End of the week already!

 

What a week!  It’s Friday already.  I keep thinking I’m going to post, I’m going to post… and I somehow just never get to it.  There’s too much to do and too little time…   Sounds all too familiar doesn’t it?  Bleh.

 

I’m still going to the gym.  As a matter or fact, I just went today and did lower body workout.  Errr…. Yesterday?  Okay, whatever… I went Thursday.  I did some squats with the smith machine, did lunges, and deadlifts.  Glutes and hamstring are done!  It was a pretty good workout.  I sweat like a mad-woman these days doing 50 minutes of weight training.

 

I’ve also decided to really try and focus on gaining muscle mass.  So I’m going to take this seriously and try to eat more.  Scary thought.  But what the heck I’m going to give it a shot.  People who train and body build have been telling me that I need to eat 200 to 300 more than what I burn every day in order to gain muscle.  I’m currently at a deficit of 500 to 700 per day.  So, from what I hear, there’s no way to gain the mass that I’m looking for if I keep staying in the deficit zone?  AND I’ve decided to listen and cut back on cardio also to not more than 30 minutes of treadmill, instead of an hour.  I’ll probably add in a few extra ‘short’ walks a day so I can get some low intensity cardio in just to stay active.  I’m still want to do the 30 minute jog just because it feels great to get the heart pumping and keep the respiratory system up there.

 

Okay, enough of workout talk.

 

Went to Trader Joe’s today and stocked up on goodies.  I got some rosemary chicken with wild rice pilaf (again).  Also found a new low cal pasta.  I have it in the fridge at work, so I’ll get the right name once I see it and post it.  They had it at the tasting stand today and it was SO good.  It had something like 210 calories per serving.  Yummy.  I also stocked up on my fage.  I think I still like my fage with honey the best.  With 13g of protein per serving and only 80 calories, I can have that for a snack a couple times a day.  I’m trying to eat 2300-2500 calories a day.  I noticed it’s actually kind of hard if I try to eat really clean.  In the past few weeks, by the time I reach 1600 calories a day, I feel like I’ve pretty much eaten something every 2 hours and I just don’t feel hungry.

 

Irvine Boy came over tonight and took me to sushi.  We ordered 2 different rolls, an order of yellowtail sashimi, 2 orders of masago sushi, and a large Asahi beer.  Yum yum!  Sushi is my favorite thing right now.  I think I want to eat sushi every other day.  Can one ever get tired of Japanese food?

 

Oh, another exciting thing…. (well for me it’s exciting), is that I finally learned to like oatmeal!  Yay!  I used to hate oatmeal.  I thought it looks and tastes like poo-poo.  Blech!  But now I’m actually really enjoying it.  And when I get hungry at night before bed I’ll make myself a package of instant oatmeal and then add in 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal.  So the whole thing has like 10g of fiber which is excellent for the digestive track and helps in staying full longer.  Mmm… endless possibilities with food.  I love it.  And some people may think this whole counting calorie thing is ridiculous and troublesome, but I actually think it’s fun.  I keep telling people it’s like I have a daily account to spend (on food), and I just have to figure out where to use it.  And please get it straight, I’m trying to count calories to eat MORE and know that I’m eating enough, not to eat less.

 

Okay, it’s really time for bed now.  Will try to update tomorrow and post what the new pasta dish is I found at Trader Joe’s.

 

For now, a random pic of Irvine Boy and I from 2005 Thanksgiving…

 

 

 

 

Back in the office now...

 

Good morning friends.  Just got back from my house-boating trip last night.  Had a lot of fun with my high school friends.

 

Friday night we stopped in Vegas for some food, clubbing, and gambling.  (I won $700!!)  The next morning we headed over to Lake Mead and got on our boat for the weekend.  We played poker (well, they did..I played with other stuff), the WII, made food, checked out the view, barbequed, fed the ducks, and some other random stuff.

 

I ate pretty well for the last few days.  Stayed on tracked with my eating.  I most likely under-ate if any thing.  But that’s okay, being on the boat didn’t give me a lot of room to move around.  So it probably balanced out pretty well.  On Sunday morning we docked to get more food/supplies, so I let myself out and went for a little hike for about an hour and a half.  So that was a pretty good workout to get the heart pumping a little.

 

Now it’s back to work and workout.

 

Some pictures for now:

 

 

Our house boat living room area...

 

 

 

 

 

Wheeling in our keg...

