Saturday, May 31, 2008

week 3, day 2

boy am i looking forward to this :-)

food is as follows:

meal #1: omlette (4 eggwhites + 1 whole egg), steel-cut oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3 dates

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: tuna sandwich with 2 slices of lite whole wheat bread, 4oz water-packed tuna, a tad of mayonnaise to hold the tuna together, garden vegetable salad

meal #4: smoothie

here is the fitness plan for the day:

** 20-30 minutes on the treadmill (at a very slow pace)
** stretches on the cool stretcher
** lower body weights
** stretches on the cool stretcher
** 20 laps in the pool

onward and upward !!

week 3, day 1

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 cups branflakes, 1 cup skim milk, banana, 15 almonds

meal #2: i have no idea what is going to be available at the lunch i'm going to for the agents meeting

meal #3: 3 oz roasted turkey breast, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, tad of mayonnaise, 1 orage

meal #4: smoothie

here is the fitness plan for the day:

going to the meeting and that means some kind of movement for me. not a whole lot like on thursday, but still more than just laying around like friday and saturday.

onward and upward !!

week 2, day 7

food plan for the day:

meal #1 through meal #4 or #5:

smoothie.

lots and lots of water.


fitness plan for the day:

nothing. keep resting to gear up for a very tough week starting on sunday with the agent meeting in jerusalem.

onward and upward !!

finally feeling better

oh my god !! it's taken over 24 hours to recooperate from yesterday. i have no idea what happened to me. drove myself too much? the heat? it was the end of a long week? who knows? but at least i'm feeling A LOT better. now i feel like i can actually plan my future ;-)

tomorrow i'm going to have only smoothies all day long. i want to kind of purge my body from the strange things i've had yesterday and today. well *strange* as compared to what i've been doing for the past few weeks.

i want my three older kids to come home already. it's past their bed-time and they will never make it home in time from LA and London !! i miss them and want to sit around with them and laugh, make fun of them, and laugh some more. they, of coure, will make fun of me too, and we'll all just laugh more and more. it's so much fun. i miss them *sigh* (i have to use the new smilie that John gave me).

now i'm going to check the fridge to make sure i have enough fruit for tomorrow's intake of 4 or 5 smoothies. i just LOVE my new blender. so cool and handy.

more later..........

Friday, May 30, 2008

two days without anti-crazy meds

and a crazy adriana is produced ! i just realized that i didn't take my viepax yesterday AND today. no wonder i feel like crying every two seconds. well, part of the insanity is the exhaustion, but the bigger part is the failure to take my meds properly.

oh god, some people on *shindler's list* are absolutely insane. that's what i call our local anglo community email list. about 1,200 local ango jews who, for the most part, don't even know how to use toilet paper correctly, let alone figure out this city after years of living here. some people are cool though, and i've been friends with some for years and years. i think i'm just in an impatient mood and don't feel like answering the same question that's been asked 400 times in the last week. for christ's sake people, take a look at the archives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

end of rant.

Tamar finally fixed her room. finally. finally. i almost had a stroke, Nina was two minutes away from having a heart attack and Oren was yelling at all of us. why in the world do we keep calling him for help in these situations? he gets so frustrated with all of us and then just ends up yelling. i of course, don't listen to his yelling and am totally passive-agressive with him, which makes him even crazier :-) i dare him to walk in my shoes for one week. just one single week of his life, to live my life.

when i finally fell asleep this afternoon not two minutes passed when Nina woke me up and asked me about where to put the coffee... which container does it go in? she had worked so hard on the entire kitchen that i just mumbled something to her and tried my best to go back to sleep. right.

about 1/2 hour after that all hell broke loose with Tamar. then my brother, Alberto, called and he felt so bad about the whole situation that he wanted to talk with Tamar. i figured he really didn't need the aggrevation of trying to be nice and rational with a crazed 14-year-old. all of a sudden i yelled out to Tamar "i don't have any problem sending you to the emergency room today", and Alberto kind of rushed off the phone. i don't blame him. he had a teenaged daughter once, and now has five granddaughters he deals with on a daily basis (that's another post).

