So, today I finished the T25 workout program (both Alpha and Beta). Having done the Insanity program, I wanted to sit and think about the differences and which program is 'better'.
First, to say one is better than the other is like saying a banana Slurpee is better than cherry because it's yellow. Let's see if I can break down which was better for me. First Insanity. This was a very intense program, averaging about 45 minutes for the first half and 60 minutes for the second half. This is a lot of time to commit if you have a busy life. I leave for work at 6:00 am and get home around 5:00pm. That means my only real options to do my exercises are at 4:30am or when I get home. I opted for 4:30am, mainly for the reason that I would rather spend the evenings playing with my daughter and I only have a few hours with her before it's bed time. After that, it's wind down time to spend with my wife.
Doing a very rigorous workout at 4:30 in the morning does not work for everyone. Heck, it barely works for me, and I am very much a morning person. I found as the program was coming to the end, I was having a harder time staying focused and really applying my full energy towards the workouts. I was definitely more tired towards the end, but managed to stick it out and complete the program. It is a very good program and really works you hard. Before I started it, I was at 195 pounds. At the conclusion I was at 176. But, I felt like I hadn't really lost much of the pudginess that was hanging around. Obviously I had lost weight, but I still felt like I looked the same.
On to T25. According to my weigh-ins, I lost exactly 0 pounds with this program. I weighed this morning at 176 pounds. Earlier in the program, I had climbed back up to about 183, and came back down to where I am. I don't know if this was because of the week in Hawaii or just because of the holidays in general, but whatever. I know what you're thinking...what a waste of time. If you're looking strictly at weight loss, then I could agree. However, as I said above I didn't really feel like I looked any better after Insanity. After T25, I can actually tell that my mid section has trimmed down a lot. Pants that I hadn't been able to wear (even at the beginning of T25) are now much looser. I was wearing a size 34 jean prior to Insanity. Now, I can fit into my size 30 jeans. Notice, I'm not saying comfortably. There is a difference between wearing jeans and being able to button them. But that's because my thighs are bigger than they used to be, more on that later.
So, I really do feel like T25 is the better program for me in regards to losing inches, but Insanity yielded better results in regards to losing pounds. And for me I'm almost at the ideal weight anyway, so my focus at this point is more toning and losing the pudginess. T25 is much more about the core work and cardio work. It does incorporate some small weights in the second half, just enough to give you some resistance in the squats and firm up your upper body muscles. If you're looking for muscle gain in the upper body, this is the not the program for you. There is also a lot of focus on the lower body. Squats and lunges and squat lunges and moving squat lunges. You get the idea.
Overall, I like T25 better for the fact that it's 25 minutes long. Friday has a double day, but you can always split them up and do one that evening or on Saturday. I find that I can actually push myself harder on Friday's just to get both of them done in the morning so I don't have to do it that evening.
Now that it's done, I am wondering what to do next. There is a gamma stage that we might look into. I think for now, I'll just start T25 over again. I will probably start with the Alpha again, mostly because while I completed it, I feel like I didn't do it at 100% every time. I am not a very coordinated person when it comes to doing things like dancing or yoga. I am very much the epitome of white guy dancers. So, while I struggled through the program with some of the moves, I know I can go back and do them again at a higher intensity. Plus it'll be good to break up the exercises again. Each phase is 5 weeks, which is just a bit too long for me. I start getting bored with the repetition of the workouts. So I might try to modify the program a bit, combining alpha and beta phases every couple of weeks.
So there it is. I love working out again, and I'm glad I have found a program that allows me to workout and not really interfere with my family time.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Done with Insanity
Well, almost.
I am on the last week of the Insanity program, but I won't technically finish it. Tomorrow is my last day, because I will be out of town for the holidays and I'm not bringing the disks with me. When it's all said and done, here are my results.
Starting weight: 193
Ending weight (as of 5am 11/26): 176
Total weight loss: 17 pounds
My diet hasn't been strict, but it hasn't been out of control either. I'll tell you what though, the second half of the program is TOUGH! They aren't messing around. The bad part (for me) is that they are all about an hour long. And that puts my only real option for exercise at 4:30am. I can do the workouts, and still get ready for work in the morning and make it on time. This also frees up the evenings to spend time with my family.
But wait, there's more! If you act now, you can keep reading this!
We already have the next program. We'll be starting Focus T-25 when we get back. I'll try to post more often about that one, since it'll be a whole new program. I'm excited to do this one, because the workouts are 25 minutes long.
No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's coming up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart rate going, not even a mouse on a wheel. 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-elevens. 7 dwarves. 7 man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirling on a branch, eating lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreaming about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time baby.
lol. Anyway. Still a long way to go to feel like I am getting the results that I want. It's a good start though. I didn't do Insanity at 100% either. I skipped some day on the weekends, and there were some days where I was really tired and probably could have pushed harder. Repetitiveness in the workouts is a very big danger in these, because it's easy to get bored with them. But sticking with it and finishing them up is a good feeling.
I don't usually like posting pictures of myself, but here are a couple before/afters We'll see what I can do with the next program.
I am on the last week of the Insanity program, but I won't technically finish it. Tomorrow is my last day, because I will be out of town for the holidays and I'm not bringing the disks with me. When it's all said and done, here are my results.
Starting weight: 193
Ending weight (as of 5am 11/26): 176
Total weight loss: 17 pounds
My diet hasn't been strict, but it hasn't been out of control either. I'll tell you what though, the second half of the program is TOUGH! They aren't messing around. The bad part (for me) is that they are all about an hour long. And that puts my only real option for exercise at 4:30am. I can do the workouts, and still get ready for work in the morning and make it on time. This also frees up the evenings to spend time with my family.
But wait, there's more! If you act now, you can keep reading this!
We already have the next program. We'll be starting Focus T-25 when we get back. I'll try to post more often about that one, since it'll be a whole new program. I'm excited to do this one, because the workouts are 25 minutes long.
No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's coming up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart rate going, not even a mouse on a wheel. 7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-elevens. 7 dwarves. 7 man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirling on a branch, eating lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreaming about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time baby.
lol. Anyway. Still a long way to go to feel like I am getting the results that I want. It's a good start though. I didn't do Insanity at 100% either. I skipped some day on the weekends, and there were some days where I was really tired and probably could have pushed harder. Repetitiveness in the workouts is a very big danger in these, because it's easy to get bored with them. But sticking with it and finishing them up is a good feeling.
I don't usually like posting pictures of myself, but here are a couple before/afters We'll see what I can do with the next program.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Car and cars and exercise and cars
I need to overhaul my blog page. I really don't want to start a second blog, considering that I can barely keep up with just one. But, I really want to keep track of my new project. More on that in a minute.
Exercise. I've now completed the first 4 weeks of the insanity program. This week is 'recovery' week, which just means that you should be on the verge of exhaustion instead of 48 miles past it. It's still a tough workout, but it's more of an isolated program to relax your muscles and still have your heart rate up. Kinda like yoga, except not so mind-numbingly boring. (No offense if you're into yoga, I just can't grasp it).
I haven't noticed much weight loss, still hovering around 185. But that's okay. I definitely feel better and notice that my endurance is stronger. I'm still getting up at 4:30am to do the workouts which sometimes is tough, but I get through it. By the end of the week though, I'm ready for bed early. Next week starts the 'max' days. I think we stopped right around this point last time...we might have done a couple of days. But I honestly have no idea what's in store with those. My wife is starting those ones today, so I'll see what she thinks.
Cars. I love cars. I love tinkering with them, learning about them, figuring out ways to make mine better. My first car was a 1981 Toyota Celica. I loved that car too. Of course, in my infinite youthful wisdom I decided to sell it because I thought I could have more fun in a car that had more aftermarket support. I missed that car, and all the potential that it had. So about a year ago, I started toying with the idea of selling my s2000 and finding another Celica like I had owned long ago. It wasn't until I really started researching that I fell in love with the first generation Celica (1971-1977). The style of car is beautiful.
So I began looking into those ones as well. My original plan was to import one from Japan. Japan has some sort of rule about cars over there where after a certain amount of miles, they aren't allowed to drive them without major overhauls. Something like that; I don't know all the details. Anyway, you can find them for relatively cheap and with super low miles. Plus, right hand drive. And with the U.S. laws about 25+ year old cars, importing them is relatively easy. The problem is paying some dude to put the car on his boat and bring it over. The price quickly quadrupled from the price of the car, including all the documentation needed to legally register it over here. Although looking at how easy it was to register this car, I think I could do it myself. Maybe next time.
So I scrapped that idea because I just couldn't pay that much for it. So I sold my s2000 in June and really started looking for a 1st gen Celica, while also not giving up totally on the Japan idea, in case I could find a cheaper way of getting one. Searching for a 40 year old car and finding one, as you can imagine, is not easy. Well, finding one is somewhat easy. Finding one that isn't demolished with rust or missing half the car is not. I expanded my search to the 48 states and Canada. There were a few that didn't require all new everything, but most were pushing 10k because the owners knew the value.
I finally found one locally and snatched it up. It's almost rust free. There are some surface areas that will need to be replaced, but all the usual spots are clear; fender wells, trunk space, engine space. At least from what I can tell. I haven't had the chance to start teardown on the car yet, so hopefully that rust free feeling will continue.
Don't have a lot of details yet on what's next, we're still in the planning stages. But having the actual car was a big step in the plans. Now we can move forward with the fun stuff. No matter what, I'm super excited to work on this for the next however long it takes. Plus, I'm super lucky and grateful to have an understanding wife that lets me indulge in my hobbies.
Now I need to change up my blog a bit to organize car stuff and other stuff. That's all for now.
Exercise. I've now completed the first 4 weeks of the insanity program. This week is 'recovery' week, which just means that you should be on the verge of exhaustion instead of 48 miles past it. It's still a tough workout, but it's more of an isolated program to relax your muscles and still have your heart rate up. Kinda like yoga, except not so mind-numbingly boring. (No offense if you're into yoga, I just can't grasp it).
I haven't noticed much weight loss, still hovering around 185. But that's okay. I definitely feel better and notice that my endurance is stronger. I'm still getting up at 4:30am to do the workouts which sometimes is tough, but I get through it. By the end of the week though, I'm ready for bed early. Next week starts the 'max' days. I think we stopped right around this point last time...we might have done a couple of days. But I honestly have no idea what's in store with those. My wife is starting those ones today, so I'll see what she thinks.
Cars. I love cars. I love tinkering with them, learning about them, figuring out ways to make mine better. My first car was a 1981 Toyota Celica. I loved that car too. Of course, in my infinite youthful wisdom I decided to sell it because I thought I could have more fun in a car that had more aftermarket support. I missed that car, and all the potential that it had. So about a year ago, I started toying with the idea of selling my s2000 and finding another Celica like I had owned long ago. It wasn't until I really started researching that I fell in love with the first generation Celica (1971-1977). The style of car is beautiful.
