Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Wins, Woes and Whoa!'s

There was a much different Training for Tuesday coming your way for September, but when Alyssa reminded readers of this link-up and used the phrase "wins and woes" I had to steal it for myself.

"Wins and woes" because I want to talk about some of the yays and nays of how my fitness journey has evolved since fitness-for-two became the new norm. No, not fitness-for-two as in big-family-planning news. Fitness-for-two as in integrating my lifestyle with that of my fitness-shy boyfriend. 

It's a delicate balance between finding the lifestyle I need while being encouraging of the lifestyle he wants for himself. A delicate balance between chicken + lettuce for dinner or succumbing to the cravings of sausage rotel velveeta dip at 10pm on a Tuesday.  Life's real, that happens.

Wins

I'm wearing my FitBit again and actually keeping up with some stats, logging water and hitting step-goals. It's also a win for my brother who taunts my steps once a week while I cheer his steps back. Maybe it's his way of saying hello in the way that only brothers know how.

Brian wants to hang out on the elliptical at the gym? Fine, I'll elliptical too. I love being close to him. But he can keep his coasting at Level 5 / 6.2 average pace to himself. Me, no. I'm cranking my tunes, firing up to Levels 12 - 20 and pacing at > 7.5. As I learned from Firebrand in Portland, "you don't need more time, you need more intensity". His idea of thirty minutes doesn't match mine, but I'm respectful of the workout he wants to get because he's usually the one who suggests our gym date.

I'll be in Portland for a Pound Class! I can't wait to see my favorite trainer ever and tell him I'm only in town for a few days and visiting him was a huge must on my list, even more than craft beer. Does that make me a fake Oregonian? Meanwhile Brian and family will be drinking that beer for me.

Woes

I tried to come up with a sweaty morning routine, but it was replaced with a more intimate one. Actually this one is a win. I tried to come up with a walk after dinner routine, but it was replaced by weeknight football. Actually this one is a win(tertime) win. I tried to come up with a while-he-works-at-home routine, but he stopped working at home as frequently. Actually this one is a win. I tried to come up with a workout while we watch football routine, but one night after a "brutal" 20 body-weight squats to pay for a touchdown he was sore for 4 days straight. This is just funny.

The things that haven't gone exactly as planned didn't fail, they just looked a little different to my partner than what my vision was. That's okay.

If fitness is important to me, I will make it a priority that doesn't compromise our relationship.
If fitness is important to him, he will make it a priority that doesn't compromise our relationship.
If fitness is important to us, we will make it a priority within our relationship. We do.

Bonus: Whoa!'s

Whoa! There's a Yoga Class at a Brewery in Memphis for $15 that includes a fun all-levels class and a pint. Do I invite lady friends I've made here, or do I go solo and meet new friends?

Whoa! Putting a tax on eating ice cream out of the carton actually works! In our home, one serving of ice cream in a 4oz dixie cup is free, After that, any consumption out of the carton or if the carton makes in to the carpeted area, it's $5 from the offender into the adventure fund. The only way we can go for a second 4oz serving is if both of us shake hands as a team and agree. The tax / handshake hasn't happened yet.

Whoa! I moved desk locations this week and I get to add more stairs into my life! This comes alongside my twenty-five minutes on the stairmaster at the gym and my new favorite 1,000 stair loop at home consisting of 32 round trips up 32 stairs in our 3-story apartment complex.

Do you have any Wins, Woes or Whoa!'s?!

Linking up with Alyssa and Tracy, two ladies kicking butt in goals and life. 

Friday, September 25, 2015

Just Because It's Friday

Happy Friday! This free blogging moment is brought to you while I duck and dodge the chores around this apartment. I'm a fan of doing the work Thursday or Friday so that the entire weekend can be chore-free, but today's mood just isn't feeling it. If I'm going to do anything around the apartment, it'd be pulling my fall scarves out of boxes and lining up my collection of Frye boots for the perfect day to trade out my summer sandals.

But it's the south, so I'm not sure yet when that feeling will hit me.

This week in things:

I was jealous that Portland has access to Amazon's Prime Now, a service where you can order from Amazon and get your delivery within two hours for free. This means groceries, toys, exercise equipment, tailgate gear, whatever! Instead of jealousy taking over, I decided to send a little care package to my parents and my sisters complete with ice cream, chips, toys and smiles. Delivery is free, but if you are nice you can tip the driver for service with a smile. 

I spent too much time exploring Snapchat's filters this week. Way too much time and I'm now embarrassed to admit that I'm missing the rainbow vomit filter. Did this obsession happen to anyone else? 

Oh, you like fitness? All-time couple record of three gym visits during the work-week. Add that to the weekend football viewing workout plans and you may have a trend. A sweaty trend.

It was true! All signs pointed to a Trader Joe's coming to Memphis in 2016 and finally Wednesday this sparkly magical news made my day and halted many of my threats to my significant other that I'm moving back to Portland for family, Trader Joe's and Classpass. I may not have the great fall and holiday goodies this year, but this time next year I'll be one of the first in line to welcome my fun-loving friends to Memphis and support the 2016 legalization of wine sales in grocery stores. Cheers!


And finally, we have been keeping amazing track of our budget  since I arrived in Memphis (thanks to this unbelievable post and my geeky analytical brain) and we're already making adult decisions like canceling Brian's Netflix account, skipping Starbucks and packing lunch from home rather than buying daily at work.

"Things" are looking good these days!

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Wonderful Exciting Things

This interruption to an unintentional blogging break is brought to you by a few wonderful exciting things.

First, I never realized how difficult it would be to blog while living with my best friend. 

My old prime-time blogging was either during my lunch hour or after we'd already said goodnight on FaceTime. In this new happy world, blogging windows of opportunity don't exist. Lunch breaks are now spent together and away from the glow of our computer screens, which is a brand new foreign concept we can thank each other for introducing. Nights are now spent wrapped in each others arms with no leisurely computer time to even distract my attention. 

These are moments that I will never regret, moments I will never curse for making me a less interactive blogger, moments I will never want to trade in. Plus that means there's more free time to complete a 1,000 piece puzzle on a do-nothing weekend after racing up 1,000 steps and eating over 1,000 calories each solely from sausage rotel velveeta dip. 


Sometimes this "blogging isn't important to me" attitude must be interrupted when there's big exciting news to share and wonderful things to look forward to in the future. 

Wonderful Exciting Thing #1

We booked round trip plane tickets for a visit to Portland in 22 sleeps to stay for 5 sleeps. I get to see a dear friend get married and take on a perfect-for-her last name. I get to hug my family, spoil my golden sisters, shop at Trader Joe's, drink Oregon beer and other-than-Starbucks coffee, attend a Pound! class, be work-free and experience the best time of the year in the Northwest. 

Wonderful Exciting Thing #2

Shortly after making our flight reservations from Wonderful Exciting thing #1, I was surprised with the bonus news that we would be hosting our first Memphis visitors in November. Mom and dad are making their first trip to Memphis to celebrate my 28th birthday and to see the place we call home. It was short lived as a secret plot between family and boyfriend as they decided a 10-day drop-in wouldn't be the best thing to spring on a girl who is quickly approaching her 30's. Smack.

It's a birthday week for mom as well, so I'll have to start thinking of ways to show her the best of Tennessee. 

So, what do I show the parents and what else should I mark onto my Portland agenda?