at least i'm much more rested and i'm thinking straight. the house is clean. so clean it kind of scares me. i'm afraid to touch anything in the kitchen. Nina was in there for 4 (!!!) hours. she did EVERYTHING !! God bless her soul.

time for the cashmere mafia....

very, very tired today

it's friday and i'm absolutely exhausted. as if i had worked building a new building all week long. tired to the bone. i worked hard all week and worked out even harder. even going out yesterday on errands was done all out. i felt so good that i just pushed myself to the extreem. i only felt it in the late afternoon, when i couldn't even move, let alone work.

at least i got that last order yesterday morning :-) made my day. filled me up with lots of energy and i exaggerated yesterday with the outing. i really should learn from my mistakes one day.

i heard from Juan Carlos for the second day in a row. now THAT was a shock! he turned things right around on me and insisted that i tell him more about what's going on in my life, instead of having him tell me so much about his life.

it's strange because i had a strange dream about him last night. i guess the thoughts and feelings are always right under the surface at all times. now i wonder when he'll remember to write again.

i'm going to write a lot more tomorrow. i've been thinking of so many things all week long, but with work and everything else, i've just put writing off. i want to write more memories and more about my brothers :-) God i love them and miss them. it actually hurts when i think about them and how far i am from them.

my eye has been giving me a lot of trouble lately. i think i might have that silly infection again... but i don't have the energy to go to Dr. Haviv to get it checked. if i don't get it checked though, i'll get keep suffering from the dryness and iching *sigh*.

i'm off now to rest more and try not to start crying every few minutes from the exhaustion.

week 2, day 6

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 cups branflakes, 1 cup skim milk, banana, 15 almonds

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: 2 small whole wheat pizzas with soy milk cheese, lots of grilled veggies for toppings

meal #4: smoothie

here is the fitness plan for the day:

nothing, just resting

onward and upward !!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

week 2, day 5

for once, i have no idea what i'm going to eat since i'm going out with Mari and we'll be going on and on for some hours. i want to totally enjoy the day and not have to think of what i'm eating, at least while we're out. i'm not going to go wild, but i will have great fun :-)

no fitness plan either. i'll be doing a lot of walking around, which is always very difficult for me. it's going to be a very good chance to see how much i've progressed in general with strength. i'll also be weighing in at the clinic and i'm hoping to see a good number there, as i did at the gym.

onward and upward !!

a much better day

oh yeah, when things go well !

today has been nice and smooth from the get-go. went to the gym and did my thing. had a grand time in the pool. that is just the very best thing about Holmes Place. those two pools make life SO good.

now work is going smoothly and i'm getting previews out even on difficult leads. i don't much like it when i have to dig for information too much, or worse yet, call a company sounding like a complete idiot "who would i be able to talk with in your marketing department". but that's the job and i know that i'll eventually get used to the phone stuff.

the weather is absolutely wonderful... a bit hot during the day, but the late afternoon and evenings are such a pleasure with a nice breeze coming in from the very large window in the livingroom.

my butt is still sore from yesterday. i have no idea why certain parts of my body bother me at times. i guess it happens to everyone, right?

tomorrow is going to be a fun day... going out on my monthly errands with Mari: bank, clinic, post office, check casher, Home Center. i want to buy a new blender, a new hand-held mixer and a barber's shaving thingy. i need to have my hair buzzed off once again. i look like a scare-crow !!

i got the most retarded FaceBook message from Juan Carlos today. he is begging for me to kill him !!! he write three lines of gibberish and then just leaves it at that. i wrote him back and told him that i expect him to write more in the future. i'm not holding my breath though.

anyway... back to work now.

onward and upward !!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

an agonizing day

what a totally stupid day !

first, i wanted to die in the pool.

then, after resting very well, i was all pumped up for work and started promptly at 3:45pm. i got nowhere very fast.

i spent the first 1-1/2 hours on the phone with various people, not related to work at all. and then when i finally did get around to work, the whole sales system crashed!! there went all my plans for today. it's very difficult to recover when you're at least two hours behind.

what a piece of crap that all was.

now i seem to be working at a good pace, but my butt is hurting me! of all things. i think it's from the lower body workout yesterday.