So I began looking into those ones as well. My original plan was to import one from Japan. Japan has some sort of rule about cars over there where after a certain amount of miles, they aren't allowed to drive them without major overhauls. Something like that; I don't know all the details. Anyway, you can find them for relatively cheap and with super low miles. Plus, right hand drive. And with the U.S. laws about 25+ year old cars, importing them is relatively easy. The problem is paying some dude to put the car on his boat and bring it over. The price quickly quadrupled from the price of the car, including all the documentation needed to legally register it over here. Although looking at how easy it was to register this car, I think I could do it myself. Maybe next time.
So I scrapped that idea because I just couldn't pay that much for it. So I sold my s2000 in June and really started looking for a 1st gen Celica, while also not giving up totally on the Japan idea, in case I could find a cheaper way of getting one. Searching for a 40 year old car and finding one, as you can imagine, is not easy. Well, finding one is somewhat easy. Finding one that isn't demolished with rust or missing half the car is not. I expanded my search to the 48 states and Canada. There were a few that didn't require all new everything, but most were pushing 10k because the owners knew the value.
I finally found one locally and snatched it up. It's almost rust free. There are some surface areas that will need to be replaced, but all the usual spots are clear; fender wells, trunk space, engine space. At least from what I can tell. I haven't had the chance to start teardown on the car yet, so hopefully that rust free feeling will continue.
Don't have a lot of details yet on what's next, we're still in the planning stages. But having the actual car was a big step in the plans. Now we can move forward with the fun stuff. No matter what, I'm super excited to work on this for the next however long it takes. Plus, I'm super lucky and grateful to have an understanding wife that lets me indulge in my hobbies.
Now I need to change up my blog a bit to organize car stuff and other stuff. That's all for now.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Work OUT!
I am starting my 3rd week of working out. I've already lost 26 pounds and it's AWESOME.
Okay, that's not exactly true, but maybe at the end of this I'll be able to say that. I haven't really seen much of a drop in weight. At any time on any day, my weight will fluctuate by5 pounds or so. If I weigh myself in the morning the scale tells me I've lost about 5 pounds since starting Insanity. If I weigh myself at night, the scale bends in half and begs me to get off of it. This glass of wine probably isn't helping, but whatever it's good.
I've been doing good with my diet. Costco has these mini heads of romaine lettuce, perfect for lettuce wrap sandwiches. Today I had 6 for lunch. Probably not the moderation that I'm supposed to do, but they are so small! They were good though. A slice of ham, roast beef and chicken, with some tomato and bacon, and some mayo/dijon spread. Other than eating healthier, the main reason is that it's just too damn expensive to work in South Lake Union. There are a lot of good places to eat, but only two that are close enough to go to when you're in a hurry. I'm getting tired of Jimmy Johns, which is kind of ironic since I am making lettuce wraps to replace the Jimmy John's un-wich that I usually get. (The un-wich is their lettuce wraps).
I have been doing my workouts in the morning. I wake up at 4:30 to do the exercises, which are about 40 minutes. That gives me enough time to get ready and make lunch. But just this week I started driving in to work instead of taking the bus. It has actually cut my commute time by nearly an hour on a good day. The bus route goes down 2nd ave from basically Seattle Center to the Stadiums. On any day sports games, run-a-way trucks causing cars to explode or some crazy meth lady yelling at parked cars can cause traffic to come to a stop. On those good days, I leave work at 4 and get home around 5:45. Today I left at 4 and got home at 4:45.
Anyway, getting sidetracked. Because I can get home earlier, I am going to switch up my workouts to the evening when I get home. I'll be able to sleep in a little more and actually make breakfast before I leave instead of eating at one of the places that thinks they need to charge $9.00 for half an omelet because of where they are located.
The exercises are great though. If you're looking for an workout routine, I would recommend Insanity. Don't get me wrong, it is hard. And it takes a lot of self motivation to do it, or if you have someone else to do it with you that helps too. But once you get past the first couple weeks, it's great. The intensity is so high with this program you always come out of it feeling like you really got an excellent workout.
I know that I feel better just in general. At least on the days where I needed to run to the bus, I don't feel like I'm going to die the whole way home. (See previous blog entries). It's still too early to see any real results in the mirror or on the scale, but my general fitness level feels higher. We have 51 days left until Hawaii. And while the workouts aren't going to change my Irish...uhhh...slightly white complexion, at least I can feel a little better about myself while I'm turning my skin into a nice shade of lobster.
If anyone has questions about the program, let me know. I think it's great, and will probably continue doing it and probably try to incorporate p90x in the next round to get some weightlifting going on as well.
Okay, that's not exactly true, but maybe at the end of this I'll be able to say that. I haven't really seen much of a drop in weight. At any time on any day, my weight will fluctuate by5 pounds or so. If I weigh myself in the morning the scale tells me I've lost about 5 pounds since starting Insanity. If I weigh myself at night, the scale bends in half and begs me to get off of it. This glass of wine probably isn't helping, but whatever it's good.
I've been doing good with my diet. Costco has these mini heads of romaine lettuce, perfect for lettuce wrap sandwiches. Today I had 6 for lunch. Probably not the moderation that I'm supposed to do, but they are so small! They were good though. A slice of ham, roast beef and chicken, with some tomato and bacon, and some mayo/dijon spread. Other than eating healthier, the main reason is that it's just too damn expensive to work in South Lake Union. There are a lot of good places to eat, but only two that are close enough to go to when you're in a hurry. I'm getting tired of Jimmy Johns, which is kind of ironic since I am making lettuce wraps to replace the Jimmy John's un-wich that I usually get. (The un-wich is their lettuce wraps).
I have been doing my workouts in the morning. I wake up at 4:30 to do the exercises, which are about 40 minutes. That gives me enough time to get ready and make lunch. But just this week I started driving in to work instead of taking the bus. It has actually cut my commute time by nearly an hour on a good day. The bus route goes down 2nd ave from basically Seattle Center to the Stadiums. On any day sports games, run-a-way trucks causing cars to explode or some crazy meth lady yelling at parked cars can cause traffic to come to a stop. On those good days, I leave work at 4 and get home around 5:45. Today I left at 4 and got home at 4:45.
Anyway, getting sidetracked. Because I can get home earlier, I am going to switch up my workouts to the evening when I get home. I'll be able to sleep in a little more and actually make breakfast before I leave instead of eating at one of the places that thinks they need to charge $9.00 for half an omelet because of where they are located.
The exercises are great though. If you're looking for an workout routine, I would recommend Insanity. Don't get me wrong, it is hard. And it takes a lot of self motivation to do it, or if you have someone else to do it with you that helps too. But once you get past the first couple weeks, it's great. The intensity is so high with this program you always come out of it feeling like you really got an excellent workout.
I know that I feel better just in general. At least on the days where I needed to run to the bus, I don't feel like I'm going to die the whole way home. (See previous blog entries). It's still too early to see any real results in the mirror or on the scale, but my general fitness level feels higher. We have 51 days left until Hawaii. And while the workouts aren't going to change my Irish...uhhh...slightly white complexion, at least I can feel a little better about myself while I'm turning my skin into a nice shade of lobster.
If anyone has questions about the program, let me know. I think it's great, and will probably continue doing it and probably try to incorporate p90x in the next round to get some weightlifting going on as well.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Exercise...To the extreme
I rock a mic like a vandal. Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle.
What a dumb song.
Quick one tonight. I didn't get a chance to work out this morning. We had errands to run and swim class this afternoon. The classes were a half hour behind schedule. When out class finally started, no one had shown up for the next class so we just kept going until the next one. Bonus!
When we got home, I had tried to convince myself that the swim class was a good enough workout for today. But considering my daughter is only 15 months old and we don't really do a lot of actual swimming, I decided to suck it up and just do a workout tonight.
This last week I've been doing p90x. It's a good and very challenging program, but I feel like it just isn't giving me the workout I really want. The weights are good, and i push myself with the weight level, but I was a good workout. So, in all my infinite wisdom I decided that I will switch it up tonight and start Insanity.
Now, if you're unfamiliar with Insanity...it is a pure cardio program. High intensity, long interval training. It incorporates some muscle toning routines...like pushups and stuff. But there are no weights. Here is a promo video of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W-aNTrq_a4
It truly does kick your butt. It's such a good workout though, and exactly what I wanted. I'll admit that I took more breaks than they did, but I pushed through and did what I could. I remember the first time we did this one, and I seriously felt like I was going to puke half way through it...and we had already finished p90x. Tonight I felt the same. I know I wasn't pushing as hard as the first time though.
I think I am going to stick with Insanity for this week. I might switch the two programs weekly. Do weights one week, do intense cardio the next. I think that will be a good break up in the intensity while also switching up the muscles.
That's all for tonight. Go Seahawks!
What a dumb song.
Quick one tonight. I didn't get a chance to work out this morning. We had errands to run and swim class this afternoon. The classes were a half hour behind schedule. When out class finally started, no one had shown up for the next class so we just kept going until the next one. Bonus!
When we got home, I had tried to convince myself that the swim class was a good enough workout for today. But considering my daughter is only 15 months old and we don't really do a lot of actual swimming, I decided to suck it up and just do a workout tonight.
This last week I've been doing p90x. It's a good and very challenging program, but I feel like it just isn't giving me the workout I really want. The weights are good, and i push myself with the weight level, but I was a good workout. So, in all my infinite wisdom I decided that I will switch it up tonight and start Insanity.
Now, if you're unfamiliar with Insanity...it is a pure cardio program. High intensity, long interval training. It incorporates some muscle toning routines...like pushups and stuff. But there are no weights. Here is a promo video of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W-aNTrq_a4
It truly does kick your butt. It's such a good workout though, and exactly what I wanted. I'll admit that I took more breaks than they did, but I pushed through and did what I could. I remember the first time we did this one, and I seriously felt like I was going to puke half way through it...and we had already finished p90x. Tonight I felt the same. I know I wasn't pushing as hard as the first time though.
I think I am going to stick with Insanity for this week. I might switch the two programs weekly. Do weights one week, do intense cardio the next. I think that will be a good break up in the intensity while also switching up the muscles.
That's all for tonight. Go Seahawks!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
p90x update - Day 3 and 4
So I started p90x on Tuesday. So far it's been 2 days of weights and one day of cardio. Tomorrow is yoga. I hate yoga. I don't have the attention span for it. I barely have the attention span to read my email. And, this workout is 90 minutes long. I remember from the last time that we didn't like it, but we struggled through it. I'll still do it though.
I do feel like I'm not getting enough of a workout with it though. The weights are fine, and it's really hard. But sometimes I feel like if I'm not dripping with sweat then I'm not doing enough. Lifting weights just doesn't generate that much. I will keep at it though, but I'm contemplating switching over to the Insanity program and just doing cardio.
