inspiration08

well, the day was off to a grest start. i got in a 40k ride before 9:30 and then went to the onsen/hot springs. it took me about a year before i would go to one (its basically a public bath, so every one is naked) but now… i think its great. there’s something just something liberating about sitting outside naked and staring at great scenery and… i actually think in some ways its good been good for me as far as learning to accept my body. you go to the onsen, everyone’s naked, and you realize that just about NOBODY has a perfect body AND its wonderfully relaxing. :) hehe… i should go more often! after that i went shopping a bit while i was waiting for a friend, found a couple shirts that were 70% off and really cute, so i bought those. say a pair of shoes i was liked (50% off) but didn’t have the time to try them on before i met my friend. lol- i’m thinking about going back tomorrow to possible get them… i’m hopeless.

 i wanted to go swimming today. lol- thats not going to happen seeing as how the pool closes in 10 minutes. maybe i’ll go for a short run later tonight? or yoga? maybe yoga. i’m just being terribly decisive tonight, now aren’t i? ahh… just too much to do and not enough time!! still need to clean, study, get in a bit more exercise (i want a loss this week!!) and sleep!

its my weekend!! thats super happy- i’m really feeling like i need a break from work. lets see… not too much has happened (lol- its only been 2 days since i posted) but- i’m happy b/c i got in a 4.5k swim tuesday and today before work i got in a 24k ride and a 2.5k jog. and tomorrow… provided there’s no rain- another bike ride! lol. i’m a dork! it feels like there’s so much i want to say… and then when i finally have the time to sit down and blog, i’m tired and can’t remember a thing! lol. still need to cut down on the food intake, but… well, now i think i’m more interested in the working out. i’ve made better overall choices, now its just eating less. and making even better choices.

i’m fading fast and i still have to do the dishes and get my bag ready for tomorrow… hope everyone has a great day!

ok- so here’s a little japanese food porn. lol- and one of the reasons the diet isn’t so perfect! he is one of my students and one of my friends here and about once a week we usually meet for coffee and then lunch… i try to make it not too terrible, but sometimes… it just isn’t so healthy! lol. this is okanamiyaki- aka “japanese pizza” (b/c its round??) so basically its like a not sweet pancake with some kind of meat/seafood, veggies, egg and sometimes a little bit of cheeze mixed in. and then sweet brown sauce (known as “sauce”) is slathered on top and then doused in… mayo! these people have an OBSESSION with mayo! and then- and for me this is the worst- bonito flakes! its basically dried, shredded fish flakes. smells (and tastes) like the stuff we used to feed out goldfish. YUK! lol- my half is the half without the brown nastiness on top… and yes, the black bowl on the right is full of garlic- which you are supposed to eat just like that. cook it in a bit of oil, eat, then go make people wilt. its fun- i really like this place/style of food… you cook it on the table and then can eat it off that. its a lot of fun wish we could have something like that in the US, but i think it’d end up being too much of a liability

and here’s another pic from a bike ride. this is one of the reasons i love riding and i love the japanese countryside so much… there’s so many wonderful places hidden around every corner… its like small wonders are just waiting for me every time i get on my bike. its happy

ok- now onto the dishes and sleep!

YAY! i got in a 7k jog tonight. so the totals so far this week- uhh… 7k jogging! but it is only monday so, i’m happy. food was better today than it has been in a while, so that was also pretty happy.

ok- so goals for this week: 1. drink 2L of water daily 2. eat at least a cup of veggies every day! 3. 60k cycling 4. 15k jogging (hehe… almost halfway there already! maybe i should set the goal higher?) 5. 5k swimming 6. do yoga at least 3 times 7. 1 cup of green tea a day! 8. go to sleep at a decent hour!! and seeing as how its 12:30 already, i need to go to sleep!! 9. no fried food.

in the past two weeks i got in (not including the jog tonight): 112k cycling, 13.5k swimming and 20.5k jogging. and, i’m pretty happy with that. i need 180km cycling, 3.8km swimmimg (lol- i think i got that one out of the way) and 42k running. 

well, its doable. and i’m tired. so, sorry this isn’t a more interesting blog, but i’m going to bed! lol- i had a lot of things i wanted to ramble about, but its just not going to happen tonight.

