Run around girl

Last night Greg was on call which means that he was still on call when I left the house this morning. He actually got a page right after I got up, it was just an update on lab results but for second I thought I wasn't going to be able to go run. I must say I was a little disappointed. I assured him I'd take my phone and give it to John while I ran, that way if he got paged I would just come home. As I drove to the athletic field I kept checking my phone, making sure it was on and that I had it on the right setting. Arriving at the field I handed my phone over to John telling him Greg was on call and that he may call. John's response was he couldn't wait to talk to him. I can only imagine how that conversation would have gone. We started the run with the long route which included the stairs. Once again I made it up and down the stairs on both of my long route loops. I must say I felt the run was harder today, it was a little warmer than it's been in the past week and it made running a little bit hotter. I felt I was going slower than my usual pace and I must admit that I walked more than I wanted to. I will be the first to admit that I hoped that Greg was calling ask me to come home. The last lap of the run was the short lap around the stadium, I was relieved to finish. I never really got into a zone today, I felt each step, each hill and each breath. I still managed to run over 3 miles and I'm proud of doing the best I could.

Multitasking a fitness story

This morning was weigh in day and I'm pleased to say I lost 5 pounds last week. I think it was that delicious Thai soup, but really it wasn't. The theme for today's post is multitasking, first because we worked arms, legs, and shoulders all in the same exercise and because going to boot camp isn't enough to reach my goal. The exercise was kind of brutal today, squats then biceps curl and finally pressing the weight over our head then repeat over and over and over again.

Yesterday he talked about us needing to get our second 35 minute cardio workout in 5 days a week. I did mine yesterday while Gabi was at school, I rode the stationary bike. I felt good that I finished it, this morning I think there might be a Zumba class so I might check that out instead. Another facet of this life changing boot camp is the diet. I've never really liked diets, in fact this may be the first one I've ever really been on. The hardest part for me is eating more often, but I did it last week and I clearly got results. Therefore this week I'm going to keep eating properly and add in the extra exercise and see what happens next week. I only have a few more weeks before I go home for the wedding so I need to Emeril it (kick it up a notch...BAM).

Week 7: It's only going to get harder.

Another Monday workout has come and gone. I don't know what it is about Monday's, but every single one gives me a tummy ache. I managed to eat my wheat roll before we got to class, but just barely. Today we focused on cardio and abs. It was hard and I'm very sweaty as I write this post. We got a few new people in our class and now that everyone is starting at different times I wondered if the workouts would get a little easier. The answer is no, he just expects more from those of us who've been in the class longer. Today was an Ab work out that nearly brought me to tears. As we held our feet out and squeezed our Abs with all our strength he talked about not quitting. Small tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes blending with the sweat pouring off my forehead but I held on. I don't want to be a quitter, I know I have Abs and they probably need a good workout. We also ran from a push up position, then did some push-up/stand up reps. Both of which made me very dizzy, probably an unsafe drop in blood pressure. It was a hard workout but I know that tomorrow will be harder.

Wonderful Weekend

This weekend turned out to be full of great weather and great family fun. First off no one was sick, which always tends to bring the quality of a weekend down slightly. Greg was on call Friday and did get called in at 4:30 am. He was back in time for me to go to Cardio Funk, but I chose to stay in bed instead. My legs still hurt terribly, to the point where sitting on the toilet was horribly painful.

Saturday we went to the southern part of the island to the Peace Prayer Park. It contains a cemetery, museum, wall of the fallen, and a peace tower. We saw everything, walking through the tombs in the cemetery was beautiful, each had some sort of water feature and a place to hang origami cranes. Later when we walked through the rows and rows of names we got a true sense of the scope of how many people died in the battle of Okinawa. Once inside the museum we got headsets so we were able to hear the narration in English. I must say that this museum was heartbreaking, the pictures they chose to display were hard to look at, the stories the survivors told were difficult to listen to. The fortitude of the Okinawan spirit is so strong, the fact that they are still friendly and kind after what they endured during the way is humbling. After the museum we walked to the Peace Tower, which contained a huge statue of Buddha. It also had a collection of paintings inspired by Okinawan history, including the battle. They were truly beautiful and the depiction of certain aspects of the war were done with beauty and compassion. Gabriella for the most part sailed through the museum enjoying the maps and the children's features.