Today was our Microsoft company meeting at the Key Arena. It was scheduled to go from 10-4. So I spend the last week planning out my bus route to and from and the best options that I could find. I've been told that I'm slightly O.C.D. about stuff like that. haha. So of course, the meeting runs an hour long. I didn't plan for the meeting to go an hour long, so I don't know when the next buses run. I do know that my regular bus runs every half hour between 4 and 5:30, plus one extra at 5:15. I also know all the stops it makes.
Steve Ballmer wraps up and I make a bee-line to the door. I had been looking on my phone for the best route to get from the Key Arena to 2nd Ave and Bell St. It doesn't look that far away. (Famous last words). My normal walk from my office to the bus stop is about 6 blocks. This is more, but it doesn't look like much more.
I leave the Key Arena at 5:04pm and the schedule online for my bus says it will be at 2nd and Pike at 5:17pm. Pike street is 7 blocks away from Bell street, and if there is no traffic or lights it take about 3.5 minutes to get there. I estimate the bus will be at 2nd and Bell by 5:15pm.
I get to the monorail station at 5:06pm and realize the only way I will get there is by running. I definitely wore the wrong pants for this, but at least I don't have a bag to carry today. So I run. Less than 10 minutes to get there. This is MUCH further than I had anticipated. The combination of nice pants, dress shoes and a sweater is not a good one for running.
As you can see in the picture below, it is not close. I know where the first stop is for the bus, at 7th and Bell street. Due to construction, they have to make a detour off of Bell st and go down Wall street to 2nd, then up to Bell. By the time I run through 3 don't walk signs I make it to 2nd and Wall and I see the bus coming. It's 5:15pm. I dig out whatever I have left and try to run more. Somehow I manage to make it to the bus stop and as I turn around the bus is pulling over to pick us up.
That's all for now. I don't think I'll be doing daily posts, but I'll check in often.
I do feel like I'm not getting enough of a workout with it though. The weights are fine, and it's really hard. But sometimes I feel like if I'm not dripping with sweat then I'm not doing enough. Lifting weights just doesn't generate that much. I will keep at it though, but I'm contemplating switching over to the Insanity program and just doing cardio.
Today was our Microsoft company meeting at the Key Arena. It was scheduled to go from 10-4. So I spend the last week planning out my bus route to and from and the best options that I could find. I've been told that I'm slightly O.C.D. about stuff like that. haha. So of course, the meeting runs an hour long. I didn't plan for the meeting to go an hour long, so I don't know when the next buses run. I do know that my regular bus runs every half hour between 4 and 5:30, plus one extra at 5:15. I also know all the stops it makes.
Steve Ballmer wraps up and I make a bee-line to the door. I had been looking on my phone for the best route to get from the Key Arena to 2nd Ave and Bell St. It doesn't look that far away. (Famous last words). My normal walk from my office to the bus stop is about 6 blocks. This is more, but it doesn't look like much more.
I leave the Key Arena at 5:04pm and the schedule online for my bus says it will be at 2nd and Pike at 5:17pm. Pike street is 7 blocks away from Bell street, and if there is no traffic or lights it take about 3.5 minutes to get there. I estimate the bus will be at 2nd and Bell by 5:15pm.
I get to the monorail station at 5:06pm and realize the only way I will get there is by running. I definitely wore the wrong pants for this, but at least I don't have a bag to carry today. So I run. Less than 10 minutes to get there. This is MUCH further than I had anticipated. The combination of nice pants, dress shoes and a sweater is not a good one for running.
As you can see in the picture below, it is not close. I know where the first stop is for the bus, at 7th and Bell street. Due to construction, they have to make a detour off of Bell st and go down Wall street to 2nd, then up to Bell. By the time I run through 3 don't walk signs I make it to 2nd and Wall and I see the bus coming. It's 5:15pm. I dig out whatever I have left and try to run more. Somehow I manage to make it to the bus stop and as I turn around the bus is pulling over to pick us up.
As I'm standing there ready to puke all over the sidewalk like the crackie that I just ran past, the driver opens the door with a smile. I somehow manage to ooze my way up the steps. In all my wheezing and coughing, she probably thought I was dying from some Ebola virus. No one sat next to me, which isn't surprising since I was shivering from the cold but in an all out sweat.
I am not in shape to be running like that. I am glad that I managed to catch the bus. But I really need to keep at my exercises. And as much as felt like Mr. Freeze stabbing me in the lungs, I loved it. It was a good workout and really amps me up to keep at it.
That's all for now. I don't think I'll be doing daily posts, but I'll check in often.
Monday, September 23, 2013
p90x redux.
I was thinking about the last time that actually exercised. My daughter is 15 months old now, and I stopped exercising after my wife was pregnant. It's been about 2 years since I actually did any sort of physical work. Unless you count running about a mile to the bus stop to catch the bus, and then trying to convince myself to not vomit the whole way home or die from hyperventilation. Oh there was another time about a year ago that can only be classified as a brisk walk, which resulted in cramps by the time I got to the bus, and stabbing cold pains in my chest.
I am out of shape. No doubt about it. The first time I did p90x, I saw pretty good results. After we completed that program, we moved to Insanity. Two very different programs, but I feel p90x is a good stepping boulder to getting back into exercise. In fact, you can see my original posts somewhere on this blog. So tomorrow morning I start it up again.
My vitals are about the same as the first time. ~190 pounds depending on how much ice cream I've eaten in the last n hours. Being 5'8" ish, most scales say my ideal weight should be 160. I don't think that is where I want to be, but my goal out of this is to lose 25 pounds.
My diet has already changed mostly due to gluten allergies. But I am going further and really doing a better diet. No slipping or cheats (once I finish all the 'bad' foods that I currently have). But there are a lot of things that I can give up now. Soda, which I don't really drink now anyway. Coffee, various snacks, etc.
I don't know if I will post every day again like I did. My previous posts were done as more of a review on the actual program. But I will probably have some random things to say about it, so i'll post them here. Unless anyone is interested in some details on the program. Let me know and i'll write it up.
I took pictures but I'm not going to post them yet. I'll probably do a before/after when I'm done. Plus, I take stupid pictures.
I am out of shape. No doubt about it. The first time I did p90x, I saw pretty good results. After we completed that program, we moved to Insanity. Two very different programs, but I feel p90x is a good stepping boulder to getting back into exercise. In fact, you can see my original posts somewhere on this blog. So tomorrow morning I start it up again.
My vitals are about the same as the first time. ~190 pounds depending on how much ice cream I've eaten in the last n hours. Being 5'8" ish, most scales say my ideal weight should be 160. I don't think that is where I want to be, but my goal out of this is to lose 25 pounds.
My diet has already changed mostly due to gluten allergies. But I am going further and really doing a better diet. No slipping or cheats (once I finish all the 'bad' foods that I currently have). But there are a lot of things that I can give up now. Soda, which I don't really drink now anyway. Coffee, various snacks, etc.
I don't know if I will post every day again like I did. My previous posts were done as more of a review on the actual program. But I will probably have some random things to say about it, so i'll post them here. Unless anyone is interested in some details on the program. Let me know and i'll write it up.
I took pictures but I'm not going to post them yet. I'll probably do a before/after when I'm done. Plus, I take stupid pictures.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
My Honda s2000 is for sale. Details inside.
For Sale: 2000 Honda s2000
Miles: 75,904
Color: Silverstone Metallic, Red/Black interior
Price: $17,000
Just in time for summer! The highly desirable first generation Honda s2000 convertible. This car comes in the very popular silver exterior and a red/black interior combination. 2nd owner, non-snoker, no accidents and garage kept, this car has been meticulously taken car of with routine maintenance happening far more frequent than the recommended intervals. In October, the car is put in to 'winter-mode' and stored until May. At that time, the oil, transmission and differential fluids are changed. All other fluids are examined and changed as needed. Oil is changed at least once more over the summer.
The car comes with minimal aftermarket parts. An Apexi VAFC2 with a dyno tune put over 200 hp to the wheels and has been integrated into the center console. I have a non-modified center console if desired that can easily be installed. There is a K&N intake filter (reusable) that is cleaned every spring. There is also a replica BYS rear trunk spoiler to add that little bit of style without being obnoxious. Everything else on the car is stock. The car is hardwired for a Valentine 1 radar detector, but it can be removed or hidden if wanted. Comes with a GoPro camera mount on the center windscreen that can also be removed. Optional custom made front bumper GoPro mount available too. Lojack is also installed in the car and comes with 2 key fobs and owners manual. Includes car cover and convertible top tonneau cover.
Brakes are still in good condition; front at about 75% and rear at about 50%. Tires are Toyo Proxes 4 and will probably need to be replaced at the end of summer depending on how much the car is driven. There is a small section in the driver seat that is common with the s2000. As the driver gets out of the car, the side bolster suffers the force. Leather cleaner and conditioner cleaned and repaired most of it. (Shown in picture). The front bumper has some paint chips along the bottom where the previous owner removed the front lip. There is a small crack starting to form in the soft top from keeping the top down for so long. It is the original top, but is conditioned frequently to keep it clean. Rear window is plastic with some minor scratches and fading, but has been polished out as much as possible.
KBB lists the car at 17,672 in Excellent condition and 17,222 in very good condition. I am listing the car for $17,000. Serious buyers only, no joy rides. This post is only for Facebook family and friends, so please forward along if you have anyone interested. I will wait for a while before going to craigslist. Please contact me on Facebook if interested. This post will be modified when it goes to Craigslist.
High resolution photos of the whole car can be found here: http://bcs127.smugmug.com/Other/2000-Honda-s2000-For-Sale/
Miles: 75,904
Color: Silverstone Metallic, Red/Black interior
Price: $17,000
Just in time for summer! The highly desirable first generation Honda s2000 convertible. This car comes in the very popular silver exterior and a red/black interior combination. 2nd owner, non-snoker, no accidents and garage kept, this car has been meticulously taken car of with routine maintenance happening far more frequent than the recommended intervals. In October, the car is put in to 'winter-mode' and stored until May. At that time, the oil, transmission and differential fluids are changed. All other fluids are examined and changed as needed. Oil is changed at least once more over the summer.
The car comes with minimal aftermarket parts. An Apexi VAFC2 with a dyno tune put over 200 hp to the wheels and has been integrated into the center console. I have a non-modified center console if desired that can easily be installed. There is a K&N intake filter (reusable) that is cleaned every spring. There is also a replica BYS rear trunk spoiler to add that little bit of style without being obnoxious. Everything else on the car is stock. The car is hardwired for a Valentine 1 radar detector, but it can be removed or hidden if wanted. Comes with a GoPro camera mount on the center windscreen that can also be removed. Optional custom made front bumper GoPro mount available too. Lojack is also installed in the car and comes with 2 key fobs and owners manual. Includes car cover and convertible top tonneau cover.