for anyone interested in yoga- try checking out yogajournal.com- they have some home practice workouts that aren’t too difficult (as well as some i think are a bit more challenging) that i thought were pretty good. anyway, just a thought.

also- does anyone know anything about lap watches? as in (and i feel totally stupid for even asking) what exactly it is? i was looking at a watch thats supposed to be for triathalons, so i assuming its beneficial in some way for all three sports, but i’m just not sure how it works or what exactly it even does. i’d love to have something that kept track of how far i went (specifically, ran)… but don’t know if thats possible though.  any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

and… now onto my day! i got in 8k of running today. :D didn’t do it all at once, (2.5, 2.5, 3) but i did it. and that, to me, is super happy.  food was crap today. ok, maybe crap is a bit too harsh, but not so hot. had a pb/soy/banana smoothie and 7 crackers w/pb for breakfast, a bowl of rice and tempura, miso soup and sukemono (pickled veggies) for lunch, and 2 soyjoy bars for “dinner”. i was planning on having a salad, but eating is about the last thing i want to do after running. yuk!! i did get down 3 cherry tomatoes, a carrot, and 4-5 macadamia nuts. thats probably enough anyway though. lol- guess i should go running after i swim- eating is about the only thing i want to do after swimming!

i’m strangely excited for the weigh in tomorrow- i hope it doesn’t jump like it did last week!! lol- last week weighed myself on friday- was 57.7 kg, then i weighed myself sat morning… and up to 58.1. >_< !! (i think thats like a pound about?) ah well, whatever. i’m making better choices overall and the weight is slowly comming off, and thats the important part. humm… no particular words of wisdom or inspiration today, more like i’m blogging to keep track of what i’m doing.

off to do a bit of yoga and sleep. Hope everyone is having a good day today!  

well, i had the day off today- and it rocked! i lazed around a bit, talked to my sis and a friend, cleaned up a bit, when for a 22k bikeride, came back and took a japanese class online, went shopping for a cycling shirt, (didn’t find anything though, but i think i found a pair of running shoes) got in a 3k swim, went to the book store in the city and got book 2 of the japanese text i’m using (its actually PROGRESSING! i can kind of talk to the people around me! lol- but i still have a LONG way to go) taught a 2 hour private lesson, came home, took another japanese class online, and now, i think i’m going to sleep. i was toying with the idea of going for a jog, but i want to get up in the morning and go for a ride, so i think its best if i just sleep. stupid sleep! lol

the bad part though, is it feels like even if i eat, i’m still hungry! after i got done with the swim i ate some rice with dried fruit and nuts and it felt like i hadn’t eated at all- so then when i was in the city i got a ham and cheeze sandwich b/c i was hungry again- finished that and again, felt like i hadn’t eaten a thing.

so- that brings the total to: 112k cycling, 9.5k swimming and 12.5k jogging. really need to stay on top of the jogging. king of feel a little guilty for not going tonight, and i kind of want to go, but i think i should sleep.  

 well, i think i’ve become a little too lax with the garbage. yesterday i ate a cream puff and today i had about 8-9 small cookies- and both days i’ve felt like i’ve had a bottomless pit for a stomach. i’m not sure if its stepping up the exercise, or if its consuming more sugar, but i have a sneaking suspicion the sugar is the culprit. so- no sugar for the next 4 days and we’ll see how i feel. i went out for a 20k bike ride this morning i’m happy to have my bike working again! tomorrow i’m going to go out for a ride in the morning and then for a swim in the evening. lol- sometimes its nice not having a life! but seriously, i think i need to cut out the sugar. i’m pretty sure thats whats  doing it.

also- for any runners out there reading this, i’d love some advice. it feels like if i don’t eat at all before i run (went running in the morning and had that problem) i feel terrible, and if i’m not hydrated before i run i feel like garbage, but if i eat or drink before i run, i also feel like garbage. i’ve figured out what i need to do for swimming and cycling, but running… thats still unfamiliar territory to me. but basically, any advice about running would be appreciated. and it may sound strange… but it feels like its a lot easier to run at night? is that unusual? and why? lol- can you tell i’m clueless about all this?

