A co-worker of mine came into work this morning as usual and while we were talking the usual small-talk we talk, he had to pause and adjust his belt in by a notch. I backed away in mock horror and said "Why why why why are you undoing your pants???". And his reply was "Thanks to you and your stupid diet, they're getting loose,"
Well how about that. I've actually passed something on. And it never occurred to me that I had before; said friend and I will sometime lunch together and upon seeing my choice he will usually change his mind and have what I am having. Okay, so there's three occasions where he has that I can think of off the top of my head, but I guess it's gone deeper than that and he's been doing the same thing at home and other times he eats. And I think that's kind of fantastic.
Tonight I am having English bangers and steamed vegatbles. Iffy choice on the bangers, I'll admit, but I'm combining them properly with the vegetables so they'll digest faster. For lunch at work tonight I've got a garden salad and I will be having a small tin of tuna to go with it, plus a couple pieces of fruit.
Oh. And when I weighed myself last night I was down to 202 lbs - that's 18 lbs gone. My work shirts are getting ridiculously big now; I was saying only today they fit me as if I was a 12 year old wearing my father's police uniforms. So I suppose it would be a good idea to start working the upper body a tad more to give those shirts somewhere better to hang, like broader shoulders perhaps. There's a goal.
That is all.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
adventures in fitness # 6
So this morning I decided to take the plunge and go to Extreme Fitness at Yonge and Dundas. This is touted as the newest of the Extreme facilities, and it's in the newest "destination" in the downtown core. I was all excited and eager to see this gleaming new palace of fit, so I scooted up to Dundas on the subway and hopped off, heading onto the concourse of the Toronto Life building ("When did that land?" my nephew once asked, looking at it's lit-up exterior facade a few blog entries back). From the concourse I went down a level and into an unfinished part of the building. Then around the corner. Then down another level. And lo I arrived in this very small space with exercise equipment haphazardly strewn about and men in hard hats still driving about the floor space on scissor lifts fixing the overhead lights. "What you see is what you get," said the girl at the desk.
I was stunned. This felt like a hotel gym, just a half-assed attempt at a gym. There was not a proper locker room, and there weren't even showers. I wasn't too bothered about the shower thing as I was heading home right after, and I think that the lack of that facility is going to make this a handy quiet place to work out for the time being, if not a bit surreal. I worked my shoulders, my chest, my back and my legs today, but I found myself finishing early for some reason. I observed everything I had been taught about my workouts, going slow and doing so many sets, and I even upped my weights but still I was done quick. And without anything else to do, I hopped the subway and came home.
Verdict? Novel. I can see how it will develop into a spacious facility - they even have this big map of all their hopeful features so you can look at it and feel like it's just a matter of time before the gym burts into its fullness. It's got plenty of overhead room so you don't really think about how you are three levels below street, and actually two below the subway. But I wonder, are the clientel really going to be as patient as that to wait for it to be finished? I'll still stop in regardless for a quick workout after work with what's left of my strength (and that's going quick I fear), but the dedicated with more likely take their membership cards and go to another Extreme Fitness until the rumours of this one beign complete make the rounds.
Tomorrow I will go back to the Yonge and St Clair gym my membership calls "home".
That is all.
I was stunned. This felt like a hotel gym, just a half-assed attempt at a gym. There was not a proper locker room, and there weren't even showers. I wasn't too bothered about the shower thing as I was heading home right after, and I think that the lack of that facility is going to make this a handy quiet place to work out for the time being, if not a bit surreal. I worked my shoulders, my chest, my back and my legs today, but I found myself finishing early for some reason. I observed everything I had been taught about my workouts, going slow and doing so many sets, and I even upped my weights but still I was done quick. And without anything else to do, I hopped the subway and came home.
Verdict? Novel. I can see how it will develop into a spacious facility - they even have this big map of all their hopeful features so you can look at it and feel like it's just a matter of time before the gym burts into its fullness. It's got plenty of overhead room so you don't really think about how you are three levels below street, and actually two below the subway. But I wonder, are the clientel really going to be as patient as that to wait for it to be finished? I'll still stop in regardless for a quick workout after work with what's left of my strength (and that's going quick I fear), but the dedicated with more likely take their membership cards and go to another Extreme Fitness until the rumours of this one beign complete make the rounds.
Tomorrow I will go back to the Yonge and St Clair gym my membership calls "home".
That is all.