Brakes are still in good condition; front at about 75% and rear at about 50%. Tires are Toyo Proxes 4 and will probably need to be replaced at the end of summer depending on how much the car is driven. There is a small section in the driver seat that is common with the s2000. As the driver gets out of the car, the side bolster suffers the force. Leather cleaner and conditioner cleaned and repaired most of it. (Shown in picture). The front bumper has some paint chips along the bottom where the previous owner removed the front lip. There is a small crack starting to form in the soft top from keeping the top down for so long. It is the original top, but is conditioned frequently to keep it clean. Rear window is plastic with some minor scratches and fading, but has been polished out as much as possible.
KBB lists the car at 17,672 in Excellent condition and 17,222 in very good condition. I am listing the car for $17,000. Serious buyers only, no joy rides. This post is only for Facebook family and friends, so please forward along if you have anyone interested. I will wait for a while before going to craigslist. Please contact me on Facebook if interested. This post will be modified when it goes to Craigslist.
High resolution photos of the whole car can be found here: http://bcs127.smugmug.com/Other/2000-Honda-s2000-For-Sale/
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
December Vegas Trip - Part 4
While this part of the trip doesn't really fit chronologically in the post order, it fills in a bit of a back story. The last post talked about our dinner at Cut. Now I'd like to tell you about how we paid for that dinner and how the excitement continued after dinner.
A few hours before dinner, we had decided to hang out around some of the casinos and play a bit to kill some time. I wasn't having the best of luck, but I wasn't getting my butt kicked either. I was really only playing Pai Gow, 3 Card Poker and Let it Ride. I watched Kaitlyn play Roulette and slots quite a bit too. I have a rule with Pai Gow. If I lose 2 hands in a row, I get up from the table. Pai Gow is a very easy game to just sit for 10 hours and not lose much. On the other hand, it's also easy to sit for 10 minutes and lose $100. It's a game of pushes and losses, and an occasional win that you have to pay commission on. So when I lose 2 in a row, I call it quits for a while, otherwise you'll lose it all.
We had decided to stop by Harrah's and play there for a bit. I lost my 2 in a row at Pai Gow. In fact, I had only played 3 hands total. Push, loss, loss. It was horrible. So I watched Kaitlyn play let it ride for a bit and then I found an open 3 Card poker table for $5. I don't usually like playing at tables that have a lot of people, because the way they deal the cards can mess up other players hands depending on where you sit. Even though it's a $5 table, it can end up costing $15 per hand because you play the ante and the 'play' bet, and you can also play the optional 3 card bonus bet for another $5 (which I was). So pretty much $10 a hand if I decide to fold, $15 if I play.
Anyway, I was hitting a couple pairs and I think I hit 2 pairs once on the 5 card hand. I wasn't up much, maybe $40 or so. I had been playing for about 15 or 20 minutes. I looked down at my next hand and saw a 3 of hearts. I immediately began to write this hand off as a loss, because in order to really win you need to have jacks or better. Next card was a 4 of hearts. OOoooo, now this could be interesting. Last card. Sometimes I like to look a little slower. Adds to the excitement. So I slowly peek at the final card. It's red. My hope starts to grow a little. I peek a little more, and I can immediately see that it's a 5. So I at least have a straight which pays 6:1 on the ante bet and even money on the 3 card bonus hand.
The only thing that I don't know yet is if it's a heart or a diamond. I slide the card a little more, and a smile immediately appears on my face. The dealer looks at me like I'm a goon. It's a heart! I've got a straight flush. in my 3 card hand. HOLLLLLAAA!!!!! That's 40:1 on my ante bet and 5:1 on the 3 card bonus. $230 total on the one hand. Since Kaitlyn happens to be at the table next to me still playing Let it Ride, she hears the commotion and looks over and I let her know. The gals that were playing with her finish their hand and come over and sit with me. I play one more hand and it's crap and so I tip the dealer and get up and leave the table. Thank you very much, I'm gonna enjoy a nice dinner tonight on you.
And that's how Harrah's paid for our lovely dinner at one of the best steak houses in Las Vegas, and allowed me to try Waygu beef for the first time.
After dinner, we went for a walk. A few weeks ago, I had found a stuffed plush of the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Well after doing some research, I found out that it was part of a set. So now, I had been trying to find a Yukon Cornelius one and found out that they were only available at CVS. And there are none in Washington...or even in the Pacific Northwest. Well, there is on in Vegas, so now we were walking to see if they had one. They did not, so that walk kinda sucked. But we figured that it was too early to head to bed and since it was our last night we still wanted to play.
We headed to the Margaritaville Casino next to Flamingo. We had gone there the day before and the dealers were really fun and the atmosphere was great. Kaitlyn decided to try out Roulette and so I went to the Let it Ride table next to hers. It was empty and was $5. Let it Ride is a game that you put down 3 bets and you get 3 cards and the dealer gets 2 face down cards. The object is to make the best 5 card hand. You get to look at your cards and decide if you want to pull back one of your bets. Then the dealer turns over a card and you get to decide again if you want to pull back the second. If you do, you tuck the cards and the dealer turns over the last card. It's kinda confusing, especially to try and write about it.
This game can cost you up to $21 per hand at a $5 table. The 3 $5 bets mentioned above. A $5 3 card bonus bet and a $1 bonus bet (for 5 all 5 cards).
I had been doing pretty good, winging a few hands. I was probably up about $50. I had got a few decent hands that outweighed the bad ones. And then I got a great one. I got dealt 3 of a kind. In all the times that I have been playing this game, this was the first time that I have ever got a 3 of a kind. I let that ride so I was playing all 3 hands and was guaranteed a win. I don't remember what she turned over, but the dealer was excited and we were hoping she had a pair or perhaps the 4th card to give me a four of a kind. In the end, it didn't improve on the 5 card hand. So on my $1 bet it paid me $4. Yah yah, it's not a whole lot. But on each of my 3 $5 bets, it paid 3:1. $15 each on those. The big money was on the 3 card bonus bet. 30:1. $150. Not quite as good as the 3 card poker hand, but I'll take it.
We continued on and I had a vibe and the dealer kept saying that another big hand was coming. I was on such a run, it seemed like every hand I had at least a pair. I can't remember how many times we almost hit a big hand. I'd have 2 pair and we'd be one off on a full house. And then it happened again. Another 3 of a kind. This was only about 10 hands later. It didn't take long before the guys upstairs sent in a new dealer. She said thanks, I had probably gave her $40 or so in tips. I wasn't sure if she was coming back or not. I played 1 hand with the new dealer and then got up and left. I was up $450 from just that table. I watched Kaitlyn play roulette for a little while longer and was keeping an eye on that table to see if my dealer came back. They had removed her from the table completely, because when the next dealer change came it was a different person. Oh well, I'll take my winnings home then.
We kept playing for a little while longer getting some more $1 Jameson on the rocks. Eventually we called it a night. We had to leave for the airport at 11:30 the next day, so there wouldn't be any time to play in the morning.
All in all, it was a fun trip. I hadn't been this lucky in a while, so it was nice to hit some big hands. But, I think the best part was still the Michael Jackson show. I'm so glad that we decided to go. That's all for my trip report.
A few hours before dinner, we had decided to hang out around some of the casinos and play a bit to kill some time. I wasn't having the best of luck, but I wasn't getting my butt kicked either. I was really only playing Pai Gow, 3 Card Poker and Let it Ride. I watched Kaitlyn play Roulette and slots quite a bit too. I have a rule with Pai Gow. If I lose 2 hands in a row, I get up from the table. Pai Gow is a very easy game to just sit for 10 hours and not lose much. On the other hand, it's also easy to sit for 10 minutes and lose $100. It's a game of pushes and losses, and an occasional win that you have to pay commission on. So when I lose 2 in a row, I call it quits for a while, otherwise you'll lose it all.
We had decided to stop by Harrah's and play there for a bit. I lost my 2 in a row at Pai Gow. In fact, I had only played 3 hands total. Push, loss, loss. It was horrible. So I watched Kaitlyn play let it ride for a bit and then I found an open 3 Card poker table for $5. I don't usually like playing at tables that have a lot of people, because the way they deal the cards can mess up other players hands depending on where you sit. Even though it's a $5 table, it can end up costing $15 per hand because you play the ante and the 'play' bet, and you can also play the optional 3 card bonus bet for another $5 (which I was). So pretty much $10 a hand if I decide to fold, $15 if I play.
Anyway, I was hitting a couple pairs and I think I hit 2 pairs once on the 5 card hand. I wasn't up much, maybe $40 or so. I had been playing for about 15 or 20 minutes. I looked down at my next hand and saw a 3 of hearts. I immediately began to write this hand off as a loss, because in order to really win you need to have jacks or better. Next card was a 4 of hearts. OOoooo, now this could be interesting. Last card. Sometimes I like to look a little slower. Adds to the excitement. So I slowly peek at the final card. It's red. My hope starts to grow a little. I peek a little more, and I can immediately see that it's a 5. So I at least have a straight which pays 6:1 on the ante bet and even money on the 3 card bonus hand.
The only thing that I don't know yet is if it's a heart or a diamond. I slide the card a little more, and a smile immediately appears on my face. The dealer looks at me like I'm a goon. It's a heart! I've got a straight flush. in my 3 card hand. HOLLLLLAAA!!!!! That's 40:1 on my ante bet and 5:1 on the 3 card bonus. $230 total on the one hand. Since Kaitlyn happens to be at the table next to me still playing Let it Ride, she hears the commotion and looks over and I let her know. The gals that were playing with her finish their hand and come over and sit with me. I play one more hand and it's crap and so I tip the dealer and get up and leave the table. Thank you very much, I'm gonna enjoy a nice dinner tonight on you.
And that's how Harrah's paid for our lovely dinner at one of the best steak houses in Las Vegas, and allowed me to try Waygu beef for the first time.
After dinner, we went for a walk. A few weeks ago, I had found a stuffed plush of the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Well after doing some research, I found out that it was part of a set. So now, I had been trying to find a Yukon Cornelius one and found out that they were only available at CVS. And there are none in Washington...or even in the Pacific Northwest. Well, there is on in Vegas, so now we were walking to see if they had one. They did not, so that walk kinda sucked. But we figured that it was too early to head to bed and since it was our last night we still wanted to play.
We headed to the Margaritaville Casino next to Flamingo. We had gone there the day before and the dealers were really fun and the atmosphere was great. Kaitlyn decided to try out Roulette and so I went to the Let it Ride table next to hers. It was empty and was $5. Let it Ride is a game that you put down 3 bets and you get 3 cards and the dealer gets 2 face down cards. The object is to make the best 5 card hand. You get to look at your cards and decide if you want to pull back one of your bets. Then the dealer turns over a card and you get to decide again if you want to pull back the second. If you do, you tuck the cards and the dealer turns over the last card. It's kinda confusing, especially to try and write about it.