 

 

 

 

The view from our boats back door...

 

 

 

 

Another shot of the view minus the rails...

 

 

 

 

And this is how we cut lasagna...

 

 

 

 

Me, my booze, and poker chips...

 

 

 

 

This is what happens when you draw on other people last year, and then pass out first this year!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!

 

 

 

Dentist.

 

Getting my teeth cleaned today!  Heading over right now.

 

I love going on vacations!

 

I got back in from Vegas on Monday night and can I just say the trip was SO fun!  I totally miss hanging out with the girls.  I want to do it again!  YAY!  We shopped… and we shopped, and ate, and shopped more, watched Phantom of the Opera, and topped it all off with………………..more shopping!  So much fun I could’ve easily stayed for another two or three days.  And it’s only Vegas!

 

BUT… I am going back again this Friday.  I have a houseboating trip in Lake Mead.  SO a bunch of us high school friends are going to stay overnight in Vegas on Friday night before we head over to Lake Mead the next day.

 

I totally stayed on top of watching what I was eating in Vegas.  I did have Korean bbq and two buffets.  One at the Mandalay Bay and the other one at the Wynn.  But I still stayed in my daily calorie budget of under 1800.  The key I think was everything in moderation.  So that worked out really well.  Plus we were walking so much from shopping.

 

Now that I’m back it’s back to the gym for my daily runs.  I went last night right after flute lessons.  Did 6 miles in about 73 minutes.  Felt great.  I missed my 24 Hour while being away at Vegas.  Time goes by pretty fast for me these days at the gym.  It’s normally an hour there or maybe 2 if I do some resistance training beforehand.  I will be hitting the gym again today for an hour of cardio, also tomorrow and Friday day time as well before I head off again.  That should pretty much have me set for the whole week.

 

On to some pictures from Vegas….

 

 

On the first night we stayed at a friends's house off the strip.  They weren't there but were nice enough to let us borrow the house for a night.  I slept in the master bedroom on a king size bed.  Mmm.. heaven.  And we also made Chocolate Truffle dipped Strawberries.  So good....

 

 

 

 

This was my birthday ice-cream cake...............before we even ate it.  We open the box and this is what it looked like inside...

 

 

 

 

All of us trying to figure out what happen in the box...

 

 

 

 

Made instant noodles at 3 a.m. in-between episodes of Desperate Housewives on DVD...

 

 

 

 

Now the fun stuff...  Shopping!

 

 

 

 

More shopping pictures....

 

 

 

 

More...

 

 

 

 

and more...

 

 

 

 

More bags....

 

 

 

 

It wouldn't fit in our trunk we had so much stuff...

 

 

 

 

We were so hungry from our 6 hours shopping spree... had Korean BBQ...

 

 

 

 

Random picture....

 

 

 

 

Random picture of bangs clipped up...

 

 

 

 

Dessert plate before picture...

 

 

 

 

Desert plate after picture...

 

 

 

 

And what happend in between the 'before and after' pictures...

 

 

 

 

On the way home we had shopping bags all over the inside of the car...

 

 

 

 

And me in the middle of all the bags...

 

 

 

 

Okay, friends.. that's it for now...  

Hope everyone is having a great week...

 

 

Just got home from a client’s home in Downey. 

 

Went by to drop of  a contract and then just came straight home.  I spoke with Irvine Boy on the way out of the client’s home and he’s coming over to my place to hang out and have dinner.  I was going to hit the gym before coming home, but I think I’ll have to pass today.  Too sore from my upper body weight training yesterday.  I was going to hit the gym and do 60 minutes on the treadmill.  Eh…I’ll just do it tomorrow in the morning better.

 

Still going to the gym at least 5x a week and also watching what I’m eating.  I’ve added whey protein powder to my diet which helps with trying to hit 124 grams of protein a day.

 

k, Irvine Boy is here…. Gotta go.  We’re going to walk around the mall for a while and then have dinner around there after.

 

 

Quick update.

