So it's been a long few weeks here at my house. I'm a bit depressed, to tell the truth. I hope that I will have a little pity party and then turn into this masterful superhero-esque female with bulging biceps who takes on the weight of the world without breaking a sweat (this may prove difficult as shoulder-presses just slay me...) but I suspect I'll be lucky to get my ass out of bed everyday and get my hour and fifteen minute long workouts in before I realise that my life is ridiculously difficult.
My dad has been diagnosed with stage IV melanoma. Without treatment, we could expect him to live 6-9 months. Fortunately, there are a few treatment options that we are willing to try. The first, and most promising, is a new drug (the name of which apparently sounds like umpa-loompa, according to my mother) that he'll be able to start on if his blood work determines that he has a BRAF gene mutation. If he does (here's hoping!) it looks like we can expect it to prolong his life for two years. If he does not have the gene mutation, he is going to undergo two rounds of chemotherapy followed by immunotherapy, however the chances of that combo working is a lot less than our first bet. As you could imagine, two years left with my dad seems like the biggest rip-off ever... and that's the best case scenario. So I'm a bit pissed off with the world right now. Naturally, we all handle ourselves as best as we can. And in our family, we handle ourselves with humour. He mentions that the doctor encouraged him to avoid any activity that is going to get his heart rate up too high, so I'm like, "Okay mum... time to start dressing like a nun." So lols all around, and then my mum replies, "I can't, he'd like that too much."
So we're coping in our special... special ways. Unfortunately, it's going to be about two weeks until we find out whether or not he has this gene mutation. So, as I said to my dad earlier, "This may be the weirdest thing I've ever said, but I really hope you're a genetic mutant."
Monday, 18 March 2013
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
BBL and Life Drama
Lots to say today but let's start straight off with the BBL (Brazil Butt Lift) update. So finished week 2 on sunday and it was a very busy week. Continue to see improvements in my muscle recovery time which is just straight out amazing. Week 2 introduced the "Sculpt" workout which is 50 minutes of whole body toning and I have to say, I'm actually impressed. I was kinda expecting there to be lots of lower body focus and that I'd end up feeling unbalanced in this program a bit. Nice surprise to discover that "sculpt" has a good upper body and core focus. I really feel like I hit my upper body and core from all angles which is awesome because I feel like I'm lacking in upper body strength and who doesn't want rockin' abs? Loved the "high & tight" workout again this week, I really feel this routine is an absolute winner for butt and thigh training. Though it said in my program guide to start using equipment (booty bands and ankle weights) for week two, I still felt very challenged and wasn't ready to add them in yet. By the end of the week however, I can see an improvement in my strength and have started to slowly add in equipment and increase weights for week three which I'm already started with. In terms of weight loss, week one I lost 1.2lbs and week two I lost nothing but did see a decrease in my lower ab measurement by a whole inch! That and my sister told me, as she was walking up the stairs behind me, that my butt was "so shapely!" at which point I proceeded to bug eyes, fish face and shout, "FOR REALS?!" Oh yeah, love them compliments. On the downside though, I really felt this second week that I was lacking in the cardio department. I wasn't mad on the "cardio axe" workout from the beginning because I really don't feel it's challenging enough for me, so now into week three, I've started replacing my scheduled "cardio axe" sessions with a zumba on my wii fit session where I find I move more, sweat more, and push myself harder. We will see what difference this makes on sunday when I do weights and measurements again.