Monday, July 28, 2008
catching up
It's been a busy few days for me lately. Guest starring in a lot of adventures has been my friend Jamie, with whom I have done a brunch 'n bitch (our usual Sunday event), gone shopping, seen Wanted and Hellboy II, gone shopping again, gone shopping again, then took a long long walk across the city's waterfront during which time I scorched my feet so bad I couldn't put on socks and didn't go to work for a night.
Ah adventure.
I am just getting ready to go to work tonight; there's chicken on the grill for dinner, the dishes are done from earlier and I have a few moments in which to splat some thoughts out across the web.
I'm getting rid of my Bell Canada land line. I called today to say I wanted it gone and after all their attempts to keep me as a customer failed, we agreed that Tuesday 5 August is the day it gets cut off. I'll be sticking to my cel phone for now, just as there is more media attention being thrown at the health hazards associated with a transmitter right beside your head. I don't phone chat that often anyways, but I will use an earpiece from now on. Truth is, Bell is soaking me for $60 a month for something I hardly use. Oh sure they offered me some package that said it was $20 less a month, but after tax gets thrown back on we're right back where we started. My cel phone is with Bell Mobility but as soon as my contract with them is up (if it isn't already) I am leaving them as well since they're hellbent on charging us up the wazoo for text messages. Rogers looks good. I have my internet with them, why not give them my cellular business.
Jay was just over. For followers of my Doctor Who Viewed Anew blog over at http://www.seansdoctorwhomission.blogspot.com you'll know Jay as my viewing companion for several years now. We're at a point in Doctor Who where all the material is either books or audios so I am reviewing them independently, and to bridge the gap Jay and I are diverting with a BBC sci fi series called Blake's 7 which for all appearances looks like it was made with the money they had left over from Doctor Who. And that wasn't much. But it's a very well-written show, the first season penned by Dalek creator Terry Nation, and for its 4 seasons it maintains itself almost without flaws. The title character, Blake, goes missing at the end of season 2 and the survivors of his quest for justice against the corrupt Galactic Federation are left to carry on his legacy, at the risk of their own lives. With the central character gone and the supporting cast sometimes killed off mid season, the show does not follow a traditional expected format, which is probably why it's that good. The speculation that a new hi-tech remake is in the works based on the success of the revived Doctor Who series is a good and bad thing; the appeal of Blake's 7 lies in how it did so well on such limited resources, and if it gets all jazzed up who knows if it would be the same. And unlike Doctor Who the series would need to be reinvented and retold from the start, because the way it ends there's really no going back.
And I'll say no more about that.
For my dining pleasure tonight, it's a spinach salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber and green pepper. And I just realized I forgot the onions. Damn. And an organic chicken breast sliced and spread on top. Mm mm good. The health program continues, despite how boring my boss finds me when I am not drinking, and tomorrow the adventure in fitness will be to try the Extreme Fitness location at Yonge and Dundas after work, just to see.
Tomorrow will hopefully see a review of the facility in this blog, and over at the Doctor Who blog a further review of material.
That is all.
Ah adventure.
I am just getting ready to go to work tonight; there's chicken on the grill for dinner, the dishes are done from earlier and I have a few moments in which to splat some thoughts out across the web.
I'm getting rid of my Bell Canada land line. I called today to say I wanted it gone and after all their attempts to keep me as a customer failed, we agreed that Tuesday 5 August is the day it gets cut off. I'll be sticking to my cel phone for now, just as there is more media attention being thrown at the health hazards associated with a transmitter right beside your head. I don't phone chat that often anyways, but I will use an earpiece from now on. Truth is, Bell is soaking me for $60 a month for something I hardly use. Oh sure they offered me some package that said it was $20 less a month, but after tax gets thrown back on we're right back where we started. My cel phone is with Bell Mobility but as soon as my contract with them is up (if it isn't already) I am leaving them as well since they're hellbent on charging us up the wazoo for text messages. Rogers looks good. I have my internet with them, why not give them my cellular business.
Jay was just over. For followers of my Doctor Who Viewed Anew blog over at http://www.seansdoctorwhomission.blogspot.com you'll know Jay as my viewing companion for several years now. We're at a point in Doctor Who where all the material is either books or audios so I am reviewing them independently, and to bridge the gap Jay and I are diverting with a BBC sci fi series called Blake's 7 which for all appearances looks like it was made with the money they had left over from Doctor Who. And that wasn't much. But it's a very well-written show, the first season penned by Dalek creator Terry Nation, and for its 4 seasons it maintains itself almost without flaws. The title character, Blake, goes missing at the end of season 2 and the survivors of his quest for justice against the corrupt Galactic Federation are left to carry on his legacy, at the risk of their own lives. With the central character gone and the supporting cast sometimes killed off mid season, the show does not follow a traditional expected format, which is probably why it's that good. The speculation that a new hi-tech remake is in the works based on the success of the revived Doctor Who series is a good and bad thing; the appeal of Blake's 7 lies in how it did so well on such limited resources, and if it gets all jazzed up who knows if it would be the same. And unlike Doctor Who the series would need to be reinvented and retold from the start, because the way it ends there's really no going back.
