Yesterday I had the opportunity to sub an Aqua Fit class at a different LA Fitness than the one I typically work at. It was my first time ever going to that particular LA Fitness and, in fact, my first time ever subbing an Aqua Fit class! I've only ever taught my own. And I was subbing for "The Queen of Aqua Fit" herself. No pressure or anything.
It turned out to be quite an adventure. Thankfully Corky was off work. Actually I would never have agreed to sub it if he wasn't. The class was at 9:00am in a section of downtown Portland called the Pearl District. From where I live it would have easily taken me well over an hour to get down there if I drove. The traffic is horrendous out here and that's all before I get to a freeway! Then I'd need to take THREE freeways to get to the Pearl. I decided to take the MAX (the light rail commuter train).
Well, of course that couldn't be easy either. It took me twenty minutes to drive 3 miles to the MAX station and I missed the 7:47am train that I was supposed to take. Mind you I left at 7:25am! I caught the 7:56am instead. Then once I got downtown, I had to transfer to the Portland Streetcar. The MAX and Streetcar lines cross perpendicularly. Well, that's the simplified explanation. They kind of go all over the place but generally they make like a plus sign. The Streetcar dropped me off 1/3 mile from LA Fitness. Staring at the clock on my phone, I rushed there on foot. The weather was nice, thank goodness. That wouldn't have been fun in the pouring rain!
Once I got there, I immediately realized I was in trouble. Not only is the pool a totally different shape (long and skinny as opposed to the more typical rectangle pool I'm used to in Tualatin) but it was deep at one end and shallow at the other. By "deep" I mean almost 5 feet, but that's deep when your class is mostly made up of older ladies who aren't much taller than 5 feet themselves! And the class was BIG! 26 people is a lot in a pool that size.
The reason the shape of the pool was a problem was because it meant I couldn't do a lot of the exercises I normally do at my LA Fitness. The whirlpool was out because the pool was just too long. I asked one of the ladies and she said their regular teacher usually has them stay in place and do stuff until the very end when they move. I just couldn't do that, so we moved the whole time.
Class went fine until about 45 minutes in (the class is only 50 minutes long, or so I was trained). At that point, a lady got out of the pool and slipped and fell over by the towel racks. I have to admit that when I heard the sound and saw her on the ground my first thought was, "are you serious?" Of course I was worried and hoped she was okay, but I was thinking, "really? This had to happen TODAY?" It's every sub's worst nightmare. So I went over to her and helped her up. She insisted she was fine and that she didn't hit her head, just her shoulder. I offered to help her to a chair or out to the locker room but she refused. I told her I'd be back to check on her and get her information so I could file an incident report but when she left before I could.
As I tried to end the class at the 50 minute mark (as we're taught to do) the ladies said, "No, we go until 10! We go a whole hour!" The problem is, I only have a 50 minute class prepared. Almost to the minute! So I had to come up with 10 minutes worth of stuff to do at the drop of a hat. We did end up doing the whirlpool for a bit but people were pretty tired so they kind of petered out. Then I had them stretch for several minutes and that was it. After class, one lady talked my ear off about how there needs to be traction mats on the pool deck. I wholeheartedly agree with her but I can't do anything about it! I'm just a sub! Sigh.
After I signed out, I realized I had no idea how to get back to the Streetcar! I'd been in such a rush to get out there that I hadn't paid attention! I stared at the map on my phone and finally figured it out. Hopped on the Streetcar (or Molly the Trolley as some Portlanders call it) and hit up my bestie's Starbucks for caffeine. Did I mention I'd been up since 5:15am?? Lol. He gave me extra steamed nonfat in my Americano. The sweetie.
Caught the MAX back to Beaverton but it only went as far as Beaverton Transit Center so I had to get off there and wait 10 minutes for a train that went all the way to Hillsboro. That was a long, hot wait in the direct sunlight since there was no shade.I finally made it home right around noon - just in time to nurse Mara and send her off with her daddy for her swimming lesson.
Substitute teaching is hard no matter what kind of class it is. It's even harder when you're subbing for someone who is really well-liked and really good at their job. They leave big shoes to fill and it's hard to please people who have their hearts set on taking a class from this person. But I have to say, everyone at the Pearl LA Fitness was really welcoming and many of them thanked me for the class. So that was nice.