This game can cost you up to $21 per hand at a $5 table. The 3 $5 bets mentioned above. A $5 3 card bonus bet and a $1 bonus bet (for 5 all 5 cards).
I had been doing pretty good, winging a few hands. I was probably up about $50. I had got a few decent hands that outweighed the bad ones. And then I got a great one. I got dealt 3 of a kind. In all the times that I have been playing this game, this was the first time that I have ever got a 3 of a kind. I let that ride so I was playing all 3 hands and was guaranteed a win. I don't remember what she turned over, but the dealer was excited and we were hoping she had a pair or perhaps the 4th card to give me a four of a kind. In the end, it didn't improve on the 5 card hand. So on my $1 bet it paid me $4. Yah yah, it's not a whole lot. But on each of my 3 $5 bets, it paid 3:1. $15 each on those. The big money was on the 3 card bonus bet. 30:1. $150. Not quite as good as the 3 card poker hand, but I'll take it.
We continued on and I had a vibe and the dealer kept saying that another big hand was coming. I was on such a run, it seemed like every hand I had at least a pair. I can't remember how many times we almost hit a big hand. I'd have 2 pair and we'd be one off on a full house. And then it happened again. Another 3 of a kind. This was only about 10 hands later. It didn't take long before the guys upstairs sent in a new dealer. She said thanks, I had probably gave her $40 or so in tips. I wasn't sure if she was coming back or not. I played 1 hand with the new dealer and then got up and left. I was up $450 from just that table. I watched Kaitlyn play roulette for a little while longer and was keeping an eye on that table to see if my dealer came back. They had removed her from the table completely, because when the next dealer change came it was a different person. Oh well, I'll take my winnings home then.
We kept playing for a little while longer getting some more $1 Jameson on the rocks. Eventually we called it a night. We had to leave for the airport at 11:30 the next day, so there wouldn't be any time to play in the morning.
All in all, it was a fun trip. I hadn't been this lucky in a while, so it was nice to hit some big hands. But, I think the best part was still the Michael Jackson show. I'm so glad that we decided to go. That's all for my trip report.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
December Vegas trip - Part 3
So let's see, after the Michael Jackson show, we decided to walk around for the rest of the night. We stopped at the new Margaritaville Casino that is shoved in between Flamingo and the Margartiaville restaurant. This was actually a pretty cool place, and it would later turn out to be the place that we spent most of our time actually playing. More on that later.
Let's move to Monday. We woke up a bit later and needed to go eat. We headed to The Grand Lux cafe in Palazzo. We had been there before and it was great. I forgot how big the portions were. We had been in time for the lunch menu, but i was feeling hungry and thought I could tackle anything. I finally decided on the Chicken Parmesan. Kaitlyn got a chicken carbonara and a salad. The waitress convinced me that I only needed the lunch size, and thank goodness that she did. This piece of chicken was at least 12" long by 8" wide. And accompanied with some pasta. I did not finish it. I barely finished half of it. I guess my appetite isn't what it used to be. Plus we were going to have a really nice dinner later, so I guess I didn't need to be eating too much. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out around in various casinos. Nothing exciting happened. I'd lose 2 hands of Pai Gow and get up for a while and walk around.
Fast forward to dinner.
Every time we're in Vegas, we try to visit a nice steak house. I think so far, we've done 5 out of the top 10 steak houses. Our initial reservation was for Delmonico at the venetian. Kaitlyn though really REALLY wanted to try this chocolate souffle at another place, so we changed our reservation to Cut which is at the Palazzo. Plus, we had tried Delmonico before, and while it was absolutely fantastic, we like trying new places. And...chocolate souffle apparently.
We show up and this place is your typical high end steak house. I'm watching the people showing up and the guys are wearing suits and the ladies are in their nice dresses. I take a gander at myself and my awesome Old Navy jeans and costco polo and figure, eh, whatever. regardless, this place is really nice. We are led back to our table and out of nowhere three other people come and pull out our chairs and are already unfolding our napkins into our laps. At one point, when we went in to the restroom to wash up, someone came over super quick and snatched up her napkin and brought out a fresh one.
the waiter brought out an iPad for us to make our drink selections. I had to ask them for a good wine pairing, and he didn't make me feel too stupid when I told him that I hadn't actually picked out my steak yet. They brought us over a tray of bread selections that we could choose from. the pretzel bread...amazing. And they had this focaccia onion bread that was fantastic too.
Then our waiter brought out giant slabs of beef to show us the difference between the 100% Australian waygu beef and the American Waygu hybrid beef, and the Rib Eye, filet and NY Strip. Kaitlyn already knew what she wanted and ordered the 8oz Prime Filet. I went back and forth with trying the American Waygu beef or just sticking with Prime. But I figured that because of my really good luck at 3 card poker earlier (story to come later), that I would splurge. And I've never had Waygu beef anyway. But I decided to go with the 9oz American Waygu Rib Eye. (The Australian one was nearly 2/3 more expensive. I'm not splurging that much). Plus, this one would be 100% gluten free, which is good for me. We ordered both as medium. Kaitlyn joked that she was going to order hers 'blue'. I asked if that was when they just walk a cow to your table and you just start poking at it with your fork.
We finally pick out a nice wine to go with it, Cune Crianza Rioja. 2006 Tempranillo. Which is fantastic and if I can find some I will be stocking up. We're hanging out and taking in the ambiance of this really nice restaurant. I'll admit, when we first came in I was instantly expecting the typical high end restaurant. Where the staff doesn't really seem to care about you and everyone is all snooty. But then suddenly I hear something. It's kinda faint so I really have to listen. And then I hear it. "But Gollum at the evil wall crept up and slipped away with her". Holy Crap! they are playing Zeppelin here. Awesome. So throughout the night, they are playing all these classic rock songs. steely Dan, Zeppelin, Tom Petty. It was awesome.
And then you start to notice the staff. there were always at least two people at our table. And our water glasses were never empty. They were so attentive and they were always just standing at their position scanning the room in anticipation for when people were finished or needed something.
Oh yah, the steaks. It is actually quite amazing to eat a steak like that. I've never had anything higher than a Prime steak, and even then has been on special occasions. It's quite amazing at how tender and easy it was to cut. It was actually starting to rival the tenderness of Kaitlyn's filet. And I've never seen that with a rib eye. It was delicious, and since Kaitlyn wasn't able to finish her filet, I got to have a side by side comparison. Cost value, I'd probably still regularly go with a filet, but this was a nice little treat. I'll just have to try really hard to not compare all future rib eye's to this one.
We also ordered a side of some mashed potatoes which were really good as well. After getting through the meat, it was time for dessert. I was torn between a couple, but kept going back to a banana cream pie that they had listed. But then they made my decision easy, as Kaitlyn had told them that we were celebrating my birthday (we're a little early, but it's okay). And they brought out a slice of the banana cream pie. While we waiting for Kaitlyn's souffle to do whatever it is that souffles do that make them impossible to make, we at my dessert. It was fantastic. Even Kaitlyn loved it, and she doesn't really like banana stuff. Once her souffle came out, the waiter prepared it for us. They poured the chocolate sauce over it and the whipped cream. chocolate overload. My goodness. I seriously was only able to eat about 1 spoon. I don't know how she did it, but she ate about 2/3 of it.
It was an amazing experience at this place. Much better than some of the other steak houses down there. It's no wonder that it is regularly rated #1.
More later about how Harrah's paid for this dinner for us.
Let's move to Monday. We woke up a bit later and needed to go eat. We headed to The Grand Lux cafe in Palazzo. We had been there before and it was great. I forgot how big the portions were. We had been in time for the lunch menu, but i was feeling hungry and thought I could tackle anything. I finally decided on the Chicken Parmesan. Kaitlyn got a chicken carbonara and a salad. The waitress convinced me that I only needed the lunch size, and thank goodness that she did. This piece of chicken was at least 12" long by 8" wide. And accompanied with some pasta. I did not finish it. I barely finished half of it. I guess my appetite isn't what it used to be. Plus we were going to have a really nice dinner later, so I guess I didn't need to be eating too much. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out around in various casinos. Nothing exciting happened. I'd lose 2 hands of Pai Gow and get up for a while and walk around.
Fast forward to dinner.
Every time we're in Vegas, we try to visit a nice steak house. I think so far, we've done 5 out of the top 10 steak houses. Our initial reservation was for Delmonico at the venetian. Kaitlyn though really REALLY wanted to try this chocolate souffle at another place, so we changed our reservation to Cut which is at the Palazzo. Plus, we had tried Delmonico before, and while it was absolutely fantastic, we like trying new places. And...chocolate souffle apparently.
We show up and this place is your typical high end steak house. I'm watching the people showing up and the guys are wearing suits and the ladies are in their nice dresses. I take a gander at myself and my awesome Old Navy jeans and costco polo and figure, eh, whatever. regardless, this place is really nice. We are led back to our table and out of nowhere three other people come and pull out our chairs and are already unfolding our napkins into our laps. At one point, when we went in to the restroom to wash up, someone came over super quick and snatched up her napkin and brought out a fresh one.
the waiter brought out an iPad for us to make our drink selections. I had to ask them for a good wine pairing, and he didn't make me feel too stupid when I told him that I hadn't actually picked out my steak yet. They brought us over a tray of bread selections that we could choose from. the pretzel bread...amazing. And they had this focaccia onion bread that was fantastic too.
Then our waiter brought out giant slabs of beef to show us the difference between the 100% Australian waygu beef and the American Waygu hybrid beef, and the Rib Eye, filet and NY Strip. Kaitlyn already knew what she wanted and ordered the 8oz Prime Filet. I went back and forth with trying the American Waygu beef or just sticking with Prime. But I figured that because of my really good luck at 3 card poker earlier (story to come later), that I would splurge. And I've never had Waygu beef anyway. But I decided to go with the 9oz American Waygu Rib Eye. (The Australian one was nearly 2/3 more expensive. I'm not splurging that much). Plus, this one would be 100% gluten free, which is good for me. We ordered both as medium. Kaitlyn joked that she was going to order hers 'blue'. I asked if that was when they just walk a cow to your table and you just start poking at it with your fork.
We finally pick out a nice wine to go with it, Cune Crianza Rioja. 2006 Tempranillo. Which is fantastic and if I can find some I will be stocking up. We're hanging out and taking in the ambiance of this really nice restaurant. I'll admit, when we first came in I was instantly expecting the typical high end restaurant. Where the staff doesn't really seem to care about you and everyone is all snooty. But then suddenly I hear something. It's kinda faint so I really have to listen. And then I hear it. "But Gollum at the evil wall crept up and slipped away with her". Holy Crap! they are playing Zeppelin here. Awesome. So throughout the night, they are playing all these classic rock songs. steely Dan, Zeppelin, Tom Petty. It was awesome.