oh well...... i'll just keep plugging away. there is no way i'm going to miss out on that extra $50 this month for getting 500 previews out. absolutely no way !

week 2, day 4

a good day was had by one and all !! much more rested up this morning so the fitness plan went well :-)

food is as follows:

meal #1: omlette (4 eggwhites + 1 whole egg), steel-cut oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3 dates

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: tuna sandwich with 2 slices of lite whole wheat bread, 4oz water-packed tuna, a tad of mayonnaise to hold the tuna together, garden vegetable salad

meal #4: smoothie

fitness plan for the day:

** 20-30 minutes on the treadmill (at a very slow pace)
** stretches on the cool stretcher
** upper body weights
** stretches on the cool stretcher
** 20 laps in the pool

onward and upward !!

Monday, May 26, 2008

adventures in tel aviv

the fire near the central bus station !!


Titi, thinking she's the bee's knees



Oren, thinking he's the KFC guy

another day almost done

what a day! i'm surprised i just didn't stay in bed all day long and completely waste it. i'm kind of proud of myself.

i got up feeling very groggy. i somehow made my way to the gym and did my entire fitness plan at a very good level.

then i came home and passed out for a few hours. after that it took me hours to fully wake up again. i felt a bit of the brain-fog again, but not like it was a few weeks ago. i just don't understand what brings these bouts on. changes in the weather? some kind of other strange neurological thing happening?

i've gotten some follow-up emails ready for tomorrow. i really should have done some yesterday too, but complete laziness took over and all i did was watch tv until about 2am. maybe that's why i'm so out of it today.

the rest of the evening will involve more preparations for work tomorrow and watching some tv. i want to knit, but without that light in the kitchen it's very difficult at this hour to see the stiches correctly.

i also want to write more about Alberto, the post i started yesterday.

week 2, day 3

food is as follows:

meal #1: omlette with 4 eggwhites + 1 whole egg, 1 cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 15 almonds, 5 small dates (wherever did these come from ? )

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: 5 oz roasted chicken, 1-1/2 cup roasted vegetables, 1/2 cup brown rice

meal #4: smoothie


here is the fitness plan for the day:

40 laps in the pool

onward and upward !!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

re-discovering my eldest brother

Alberto. that's my eldest brother's name. he is 14 years older than me. he was always our second father.

i re-discovered him online yesterday when i was reading his blog (link on the right-hand side of this page). he has added video to his blog, in an instructional manner. he does woodworking from the incredible workshop that he built about two years ago. he and his wife, Sandy, both work in the workshop.

more to come.........

a few days later.....

my brother read my blog and informed me that it's been 4 years since he built the workshop !! i can't believe how time has just zoomed by. he also was quite amazed when he read my post and realized that it's been 4 years.

more to come...........

week 2, day 2

not going to the gym AND not working is just a bummer !! i could have done some follow-up emails, but i just didn't feel like it. tomorrow is a new day and i have a plan :-)

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 fried eggs, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 1 tlb lite cream cheese, 1 cup skim milk/1 scoop protein powder, 1 pear

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: 5 oz roasted chicken, 1-1/2 cup roasted vegetables, 1/2 cup brown rice

meal #4: smoothie i have got to buy a new blender !!!!


fitness plan for the day:

** 30 minutes on the treadmill
** stretches
** lower body weight training
** stretches
** 20 - 30 laps in the pool

onward and upward !!

sunny

OMG !! i just can't understand why she gave up modeling !! photo taken by Rico.

no gym today

uugghh ! i didn't make it to the gym today. i got up in plenty of time, but i have to help Nina and Tamar get ready for that silly wedding tonight. Oren is picking them up at 5:30pm and Tamar still has her "strands bleaching" to complete. oh well, at least they are getting all dressed up and will probably have a great time.