 

My birthday was the past Sunday.  And it was a pretty good birthday.  Nothing crazy like the years before.  But that’s okay… cause it ain’t over yet!  I’m going to Vegas with 3 of my girlfriends leaving tomorrow.  It’s like an extended birthday for me this year.  So now I’m 28.  I don’t feel any different than being 27.  But I feel a lot different than 26, 25, 24, …18.  How does it all sneak by like that?  Friday Irvine Boy and I watched a movie, then went home and went to sleep.  Saturday I had to go in the office to rearrange for a bit, also bought a new desk for the newly arranged work space of mine.  Love my desk… I have to take a picture and post it tomorrow.  It’s a lot of space for me to do my stuff on.  Saturday night we decided last minute where to go, and ended up at a little bar and club in Pasadena.  I was uh a little messed up… but it was all good.  Sunday morning I took my parents to brunch and hung out with them for a little bit.  Afterwards I headed back to the office to finish up the last of my cleaning.  Judy came by with a chocolate birthday cake.  (Thanks girlie!  I’m really happy I got a birthday cake this year.)  Night time Irvine Boy took me to go watch Wicked.  And it was SO good.  I love it!  That was part of my birthday gift.  And a damn good one it was.  I’m a lucky girl.

 

Okay, … need to head out for a quick appointment.  Will update more later.  In the mean time… some pictures:

 

 

A little cake from an awesome girlie that still got it for me last night even though my birthday was past.

 

 

 

Samurai's big head...

 

 

 

 

My whey protein...

 

 

 

 

More protein pics... it's actually pretty good tasting...

 

 

 

 

 

Pumping it up.

 

I was so tired I passed out at 8:30 tonight when I got home.  Then Irvine Boy called me at around midnight to say good night.  Hearing the phone in my sleep, for a split second I was totally confused…I thought it was morning and I was late for work.

 

Nothing interesting today except my whole lower body hurts.  My trainer made me pound away at the weights today.  Don’t know what this machine is called… the reverse squat?  Anyway…normally I thought could only do two 45 pound plates (one on each side).  Today we did three sets of 10 reps with four 45 pound plates (two on each side).  And then we did some other crazy leg exercises.  Every single rep burned.  I was making all these funny looking faces when I did my reps cause it hurt so much.  I don’t think I’ll be able to walk tomorrow.  So I guess it was a great workout then.  I’ll judge it by how sore I feel on the 3^rd day.

 

We also did measurements at the gym today.  I gained 4 pounds in the last month.  I went from 121 to 125.  Had a body fat percentage decrease of 0.03%.  I'm actually not worried about the weight gain at all.  Because I feel stronger and I feel leaner.  So I had mostly lean muscle gain.  But I think it could be off by maybe a pound or so since last time I was weighed in the morning before eating or drinking anything.  AND the clothes I’m wearing could be different.  So maybe around 3 pound increase.  I need to get myself a scale at home so I can get my weight at the same time every day and without clothes.

 

Anyway, so I was going over with my trainer how much I’ve been eating and how much calories I’ve been burning according to the bodybugg he put me on.  The bodybugg is a little arm device that I wear 24/7 that give me a pretty close idea how much energy I expend every day… even when I’m sleeping.  So I burn roughly 2400 calories on active days and around 1950 on non-active days.  I’ve been eating an average of 1550 calories a day.  So according to my trainer, if I want to build mass, it’s not enough.  Need to eat 200 – 300 ‘above’ what I burn.  That’s 2700 calories on my workout days!!  That’s a lot.  At first I didn’t quite believe him, so I looked it up.  And it’s true…I do have to eat closer to what he is saying if I want to gain muscle.   But I guess if done right, I should be gaining more lean mass and minimal fat.  Oh, and if I shouldn’t be having a calorie deficit, I probably need to cut my cardio down to 30 minutes for now.  I still want to do a little cardio every day just because I feel good after I do it.  Okay, so I guess that’s the game plan eat more, but clean stuff.  The hardest part is eating enough protein everyday; 124 grams.  So I’m drinking most of it.  And Trainer promises me after we build mass we’ll focus on losing fat.  Okay, this whole building muscle thing is very scientific.

 

Aside from weight training (which has taken up most of my energy), everything else is good… just work.  Birthday is coming up fast.  Want a new palm pilot.  Told Irvine Boy that but he’s very mysterious in what I’m getting.  So we’ll see.  Very exciting!  Can’t wait!

 

Okay, I’m officially pooped.  Gotta go sleep so my muscle can GROW!

 

Not sure if this picture is clear…. But I wanna look like that:

 

 

 

 

 

The usual and the unusual.