After the museum we went to eat at the fabled Thai in the Sky. It's a thai restaurant overlooking the pacific ocean. It's come with all sorts of recommendations and we finally went. It was so delicious, the Tom Yum soup I had was amazingly spicy and comforting. I ate until I was sure I was going to throw up. I'm pleased to say I didn't. I'm also glad that it's far and hard to get to because if that wasn't the case I would probably go there everyday. Greg had a delicious pad thai and Gabi got the obligatory kids plate that contained a little of everything. I also had their lemongrass tea which was delicious. I was so full after the meal I didn't eat for the rest of the day.

Sunday I taught my second CCD class, my students are working on the Our Father. After that we went to church and then back home. We decided to go out to lunch and catch a movie. We saw Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. All of us enjoyed the movie, Gabi's favorite part was the spaghetti tornado. The movie made me hungry. We also had the Broom's over for a barbecue in the evening. All and all a great weekend.

Staring at the Stairs

This morning I woke up from a crazy dream and hobbled my way down the stairs. Every part of my legs were hurting and as I sunk down into the chair to check my email while I ate my bagel I wondered how I'd be able to run. It turns out I ran fine, of course now my legs hurt even more but I suppose that is to be expected. Today was the first day I did the stairs. The stairs is just what it sounds like, 4 flights of stairs to a beautiful lookout. We had to run up and down them twice before continuing our lap. Normally John tells me to bypass the stairs, but not today. I took it as a sign of progress, he knows that I would be able to do make it up and down without dying. I made it up and down twice and finished running the first lap, today I ran the whole way even up the hills. It did take me 30 minutes to do that first lap, but I suppose I couldn't expect to go faster with the stairs than I do without them. The second lap was hard, I walked around the stadium and finally started to run again when I got to the parking lot. I think today was the first time I've ever reached the meditative state where you feel like you could run forever, I believe it's called the zone. My zone only lasted until I got to the stairs then it was completely destroyed. I only made it up and down the stairs once on the second lap. I thought I'd cut my losses and attempt to make it back to my car without having a heart attack. I did manage to run back to the starting point with a fair amount of ease. When I say ease I mean that I didn't keel over and was able to breath. All and all today was a good day, the run was good and the stairs are a sign on progress.

Insane Workouts lead to Insanity

This morning I actually signed up for another 12 weeks of boot camp. I paid my money and got my receipt, I'm all signed up for another 12 weeks of 4:07 am wake up calls and pain. Why did I do it? Well I'm still asking myself that question. It was a great deal, half off the price, so clearly I'm a sucker for a bargain. The other reason I did it was because I've really made some positive changes in my life in the last 6 weeks and I'd like to continue on the road I've started. It's a journey and it's painful but I'm going to be healthier and happier at the end of it. I need to build habits, positive habits and getting up and working out is one of them. Greg asked me if I thought I could still continue to motivate myself once the class was over and I told him I didn't know. I can be flighty and when push comes to shove occasionally I just walk away and give up. I think another boot camp will help cement my fitness regimen and help me to loose a little more weight. After all I'm going to be in a wedding next summer, I want to look my best.

Today we worked on our legs in what I would call painful power squats. We did it for 35 minutes taking a few breaks here and there. It was a short work out but it packed a punch, I was exhausted and drenched in sweat when I got home. Walking has been painful all day, going up and down stairs excruciating. It's a good kind of pain, what am I saying the pain is terrible, I think this boot camp has turned me into a masochist. Because I just paid more money to get put in this type of pain for the next 18 weeks, that I think is the definition of insanity.

Run like the wind

Today was a run day and I did awesome. I finished 3 laps (about 4.5 miles) in 55 minutes, and my last lap was under 15 minutes. I've never finished my run before 6 am, ever. I did a lot of things differently this morning, first of all I had bread and fruit as my 4 am mini meal, at John's suggestion. I think it may have given me more energy because as I'm writing this the pull of the bed is not as strong. Secondly, I changed my music selection. Instead of listening to some rock and roll or pop songs I put on my flag playlist. This playlist consists of all the songs I use to hear at flag competitions, some of which I had routines to. As I listened to these songs I thought about the routines, the costumes, how young and thin I was and I forgot (kind of) I was running. I didn't think of the pain, or the heat, or how far I still had to go, all I thought of was flags. So even though the songs were slower paced I ran faster. The biggest change was me, when I got up this morning I told myself I wanted to run 3 laps. I've changed in these last 6 weeks of boot camp. If I look back 6 weeks ago I couldn't even stay on the route, I got lost so many times that it's impossible to know how far I ran that day. Yet today I competently ran the route in my best time yet with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I've changed a lot in these past weeks, not just my body but my mind. So really the only difference today that matters is me, I'm different and it's progress.

