while holding 5kg items, jogging short stretches outside when no one else is around, and popping in yoga DVDs for 20 minutes at a time.

I have a feeling that I will be very sore tomorrow.

I have not worked out since arriving in Morocco.. unless the handful of belly dancing sessions count. Even that has not been regular enough to be regular exercise.

One of my friends here brought me to her gym today.. it was similar to gyms back home, and I think I will be getting a membership there. The other “gym” I checked out here was just a room, with no equipment, where women could go work up a sweat without men harassing them or without being shamed for running in public, etc.

It felt nice, and very normal to go to an aerobics class, and I’m looking forward to going back next week.

Oh yeah, and they had a scale. I weighed myself for the first time in 6 months and found that I currently weigh 60kg, or about 132 lbs.. good to know one thing has not changed much in the last year..

We have been going to the gym 3-4 times a week for at least two months now.. and I am still at 132 lbs.

I did not think (until now) to take pictures regularly so I could look to see if I am making any improvements. Going off the top of my head, I do not think I have. Err, I may be building up my stamina and increasing my strength, which are both great things. But I am vain, and damnit, I want to see some progress in the shape my body takes!

This is kind of discouraging.. although its not like I am going to stop going to the gym. In fact, I need to leave in 45 minutes to make my pilates class.

I think the fact that I have not lost the 5 or so extra pounds I had gained after the wedding and the fact that I have no noticeable toning/slimming has to do with the way I eat.

I have been sloppy and have taken to eating because the food is there, because it tastes good, because others are eating, etc.

I need to get back to only eating when I am hungry, to controlling my portions, and to not going to town on anything just because it looks/smells good.

I met with a trainer at the gym today and we went over a bunch of things including my bodily measurements, as well as my ability to function, more or less.

After it was all said and done though, I noticed that she put me down as a male, and was then unable to fix it, so my data is reflecting male ideal percentages, etc.

Anyway, my information is as follows:

resting heart rate: 65

height: 5’8”

weight: 132lbs

% body fat: 24.5

chest: 35.5”

waist: 27.5”

hips: 38”

right arm: 10.5”

right leg: 21.5”

Its not that I really want to lose weight.. I would be fine if some came off, but my goal in trying to exercise regularly is to get my body stronger and more tone.