And I'll say no more about that.
For my dining pleasure tonight, it's a spinach salad with grape tomatoes, cucumber and green pepper. And I just realized I forgot the onions. Damn. And an organic chicken breast sliced and spread on top. Mm mm good. The health program continues, despite how boring my boss finds me when I am not drinking, and tomorrow the adventure in fitness will be to try the Extreme Fitness location at Yonge and Dundas after work, just to see.
Tomorrow will hopefully see a review of the facility in this blog, and over at the Doctor Who blog a further review of material.
That is all.
Friday, July 25, 2008
there's still always something
That tar stench is still in the air. I wonder when this crap will end.
That is all.
That is all.
Monday, July 7, 2008
there's always something
Last summer when I was working midnights for some crap trucking company (and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy before I got my job with Canada Post) I found my sleep schedule challenged not only by the sound of the tennis club next door and the idiot upstairs, but also by the roadwork outside. But it all went away; the idiot moved, the roadwork was finished, and I got used to the tennis noise.
This summer the tennis sounds are back - I can hear one guy out there right now making noises that sound like he's getting close to having an orgasm - and I thought, oh well, if that's as bad as it's going to get, what the hell.
And then I saw them. I mean, them.
Last Thursday I came home from work and spotted a group of rough-looking types outside hovering around a pickup truck. They looked like workers, but in the absence of heavy machinery I figured they were doing a day job on pot holes or something. A couple hours later the banging started. They were on the roof of the building crashing around and smacking up great guardrails around the perimeter. I asked the building super what was going on and he told me it was a big job, this was going to take a while; the whole roof needed redoing. And then to make it even worse than anyone could have imagined, they set up this big boiling cauldron of TAR beside the building, almost right under my windows, so now my apartment reeks of the crap. I just put a table and chairs out on my balcony - they're covered in soot. It's almost 6 PM here and they are still making their noise up there. It's driving me nuts to have to sit through this, and to choke on the stench. And it's hot; and turning on the air conditioners only serves to suck more tar fumes inside.
It is just a good coincidence then that this all happened while my shift has been changed at work for the week, and while I am going to a training course next week. If I had to try to sleep through this all day I think I would have killed someone by now.
And speaking of work. I got in there this morning and found that the normally competant final sort supervisor covering for me didn't pay attention to what was going on last night and my operation suffered big time from a lack of people. So I spent most of my morning once I got there running around fixing things, and then I come home to... this.
I am really hoping for a better day tomorrow.
That is all.
This summer the tennis sounds are back - I can hear one guy out there right now making noises that sound like he's getting close to having an orgasm - and I thought, oh well, if that's as bad as it's going to get, what the hell.
And then I saw them. I mean, them.
Last Thursday I came home from work and spotted a group of rough-looking types outside hovering around a pickup truck. They looked like workers, but in the absence of heavy machinery I figured they were doing a day job on pot holes or something. A couple hours later the banging started. They were on the roof of the building crashing around and smacking up great guardrails around the perimeter. I asked the building super what was going on and he told me it was a big job, this was going to take a while; the whole roof needed redoing. And then to make it even worse than anyone could have imagined, they set up this big boiling cauldron of TAR beside the building, almost right under my windows, so now my apartment reeks of the crap. I just put a table and chairs out on my balcony - they're covered in soot. It's almost 6 PM here and they are still making their noise up there. It's driving me nuts to have to sit through this, and to choke on the stench. And it's hot; and turning on the air conditioners only serves to suck more tar fumes inside.
It is just a good coincidence then that this all happened while my shift has been changed at work for the week, and while I am going to a training course next week. If I had to try to sleep through this all day I think I would have killed someone by now.
And speaking of work. I got in there this morning and found that the normally competant final sort supervisor covering for me didn't pay attention to what was going on last night and my operation suffered big time from a lack of people. So I spent most of my morning once I got there running around fixing things, and then I come home to... this.
I am really hoping for a better day tomorrow.
That is all.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
adventures in fitness #5
I realize that blogging about every time I go to the gym is going to get dull for everyone reading this (if anyone is) as well as for me, so I'm limiting those blogs to ones of revelation and achievement.
