Vacation
August 30, 2011 at 10:47 am | Posted in Life and Living | Leave a commentTags: andre 3000, relaxing vacations
As you read this (if you are reading it the day it is published), I am finally on vacation. But don’t worry, I wrote this before I left — I’m good like that. I just couldn’t leave you guys hanging. I just couldn’t! So here’s a little reflection on how I planned this vacation in comparison to the way I have planned trips in the past.
This trip was all about relaxation, silence, legitimately getting away. I realized I have yet to recover from my crazy work schedule from July, so I really just need to clear my head. I envisioned this trip to be similar to my first trip with the fiance to Ocean City, Maryland back in 2008. A road trip, where the sight-seeing is just ocean, boardwalk, and seafood. A trip where we can just enjoy being together.
Well, in the words of Andre 3000, you can play a pretty picnic, but you can’t predict the weather. I left New York for an ocean vacation still in the path of Irene, but I have gone up north. By the time you read this, hopefully the storm has come and gone with minimal damage. Hopefully I have spent the storm cuddled up with the fiance in our hotel room enjoying a bottle of champagne. One couldn’t really ask for more.
But last summer, the fiance and I were out for a more exciting trip. Last year we were in Vegas, and the year before we were in Puerto Rico. We had a great time on all of these trips, but they are definitely different kinds of vacations.
Sometimes you need a vacation to let loose. Sometimes you go away to experience something new. Sometimes you are where I’m at — you just don’t want to hear the clutter of the world anymore.
So although the storm has added some stress to the vacation, I hope to come back refreshed, recharged, and with some good stories.
Let’s Get Personal
August 23, 2011 at 7:28 am | Posted in Fashion, Fitness and Beauty | 2 CommentsTags: gym buddies, personal training, staying motivated at the gym
Since my return to the gym, I have been struggling to stay engaged and committed to exercising. It’s not that I don’t want to, but there are always hurdles. I have had two gym buddies who have subsequently quit the gym, I have car issues, I’ve been drained from work, I’ve traveled for work. My routine has been threatened many times. I have good weeks and I have bad weeks. I’m at the point where I’m looking into other options to stay motivated while still pushing myself to get to the gym at least twice a week (which, I know is not enough).
So this time I’m putting my money where my mouth is. It’s time to get personal. I am signing on with a personal trainer. But not just any personal trainer — this one is a good friend of mine. Some may hesitate to have a stranger train you, or maybe some would hesitate to have a trainer who you also party with, but it works because he’s damn good at what he does and I know he’ll take care of me even when we aren’t training.
Recently he gave me a trial work out and consultation. It was great to get a professional perspective on the areas I need to improve and have somebody teach me how to do things right. We worked out in basically a private gym for 2 hours. A much different experience than the crowded impersonal gym I regularly attend now. For personal trainers, they talk about things like activating your gluts and having a neutral spine — a much different conversation than average folk who talk about tightening their abs and working their triceps and biceps.
I felt really great after the work out and empowered and motivated to start doing something. But I can’t lie to myself. I know that if I don’t invest the time, I will fall off track, so I decided not to even start this regiment until September (after my upcoming vacation), but come September I will have 6 sessions to get my act together and hopefully build good habits that I stick to. Otherwise, my trainer knows where to find me to get me back on track.
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
