I went to the bookstore last week (I think it was Wednesday, but I suppose that's somewhat irrelevant) to get books about traveling. I want to go on a vacation pretty badly, and don't really care where I go. I haven't been on a real vacation (read: longer than a long weekend) since last November when I went to Mexico with the ex (you know I couldn't go a whole post without mentioning him, although I think that's all he will be mentioned the rest of the post). I kind of want to take a trip by myself to relax, unwind, forget about all the cares in the world, and do whatever I want to do when I want to do it. So I went to the bookstore (B&N for those who care) to get this book I had heard about called 100 Places Every Woman Should Go by Stephanie Elizondo Griest. I figured this would give me some good ideas of where to go and what to do when I went there. Granted, I'm not planning on having the money for a good vacation for a while still. That gives me plenty of time to figure out what to do on this "All About Me" vacation. None of this is the point to this post. The point to the post is coming up though.
While at B&N, I wandered around a bit. I should never be allowed to do this, because, inevitably, I find other things that I feel I need at that moment. Of course this happened once again. I came across this book called Bikini Bootcamp by Melissa Perlman and Erica Gragg. These two woman have created the Amansala Spa (which, coincidentally I've decided might just be where I want to go on my vacation) in Mexico, which as far as I can tell encourages women to relax, take care of themselves, and forget about the stress of everyday life (doesn't that sound almost exactly like what I wanted?). So they have this program at the Amansala Spa called Bikini Bootcamp, which is where this book comes from. Having lost some weight this year (about 20 pounds, with at least another 20 to 25 left to lose) and no longer motivated to work out and eat well, as I had been, I decided that maybe this book would be a good way to get my butt back into gear. Especially since my aunt has challenged me to a mini-competition. She is participating in a Biggest Loser type of program at her work, where she has people sponsoring her and for every pound she loses, they contribute a certain amount of money which goes to charity (I hope that ridiculous sentence makes sense). So, knowing that I've lost motivation, she's helping me out by seeing which one of us can lose the biggest percentage of weight from now (well last week) until October 13. So I get this Bikini Bootcamp book, which is complete with exercises and meal plans for two weeks and I'm all gung-ho about starting the program. I'm really about to get to the point of the post now...
Well you can't start a program at the end of the week or on a weekend, so today is my first day. I went grocery shopping yesterday to get all the things I needed and decided that there's no reason one person should spend $150 on groceries just for herself for one week. But I'm determined to do this right, so I dutifully get all things on the list (well except for the few things I don't like, like avocados, and a few things I couldn't find, like flax seeds). let me tell you, my cart was already practically full by the time I had gotten through just the produce section. Does one girl really need 6 heads of lettuce for one week?! Again, I'm thinking no, but I'm determined so I get them all. My hope is that I'll see how much I get through this week and then make necessary adjustments for next week. Anyway, so I get home from the grocery store and open up the book to mentally prepare myself and go over what I'm supposed to do today...
- 15 minutes of yoga
- 1 hour of walking, plus 5 minutes warm-up and 5 minutes cool-down
- 45 minutes of circuit training
- 20 minutes of core strengthening exercises
- 15 minutes of journal writing, and
- 15 minutes of meditation
For anyone keeping track, that's 3 hours of stuff. And that doesn't even include cooking the meals I have dutifully grocery-shopped for and eating said meals. Now, I don't get home from work on Mondays until 5:30 or 6. Then I have to spend some time taking my dog out for a walk and changing my clothes. So let's assume all that takes 30 minutes. That puts my start time for all of this at 6 or 6:30. I do all my stuff and it's already 9 or 9:30! Like I'm going to cook dinner then. Again, however, I'm determined to do this right. Granted, they did say you could do the journal writing whenever you have time, so I'll do that today at work, and meditation could be done right before you go to bed, so that's when I'll do that. That leaves me with a mere 2 and a half hours of stuff to do. Still thinking I wouldn't want to do all of that when I got home from work, what do I do? I get my ass out of bed at 5:45 this morning so I can do my yoga and walk before I shower and get myself ready for work. Let me emphasize this point: I am not a morning person. So I really must be determined if I'm willing to get myself up before the sun rises to exercise. Especially knowing that I have a second workout planned for when I get home.
Let me further this by saying that breakfast this morning was a blueberry smoothie. Now, I'm all about the smoothies you get at places like Jamba Juice, but this was not one of those types of smoothies. This was the barely sweet kind that you have to force down. Not that it didn't taste good, it did, it just wasn't what I like in something called a smoothie. Plus, I think of smoothies as being for snacks (which may be why I needed Bikini Bootcamp in the first place). If I'm eating breakfast, I want something more substantial than a smoothie.
Now, having complained about the amount of money I spent at the grocery store, complained about the amount of exercise I have to do, forcing me to get up before I sometimes even get to bed on the weekends, and complained about the first breakfast, I will say that I'm still positive about this program. I think it is what I need to kick-start my butt back into gear. Plus, I'm sure it's more than my aunt is doing, so I'm well on my way to winning the mini-competition. I keep telling myself that I just have to make it through 2 weeks of hell and then I can normalize out and not have to get up at the crack of dawn or spend as much money. My advice to all of you loyal readers is this: Do not be fooled by anything with the word "bootcamp" in it, even if it is preceeded by "Bikini." It will be tough and a lot of work. All I know is that I better see results for it to be worth it. I'll keep you all posted. And I apologize for the ridiculously long post.
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