Rico, Sunny and Racheli feel so lucky that they aren't here and forced to go. it's so funny. they also think this whole wedding is a complete farce.
so, i'll be left alone all evening and with nothing better to do i'll just watch tv and do some knitting. my hands, once again, feel the need to do something .
onward and upward !!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

a day alone

i had a grand time last night all by myself. it was so nice not having to be responsible for the girls. when they are with Oren i completely loose myself and don't even think of the fact that i'm the mother of 5 kids ;-) !

i watched CSI New York until 5am and then finally passed out. i woke up today to the final minutes of the Lakers vs. San Antonio game and i was bummed out, to say the least. i'm not even sure who won, that's how out of it i was when i did wake up. i'll check online to see who won.


it's already 5:30pm and the day is almost over. the girls will be home in a few hours and we'll be back to usual, which is nice. they have a wedding to go to tomorrow and they were in Yafo buying clothes when i called. it's so hysterical that Oren wants Nina to wear a dress, heels and make-up. i almost laughed in his face, but stopped myself just in the nick of time. AS IF !!!! he was even trying to bribe her when i called, telling her that he'd buy her a whole new outfit that she does want if only she would wear a dress to the wedding. i didn't ask what was bought in the end. i'll wait till the girls get home because i don't want to hurt Oren's feelings.

i'm SO glad i'm not going to that wedding. those of you who know me, know why i'm so glad. those of you who don't know me that good yet, will figure it out one day. 'nuf said.

now i'm off into that kitchen which is like an animal testing laboratory right now. the heat makes it impossible to keep any kind of garbage more than a few hours inside the house and i think i'll need a mask just to wash the dishes. i just wish it weren't like this every summer. we do keep up with throwing out the garbage, but the heat just wants to beat us up every day !!

see you later :-)

week 2, day 1

food is as follows:

meal #1: omlette with 5 eggwhites + 1 yolk, 1 cup cooked oatmeal, 4 dates

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: 5 oz roasted chicken, 1-1/2 cup roasted vegetables, 1/2 cup brown rice

meal #4: smoothie

i need to go back to fitday.com and keep figuring out the calories.

here is the fitness plan for the day:

40 - 50 laps in the pool

i can afford to do more because it's a day off at work.

onward and upward !!!

week 1, day 7

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 cups branflakes, 1 cup skim milk, banana, 15 almonds

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: 4-5 sardines, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 2 tlb lite cream cheese, 1 orange

meal #4: smoothie

still taking it real easy on food because i'm just being a vegetable on the sofa all day long.

here is the fitness plan for the day:

nothing. absolutely nothing. another rest day for me

onward and upward !!

week 1, day 6

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 cups branflakes, 1 cup skim milk, banana, 15 almonds

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with 1 tlb natural peanut butter, 1 tlb natural apricot jelly, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 1 orange

meal #4: smoothie

i'm taking it real easy on food because i'm just being a vegetable on the sofa all day long

here is the fitness plan for the day:

nothing. absolutely nothing. rest day for me

onward and upward !!

sunny

she is as brave as me when it comes to her hair !! she had one side buzzed off and looks soooo cool :-)

Friday, May 23, 2008

a weekend alone :-)

ahhhhhhhhhh -- an entire 30 hours of solitude. i really need these breaks at least twice a month. the girls are in tel aviv with Oren (their father) and it's so wonderful not having to be responsible for them until they return to modiin tomorrow evening

i've got to get into the war-torn kitchen either in the next hour or tomorrow afternoon. since the lightbulb in the kitchen exploded into one million pieces, the base of the bulb was left in the socket. that used to happen all the time in our other apartment. it is a real pain the ass because the girls are scared to even go near the plugged up socket, let alone try to take out the remains of the old bulb. i have to remember to ask our upstairs neighbor to do the dirty deed for us. he's a very kind person and i'm sure that he'll do it for us. that way we can be a little more productive in the kitchen after sunset. light is needed, that's forsure.

today i'm up to nothing really. i'm so happy that i got that order late last night ! i was getting a bit depressed with no orders all week long. and now that i've completed the 60-day "newbie" program i don't get double or triple commission on orders, so i have to really start working my ass off to get orders in the first place. however, i am now part of the Fab Five program, which allows me to make more money on every order. it's a progressive kind of program: 1st order + $5, 2nd order + $10, 3rd order + $15, 4th order + $20, and so on. last week one guy got 18 orders, which is something like $855 in Fab Five bonuses!