I would definitely sub there again. :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
BEDA (Day 27) - Packing
You would think that since it's only been a little over a year since I moved last that I would've remembered how much I hate moving! Actually, no, it's not the moving part I hate, it's the packing. This time, however, we are having a garage sale as well, so for every 2 boxes I pack for us to keep, I pack one for us to sell. So there's that. So far I've packed about 7 boxes total, which might not seem like much but it's quite an accomplishment considering I have a clingy 5 month old who doesn't like to let me work on much around the house if I'm not holding her. And packing boxes one-handed is just... not going to happen.
Anyway, last night I worked a bunch on packing up the bookshelves. It would be easy if it was only books on the bookshelves but no... it's books, scrapbooks, photo albums, old journals, yearbooks, keepsakes, candles, picture frames... etc. Not everything fit nicely into a box so I had to stuff some soft, filler-type things in to keep the contents from flying around in there if the box wasn't totally full.
The hard part is trying to decide what to sell. Usually the problem is that people want to keep everything and sell nothing. Not me! I have the opposite problem. I want to sell everything but then I'm like "Well... no... I should probably keep that because Corky might be irritated if I sell practically everything he ever got me for an anniversary!" Lol. It's not that I don't appreciate the things he's gotten me, it's just that I'm not terribly sentimental about things. Some things I am but most things I'm not. At any rate, once I remember that it was something he gave me, I put it in the "keep" box. Most of the time. ;)
The garage sale will be held at my parents' house the first weekend of June. The reason it will be there is because their house was built in the late 1980s, back when houses actually had space around them and the streets were wider and meant to be parked on. Our garage, driveway and street are not really conducive to having a garage sale on. For one thing, we live on a dead end. For another, the houses are reeeeaaallllyyyy crowded here and for a third thing, there's never anywhere to park because they crammed 33 houses into like a few acres, and the street is always choked with cars parked there.
The only downside to this timing is that we're moving in May. So that means we're going to have to bring a bunch of boxes with us of stuff for the garage sale and find a place to put it for a few weeks until June. But that's okay. We'll be kind of living half-unpacked anyway for a time because that's how it works when you move. I'm really excited to have this garage sale though because the last time we had one was back in 2009 and I made over $200 on just MY stuff! An few hundred dollars extra would go a long way around here!
Last weekend when we went to Astoria, we took a trip down to Seaside, Oregon where they have an outlet mall. I mentioned in my Astoria post that we went to the Nike store because I wanted to get this pair of shoes but didn't because they were $85.00. I remember thinking to myself, $85... I could buy a lot of groceries for $85. When we returned home I went grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, picked up the necessities as well as supplies to make dinners for the week. My cart was pretty full. At the checkout, the clerk rang me up... $84.57. See? I told myself. Lots of groceries for $85.00. But... the groceries are now gone. At least the Nikes would have lasted. But my family is healthy and fed. That is more important than fashion.
Or so I keep telling myself. :P
Have a great week! xoxo
Anyway, last night I worked a bunch on packing up the bookshelves. It would be easy if it was only books on the bookshelves but no... it's books, scrapbooks, photo albums, old journals, yearbooks, keepsakes, candles, picture frames... etc. Not everything fit nicely into a box so I had to stuff some soft, filler-type things in to keep the contents from flying around in there if the box wasn't totally full.
The hard part is trying to decide what to sell. Usually the problem is that people want to keep everything and sell nothing. Not me! I have the opposite problem. I want to sell everything but then I'm like "Well... no... I should probably keep that because Corky might be irritated if I sell practically everything he ever got me for an anniversary!" Lol. It's not that I don't appreciate the things he's gotten me, it's just that I'm not terribly sentimental about things. Some things I am but most things I'm not. At any rate, once I remember that it was something he gave me, I put it in the "keep" box. Most of the time. ;)
The garage sale will be held at my parents' house the first weekend of June. The reason it will be there is because their house was built in the late 1980s, back when houses actually had space around them and the streets were wider and meant to be parked on. Our garage, driveway and street are not really conducive to having a garage sale on. For one thing, we live on a dead end. For another, the houses are reeeeaaallllyyyy crowded here and for a third thing, there's never anywhere to park because they crammed 33 houses into like a few acres, and the street is always choked with cars parked there.
The only downside to this timing is that we're moving in May. So that means we're going to have to bring a bunch of boxes with us of stuff for the garage sale and find a place to put it for a few weeks until June. But that's okay. We'll be kind of living half-unpacked anyway for a time because that's how it works when you move. I'm really excited to have this garage sale though because the last time we had one was back in 2009 and I made over $200 on just MY stuff! An few hundred dollars extra would go a long way around here!
