Clever Manka is dressed and undressed

In one week I leave for 221B Con!



I have so much to do before I leave, though.

The Friday after I return from Atlanta, I'm hosting a dance party for the graduate students. Before I leave for the trip, I'd like to at least have all the songs downloaded to my computer, even if I don't have the actual playlist arranged. Have I even started downloading songs? No.

The Sunday after I return, I'm taking my bloomers stock to a craft fair at the Replay. I want to have as much stock as possible because people buy more when there's a large selection. Do I have enough made? No.

This weekend is going to be quite relaxing.



But I'm taking Friday off so I have an extra day to get stuff done and find some time to relax. There's no way I'm going to Atlanta already fatigued.

Speaking of fatigue, the 300 Swings Challenge is wearing me out. Seriously wearing me out. If the end of the tunnel wasn't right there (five more days including today, and I'm 1/3 of the way done with today's swings), I'd think about quitting. When I undertook this, I thought it would be fine since I could spread the work throughout the day and not tax my body too much at any one time. Well, that was great in theory, but I didn't take into account the cumulative effect of all that work. My legs haven't felt not-tired for about two weeks. Going up even one flight of stairs makes them feel a bit weak even though I'm not winded at all. The swings are getting harder, not easier. I can no longer do thirty swings in a row (without exhausting myself) with the 36lb bell. To conserve energy, I'm doing all my swings with the 20lb bell (which I can swing fifty times in a row, at least) and haven't had a lifting session since March 20. I even canceled Sunday's session with Andrew (which I might have done anyway because of menstrual cramps). I haven't measured myself, but judging from the way my clothes (still) fit, I've not lost any belly fat. My thighs might be a teensy bit firmer, though, and my ass is definitely rounder so it's not all a loss. Still, I don't think I'll be doing any sort of 30 day challenge again for a while.

And before you ask, I'm not quitting because I've had to drop out of the other two 30 day challenges I've tried and god damn it I am finishing this one.

I am managing to eat more on most days, too--another positive to come out of this experience. Most days I eat three of my 12oz food containers at the office instead of just two. Here's hoping that the calorie boost will help build muscle faster once I'm lifting again (after I return from 221B Con).

Oh, and speaking of the con, I've decided that I am going to ship my medicines and stuff to the hotel. I had to buy a new bottle of the progesterone stuff so I figure I'll just pour out exactly how much I need for the five days I'm there. I'm also going to mail some of the heavier foods (like cans of sardines--sorry, roommates) so I don't have to lug those home from the grocery store.

I had a brilliant idea about how to handle the vegetable situation (since raw vegetables are generally a no-no for me). I'm going to bring a small container of coconut oil and pay the hotel restaurant to saute me up a big mess of vegetables using that instead of the usual soybean or corn oil that most restaurants use and I can just eat them cold out of the mini-fridge. I can get a burger salad if/when I decide to eat with people, but I'm only supposed to have one or two salads a week, so I can't rely on that.

All that stuff gets mailed on Saturday. Another thing for the Saturday to-do list.

And now it's time to tackle the to-do list for my job. I HATE RE-WRITING MEETING MINUTES FROM MY NOTES. Ugh. Taking minutes is bad enough, but then having to revise and reformat them so they're sensible? WE HATES IT. Ugggggggggggggggggh.

Do you think it's super important to eat first thing in the morning? Or after a workout? Are you in the camp that thinks it's better to fast for a certain period of time? How about eating your carbs before noon? Or are you a carb backloading fan? Do you think eating several small meals a day keeps your metabolism up? Or do you think remaining in a constantly-fed state messes up your insulin resistance? Here's a nice article on how none of that is true and all of that is true. Surprise, surprise, these things are all dependent on the individual! So stop listening to the eighty zillion theories and studies out there and start paying attention to what your body wants and needs. Unless it wants doughnuts and pizza all the time, in which case you might want to moderate that shit. Or not! Your life, your choices!