Week 6 Begins

I totally fell down on my blog yesterday, I forgot. Boot Camp yesterday was a lesson in how your body processes food and why eating every few hours helps to keep your metabolism going all day. It was really informative and I took the lesson that I learned and put it into action. I ate more often but smaller meals, healthier snacks and I definitely felt a little better. Since this week is the half way point I'm going to work harder to keep up the new eating regimen.

Today at boot camp there was no teaching, only working. We worked on arms with the weights and bands. We worked on legs by walking up and down the stairs carrying the weights. I was dripping in sweat creating small puddles on the floor around where I was standing. I made it through the class without cheating on my reps. I'm half way through this class and I feel like it's go time, if I want to make this a permanent change I'm going to have to get use to this new way of eating and try harder while exercising. I go home in one month and I want to wow everyone with my new healthier body.

Weekend Work Out

This morning I had absolutely no intention of going to Cardio Funk. When my alarm went off I turned it off. But Greg's alarm rang a few minutes later and even though he pushed snooze a few times I still got up in time to get dressed and drag myself out the door. Eating my banana in the car I drove over to the class. I got there a little early, there was plenty of room in the class and John was in a very excited and happy mood. The class was hard but I was able to stay up on the step for at least 75% of the class. It's nice to see that I'm improving, getting use to the moves, understanding the rhythms and building my endurance. I feel like I was a little tricked this morning into staying for the Ab working out. We kept stepping for the whole hour and then just quickly transitioned into the Ab class. The step class was hard but then to go into the Ab class was really overwhelming. But I made it through both classes and managed to drink two full bottles of water during the hour and a half. Driving home I felt the endorphins coursing through my body and I had a big smile on my face. Making it to through both workouts was a huge personal accomplishment and I'm very happy I went to class today. I even got a "good job today" from John. Next Saturday is bring a friend day, any volunteers?

Why 5 am boot camp is for me.

This morning Greg was called into the hospital to admit a patient so I wasn't able to go to boot camp at my normal time. I did get up briefly and call John to ask him if I could go to the 9:30 am class. Of course he said fine and I went back to bed for a few hours. Gabi was up really early and Greg was kind enough to take her downstairs and get breakfast for her. I got her to school and drove over to the park where we run on Fridays. I can see why 9:30 would be convenient, Gabi is in school so I wouldn't have to worry about Greg getting called in. But there are far more downsides than upsides. First of all it's hot, damn hot, real hot especially in my shorts I can cook things in them, a little crotch pot cooking. Secondly, my brain is actually functioning at that time of day so as I ran today I was thinking of how hard it was, why I should slow down or stop, what I was doing there. I don't usually have those thoughts at 5 am because my brain is just trying to wake my arms and legs up enough to propel me forward. Thirdly, the run is very exposed in the harsh light of day, people can see me coming and watch my progress has I huff and puff down the route. I like the anonymity of darkness, plus at 5 am people aren't interested in me running, if they are out at that park they are either exercising themselves or trying to pick up on other guys. Either way I'm completely off the radar. I also felt rushed dropping off Gabi and school then hurrying over to the park, then hurrying home to take a shower and now I'm only a few minutes away from picking her up. I've had no time to update my facebook status or check my email. So after this experiment with the 9:30 class I think I made the right decision picking 5 am.

Two Wrongs and a Right

This morning it was only 77 degrees when I left the house. It actually felt a little bit cool. I hope the coolness lasts until tomorrow morning when we have to run. Yesterday's run was really hard, my hip hurt and that made me go a lot slower than I normally do. I did however employ Greg's suggestion about focusing on moving my legs forward rather than up, which helped me feel like I was going faster.

Today boot camp was torture for both my arms and my legs. We started the morning with weights, laying on our backs we lifted the weights over our heads starting with a 10 count then working our way down. Then we moved on to push ups, doing 10 then counting down. Then we moved onto the stairs. Never has one flight of stairs been so tortuous. We went up and down the first time without weights, I was able to go one step at a time and was still winded by the second trip up. After the first set of stairs we got some water and then went back to the arm workout, then back to the stairs. This time we had weights and I had to make it up the stairs two at a time. I was so slow, struggling to lift my leg every single time. Then we repeated the whole work out again. My arms and legs are both sore, the only good thing to come out of this morning other than a release of endorphins was John taught me a stretch for my sore hip. He said to stretch it a lot and it would feel better, I hope I can stretch it enough to be able to run better tomorrow.