i’ve got the next two days off work… and i’m so happy about that. i really enjoy teaching, but i’m just so looking foward to having a little time with very few commitments. time to cycle, swim and study! lol- how sad is it that thats what i do for fun?! well so far i’m at 90k biking, 12k running, and 6.5k swimming. not as good as i wanted it, but i think i can improve those numbers this weekend! (well, my weekend) ok- time to go run!

well back from the run (i think i might be addicted to buddyslim??) so here i am to log the progress. that now brings the total to: 90k biking, 14.5k running and 6.5k swimming. i also got in about 20 minutes of yoga, so that was happy. and now that its past midnight, i’m going to sleep! hope everybody is having a great day

food for today: green tea, banana/soy milk/peanut butter smoothie, brown rice with papaya, dried mango, dried cranberries, and pine nuts, 1/3 avacado with 7 whole wheat crackers,  1/2 papaya, carrot and 5 cherry tomatoes, about 9 small cookies (tasty, but not so good for me!), black coffee, a medium sized bowl of brown rice with cooked veggies, 4 chunks of watermellon, and about 1/2 cup of shelled edamame.  and… i’m still hungry!!

yesterday’s food: green tea with soy milk, english muffin with 1/3 mashed avacado, 2 tomato slices, a cream puff, 4 strips of dried mango, 1c uncooked brown rice with dried cranberries, mango, pear and walnuts, 1 carrot, 5 cherry tomatoes, onigiri, 1 cup watermelon, granola bar, green tea with soy milk and 7 wheat crackers w/ pb

AGH!!! and GRRR!!! and WTF?!! lol- mildly annoyed at the moment. so i earlier i blogged about my biking mishaps on friday (flat tire/walking 11k back home) and then yesterday about just feeling so drained and having no energy… so today i woke up and things were looking good. i decided to take to easy this morning before work (wasn’t feeling so hot yesterday, so i figured i’d just go swim tonight), i wrote out a meal plan, cleaned up a bit, patched the flat tire so i can go out riding again, (i learned my lesson, i am NOT going out without a spare tire and knowing how to change it) and then when i was in the shower i realized today is a national holiday, and the gym won’t be open. well, poo. but, ok, i can go cycling and for a jog. then… i get out of work and… its raining! the rainy season officially ended yesterday, so today it rains. and… i can’t go indoors and swim. >_< !! and then… on my way home (still raining) on my other bike (my “basket” bike)… yup, wouldn’t you guess… i get ANOTHER flat! lol, good grief. well, biking and swimming are out for the day (my road bike is postitvely leathal on wet roads) so maybe it’ll clear up and i can go for a run tonight. in the meantime though, its a good excuese to study, do yoga and maybe i’ll pop in the bollywood burn dvd. ah, well. i really wanted to go for a swim or a ride. just guess it wasn’t ment to be today!

so the total for this week is still 70k biking, 10k jogging, 4.5k swimming.

well, while i’m talking about past blogs, here’s a pic of the little bat that was visiting my apartment building. i thought he was cute! unfortunately, he died the next day

ok- well, i should be asleep now, but i’m not. need to stop staying up late! i am pretty happy with myself though- i got in 40 minutes of a yoga dvd, 30 minutes of my oh-so-cheezy-but-fabulous bollywood burn dvd (its a lot easier now than when i started!) and a 2k jog. AND- i follow pretty closely to what i said i would eat for the day. english muffin with 1/4 avacado and tomato, a grapefruit, a granola bar, coffee, pasta with cream sauce and mushrooms, 2 small slices of bread, salad, a carrot, 5 cherry tomatoes, a bell pepper, edamame, 5 olives and 2 cups of green tea with soy milk. and after all that- i’m hungry again! time to go to sleep!

i feel like i just hit a brick wall today- i am just totally drained. mentally the will to work is there, but my body is disagreeing with me. i just want to crawl back into bed. lol- not gonna happen though! i’ve got too much stuff i have to do. i made it through work, but now i have a private lesson to teach and i HAVE to clean my place- its getting to be way too much of a pig sty. and… i really want to do some sort of ecercise/activity tonight- i really want to do a bit of yoga, or go for a short walk, or something, but i’m just not too sure that that’s going to happen. lol- and i need to repair the intertube that got flat the other day. i don’t want to go out without a spare, and i won’t be able to get to the bike shop for about a week… and i don’t want to wait that long to go riding again. but… i know i need to sleep. i’m seriously craving sweets- and thats a giagantoid red flag saying “sleep, stupid!” (yup, my flags talk to me) well, off to the lesson and and hopefully onto other things after. hope everybody has more energy than i do today… this sucks!