So I saw the nutritionist again and we talked about alternative kinds of meals, and she offered some suggestions on what I could have. Several ideas were floated around but the one that was the easiest to implement was a breakfast shake instead of making a muesli every day. So I have just had one, even though breakfast was a while ago. I put a banana in it. And strawberries. And rice milk. And a handful of spinach. I know those last two ingredients might make a few people grimace but lemme tell ya - it was really good. I can use cow milk if I want but I decided to try something new, and lo it was worth it. And to go with my new food ideas I have a new personal trainer, as the one I started with has fallen ill and won't be back for a long time. Fine by me, really; she wasn't very clever. I'm sure she's a fine fitness instructor but she had no sense of humour. The new dude does. And okay he's kinda sexy. And he showed me some new things to do which I will be repeating tomorrow. Yes. I have committed to alternating days at the gym now, which I am hoping will make me appreciate my time a bit better. It helps that I am moving to a day shift for the next 2 weeks (and won't the neighbours love the sound of that blender in the mornings - but I don't care) and will be able to really get going on the plan.
And to add to my triumph, I stepped on the scales at Miriam's today. I weigh 210 lbs already. That's 10 lbs down. Of course there's a lot of water loss right away so this is not the road to immediate weight loss, but it's a start. I feel better and my clothes fit even looser in some palces already. This is fantastic.
That is all.
So I saw the nutritionist again and we talked about alternative kinds of meals, and she offered some suggestions on what I could have. Several ideas were floated around but the one that was the easiest to implement was a breakfast shake instead of making a muesli every day. So I have just had one, even though breakfast was a while ago. I put a banana in it. And strawberries. And rice milk. And a handful of spinach. I know those last two ingredients might make a few people grimace but lemme tell ya - it was really good. I can use cow milk if I want but I decided to try something new, and lo it was worth it. And to go with my new food ideas I have a new personal trainer, as the one I started with has fallen ill and won't be back for a long time. Fine by me, really; she wasn't very clever. I'm sure she's a fine fitness instructor but she had no sense of humour. The new dude does. And okay he's kinda sexy. And he showed me some new things to do which I will be repeating tomorrow. Yes. I have committed to alternating days at the gym now, which I am hoping will make me appreciate my time a bit better. It helps that I am moving to a day shift for the next 2 weeks (and won't the neighbours love the sound of that blender in the mornings - but I don't care) and will be able to really get going on the plan.
And to add to my triumph, I stepped on the scales at Miriam's today. I weigh 210 lbs already. That's 10 lbs down. Of course there's a lot of water loss right away so this is not the road to immediate weight loss, but it's a start. I feel better and my clothes fit even looser in some palces already. This is fantastic.
That is all.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
under the broiler
Mmmmmmm. I picked up some filet mignon at the St Lawrence Market on the weekend and am treating myself to some today. Call it my own little Canada Day treat. With steamed brussel sprouts and carrots on the side.
On Monday morning at work one of my co-workers looked at me and went "Have you lost weight, you bastard?". It hadn't occurred to me that I might have, and when I went to a scale yesterday I discovered I have. I am down to 215 lbs already from 220 when I started the new eating plan. I am much encouraged by this.
It's a good day. The laundry is done, the dishes are done, dinner is cooking, I feel better rested than I was the other day, and it's a short week. Yes, I, like so many others, had today off from work, which was great. I only have 3 shifts left for the week and it'll be the weekend again. I've even managed to balance myself financially for a change, although every time I read the paper all I see is how we are teetering on the economic brink of disaster. Way to instil confidence.
Anyways. Dinner will be ready in a bit, I can relax before work and have an easy night of it (one hopes, anyway).
That is all.
On Monday morning at work one of my co-workers looked at me and went "Have you lost weight, you bastard?". It hadn't occurred to me that I might have, and when I went to a scale yesterday I discovered I have. I am down to 215 lbs already from 220 when I started the new eating plan. I am much encouraged by this.
It's a good day. The laundry is done, the dishes are done, dinner is cooking, I feel better rested than I was the other day, and it's a short week. Yes, I, like so many others, had today off from work, which was great. I only have 3 shifts left for the week and it'll be the weekend again. I've even managed to balance myself financially for a change, although every time I read the paper all I see is how we are teetering on the economic brink of disaster. Way to instil confidence.
Anyways. Dinner will be ready in a bit, I can relax before work and have an easy night of it (one hopes, anyway).
That is all.
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