Boot Camp: Week 5 Begins

I'm going to play a little catch up today. Right now it's 4:21 am and I have about 15 minutes before I need to leave for another day of fun at boot camp. Monday was the start of week 5 and we worked on arms, lots and lots of work on arms. Weights and bands, multiple reps. It was hard and he was mad. Angry because not everyone attended the lecture on Saturday. I didn't attend because I was living it up on Ishigaki island. I told him previously that I wasn't going to be there and he was fine with it. Monday I was wondering how fine he really was. He talked about our food consumption and announced a journal review day on Tuesday. I went home with hurt arms and a little bit of anxiety about my eating over the past week.

Tuesday was body fat day and I'm pleased to say I've made good strides in that department, I was also happy that I still lost weight even though I went on vacation. I tried to eat well and for the most part succeeded but they did have some delicious fried food that I sampled. Tuesday was also arms, this time with weights and then push ups. As he read through our journals he added more reps to our push ups, if one person stopped we'd all start over. He was mad, disappointed that the class as a whole is not taking boot camp seriously and he punished us for it. I'm not sure how many push ups we did, but by the end I was dangerously close to breaking my nose because my arms could no longer hold my weight. My arms hurt all day, it was one of the reasons I didn't post a blog yesterday. Opening Gabi's go-gurt nearly brought me to tears. Today is running, so at least I'll be mainly using my legs. My tired arms need a bit of a break.

Gabi runs off to join the circus

Saturday at Club Med dawned bright and sunny. We all enjoyed sleeping in a little, then went down to play a little squash. I wasn't very good, it was easier to play on our own then with each other. I moved on to ride the bike in the gym for the rest of my work out. I managed to go 12.7 miles in about 30 minutes. Greg and Gabi went to the room to change before they got me from the gym, then I met them at breakfast. Of course breakfast was delicious, the buffet teaming with fresh fruits and yummy eggs. After breakfast Gabi retired to her club and we didn't see her again except in passing until 5pm. We did see her up on the trapeze learning to fly, she went up with no fear climbing the narrow ladder all the way up to the top, then with the help of the teachers grabbed the bar and flew through the air a smile on her face the entire time. I watched from the pool while Greg snapped some great pictures. Once Gabi headed back to her club we went to the pool, where I tried some water aerobics and water dancing. I even won a beer in the pool foot race, Greg kindly drank my prize for me. Later Greg went snorkeling and I got a wonderful massage. The family reconnected for dinner, which had an international theme. Gabriella went back to the mini club to enjoy a coloring contest and Greg and I walked down to the beach to look at the stars. We could see the Milky Way and even spotted a few falling stars. The show Saturday night was a circus show which we all enjoyed. The theme was under the sea and all of Gabriella's circus instructors were in it. After the show there was a chocolate buffet and dancing in the court yard. We finally made it back to the room after ten and fell into our beds exhausted but happy.

Rewind: Friday

We just got back from vacation and I have so much to write. I really wanted to update my blog before we left on Friday but the internet did not want to cooperate so here I am updating on Sunday. Friday was great, the run was the last thing I had to do before vacation. I managed to run 3 laps which is about 4.5 miles. I did it in my best time so far. I came home and rushed to get everything else ready to go for the trip. Rachel was a superstar for taking us to the airport. When we arrived in Ishigaki were met by the Club Med host and escorted to the bus. We waited a few minutes for a few more passengers to arrive then headed off around the island to the resort. Arriving about 45 minutes later we were greeted by a group of smiling employees. We were escorted into the lobby, seated and offered tea. We got the introduction to the resort and were quickly shown to our room. The room was fantastic with a king size bed and a twin for Gabriella. It had a balcony and a good sized bathroom.