 

Went to the gym last night and ran into tyni27.  I was just there doing my leg weights and all of a sudden a saw a head pop in right next to me, “Hey!  Are you….. on Xanga?”  Totally random, totally cute.  I’ve never met her before, but we talked for like an hour!  She’s totally down to earth and easy to talk to.  I just sat on the machine she initially found me out and she stood and from of me like that for an hour.  Too bad it was getting late, otherwise we could have easily chatted for another 2 hours.  I was really tempted to say, "Hey wanna go get milk tea?"  -- but went against that since I didn't want her to think I'm crazy given that it was 11 p.m. already.  Good thing is she lives and works near Rowland, so we said we’ll definitely go to lunch or dinner together some time.

 

 

Sunday is rest day.

 

 

Sunday is always a nice day to stay home and get ready for the coming new week.  I don’t mind really doing a little bit of cleaning, grocery shopping, maybe some laundry, and catch up with some of my show sitting in my dvr.

 

Judy came over and kept me company for most of the afternoon while I did my laundry.  We watched some cooking shows on television I had previously recorded but never had the time to watch.  I did like 6 loads of laundry.  All at once since it’s there’s like 10 washer and dryers in the laundry room on my end of the complex.  I finished drying most of the stuff except 2 dryers still have my stuff in them right now.  I had to do a 2^nd cycle of drying since towels take longer.  But I was 20 minutes late getting there to pick it up and the security had locked the doors already.  I have to hit the gym in the morning and leave my place by 7:30 a.m., so hopefully the doors will be open by then for me to get my stuff.  If not, I’ll have to come back after my work out just to get my clothes.  I don’t think it’ll be a good idea to leave it there all day and get it after work.  My stuff may end up on the floor or something.

 

I made random snacks for us to snack on tonight like fish sticks with tarter sauce… and then later made some soup noodles; that was dinner.  Rest of night I folded my clothes and just lounged around on my sofa.

 

Today was my rest day from workouts… so didn’t do any.

 

Okay, on to new findings!  I love it when I find new stuff to snack on.  Or the not-so-bad-for-you-snacks.  Amy’s Toaster Pops – Cheese pizza!  Only 150 calories and 5g of fat per pop.  Yum yum!!  Not that it would be good if I ate more than one pop per snack time.  But one for an afternoon snack isn’t bad at all.

 

http://www.amys.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=6

 

The one in the middle.  You can click on the store locator to see which stores carry these mini treats!

 

AND found a little review on Jamba Juice for all you Jamba Juice lover's who substitute these for a meal!

 

	A BAD DREAM! Jamba Juice's Orange Dream Machine Smoothie proves that Smoothies can be a big time dieting no-no.  Each Power sized Smoothie packs in a whopping 780 calories, 3.5g fat and an INSANE 155 grams of sugar.  That's the same amount of sugar you'd get if you devoured about 5 1/2 cups of Breyers' Chocolate Ice Cream.  Yikes!   Seems this Orange "Dream" is actually one big beverage nightmare. Orange you glad we warned you? Our Advice: Try one of Jamba's new Enlightened Smoothies instead.  A 16-oz. Blueberry Balance has 150 calories.  Not bad!				Nightmare on Smoothie Street

 

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  It’s a new week now!

 

 

 

Good evening...

 

 

Disneyland was fun yesterday…  We had dinner at the Blue Bayou inside of Disneyland… the food was pretty good, a little overpriced, but what the heck…it’s Disneyland.  We didn’t go on any rides because there were way too many people last night.  So we just walked around for a bit.  Oh wait, we did go on one ride, Star Tours.  After that we got coffee in one of the little shops and then headed out.  Then we walked across to Downtown Disney to get me some Kettle Corn to take home.

 

After we  got back it was around midnight I think, I watched Children of Men while Irvine Boy slept next to me on the sofa.  Nothing spectacular.  Washed up and went to bed at 4 a.m.

 

Today was more of a relaxing day.  I didn’t get out of bed till 1 p.m., then we took the dogs to Newport to walk around for a while.  There were SO many dogs there.  I saw a bunch of little dogs and 3 great danes.  We stayed there for a couple hours and then came home.  For some reason I was tired, again.  So I took a nap from 6 to 9 p.m.  There goes my Saturday.  Didn’t really work out yesterday except for a 25 minute quick run before heading to Disneyland…   So I decided to go to  Irvine Boy’s community gym here and did 60 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes of free weights on the chest.  Feels great to get out and really get the heart rate up a bit.

 

I know it’s already midnight right now… It’s really nice outside, so Irvine Boy and I are going to take the dogs out for a walk.