In other news, things have been really difficult on the home front. Last monday, I received a text from my mum saying that she was taking my dad to the ER because he wasn't feeling well. His chest cold symptoms were getting worse and he was starting to have some chest and shoulder pain. I told her to keep me posting with what was going on and the series of events went as follows. The docs went to check his heart and make sure he wasn't having a heart attack but all those levels came back perfectly fine. They then were concerned that perhaps he had a blood clot in his lungs (pulmonary embolism) and decided to run some more blood work and do a chest xray. The blood work came back completely fine showing no signs of any clotting problem but the xray came back suspicious so they decided to be extra cautious and get a CT scan of his chest. What the CT found is that he has seven masses in his lungs. To be completely honest, none of us could be more shocked. The doctor was very sombre and told us that the prognosis was likely very poor and that we would need to set up a biopsy in order to learn more about his condition. He went in on wednesday morning for a series of lung function tests and was put under to have several biopsies taken from the masses. One of the masses is about the size of an orange and pushing on his esophagus. My understanding of what the pulmonologist said (second-hand from my parents) is that it's almost definitely cancer based on the lymph node involvement and if we're lucky, it will turn out to be lymphoma which is considerably more treatable than lung cancer. My dad is 51 and a non-smoker. Needless to say, it's been very difficult for us. Harder to explain to my younger sisters and hard waiting around to find out what needs to happen next. My parents have an appointment to discuss the results of the biopsy tomorrow morning. I have too many emotions and fears right now to really sit down and verbalise them. For the time being, I've just been trying to keep the house clean and organised, keep everyone sane, and try to stay positive. I hate not being able to do anything. Nothing I say or do is going to make it go away. There have been days where it's been hard to get out of bed and force myself to workout because I'm just so emotionally exhausted. That being said, I'm proud of myself for how I've pushed on and taken care of myself despite the severity of the situation. I try to remind myself that if I don't take care of me first, I won't have anything left to offer my family. Depending on what we get back from the docs tomorrow, I may very well be quitting my job (taking an extended leave of absence really) as I just refuse to bring in all the germs from work while my dads immune system is under fire.
Unfortunately not a very happy note to end this entry, but what is positive is that we're all looking out for each other and trying to make the best of every moment. I have shown that I CAN push through with my workouts even when my head isn't in the game and that kind of determination is what is going to get me results in the long run. Sometimes life gets tough, so you've got to be tougher.
Until next time.
In other news, things have been really difficult on the home front. Last monday, I received a text from my mum saying that she was taking my dad to the ER because he wasn't feeling well. His chest cold symptoms were getting worse and he was starting to have some chest and shoulder pain. I told her to keep me posting with what was going on and the series of events went as follows. The docs went to check his heart and make sure he wasn't having a heart attack but all those levels came back perfectly fine. They then were concerned that perhaps he had a blood clot in his lungs (pulmonary embolism) and decided to run some more blood work and do a chest xray. The blood work came back completely fine showing no signs of any clotting problem but the xray came back suspicious so they decided to be extra cautious and get a CT scan of his chest. What the CT found is that he has seven masses in his lungs. To be completely honest, none of us could be more shocked. The doctor was very sombre and told us that the prognosis was likely very poor and that we would need to set up a biopsy in order to learn more about his condition. He went in on wednesday morning for a series of lung function tests and was put under to have several biopsies taken from the masses. One of the masses is about the size of an orange and pushing on his esophagus. My understanding of what the pulmonologist said (second-hand from my parents) is that it's almost definitely cancer based on the lymph node involvement and if we're lucky, it will turn out to be lymphoma which is considerably more treatable than lung cancer. My dad is 51 and a non-smoker. Needless to say, it's been very difficult for us. Harder to explain to my younger sisters and hard waiting around to find out what needs to happen next. My parents have an appointment to discuss the results of the biopsy tomorrow morning. I have too many emotions and fears right now to really sit down and verbalise them. For the time being, I've just been trying to keep the house clean and organised, keep everyone sane, and try to stay positive. I hate not being able to do anything. Nothing I say or do is going to make it go away. There have been days where it's been hard to get out of bed and force myself to workout because I'm just so emotionally exhausted. That being said, I'm proud of myself for how I've pushed on and taken care of myself despite the severity of the situation. I try to remind myself that if I don't take care of me first, I won't have anything left to offer my family. Depending on what we get back from the docs tomorrow, I may very well be quitting my job (taking an extended leave of absence really) as I just refuse to bring in all the germs from work while my dads immune system is under fire.
Unfortunately not a very happy note to end this entry, but what is positive is that we're all looking out for each other and trying to make the best of every moment. I have shown that I CAN push through with my workouts even when my head isn't in the game and that kind of determination is what is going to get me results in the long run. Sometimes life gets tough, so you've got to be tougher.
Until next time.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Brazil Butt Lift and more Vegan Extravaganzas!