i'm happy with my efforts in the past few days, making phone calls and getting past the paralyzing stage of cold-calling! i'm most definitely going to do more calling this coming week. the order that i got last night was a direct result of me being so brilliant and figuring out the email address of the particular contact person, and then getting it verified without sounding like a complete idiot ! yay for me !!

anyway, the girls are gone and i get to play all by myself without anyone on my mind. it's so good that they had such a wonderful time at the Lag BaOmer activities last night. they both stayed out until about 8am and then got up and got on a bus to tel aviv. yay, yay, yay !!

eating will be pretty good, with lots of mini-meals. i'll try my best to keep calories down since there is no exercise for me today and tomorrow. i hope that on sunday i won't feel like i did on the first day i was back at the gym . that would be a very big bummer.
i'll be back......
onward and upward !!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

memory

one day, i must have been about 8 or 9 years old, we had gone to the beach. my parents, some of my brothers and me. after a great day at the beach we got home at just about dusk. in their attempt to keep me out of the way while they unloaded the car and got things in order, my parents had my eldest brother, Alberto, take me on a bike ride.

i very clearly remember being all sandy, a bit sore from a mild sunburn, very tired from the very long, fun day, and more than anything, very excited to be on the bike with Alberto.

we rode up and down our street, Norwood Avenue, a few times. wind blowing in our hair. laughing, giggling, just having fun. i adored my brother Alberto, my rock, my second father, my idol. he was kind, gentle, powerful and so much fun.

as we went up and down the street we passed my uncle and aunt's house several times. they lived about five houses down the street from us, on the other side of the street. Harry and Joanne. my two cousins, Mike and Tammy.

Joanne had been my babysitter some years before that, before i had started school. Mike and Tammy were my closest friends in the world at that age. we had spent most afternoons together since the age of 5 or so. Mike is one year older than me, Tammy is one year younger than me.

as Alberto and i rode up and down the street on his fancy 21-gear bike we kept waving "hi" to my aunt and uncle who were out in the front lawn, doing some late afternoon gardening. that's the only time in the day that a person could garden in the middle of summer in Riverside.

then.... all of a sudden.... i felt an incredible sharp pain in my left foot. i tapped Alberto on the shoulder and told him to stop. my left foot was stuck in the spokes of the back wheel of the bike. it happend right in front of my aunt and uncle's house. the adults immediately paniced, rushing to me and somehow disengaging my foot from the wheel. i don't really remember who did it or how it was done, but a few minutes later i was in their kitchen with my left foot in their kitchen sink.

my brother was holding me up to the sink, my uncle Harry was washing my foot of and my aunt Joanne was searching for the first-aid kit. i didn't say a word. not one utterance came out of me. i remember them asking me many times "are you alright, are you alright?" and all i would do is nod my head, indicating that i was okay.

once my foot was washed up properly and the bleeding had completely stopped they were able to see that the skin on the outside part of my left foot had been completely torn off and only bone was visable. i remember it stinging, but no real pain. i still said nothing.

they patched me up and my brother took me home. he felt like shit. he felt like he had let the entire world down, let alone our parents. when we arrived home both of my parents were very cool and calm about the whole thing. they didn't say anything about the fact that Alberto had let me on his bicycle barefoot, something which they had told all of us never to do in the first place. they just tried to make sure that i didn't start bleeding again, or that i didn't need stitches.

about an hour later the most incredible thing happened. my uncle Harry came over and he started to tell the story of how brave i was the entire time. he kept saying, over and over, "she just didn't shed one tear!

that story spread throughout our very large family like wildfire in the next few days. my uncle kept telling it over and over to whomever would listen: "she never even shed a tear" he would say in awe.

my uncle Harry died about 16 years ago of lung cancer. two days before his death i talked to him for the very last time. i called him when we were living in jerusalem and he was dying in Glendale, California. "don't cry, mija, don't cry" he told me. "be as brave as you were that one special day".

i love my uncle Harry to this day :-) and i cry tears of joy when i think of him and all the good times we all had together.

i'm tired

this is what i've been afraid of since before i joined the gym. i'm tired and i am just so afraid that it's going to impact on my abilities to work properly.

i've set some very do-able goals with work for the month of May and now i'm seeing those goals a bit further away than i want them to be, and this is due to the fact that by 10 or 11pm i'm dead tired.