Make your own cold gel packs. Awesome. Hopefully I won't need an ice pack anytime soon because I'm getting even more serious about mobility during my 300 Swings challenge. I'm rolling out for an hour at least twice a week, and I try to roll out at least my quads and glutes every day. Of course, Breaking Muscle came through with an article about yoga poses for posterior chain mobility. Yay!

I've eliminated the vast majority of packaged foods from my diet, but there are still a few things I buy that aren't from the perimeter of the grocery store. I avoid eating a lot of canned foods because BPA and estrogen. BPA exits the body pretty quickly, so I'm not too stressed about the couple times a month I eat tuna or canned olives. But I use coconut milk pretty regularly (several times a week) and I'm wondering if I would benefit from buying it in aseptic packaging. It's just so expensive. And also, from Amazon. *sigh* I dunno. Anyone have thoughts on how dangerous is BPA? Melissa Joulwan posted an NPR story on her blog about how BPA might not be that bad and I was like "what do you think about this?" and she replied "I really don’t know. I mean, at some point, I feel like I have to stop over-thinking and just eat, you know what I mean?" I know, Melissa. I know. But every little bit helps, right? Just...twice as expensive as the canned coconut milk I buy from the mom-and-pop Asian grocery four blocks from my house. You know? BLARGH. Frustrating.

My god, when did this journal become a health and fitness blog? I really need to post about something like FASHION or FANDOM or just...ANYTHING else, really. Sheesh.

Today's Tumblr is Tuesday, March 4: Architecture.

Nerd Fitness has a fantastic article on squats today. How do to them, how not to do them, why to do them, how they can help people with bad knees, etc. Really, really good article. With pictures and video, too!

Because my trainer Andrew is the best, he designed for me a workout that incorporates KB swings and makes sure the rest of my lower body is activated--not just the muscles involved in KB swinging. It's tough, but good to know everything is working equally.

KB Swings 3x20 25# to 35#
Split Squats 3x12 BW

Step-Ups 3x20 20# (10# each hand)
KB Deadlifts 3x12 50#

Hang Snatch 5x3 45# to 55#

KB Swings 3x20 25# to 35#
Barbell Bridge-Ups 3x12 45#

Push Press 3x10 35# to 45#
Bent Rows 3x12 20# DB

Crazy busy at work this week, so that's all I've got.

Y'all, I have totally got this 300 swings thing. Yesterday was a little rough, but Doge bless my trainer Andrew who incorporated 120 KB swings (with a 25lb bell) into my routine for the week. Rolling out for nearly an hour last night helped a lot, too. My trick to getting the swings in is pretty simple. The biggest help is to get up a little early and bang out 100 swings before showering. I don't even do them all at once. It goes something like twenty-five swings and then empty the dishwasher; twenty-five swings and brush teeth; twenty-five swings and get everything in the backpack for work; twenty five swings and shower. Boom! I'm one-third of the way done for the day. The twenty-pound KB I have at the office feels a bit like cheating after swinging the 36lb one at home first thing. But I know from yesterday's experience that I am not up to swinging the 36lb bell for all 300 swings yet. Depending on how my strength improves, I might switch the bells halfway through the challenge so I'm doing most of my swings with the 36lb one at work and then I can warm-up with the 20lb bell at home.

Not gonna lie, dealing with the Before Pics was tough. I've been photographed in more generally revealing outfits before, but these Before Pics, man. It's not just that I'm wearing shorts (my legs--never my favorite) and a sports bra (my fantastic boobs, almost smooshed past recognition), but I'm so incredibly naked. No makeup, no fancy hair, no persona. Just plain old me, in less-than-flattering lighting. Also, thanks, mckitterick for not noticing that my tag was sticking out in back of my sports bra. *sigh*

I'm going to post the Before Pics here, but for the love of god no comments about how great I look already, or any of that shit, okay? I am not doing this for anybody but me. So no comments about how I look. Come April 1 you can talk all you want about how I've changed my body (or not, depending on how much my body does change this month), but I want ZERO judgement or opinion on how my body looks, okay? Even if those judgements and opinions are positive, they are still judgements and opinions and I have no interest in hearing them.

( Click for my Before Pic and the bio I sent to the challenge organizers )