And then you start to notice the staff. there were always at least two people at our table. And our water glasses were never empty. They were so attentive and they were always just standing at their position scanning the room in anticipation for when people were finished or needed something.
Oh yah, the steaks. It is actually quite amazing to eat a steak like that. I've never had anything higher than a Prime steak, and even then has been on special occasions. It's quite amazing at how tender and easy it was to cut. It was actually starting to rival the tenderness of Kaitlyn's filet. And I've never seen that with a rib eye. It was delicious, and since Kaitlyn wasn't able to finish her filet, I got to have a side by side comparison. Cost value, I'd probably still regularly go with a filet, but this was a nice little treat. I'll just have to try really hard to not compare all future rib eye's to this one.
We also ordered a side of some mashed potatoes which were really good as well. After getting through the meat, it was time for dessert. I was torn between a couple, but kept going back to a banana cream pie that they had listed. But then they made my decision easy, as Kaitlyn had told them that we were celebrating my birthday (we're a little early, but it's okay). And they brought out a slice of the banana cream pie. While we waiting for Kaitlyn's souffle to do whatever it is that souffles do that make them impossible to make, we at my dessert. It was fantastic. Even Kaitlyn loved it, and she doesn't really like banana stuff. Once her souffle came out, the waiter prepared it for us. They poured the chocolate sauce over it and the whipped cream. chocolate overload. My goodness. I seriously was only able to eat about 1 spoon. I don't know how she did it, but she ate about 2/3 of it.
It was an amazing experience at this place. Much better than some of the other steak houses down there. It's no wonder that it is regularly rated #1.
More later about how Harrah's paid for this dinner for us.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
December Vegas trip - Part 2
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour - by Cirque du Soleil.
We decided a couple days before leaving that we were going to go see the Michael Jackson Immortal cirque du Soleil show at Mandalay Bay. When we were searching for tickets, we found some in the 100 level initially. These tickets were over $100 each so we decided to look in the next lowest price tier (around $70). We found some in section 210 so we decided to go with that. We've been to other shows in the past (Viva Elvis and Terry Fator) and sat in the near back and the seats weren't terrible. We figured these couldn't be that bad.
I am a huge MJ fan. He is the one concert that I had never been able to see in person, and I will always be sad about that. So at least being able to see this, makes me feel a little better. We missed it when it came to Seattle, and this show will only be in Vegas for about 5 weeks.
We got to Mandalay bay a few hours before the show to go pick up our tickets at will call. Figured we would just hang out at that end of the strip until the show. We did some people watching, which I usually love. But people watching at that end of the strip isn't nearly as fun as around O'Sheas or Planet Hollywood. But anyway, we hang out and play a few slot machines and wait until about 6:15 and head back to the event center. There were so many people heading to the show...it was nuts.
The will call line was easily 100 deep, so I was glad we came earlier and already got our tickets We heard over through the metal detectors and decide to get in line for some snacks. Shock Top on tap and a 32oz glass later, we found our way to the seats. Amazing seats. Granted, you aren't going to see the costume detail or facial expressions of the performers, but the overhead view of the entire stage makes up for it. When we saw the Beatles Love show, we were in row 3. Amazing seats, but you kind of miss some of the higher acrobatics.
In terms of Cirque shows, this isn't the best...by far. Beatles Love is the best I've seen. I'd even have to rate the Viva Elvis show better than this one. Again, only in terms of it being a cirque show. But I'd be hard pressed to really classify this as a cirque show. It was more of a tribute show I think. Yes, they had some of the crazy Cirque performers and they were amazing. But a lot of the dancing was MJ dancing. It definitely was to pay homage the amazing performances that Michael Jackson produced.
When we went to the Beatles show, it was all the dancing and performances done to Beatles music; where the Beatles were actually singing the songs. when we went to the Elvis show, it was the performers that were singing the Elvis songs. That show would have been leaps and bounds better had they had actual Elvis tracks playing instead of the performers singing. So I was a little weary about this show, and really hoping that it was MJ songs being performed by him. And that it was.
They had a few songs from the Jackson 5 days, and some of his earlier songs. But all the hits were done. And I'll tell you what, it was really hard to not cry at a couple of the songs. Heal the World...forget about it. I cried. The way this show was put on, it really forces you to listen to the songs. Everyone knows his songs, but not everyone really listens to the words and message he was trying to portray through his music. When there are some performers out there and video clips playing, you really just absorb everything and the true song comes out. And some times, it's just too much. At one point, I looked over and Kaitlyn had lost it. Even glancing around at the rest of the crowd you could see people wiping at their eyes.
There would be zero hesitation on my part if I had the opportunity to see this show again. And I would tell anyone who is even slightly intrigued or inspired by his music to see this show if you have a chance. This was 100% completely worth the money.
This was quite possibly my favorite part of this trip (and I had some very good luck at the tables too, but more on that later). I know he has always been the 'weird' one in the music industry. but hey...all the great ones are, right? But all that aside, you can't deny the amazing artist that he was. And really listening to his songs, all he ever wanted was to make the world a better place. Say what you will about the man, but there will never be another Michael Jackson.
We decided a couple days before leaving that we were going to go see the Michael Jackson Immortal cirque du Soleil show at Mandalay Bay. When we were searching for tickets, we found some in the 100 level initially. These tickets were over $100 each so we decided to look in the next lowest price tier (around $70). We found some in section 210 so we decided to go with that. We've been to other shows in the past (Viva Elvis and Terry Fator) and sat in the near back and the seats weren't terrible. We figured these couldn't be that bad.
I am a huge MJ fan. He is the one concert that I had never been able to see in person, and I will always be sad about that. So at least being able to see this, makes me feel a little better. We missed it when it came to Seattle, and this show will only be in Vegas for about 5 weeks.
We got to Mandalay bay a few hours before the show to go pick up our tickets at will call. Figured we would just hang out at that end of the strip until the show. We did some people watching, which I usually love. But people watching at that end of the strip isn't nearly as fun as around O'Sheas or Planet Hollywood. But anyway, we hang out and play a few slot machines and wait until about 6:15 and head back to the event center. There were so many people heading to the show...it was nuts.
The will call line was easily 100 deep, so I was glad we came earlier and already got our tickets We heard over through the metal detectors and decide to get in line for some snacks. Shock Top on tap and a 32oz glass later, we found our way to the seats. Amazing seats. Granted, you aren't going to see the costume detail or facial expressions of the performers, but the overhead view of the entire stage makes up for it. When we saw the Beatles Love show, we were in row 3. Amazing seats, but you kind of miss some of the higher acrobatics.
In terms of Cirque shows, this isn't the best...by far. Beatles Love is the best I've seen. I'd even have to rate the Viva Elvis show better than this one. Again, only in terms of it being a cirque show. But I'd be hard pressed to really classify this as a cirque show. It was more of a tribute show I think. Yes, they had some of the crazy Cirque performers and they were amazing. But a lot of the dancing was MJ dancing. It definitely was to pay homage the amazing performances that Michael Jackson produced.
When we went to the Beatles show, it was all the dancing and performances done to Beatles music; where the Beatles were actually singing the songs. when we went to the Elvis show, it was the performers that were singing the Elvis songs. That show would have been leaps and bounds better had they had actual Elvis tracks playing instead of the performers singing. So I was a little weary about this show, and really hoping that it was MJ songs being performed by him. And that it was.
They had a few songs from the Jackson 5 days, and some of his earlier songs. But all the hits were done. And I'll tell you what, it was really hard to not cry at a couple of the songs. Heal the World...forget about it. I cried. The way this show was put on, it really forces you to listen to the songs. Everyone knows his songs, but not everyone really listens to the words and message he was trying to portray through his music. When there are some performers out there and video clips playing, you really just absorb everything and the true song comes out. And some times, it's just too much. At one point, I looked over and Kaitlyn had lost it. Even glancing around at the rest of the crowd you could see people wiping at their eyes.
There would be zero hesitation on my part if I had the opportunity to see this show again. And I would tell anyone who is even slightly intrigued or inspired by his music to see this show if you have a chance. This was 100% completely worth the money.
This was quite possibly my favorite part of this trip (and I had some very good luck at the tables too, but more on that later). I know he has always been the 'weird' one in the music industry. but hey...all the great ones are, right? But all that aside, you can't deny the amazing artist that he was. And really listening to his songs, all he ever wanted was to make the world a better place. Say what you will about the man, but there will never be another Michael Jackson.
December Vegas trip
Kaitlyn and I took a little trip to Vegas this last weekend. Here's a little review of what we did.
Kaitlyn had a comped room at Bally's for us, and we were able to find relatively cheap airfare, so the trip was going to be pretty cheap for us. We flew in Saturday morning. We just kinda walked around most of the day and later met up with some friends for dinner at Holsteins at the Cosmo. They have some amazing burgers. I had the Rising Sun burger. Kobe beef with a teriyaki glaze and some deep fried avocado. It is amazing. I don't usually rave about burgers, but this one was quite amazing. There was also a burger that had a giant chunk of brisket on it.
After dinner, we walked around a bit more and ended up at Bellagio to check out their Christmas display. It was pretty nice. A giant tree and all their displays are made out of fresh flowers. They really do a nice job with it. Nothing much more that night.
The next day, we got up and went to Bellagio at a place called Jasmine for their fountains brunch. It's a buffet place that is situated right in front of the fountains. So that was pretty cool to watch while we eat. The buffet is more expensive than your typical buffet, but the service was far better. And the food wasn't all that bad either. Typical brunch food, and they had a pho type of station, although having the broth just being chicken soup doesn't count as pho. The cuisine was Cantonese inspired, and there was a rolling cart that had fresh roast duck. Fresh omelet station and a bunch of other stuff. All in all, it was good, but I don't think I would go back. For the price, I'd rather just go to a regular buffet.
The rest of the day was spent just walking around and playing while we waited for the main attraction of the evening.
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour...
Kaitlyn had a comped room at Bally's for us, and we were able to find relatively cheap airfare, so the trip was going to be pretty cheap for us. We flew in Saturday morning. We just kinda walked around most of the day and later met up with some friends for dinner at Holsteins at the Cosmo. They have some amazing burgers. I had the Rising Sun burger. Kobe beef with a teriyaki glaze and some deep fried avocado. It is amazing. I don't usually rave about burgers, but this one was quite amazing. There was also a burger that had a giant chunk of brisket on it.
After dinner, we walked around a bit more and ended up at Bellagio to check out their Christmas display. It was pretty nice. A giant tree and all their displays are made out of fresh flowers. They really do a nice job with it. Nothing much more that night.