Rico says that i'll get used to the split sleeping hours and that i'll eventually have more energies to do everything. i hope so. i don't want to mess work up, and i don't want to cut back on my fitness plan either.

i guess i want it all !

i'll report later as to how the work afternoon/evening goes today, the last work-day of the week.

onward and upward !!

week 1, day 5

food is as follows:

meal #1: 2 cups bran flakes, 1 cup skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 15 almonds, 5 prunes

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder

meal #3: tuna sandwich with 2 slices of lite whole wheat bread, 4oz water-packed tuna, a tad of mayonnaise to hold the tuna together, garden vegetable salad

meal #4: smoothie

here is the fitness plan for the day:

40 laps in the pool

i am TIRED !! no doubt about this being a long week. fun, but l o n g !!

i'm happy with my progress and happy that i'm able to get the weight training in without causing a major heart attack.

onward and upward !!

week 1, day 4

i can't believe that i didn't post yesterday! what a screw-ball i am at times.

food is as follows:


meal #1: omlette (4 eggwhites + 1 whole egg), steel-cut oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3 dates

meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup skim milk, 2 scoops protein powder (i've changed this from 1/2 cup milk and from 1 scoop protein)

meal #3: tuna sandwich with 2 slices of lite whole wheat bread, 4oz water-packed tuna, a tad of mayonnaise to hold the tuna together, garden vegetable salad

meal #4: smoothie


here is the fitness plan for the day:

20-30 minutes on the treadmill (at a very slow pace)

stretches on the cool stretcher

upper body weights stretches on the cool stretcher

20 laps in the pool oh yeah !!!


onward and upward !!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

week 1, day 3

swimming is SO MUCH FUN !!!

40 laps and i felt wonderful. not dizzy like sunday or yesterday.

food has been very good so far. i'll report later at the end of the day as to exact meals and calories.

food for the day:

meal #1: smoothie with 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1 cup milk, 2 scoops protein powder (this was much better)

meal #2: stir-fry with 3oz chicken breast and loads of vegetables, 1 cup brown rice

meal #3: smoothie with 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 orange, 1 cup milk, 2 scoops protein powder (yummie with the orange)

meal #2: stir-fry with 3oz chicken breast and loads of vegetables

somewhere in-between meal #2 & #3 i had four thin slices of cheese (i could eat a whole kilo at one sitting if left to my own devices !! i wasn't even hungry, i just wanted cheese)

total calories: 1800 with a very disturbing breakdown of 25/50/25 (i do NOT like this at all !! )


onward and upward !!

Monday, May 19, 2008

difficult to eat that much food

i could not eat as much as i had planned, but i stayed pretty much within the 40/40/20 mark for the day.

i thought that i would be much more hungry during the day, but i think that breaking up my sleep makes it difficult to eat much more than 4 meals. i can't eat right after i wake up.

i will figure out the calories later, as well as make my food plan for tomorrow, tuesday, may 20th.

week 1, day 2

a good time at the gym. did all the cardio and weight training (lower body). i was too tired to swim more than 20 laps.

food has been good so far and it's already mid-afternoon.
meal #1: omlette (4 eggwhites + 1 whole egg), steel-cut oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3 dates
meal #2: smoothie -- 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 apple, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder
meal #3: 4oz grilled chicken breast, garden vegetable salad (tomato, cucumber, sweet red bell pepper, 2-3 scallions, cilantro, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp. olive oil)
meal #4: sandwich (2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 2oz lite cream cheese)
meal #5 (if needed): smoothie

will report later as to how i feel during work and how food goes.

onward and upward !!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

week 1, day 1

finally made it to Holmes Place :-) !!

official starting weight: 125.55 kilos or 276.21 lbs ! YIKES !! well, what should i have expected?? i will be weighing-in every sunday.

after signing up for one year, i swam 36 pool lengths and it felt great !