Last weekend when we went to Astoria, we took a trip down to Seaside, Oregon where they have an outlet mall. I mentioned in my Astoria post that we went to the Nike store because I wanted to get this pair of shoes but didn't because they were $85.00. I remember thinking to myself, $85... I could buy a lot of groceries for $85. When we returned home I went grocery shopping at Fred Meyer, picked up the necessities as well as supplies to make dinners for the week. My cart was pretty full. At the checkout, the clerk rang me up... $84.57. See? I told myself. Lots of groceries for $85.00. But... the groceries are now gone. At least the Nikes would have lasted. But my family is healthy and fed. That is more important than fashion.
Or so I keep telling myself. :P
Have a great week! xoxo
Sunday, April 26, 2015
BEDA (Day 26) - Follow Up
Following up on yesterday's BEDA about Vega One: it's incredibly disgusting. I kind of figured it would be once I read the ingredients but figured it was worth a shot. But anything that is supposed to be vanilla chai flavored should not have algae, spirulina, mushroom, kale or pea in it!
Yesterday my dad bought Mara a Jumperoo from Target. She loves it!! Here's a picture dump (mostly, if not all, of Miss Mara Soleil. Oh I love her!!)
Mara and mommy, posing.
Not too old to nap on mommy still. In fact she prefers it.
Mara in her new jumperoo from grandpa.
***warning - the following pictures are meant to show what an almost-9-pound baby does to someone's stomach skin. It's not graphic or anything but since a lot of eating disorder people read this I don't want it to shock you! Lol.
So
If
You
Are
Easily
Shocked
Do
Not
Go
Any
Further
But
If
You
Are
Not
Then
Here
It
Is!
Lol!
:)
I have a physical therapy appointment on Wednesday for my diastasis recti (stomach muscles) so hopefully it will help! The hernia in my belly button does not do me any favors lol.
Man I'm tired!! It took every ounce of energy I could muster to get out of bed just now and come downstairs and pump. I almost didn't get up, but then I thought to myself seriously? How selfish a thing is that to think? Get up!
And so I did.
I had to type this on my phone because my computer decided to kind of quit working. Fun stuff. #firstworldproblems
Saturday, April 25, 2015
BEDA (Day 25) - Vega One
Wow! I cannot believe it is almost the end of April. I'm so excited because Spring is my least favorite season and it is getting closer to being over! Lol!
I got this sample pack of a protein shake by this company called Vega One. It's vanilla chai flavor... I hope it's good! It's from Whole Foods so it doesn't have any crap in it, which is nice. I've been trying to consume less "crap", and by "crap" I mean artificial sweeteners and additives and stuff. My one downfall is diet coke, I will have it occasionally. Currently I'm down to one every other day or so, so there's that!
Anyway, the protein shake only has 170 calories, 40% of daily protein and 25% of daily fiber. I plan on making it with a cup of almond milk (30 cal) and half a cup of water, since it calls for 1.5 cups of liquid. Weird! But it should be fine. I'll let you know.
I got this sample pack of a protein shake by this company called Vega One. It's vanilla chai flavor... I hope it's good! It's from Whole Foods so it doesn't have any crap in it, which is nice. I've been trying to consume less "crap", and by "crap" I mean artificial sweeteners and additives and stuff. My one downfall is diet coke, I will have it occasionally. Currently I'm down to one every other day or so, so there's that!
Anyway, the protein shake only has 170 calories, 40% of daily protein and 25% of daily fiber. I plan on making it with a cup of almond milk (30 cal) and half a cup of water, since it calls for 1.5 cups of liquid. Weird! But it should be fine. I'll let you know.
Friday, April 24, 2015
BEDA (Day 24) - 5 Month Picture
First of all, thank you for your kind comments after yesterday's post. I'm doing marginally better today (that is, not much.)
Here is Mara's 5 month picture! Her pants look weird in the top one lol! Funny kid!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
BEDA (Day 23) - 5 Months
My baby girl is 5 months old today. 5 months ago, at this exact time, I was on pitocin and suffering my way through contractions.
Mara is a pretty amazing kid. She definitely knows who her parents are and will cry if anyone else holds her except my mom and sometimes my dad. She hates when I leave her in the evening when I go teach Zumba or Aqua Fit. She'll cry and scream so much she throws up. It's so heartbreaking! Her separation anxiety came on really early (sometime between 3 and 4 months). Guess she takes after her Mommy in that respect.
She can pretty much sit up on her own, she eats some solid food and purees, can hold her own bottle and is working on learning to crawl. I love her to pieces and I don't know what I'd do without her!
I haven't done her 5 month comparison photo yet but I'll post it tomorrow. Here's a pic of her from the other day!