Next we headed out to have lunch, the buffet was enormous and featured everything one could want. I stuck carefully to my diet plan and enjoyed the delicious array of fresh veggies, fruits and fish. Greg and Gabriella enjoyed the plentiful dessert bar. After lunch we explored a little more and eventually found our way to the kids club. We met Juliana who asked Gabi is she wanted to meet her and the other friends of the club down at the beach. We quickly returned to the room and got into our swimsuits. Heading down to the beach we swam together enjoying the bath water temperature of the ocean. Gabriella eventually hooked up with the kids club group and went to enjoy the rest of the day with the other kids. We didn't see her until we picked her up at 5. Greg and I eventually went to the pool, played archery and tennis. After picking up Gabriella from the kids club we relaxed in the bar enjoying the snacks before heading to dinner. The meal was once again spectacular, the entire dining room and buffet decorated. After enjoying dessert we went for a walk to look at the stars and eventually turned in.

Boot Camp: Bring your friends for torture

Thursday is always friends and family day at boot camp and today my friends Michelle and Erika accompanied me and Rachel. We picked them up, because trusting anyone to voluntarily drive themselves to a gym at 4:45 in the morning is always a bad idea. John was in a goodish mood this morning, there was no yelling to be heard when we walked up. We did the same exercise that we did on Tuesday to help strengthen our backs and our abs. Then we learned a few new painful leg exercises. It was nice to be able to stay horizontal in class even if my legs were burning and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open. He also checked our eating in our journals. I ate healthfully yesterday and kept my fingers crossed that everyone else did too. The last 20 minutes he lectured, and it was an interesting blend of helpful hints and encouragement. Possibly the best and most humorously made point was not to let people or things get in the way of seeing your goal.

Both Erika and Michelle were smiling when we dropped them off, which could have been because of the endorphin rush from exercising or they were just thankful their torture was finally over and they could collapse back into their beds. Either way they were great sports for coming out and I really loved having them in class.

Boot Camp: Week 4: Straight Trippin

Gabi started school yesterday and my schedule is all thrown off. I can only hope as I acclimate to having more free time in the morning my blogging will get better. This morning was a little cooler, which I was thankful for since the run was a little harder than normal. The jumprope made a triumphant return. Only instead of just one small lap with the jumprope it was the long route. It was ridiculously hard, I was tripping constantly. Finally after half a lap I figured out how to just run and just swing the jumprope, not necessarily in tandem. I didn't care where it hit or if it got caught in my shoe, the whole point was to try to keep running. If it got tangled I'd try to get untangled without stopping. I made it two laps in an hour and believe me I was thankful to make it that far. I must say my strategy worked, I got a good workout and didn't trip and fall. I'm sure it wasn't pretty, in fact I know it wasn't pretty as some of the very kind Japanese I skipped pass looked on in shock and confusion.

On a different note, sometimes I feel like God is just looking out for me. Today was a perfect example. When we got to the park I pulled out my ipod and the battery bar was in the red. Yet by divine intervention it played the whole run. Thank you God, now if you wouldn't mind striking down those jump ropes.

Boot Camp: Week 4

Today started week 4 of boot camp and I get the sense that the party is over. Not that it's been a party but now it's time to get down to business and start working towards our goals. The work out today worked the back and the abs. It was painful and all my parts were burning. We also got a lecture about not whining, working hard, and acknowledging our accomplishments. The gauntlet has been thrown down regarding how we eat. He's going to start checking our journals daily and if one of us eats something bad we are all going to pay for it. We are also going to get an in home visit from John where he meets our families and checks out our pantries and fridges for contraband. So if anyone would like an entire shelf worth of cookies and goodies let me know, we are going to give it away to a good home.

Cardio Funk is this afternoon.

A weekend of Adventures

It's the end of a three day weekend and we are relaxing quietly in front of the TV. However, our weekend has been anything but boring. Saturday morning I started the weekend off with Cardio Funk. I had a million reasons not to get up and only one reason to get up, me. It was so hard and hot but I felt good once it was over. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for our dinner with Nori and his family and the Broom's. The party went off without a hitch and the quesadilla maker once again helped make the party a great success.

Sunday we started the day at church as always. After church we headed to the forrest for the people of the prefecture. It was a beautiful park and we had a great time trying out the rollerslide and the great obstacle course. Gabi had a great time running around and playing.

Monday I had the day off from boot camp but I didn't spend the day lounging around, instead we left early this morning and headed up to Hiji Falls. Greg finally got his wish and the whole family went hiking. The trail to the falls is a little less than a mile and full of stairs, according to one website it has 1100 stairs. I didn't count the stairs to double check because I was to busy climbing them. After making it up and down we went to lunch at Okuma and then headed home.

