My crazy week so far.

What an interesting (to say the least) week I'm having so far!

The biggest thing is my return to the gym. I managed to go three times so far. Two times I went specifically to time my progress while I attempted to finish a 5k on the treadmill. My best time was yesterday where I finished a 5k in 37 minutes and hardly felt it. I was amazed to see that I can now keep a steady 5mph pace when before I used to dream of the day when I could make it to 5mph~ LOL. Now I think it's a little slow. LOL


Apart from that I was able to go to a Zumba class. Let me just say that things have changed at my gym since I was there last. I got there early to make sure I had a good spot but when it finally came time to go inside the room I was stopped because I didn't have a stamp on my hand.
 me:"What stamp?"
girl at door: "You need to reserve your spot and get a stamp. Most people come an hour early to reserve their spot. Why don't you go to the front desk and ask. Someone might have cancelled and you might get lucky."
me: "Well isn't that a bit of terrific, since when did these classes get so full?"
girl: "Please step aside ma'am I need to let others in. Go check the front."

I, disgruntled and a little embarrassed, moved away and was pretty pissed that I was going to miss my Zumba class. I went up to the front, not to ask for a stamp but to ask what gives. Though I hardly phrased my question when the girl at the front went, "Oh you're interested in the Zumba class? You're in luck I have a space today! But you do have to sign for a stamp to reserve your place. The best thing to do is to come an hour early."

An HOUR early? Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it. I later learned that they had cut back on Zumba classes and now only had them a couple of times a week in the late evening and because of that most classes were now full and in demand. I never had to worry about that before because there used to be multiple Zumba classes a day. Not anymore.

So long story short I got to go to Zumba afterall. I was now late so I got a crappy spot in the back and they had already started. It took me a second to find and then follow the instructor but soon enough I was following along. By the end of the night I was closer to the middle of the group (how did I maneuver myself up there, I don't know but there you have it) and got my groove on. Man, I've missed Zumba.


The following day I was so busy baby sitting my little nephew and working like mad on re-writing my resume I didn't make it to the gym. When I realized I wasn't going to make it I asked my mom if she knew where her Zumba DVD's were. She said she couldn't remember but then suddenly ordered my little sister to set up the Wii. I was confused. (disclamer: I am NOT a gamer. I have no interest in video games and have trouble keeping up with what's what and who is who) I then realized my family had the Just Dance 2 game on Wii and that I could use the Wii control to dance and compete to get a high score. I laughed at the idea but went for it.

My mom and I competed and in a second I ended up winning the competition in almost every category. Before I knew it I had been playing 'Just Dance 2' for over an hour and a half (mom had long ago stopped playing) and I had a nice sweat going. LOL. Talk about an interesting work out!

It's safe to say that my work out routines are coming back to life. I'm happy about that. What I'm not so happy about is my calorie intake. I've been calorie counting all week and I've been ending up around a 1900-2000 calorie range. I now know what my body is currently comfortable with but I have to start bringing that number down. I want to make a smooth transition because I know I'm prone to binge-ing the second my body feels (or *I* subconsciously feel) deprived. It's an interesting dynamic really and I'm trying to take the time to really listen to my body and try and figure out WHY I do this.

On that note I was actually pretty happy to get the opportunity to attend an OA (Overeaters anonymous) meeting last night. An old friend of mine invited me to join her and I was happy to take her up on the opportunity and learn something new. I actually didn't know that OA really existed. I'd heard of it but I didn't think it was real. I wasn't sure what to expect, although I was happy to see that people actually do go up to each other and introduce themselves before they talk;
me:"Hi I'm Elina and I'm a compulsive overeater."
group: "Hi Elina!"

That sort of thing,

Being my first time to a meeting I received a token similar to this one:

 I spent most of the meeting trying to figure out what was going on and how things worked but in the end I was happily surprised at the open-ness of the group and very interested in listening to the stories people shared. I don't know yet if this would be a group I might follow but I wouldn't mind going to a meeting again. 

A part from all that aweomeness there have been some set backs. Last night I received a disturbing email pretty much saying the project I was hoping to join fell through and so I was now left job-less and have to start over in my job search. Talk about frustrations! I'm trying not to go to food to deal with my disappointment and trying to be pro-active and not get myself too stressed out over this. The life of a roving biologist has it's set backs. Especially when I got a little too comfortable believing things would just work themselves out and I became lazy in my search earlier this summer. 

Damn. 

Things are over all going well! I swear! 

Until we meet again.

-w0rld