I have so much to say today! What a week it has been. As some of you may or may not know, I started my first week of the Brazil Butt Lift program on monday. This is from Beachbody, the company who brought us home workout crazies P90X, turbofire, insanity, etc, etc, etc. This is actually my first beachbody program and at some point I'd love to try P90X, but as this is just my first week of BBL, I'm not going to get ahead of myself! So here are my thoughts on week 1:
So reasons I started doing BBL were primarily because: a) I have never felt confident in shorts. I've always had kinda flabby butt and thighs with cellulite (at 22 what a rip-off!) and I'd really like to have a backside worth showing off this summer, and b) I really haven't felt good about what work I'd done on my legs with my fitness regime leading up to BBL. You know how you work your muscles really good and the next day, they just kill? Yeah, well I'd be doing Jillian Michaels dvds from home with squats and shoulder presses and my shoulders would be super sore the next day, but my legs? Nothin'! It was like all the squats and lunges were moot. So I heard about this program when researching how I might switch things up a bit and figured that maybe the lower body focus would be really good for me.
So when you purchase the program, there are four different booty programs/schedules to choose from depending on what you feel your "butt type" is. I chose the "too big" option because I definitely have a big booty, but a little too much in the love-handles area and the saddle-bags... and my butt, I'd like it to be big with muscle, not fat! Day 1 had me doing a look at the basics and the signature "Bum Bum" workout (pronounced "boom boom" which is Brazilian slang for your booty, apparently). For someone who thought they had their lower body strength under control, man oh man, was I surprised at how hard bum bum was! I actually put my knee out trying to keep up the pace and wasn't able to finish because I could barely stand anymore let alone to high powers squats and lunges. So what with hurting my knee at all (it's a sensitive little bastard) I learned a valuable lesson right from day 1, which was: slow down and watch your alignment! Today I did "bum bum" for the third time, and I still can't quite get to the end of the video, and I still have to take modifications on some of the moves so that I'm more controlled and am not hurting myself again. My knee is still a bit on the tender side, but I know that I'm watching myself closely enough not to injure myself again. Truthfully, I'm hoping that this program will help strengthen all the muscles around my knee so that I'm better supported for running.
Other workouts this week were "High and Tight", "Cardio Axe" (pronouced "ashay"), and "Tummy Tuck". "High and Tight" was freaking amazing!!! Super challenging workout that rocks your butt from every angle and I could really feel it in the backs and insides of my thighs the next morning! Very challenging but not in a "bum bum" sort of way. Between this and "bum bum", I waddled for the first four days of this week. Then there's "cardio axe" which is just supposed to be a dance-inspired cardio workout, but truthfully, I didn't find it nearly as challenging as the cardio I'm used to doing. I'm used to my zumba workouts where I'm dripping sweat everywhere, my heart is beating so hard and fast, and I get an insane endorphin rush. With this, I work up a bit of a sweat, and my heart rate is up, but it's nowhere near the cardio I enjoy so much. I will probably continue to do this workout for the next three weeks (until the first 4-week program is done) and then I think I'll start subbing in zumba with my wii so I keep pushing myself cardiovascularly. Today was my first attempt at "Tummy Tuck" and I've got to admit, I just wasn't in it today. I had done "bum bum" first so I was already fatigued and then found that the first half of it (which is all I completed) was so focused on the upper portion of your abs than I didn't feel balanced and once those muscles were fatigued, there was no recovery while working on other muscles. So I called it quits about halfway through. Next time, I'll consider doing tummy tuck before my lower body so I have more energy for it.
Overall impressions: amazing workout! Time consuming for my booty type program because I do two workouts most days making my total workout time over an hour most days, but I really feel like I've accomplished something by the end of it. The first three to four days of the program, I could barely walk the next day! I was sore like I've never been sore before!
That being said, I started taking better care of myself in terms of getting a good post-workout stretch, doing hot-cold alternations in the shower for circulation, sitting on a heating pad when my butt was sore, etc. Already by the end of week 1, I have noticed a huge increase in the rate at which my body recovers from intense exercise. At the start of the week, I could barely walk the morning after a good workout. By the end of this week, I noticed that I wasn't so sore after working out and the next morning, I could barely tell that I had worked so hard the previous day. I also noticed that climbing that huge slight of stairs at the train station close to my work was substantially easier and that I wasn't even remotely out of breath. I can feel myself getting stronger everyday and when I put on my tight fitting scrub pants yesterday, they were loose in the butt and thigh! Hello progress! It's a bit addicting to be honest. So I'm really looking forward to starting week 2 on monday. Don't know if I lost any weight this week as my weigh-in is on my rest day tomorrow but I'm feeling pretty damn good about things so far.
As far as vegan extravaganzas go, I just wanted to share with you one of my fav lunches! Super easy to make and pack to bring to school/work and loaded with good nutrition! Introducing my black-bean pitas!