Boot Camp Day 15: Side Effects

I think exercise should come with warning labels. One could be running may cause nausea and exhaustion. Another lunges may cause decrease in energy and an inability to walk up stairs. Not everything is a bad side effect though. Exercise also causes happiness and a sense of accomplishment, it leads to better sleep and a better personal outlook and in my case healthier eating patterns.

Today was a running day and I just wasn't feeling good. I went to bed so early last night, 8:20, and yet when the alarm went off this morning I was still exhausted. Running today I didn't really feel a sense of accomplishment instead I felt like I was dragging, that my body was holding me back. I thought back to something my friend Theresa said to me earlier in the week. She said that I shouldn't get hung up on how far I run, that I should be proud of showing up to run. So today I feel good that I showed up and that I ran the best I could.

Boot Camp Day 14: In the grunge with a lunge.

Ok so the title is lame, but my brain is sweaty and it's hard to think. It's also very hard to walk and I shutter to think what it will be like to climb the stairs. Today at boot camp we did lunges, I'm sure the title already gave that away. I've done lunges before at some point in my life, I can't recall exactly when but I know I have. My muscle memory must have kicked in because while they were hard I wasn't falling over... much. Adding to the lunge fun was a brief run outside, when I say brief I mean long enough to make you think you are going to die right there on the side of the road and just when you can't take it a second more he says go in and get water. He is a master of knowing how far to push and how much you can take. At one point I got to the stop light and I thought about not turning around and going back, just running back home. Then I realized that my keys were upstairs and he'd probably be able to catch me before I made it a block. Besides that would be quitting and I don't want to do that, maybe someday but not today.

Today at 11 there is a combat class at the gym. I'm thinking of going because it's only 30 minutes and I figure I can do anything for 30 minutes plus you get to hit things. I like hitting things, especially in a sanctioned environment. Although the down side is that someone will probably be hitting back. Tomorrow is the last day of week 3, I can't believe I've made it.

Boot Camp Day 13: Why make running harder?

I'm writing this early because I'm too tired to go upstairs. I'm hoping the ridiculously cold water I'm drinking will motivate me to type. I'm still exhausted from Cardio Funk last night and now doubly so because of running this morning.

Today instead of just running we had to jump rope while running. I looked ridiculous. I was completely unable to run and swing the rope without hitting my feet. I think my longest running and skipping was 10 steps and that was amazing. The next longest 3. Thankfully we only had to make it around the short track once with the jumprope. Then we ran the long track. I made it around the first time, stopping once to get a lesson in not drawing my arms across my body when I run because doing so makes me run crooked. Putting my new found knowledge into practice was harder than I thought it was going to be. But eventually I'm sure I'll get use to it. I'm still new at this whole running business so I'm probably pretty easy to train.

There was some lightning in the sky but it was pretty far away and never got close enough for the run to be called off. By the time I'd finished my second lap I was dragging. I walked the last part because I was just too tired to pick up my feet.

Boot Camp Day 12: Hit the Beat it'll Make you Move

I'm sorry this post is late. Usually I write this in the morning as soon as I get home from boot camp because I can't make it up the stairs, although sometimes I post after my morning nap. But today I waited until after the afternoon cardio funk class.  This morning the class was painful, we did circuit training and we worked hard.  We also got a very cool journal lesson about food consumption. Example, you can probably fit 40 raisins in the palm of your hand however if you were to eat 40 grapes, you'd get tired of them before you finished it. The difference between them is that fresh grapes have water.  Basically the lesson is fresh is best, if you want to be your freshest you have to eat fresh.  The second lesson I learned is that every plant is a carbohydrate, so when you eat a salad, it's low calorie, but not carbohydrate free. 

This afternoon I made it to cardio funk, it's an hour long class of pure funky beats and tortuous step moves. The music reminds me of a rave except the class is missing oversized pants, handmade bead bracelets and mind altering substances.  Although by the end I feel as if I'm hallucinating, but it's probably due to the ridiculous amount of sweat leaking from every pore. Today I got home and every piece of clothing I took off was wet, including my socks.  

I think I know why exercise and diet work together, it's because when you exercise the last thing you want to do is eat.  I'm also probably too full of water, as part of the diet I'm suppose to drink a gallon of water a day, and I've been right at the mark. It's especially easy on Tuesdays when I probably loose a gallon of sweat.