The next day, we got up and went to Bellagio at a place called Jasmine for their fountains brunch. It's a buffet place that is situated right in front of the fountains. So that was pretty cool to watch while we eat. The buffet is more expensive than your typical buffet, but the service was far better. And the food wasn't all that bad either. Typical brunch food, and they had a pho type of station, although having the broth just being chicken soup doesn't count as pho. The cuisine was Cantonese inspired, and there was a rolling cart that had fresh roast duck. Fresh omelet station and a bunch of other stuff. All in all, it was good, but I don't think I would go back. For the price, I'd rather just go to a regular buffet.
The rest of the day was spent just walking around and playing while we waited for the main attraction of the evening.
The Michael Jackson Immortal tour...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
BEER!!!!
So I've started something new. Every Thursday, my wife has been playing volleyball after work. Because I am kinda limited on the hours that I can work (being an hourly employee rather than a salary), I have to kill a few hours before she's done. A couple weeks ago, I went up to Bothell and hung out up there until she was done. So tonight, I decided to go to the Tap House Grill in Bellevue and hang out. Well, they have a membership program that you can sign up for. It's just a little loyalty club type of thing.
Well, Tap House is known for boasting their 160 beers on tap. Part of their little club thing is that if you can try 160 distinct beers, then you can end up with a plaque at their bar. They give you a loyalty card, and when you pay the bill it will keep track of the beers you tried and stuff like that. Plus you get a bunch of other perks depending on how much you spend and the frequency that you go to the bar.
Anyway, tonight I started on my journey quest to 160 beers. And now, I shall talk about them.
For my first beer I decided to go off of their rotational list. I figured there were quite a few on there that I would like to try and since they are likely seasonal I should probably try them first. First up was a beer called Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It's a beer made by a local company called Fish Brewing Company out of Olympia. I have had Oktoberfest style beers before, and I generally enjoy their flavor. This particular one is a American Amber / Red Ale beer, which don't really make it a true Oktoberfest beer. Amber/Red ales are generally a very balanced beer that focus on the malts and are classified as a red ale simply because they cannot be classified as a dark ale. Whereas true Oktoberfest (or Märzen) are typically on the darker and much more full bodied, often resulting in a higher alcohol content.
Regardless, this particular beer was very good. It was a very smooth and light bodied beer and had a very nice flavor to it. It has a 5.5% abv, which puts it right in line with most typical ales. I would have no problem ordering it again. It's a very enjoyable beer, not too light but it isn't going to knock you on your ass either.
My second choice they were out of and now I can't remember what it was. So I went with one called Sound Dubble Entendre. This was absolutley amazing. It blew my mind. This beer is from another local brewery called Sound Brewery based out of Poulsbo. This beer is a Belgium style dubble. These are very rich in malty flavors and often have minor hints of fruits. They are also very mild in the hops area. When this came out, I immediately thought it was a stout. It is a very dark beer. It's an 8% abv beer as well, which means you're probably not going to chug it.
Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre.
The first sip of this was crazy. Totally not what I expected. It's a very light beer for being so dark. It has the characteristics of an amber ale, but with the ABV of a stout. And i could definitely feel the effects of this one. Because of its darkness, it has a hint of sweet caramel flavor to it. I'm not typically a fan of dark stout style beers, but this was a surprisingly good beer. Again, at 8% you're not really going all night with this one. But it's worth getting at least one.
Final beer of the night was simply Stella. Stella is a light pale lager, typically at 5% ABV. There's not really much to say about Stella. It's a light beer with good flavor. It's more of a malt beer than hops (which seems to be the trend tonight). This is a good beer if you want a lighter beer without it being a lite beer (IE: Bud Light, Miller Lite, Etc.).
Well, that is my report for tonight. At most, I'll probably be there once a week. But perhaps we'll make a special occasion visit with some friends or something like that. They have great food too, so I have no problem eating there as well. So until next time, that's my beer report.
Well, Tap House is known for boasting their 160 beers on tap. Part of their little club thing is that if you can try 160 distinct beers, then you can end up with a plaque at their bar. They give you a loyalty card, and when you pay the bill it will keep track of the beers you tried and stuff like that. Plus you get a bunch of other perks depending on how much you spend and the frequency that you go to the bar.
Anyway, tonight I started on my journey quest to 160 beers. And now, I shall talk about them.
For my first beer I decided to go off of their rotational list. I figured there were quite a few on there that I would like to try and since they are likely seasonal I should probably try them first. First up was a beer called Leavenworth Oktoberfest. It's a beer made by a local company called Fish Brewing Company out of Olympia. I have had Oktoberfest style beers before, and I generally enjoy their flavor. This particular one is a American Amber / Red Ale beer, which don't really make it a true Oktoberfest beer. Amber/Red ales are generally a very balanced beer that focus on the malts and are classified as a red ale simply because they cannot be classified as a dark ale. Whereas true Oktoberfest (or Märzen) are typically on the darker and much more full bodied, often resulting in a higher alcohol content.
Regardless, this particular beer was very good. It was a very smooth and light bodied beer and had a very nice flavor to it. It has a 5.5% abv, which puts it right in line with most typical ales. I would have no problem ordering it again. It's a very enjoyable beer, not too light but it isn't going to knock you on your ass either.
My second choice they were out of and now I can't remember what it was. So I went with one called Sound Dubble Entendre. This was absolutley amazing. It blew my mind. This beer is from another local brewery called Sound Brewery based out of Poulsbo. This beer is a Belgium style dubble. These are very rich in malty flavors and often have minor hints of fruits. They are also very mild in the hops area. When this came out, I immediately thought it was a stout. It is a very dark beer. It's an 8% abv beer as well, which means you're probably not going to chug it.
Sound Brewery Dubble Entendre.
The first sip of this was crazy. Totally not what I expected. It's a very light beer for being so dark. It has the characteristics of an amber ale, but with the ABV of a stout. And i could definitely feel the effects of this one. Because of its darkness, it has a hint of sweet caramel flavor to it. I'm not typically a fan of dark stout style beers, but this was a surprisingly good beer. Again, at 8% you're not really going all night with this one. But it's worth getting at least one.
Final beer of the night was simply Stella. Stella is a light pale lager, typically at 5% ABV. There's not really much to say about Stella. It's a light beer with good flavor. It's more of a malt beer than hops (which seems to be the trend tonight). This is a good beer if you want a lighter beer without it being a lite beer (IE: Bud Light, Miller Lite, Etc.).
Well, that is my report for tonight. At most, I'll probably be there once a week. But perhaps we'll make a special occasion visit with some friends or something like that. They have great food too, so I have no problem eating there as well. So until next time, that's my beer report.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Insanity update
Once again, I am slacking on the blog updates. It's been a hectic last few weeks. We were in Vegas back in June, so we only did a partial week...only Monday and Tuesday. That was technically supposed to be the first week of part 2. We figured we would go to Vegas and then come back and pick up again with the first week of part 2. Only got a couple days into that one and then it was 4th of July weekend. We didn't really do much of the workouts that week either. So now, we're into the 3rd attempt of the first week of round 2. We're doing it though.
We did the first day on Monday (4th of July). And now we're back on schedule. But man, yesterday was crazy. The workout itself was only about 45 minutes including warm up and cool down. But it was literally 30 minutes of straight cardio workouts. There is usually a water break or something after each 3 minute interval. But not this one. Granted, you stop when you need to and get some water, but you have to hurry and get back into it or you'll miss the whole exercise.
We made it through...barely. This was one crazy workout. I think next week we have to do it twice. We'll see how that goes. So anyway, we're back on track now. Even though the workout was nuts, I still feel great after completing it.
We did the first day on Monday (4th of July). And now we're back on schedule. But man, yesterday was crazy. The workout itself was only about 45 minutes including warm up and cool down. But it was literally 30 minutes of straight cardio workouts. There is usually a water break or something after each 3 minute interval. But not this one. Granted, you stop when you need to and get some water, but you have to hurry and get back into it or you'll miss the whole exercise.
We made it through...barely. This was one crazy workout. I think next week we have to do it twice. We'll see how that goes. So anyway, we're back on track now. Even though the workout was nuts, I still feel great after completing it.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Start of week 6
Holy Crap.
Last week I was wondering how the 6th week could be tougher than the previous month. For those who haven't followed along, the first 4 weeks were the workout, then week 5 was the "rest" week. So today we're technically starting the 2nd month of the workout.
Anyway, like I said...the first month was intense and I couldn't figure out how it would get tougher or cause me to work harder. I was already working hard every day and pushing myself as much as I could. I've noticed an improvement in a lot of the exercises and my ability to keep up more and do the moves better.
Today, I found out. First, the workout was just over an hour long...including warmup and cool down. The previous workouts were right around 40 minutes. The warmup was a bit different in the moves that we do, but we still do 3 iterations of it. The normal workout exercises were a lot tougher than the first month. It was just more of it too. Tomorrow is the Plyo day and I've heard that day is the toughest out of all of them.
So we'll see how this goes. But wow, it is intense. I can see why people say that month 2 is when the results really show up. Let's hope so! :)
Last week I was wondering how the 6th week could be tougher than the previous month. For those who haven't followed along, the first 4 weeks were the workout, then week 5 was the "rest" week. So today we're technically starting the 2nd month of the workout.
Anyway, like I said...the first month was intense and I couldn't figure out how it would get tougher or cause me to work harder. I was already working hard every day and pushing myself as much as I could. I've noticed an improvement in a lot of the exercises and my ability to keep up more and do the moves better.
Today, I found out. First, the workout was just over an hour long...including warmup and cool down. The previous workouts were right around 40 minutes. The warmup was a bit different in the moves that we do, but we still do 3 iterations of it. The normal workout exercises were a lot tougher than the first month. It was just more of it too. Tomorrow is the Plyo day and I've heard that day is the toughest out of all of them.
So we'll see how this goes. But wow, it is intense. I can see why people say that month 2 is when the results really show up. Let's hope so! :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Insanity Update
It's been a long time since I've posted an update. We have still been doing the workout, but I just started to forget about writing. So here it is, a long over due post.
We are in the middle of week 5. This week is called the recovery week, and we do the same workout everyday. Let me tell you, it is no recovery workout. Granted, I'm not sweating as much as I do during the normal workouts. But I'm still exuding a lot of sweat. This one works a lot of your core though, and I can actually start to feel my core getting tighter. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.
There are no washboard abs or anything like that yet. I think my stomach is getting a bit smaller, but I still doubt that 1 pass through this program will yield me those results. I'm still *kinda* following the meal plan. I don't think that I am eating 2500 calories a day anymore. I've cut back from 5 meals to 4. And I seem to be eating less at each meal. The difference is that I'm not full all day long. Doing the 5 meals a day is tough because by the 3rd meal I am really full and don't want to eat the 4th meal. But I have to to make sure I have enough energy to burn off during the workout. So now I am doing just the simple 4 meals. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.