 but… i did get in a 2k jog this morning, so the total for this week is 70k biking, 4.5k swimming and 10k jogging. not bad, but i’ll do better next week. no flats! and if they do happen- i know how to fix them now :) 

its already 9:45 (at night) and i still want to go for a run, fix my bike, study japanese, blog and take a shower. today wasn’t the best food wise- i had a custard filled cake (about the size of the palm of my hand?) and then another sweet. not so fantastic. i’ve been slacking on bringing snacks to work, healthy ones, so the junk won today! grrr… lol. on the upside though, i already got in a 2k jog and a 4.5k swim. lose some, win some, i guess. and i figures out, if i’m going to go for a swi mand be worth anything in the pool, i need to eat something before i go. i did two weeks age and had a great swim, didn’t last and it wasn’t so great, had my pb/soy/banana smoothie today and things went pretty well. moral to that story- remember to feed myself before i go workout! lol- kinda seems like it defeats the purpose in some ways, put in calories so i can go try and work them off, but… if i don’t, i just feel like crap the whole time.

friday was interesting. the good part was, i went for a 11k bike ride and an 11k walk. the bad part was i went for an 11k bike ride and a walk! lol- did something i knew i shouldn’t have and it came back to bite me in the butt. i went out with all the equipment to change a flat… but not actually knowing how to change the flat… totally stupid! especially when i seem to have a long history with the stupid things. and sure enough, 11k into the ride, i got a flat, so then i had the pleasure of walking back to my apartment. felt like an idiot, but at least i hadn’t gotten any further. lol- lesson learned. i thought about taking it somewhere to get it fixed, then decided against it. if i don’t do it myself now, i’ll probably be lazy and not bother to figure it out until the next time i have a problem.  and that would just be incredably stupid.

on another note- i usually weigh myself in the mornings after i get up… and the last few days the scale has been kind and saying usually 57. something… 7?8? and i get up today to weigh in offically… and the stupid thing is up to 58.4! grrr!!!! ah well. such is life. it’ll come off, i’m not too worried about it, but it is a bit irritating. just need to keep on getting rid of bad habits and it’ll happen.

ok- now off for the run and and fixing my bike! hope everyone has a great saturday!

well, i’m back from the jog- so that brings the total to 70k biking, 6.5k swimming and 8k running. i really need to step up the running or i’m not going to get there! have a healthy weekend… and if its at all possible, i highly recommend trying to do some exercise outside instead of in the gym… lol- i think its a lot more fun. and the scenery changes! have a great weekend!

well, i’ve been taking pics whan i’ve been out riding, so i’ll see if i can figure out how to post them in a blog. i think i can manage it… lol

well, things have been pretty good so far. i started my iron-man-in-a-month challenge, and so far i’ve gotten in about 60k on the bike (need 180) and about 4k running. haven’t gotten to the pool yet, but i’ll be doing that today. i think. i’m supposed to meet a friend at the gym to go running after he gets off work, but i think i’ll bike there and then try to get in a short swim before he gets off work… we’ll just have to see how it goes.  as for food, things have been fairly good. i haven’t been eating late, i’ve been drinking a lot more water, and i haven’t eaten much junk lately. funny- i bought a snickers the other day and then ended up throwing the other half away… just didn’t taste quite right. too… i dunno. something. sweet? plastic? fake? not sure how to put it. lol- but i suppose thats a good thing. now if i just don’t recondition myself to that taste, i’ll be doing good! lol.

well, hope things are good for everyone, and have a good week!

my favorite toy!! i love my bike!

while i was biking i saw a sign for a waterfall… so after a few attenpts i finally found the correct place/path and hiked up to it- maybe about a 10 minute hike? it was beautiful! lol- but i have to admit, i was a little nervous about running into a bear- there are warnings all over the place… lol, but things were good!

 and if anyone ever takes any pics of things while they’re out… i’d love to see them!