Aside from that, I am not doing so great. I am just so fat. I can't stand it. I can't stand myself. I want to stop nursing, on the one hand, because I just want to starve. I am serious... it feels like I would rather die than be this flabby everywhere. These fantasies keep coming to my mind about skipping meals, drinking coffee only, being hungry, going without. But I know that I can't do that because I'm nursing but I just hate my fat!!!!! I HATE IT!!! I want to cry and scream but no tears will come for some reason. I'm just huge everywhere and I want to fucking die.
At this moment, I do not care that I'm "supposed to be strong for Mara" or whatever. Oh, don't get me wrong, I will do the things I need to do to take care of her. But I don't want to "be strong." I just want to be skinny! There aren't words sufficient to describe how badly I want that. I want to just cut all the fat off, like you do to steak. I can't write anymore about this actually... it's just frustrating me because I can't convey it like I want to.
Mara is a pretty amazing kid. She definitely knows who her parents are and will cry if anyone else holds her except my mom and sometimes my dad. She hates when I leave her in the evening when I go teach Zumba or Aqua Fit. She'll cry and scream so much she throws up. It's so heartbreaking! Her separation anxiety came on really early (sometime between 3 and 4 months). Guess she takes after her Mommy in that respect.
She can pretty much sit up on her own, she eats some solid food and purees, can hold her own bottle and is working on learning to crawl. I love her to pieces and I don't know what I'd do without her!
I haven't done her 5 month comparison photo yet but I'll post it tomorrow. Here's a pic of her from the other day!
Aside from that, I am not doing so great. I am just so fat. I can't stand it. I can't stand myself. I want to stop nursing, on the one hand, because I just want to starve. I am serious... it feels like I would rather die than be this flabby everywhere. These fantasies keep coming to my mind about skipping meals, drinking coffee only, being hungry, going without. But I know that I can't do that because I'm nursing but I just hate my fat!!!!! I HATE IT!!! I want to cry and scream but no tears will come for some reason. I'm just huge everywhere and I want to fucking die.
At this moment, I do not care that I'm "supposed to be strong for Mara" or whatever. Oh, don't get me wrong, I will do the things I need to do to take care of her. But I don't want to "be strong." I just want to be skinny! There aren't words sufficient to describe how badly I want that. I want to just cut all the fat off, like you do to steak. I can't write anymore about this actually... it's just frustrating me because I can't convey it like I want to.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
We Interrupt This Program To Bring You....
Pausing BEDA for a hot second, I found this awesome article that spoke to me SO MUCH!
Read it! Do it!
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/having-a-baby-ruined-my-bikini-body-116668948347.html
While I do plan to (POSSIBLY) wear a bikini when I go on vacation someday, I am TOTALLY on board with the whole not viewing stretchmarks as "stripes" thing. No, they aren't stripes that I've earned. They're scars that I didn't want. They're not badges of honor. They're fucking stretch marks and they're not attractive! (and for the record, tigers didn't earn their stripes either, they were born with the genetics to have stripes. Just to clear that up lol.)
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my body for what it has done - i.e. growing a healthy, 8lb 14oz baby inside it and then pushing said baby out into the world. That was no easy task, let me tell you, but my amazing body did it! But that doesn't mean I like how it looks in its' entirety afterward.
But you know what? That's OKAY! I don't have to like it! It doesn't mean I don't love my daughter or myself. (Well, that 2nd one is questionable but there's no doubt I love my daughter more than anything!) It just means that I find my stretchmarks aesthetically unappealing. Nothing more.
Read it! Do it!
https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/having-a-baby-ruined-my-bikini-body-116668948347.html
While I do plan to (POSSIBLY) wear a bikini when I go on vacation someday, I am TOTALLY on board with the whole not viewing stretchmarks as "stripes" thing. No, they aren't stripes that I've earned. They're scars that I didn't want. They're not badges of honor. They're fucking stretch marks and they're not attractive! (and for the record, tigers didn't earn their stripes either, they were born with the genetics to have stripes. Just to clear that up lol.)
Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of my body for what it has done - i.e. growing a healthy, 8lb 14oz baby inside it and then pushing said baby out into the world. That was no easy task, let me tell you, but my amazing body did it! But that doesn't mean I like how it looks in its' entirety afterward.
But you know what? That's OKAY! I don't have to like it! It doesn't mean I don't love my daughter or myself. (Well, that 2nd one is questionable but there's no doubt I love my daughter more than anything!) It just means that I find my stretchmarks aesthetically unappealing. Nothing more.
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