Breakfast is usually simple. Oatmeal, cereal, etc. Although I'll admit that lately I've been skipping breakfast all together. Bad, I know. But it's hard to do sometimes at work when I get in and get busy. Lunch usually consists of a wrap or sandwich of some kind. The wraps I've been using are these tortilla type of things...but made out of whole stone ground wheat. Really good for you. I use a wedge of laughing cow cheese for the 'sauce' instead of mustard/mayo. I get some deli meat sliced every week on Mondays and use that throughout the week. I also try to use a piece of lettuce, some tomato slices and this week I've been using an avocado too. Roll that up and you've got a great lunch that fills you up. It works out to be something like 300 calories.
We have been slacking a bit on the weekends. But we're definitely eating less than we're supposed to. Last Sunday, the only thing I ate was 1/2 bag of cheese nips at 5pm. Then I had dinner at my parent's house. Weekends we usually splurge a bit and are a little more relaxed in what we eat. But overall, I think we're still eating pretty healthy. Next weekend though, that'll be a different story. Going to Vegas for a friend's wedding and...well...it's Vegas.
So to counter the missed workouts (we'll be missing 4 workout days), we're going to start the week and do as much as we can. We'll miss Thursday - Monday (Sunday is the rest day). So we'll do Monday - Wednesday and call it good. Then when we come back on Tuesday, we'll just pick up and repeat the week again starting with Tuesday. that way we won't miss any of the workouts.
Next week starts the 'Max' workouts. We're not sure what they are yet, but if the previous 4 weeks are any indication, we're in for one hell of a workout. Especially since the workouts are called the same thing except with Max in front of them. So we'll see how that goes next week. So with the repeating of week 6, we're set to finish the first cycle sometime near the last week of July.
I'll tell you, after doing p90x and now this one I much prefer the Insanity workout. I am more of a cardio workout person. Granted I do kinda miss doing the weights exercises. So I think after we finish this pass, we're going to make our own program combining the two. We'll probably use a couple of the weights days from p90x, and then fill in the week with the cardio disks from Insanity. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think we both really enjoy the Insanity workout better.
I probably won't update every day like I used to. But with this one there isn't a lot to update about. It's just all cardio. But I'll try to do one at least once a week.
We are in the middle of week 5. This week is called the recovery week, and we do the same workout everyday. Let me tell you, it is no recovery workout. Granted, I'm not sweating as much as I do during the normal workouts. But I'm still exuding a lot of sweat. This one works a lot of your core though, and I can actually start to feel my core getting tighter. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.
There are no washboard abs or anything like that yet. I think my stomach is getting a bit smaller, but I still doubt that 1 pass through this program will yield me those results. I'm still *kinda* following the meal plan. I don't think that I am eating 2500 calories a day anymore. I've cut back from 5 meals to 4. And I seem to be eating less at each meal. The difference is that I'm not full all day long. Doing the 5 meals a day is tough because by the 3rd meal I am really full and don't want to eat the 4th meal. But I have to to make sure I have enough energy to burn off during the workout. So now I am doing just the simple 4 meals. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.
Breakfast is usually simple. Oatmeal, cereal, etc. Although I'll admit that lately I've been skipping breakfast all together. Bad, I know. But it's hard to do sometimes at work when I get in and get busy. Lunch usually consists of a wrap or sandwich of some kind. The wraps I've been using are these tortilla type of things...but made out of whole stone ground wheat. Really good for you. I use a wedge of laughing cow cheese for the 'sauce' instead of mustard/mayo. I get some deli meat sliced every week on Mondays and use that throughout the week. I also try to use a piece of lettuce, some tomato slices and this week I've been using an avocado too. Roll that up and you've got a great lunch that fills you up. It works out to be something like 300 calories.
We have been slacking a bit on the weekends. But we're definitely eating less than we're supposed to. Last Sunday, the only thing I ate was 1/2 bag of cheese nips at 5pm. Then I had dinner at my parent's house. Weekends we usually splurge a bit and are a little more relaxed in what we eat. But overall, I think we're still eating pretty healthy. Next weekend though, that'll be a different story. Going to Vegas for a friend's wedding and...well...it's Vegas.
So to counter the missed workouts (we'll be missing 4 workout days), we're going to start the week and do as much as we can. We'll miss Thursday - Monday (Sunday is the rest day). So we'll do Monday - Wednesday and call it good. Then when we come back on Tuesday, we'll just pick up and repeat the week again starting with Tuesday. that way we won't miss any of the workouts.
Next week starts the 'Max' workouts. We're not sure what they are yet, but if the previous 4 weeks are any indication, we're in for one hell of a workout. Especially since the workouts are called the same thing except with Max in front of them. So we'll see how that goes next week. So with the repeating of week 6, we're set to finish the first cycle sometime near the last week of July.
I'll tell you, after doing p90x and now this one I much prefer the Insanity workout. I am more of a cardio workout person. Granted I do kinda miss doing the weights exercises. So I think after we finish this pass, we're going to make our own program combining the two. We'll probably use a couple of the weights days from p90x, and then fill in the week with the cardio disks from Insanity. It's going to be a lot of work, but I think we both really enjoy the Insanity workout better.
I probably won't update every day like I used to. But with this one there isn't a lot to update about. It's just all cardio. But I'll try to do one at least once a week.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
End of week 1
Since we all survived the rapture, I guess I'll continue with writing. :)
Today wrapped up week 1. It actually went by pretty quick. Today was the same workout that we did on Tuesday. But I think I sweat a lot more today. I think as we progress, we'll be able to push harder on these workouts.
I feel like I don't have as much to write about with this program. It's all cardio stuff so there really isn't anything to explain like there was with p90x.
Well, we have tomorrow off and will be back Monday. :)
Today wrapped up week 1. It actually went by pretty quick. Today was the same workout that we did on Tuesday. But I think I sweat a lot more today. I think as we progress, we'll be able to push harder on these workouts.
I feel like I don't have as much to write about with this program. It's all cardio stuff so there really isn't anything to explain like there was with p90x.
Well, we have tomorrow off and will be back Monday. :)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Insanity - Pure Cardio
Tonight was the Pure Cardio workout. Holy crap. This total length is about 35 minutes. After the 10-15 minute warmup, it was pretty much 20 minutes straight. No breaks unless you take them on your own. Which I did. There wasn't any crazy moves or anything like that...but it was just non stop and really worked you out. Definitely a good workout though.
I'm finding that there isn't as much to write about as there was with p90x. There really isn't any 'gains' like there were in the last one. I'm not moving up in weights or anything like that. All I can really do is just push myself as hard as I can to keep doing the moves. On the ones that aren't muscle intensive (like sitting in a squat for 60 seconds), I really try to dig deeper and stick it out. But there are some where my legs are just on fire and actually start to cramp up. I try really hard to get past the muscle pain, but when they start to cramp, that's when I take a break.
Tomorrow we will complete our first week. This one is only 8 weeks long, so it'll probably go pretty quick.
I'm finding that there isn't as much to write about as there was with p90x. There really isn't any 'gains' like there were in the last one. I'm not moving up in weights or anything like that. All I can really do is just push myself as hard as I can to keep doing the moves. On the ones that aren't muscle intensive (like sitting in a squat for 60 seconds), I really try to dig deeper and stick it out. But there are some where my legs are just on fire and actually start to cramp up. I try really hard to get past the muscle pain, but when they start to cramp, that's when I take a break.
Tomorrow we will complete our first week. This one is only 8 weeks long, so it'll probably go pretty quick.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Insanity - Recovery
Today was the recovery workout. Kinda like the yoga day in p90x, it was just a lighter version. Doing mostly stretches and stuff. I was still sweating a lot though. Not much to report on this one. Tomorrow kicks back up to a "normal" workout. haha.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Day 3, with nutrition information.
Today was officially day 3 of the insanity workout, although it was only the second huge workout. Oh man, today was just as tough. There was a little more 'strength' workouts involved today..including some pushups and stuff. I really wish I could describe the workouts more...but it's tough to really explain just how intense they are.
I'm hoping that the results in 60 days will show it. I definitely see the need to eat more. Here's a typical meal for me during the day.
Breakfast - oatmeal with raisins and an orange.
Morning snack - fruit cup and yogurt, string cheese, Snack crackers with assorted lunch meat.
Lunch - sandwich or wrap including lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, cucumber. an apple and some mixed nuts.
afternoon snack - fruit cup, string cheese, english muffin with peanut butter and banana
dinner - Picante chicken, peas and carrots and a salad.
All that combined is A LOT of food, but it keeps me around 2500 calories. I am a little concerned that it is too high to get the results I want...but it was actually calculated out to 2800. So I decided to drop own a bit to see how it goes. I am going to monitor my energy level during the workouts and adjust my calorie intake as needed. Overall my daily numbers are in good shape. 69g of fat (85% recommended daily allowance), 206mg cholesterol (55%). My sodium is high at 4444mg, but I drink enough water to balance that out...I average at least 130oz of water a day. Carbs is at 336g (90%). I could try to lower this value, as this is where the stomach area is effected most. Fiber is high at 53g (170%), but not a big deal. Protein is at 155g (248%) but i need that. My sugars are at 188g, but almost all of it is from the fruit.
We'll see how this goes. Like I said, I worry that I'm eating too much and won't be able to lose the stomach area that I want to do. But, I think I can adjust what I eat and cut down on the carbs which again comes mostly from the fruit and breads.
Till next time.
I'm hoping that the results in 60 days will show it. I definitely see the need to eat more. Here's a typical meal for me during the day.
Breakfast - oatmeal with raisins and an orange.
Morning snack - fruit cup and yogurt, string cheese, Snack crackers with assorted lunch meat.
Lunch - sandwich or wrap including lunch meat, lettuce, tomato, cucumber. an apple and some mixed nuts.
afternoon snack - fruit cup, string cheese, english muffin with peanut butter and banana
dinner - Picante chicken, peas and carrots and a salad.
All that combined is A LOT of food, but it keeps me around 2500 calories. I am a little concerned that it is too high to get the results I want...but it was actually calculated out to 2800. So I decided to drop own a bit to see how it goes. I am going to monitor my energy level during the workouts and adjust my calorie intake as needed. Overall my daily numbers are in good shape. 69g of fat (85% recommended daily allowance), 206mg cholesterol (55%). My sodium is high at 4444mg, but I drink enough water to balance that out...I average at least 130oz of water a day. Carbs is at 336g (90%). I could try to lower this value, as this is where the stomach area is effected most. Fiber is high at 53g (170%), but not a big deal. Protein is at 155g (248%) but i need that. My sugars are at 188g, but almost all of it is from the fruit.
We'll see how this goes. Like I said, I worry that I'm eating too much and won't be able to lose the stomach area that I want to do. But, I think I can adjust what I eat and cut down on the carbs which again comes mostly from the fruit and breads.
Till next time.
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