So when you purchase the program, there are four different booty programs/schedules to choose from depending on what you feel your "butt type" is. I chose the "too big" option because I definitely have a big booty, but a little too much in the love-handles area and the saddle-bags... and my butt, I'd like it to be big with muscle, not fat! Day 1 had me doing a look at the basics and the signature "Bum Bum" workout (pronounced "boom boom" which is Brazilian slang for your booty, apparently). For someone who thought they had their lower body strength under control, man oh man, was I surprised at how hard bum bum was! I actually put my knee out trying to keep up the pace and wasn't able to finish because I could barely stand anymore let alone to high powers squats and lunges. So what with hurting my knee at all (it's a sensitive little bastard) I learned a valuable lesson right from day 1, which was: slow down and watch your alignment! Today I did "bum bum" for the third time, and I still can't quite get to the end of the video, and I still have to take modifications on some of the moves so that I'm more controlled and am not hurting myself again. My knee is still a bit on the tender side, but I know that I'm watching myself closely enough not to injure myself again. Truthfully, I'm hoping that this program will help strengthen all the muscles around my knee so that I'm better supported for running.
Other workouts this week were "High and Tight", "Cardio Axe" (pronouced "ashay"), and "Tummy Tuck". "High and Tight" was freaking amazing!!! Super challenging workout that rocks your butt from every angle and I could really feel it in the backs and insides of my thighs the next morning! Very challenging but not in a "bum bum" sort of way. Between this and "bum bum", I waddled for the first four days of this week. Then there's "cardio axe" which is just supposed to be a dance-inspired cardio workout, but truthfully, I didn't find it nearly as challenging as the cardio I'm used to doing. I'm used to my zumba workouts where I'm dripping sweat everywhere, my heart is beating so hard and fast, and I get an insane endorphin rush. With this, I work up a bit of a sweat, and my heart rate is up, but it's nowhere near the cardio I enjoy so much. I will probably continue to do this workout for the next three weeks (until the first 4-week program is done) and then I think I'll start subbing in zumba with my wii so I keep pushing myself cardiovascularly. Today was my first attempt at "Tummy Tuck" and I've got to admit, I just wasn't in it today. I had done "bum bum" first so I was already fatigued and then found that the first half of it (which is all I completed) was so focused on the upper portion of your abs than I didn't feel balanced and once those muscles were fatigued, there was no recovery while working on other muscles. So I called it quits about halfway through. Next time, I'll consider doing tummy tuck before my lower body so I have more energy for it.
Overall impressions: amazing workout! Time consuming for my booty type program because I do two workouts most days making my total workout time over an hour most days, but I really feel like I've accomplished something by the end of it. The first three to four days of the program, I could barely walk the next day! I was sore like I've never been sore before!
That being said, I started taking better care of myself in terms of getting a good post-workout stretch, doing hot-cold alternations in the shower for circulation, sitting on a heating pad when my butt was sore, etc. Already by the end of week 1, I have noticed a huge increase in the rate at which my body recovers from intense exercise. At the start of the week, I could barely walk the morning after a good workout. By the end of this week, I noticed that I wasn't so sore after working out and the next morning, I could barely tell that I had worked so hard the previous day. I also noticed that climbing that huge slight of stairs at the train station close to my work was substantially easier and that I wasn't even remotely out of breath. I can feel myself getting stronger everyday and when I put on my tight fitting scrub pants yesterday, they were loose in the butt and thigh! Hello progress! It's a bit addicting to be honest. So I'm really looking forward to starting week 2 on monday. Don't know if I lost any weight this week as my weigh-in is on my rest day tomorrow but I'm feeling pretty damn good about things so far.
As far as vegan extravaganzas go, I just wanted to share with you one of my fav lunches! Super easy to make and pack to bring to school/work and loaded with good nutrition! Introducing my black-bean pitas!
So here's what you do:
- Cut open a whole grain pita and slather the inside with your fav hummus
- Line the inside of the pita with baby spinach or a spinach/kale mix
- In a fry pan, briefly saute a good sized handful of black beans (canned, drained) and equal amount of coleslaw mix (or other shredded veggie mix) with lemon juice, a smidgen of coconut oil, fresh garlic and ginger, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
- Use this quickly-sauteed mix to stuff your pitas full and get your nom on.
Note: When I'm going to pack this in my lunch, I toss the saute ingredients (sans coconut oil) in a bowl and stuff them into the pita raw so nothing gets soggy in my bag :)
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