eating has been very good today, but a bit on the *not enough calories* side. now that i have everything in the kitchen i'l be able to make proper mini-meals in just minutes. so far today:

meal #1 -- 6oz cottage cheese, 5 prunes

meal #2 -- tuna sandwich with cucumber slices on lite whole wheat bread, 6oz strawberry yogurt drink

meal #3 -- smoothie: 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 pear, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder

meal #4 -- 5oz grilled chicken breast, 1 large grilled sweet red pepper, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 1 tlb. lite cream cheese

note:
i've got to get onto fitday.com and figure out calories for all kinds of meals. i think this will be a very good project to do later this evening, since i've pretty much decided not to work.

i'll be back later tonight.

total calories for today: 1620 (a bit low)

holmes place, here i come !

yay! today is the day i actually go and start back up at the gym. i can't wait. i don't think i'll be able to sleep tonight, that's how excited i am. just like a little kid waiting to go to Disneyland.

i've got my work-out schedule printed up and placed in my bag. i got my work-out clothes all ready. glued the stupid sole of my walking shoes finally. now i'm all set to start in about 14 short hours !

irony of all ironies: when i tried my training pants on i made a stupid move and threw my back out ! i haven't had troubles with my back in years. but i'm not going to let this get in my way later today. maximum, if i'm still in pain, i'll just swim for awhile. the thing is to go, sign up and DO something, anything !

i'm also planning on getting some protein powder and protein bars when i'm there. i'm going to incorporate them on this 12-week challenge. i've never done that before, but now that i'm working it'll be much more difficult to prepare 5 or 6 mini-meals a day. that way i can throw some fruit and protein powder into the blender and make myself a very healthy smoothie in just minutes. and a protein bar, expensive as they are, will be good for other stop-gap mini-meals, especially when i'm not so hungry, but know that i need to eat.

i'm now ready to go to bed and try my best to sleep.

onward and upward !!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

calorie cycling

during the first time that i did Body for Life, about 5 years ago, i learned a very good method of calorie cycling which really worked for me. i would take a look at my 7 day calorie goal and then play around with the calories during the seven days, making sure that no two days had the same amount of calories.

i've read a lot about this system of *tricking* your metabolism and avoind hitting the wall too often. many, many people that are doing Body for Life 12 week programs use this system of cycling and it works for them too.

now all i have to do is figure out how many calories i need per week to get a deficte that will produce a one-half kilo loss per week (approx. 1lb). after i figure that number out, i will then make a weekly food chart which will indicate my daily 4 mini-meals and the total of calories for these 4 meals. then i will cycle the calorie total so that one day i have lower calories and one day higher calories, etc....

with Body for Life you are on the nutritional program for six day a week, taking a free day to eat whatever you want. however i found that to be too tempting to really go over-board and i gave up the free day after just a few weeks. i stuck with the 7 day cycle and maybe, once in a great while, i would give myself a fun treat.

i found that my sugar craving completely went away with this method of eating. it was incredible! i also started taking a very good complete supplement of vitamins and minerals, which also helps in general when on a weight-loss program.

this time around i'm going to go one step further and add some other supplements, like protein powder which i can use to make good smoothies. a few tablespoons of protein power, 1 cup of skim milk and a few fruits will make a great mini-meal when i'm just not so hungry, but i have to keep my energies up.

pay attention to the section on nutrition to see how i do it and how the whole program goes for me.

onward and upward !!

food plans

i figure it's about time i start thinking 40/40/20 (percentages of lean protein / unrefined carbs / good fat , according to Body for Life). it works very well for me on different levels: #1) i get in enough protein to keep any sweet cravings away, #2) i stay with un-refined cards which are much better for anyone and #3) i know exactly when, where and why to stick in the natural good fats that are needed as part of one's nutritional intake.

i have four mini-meals during the day and each one has the 40/40/20 breakdown that i need. most of these meals take only minutes to prepare.

here are some examples of the meals that i will be eating:

** 1 cup cooked steel-cut oatmeal, 6oz lite cottage cheese, 15 almonds, 4 dates

** 4oz grilled chicken breast, 1 cup brown rice, garden vegetable salad with 1 teaspoon olive oil

** 5 egg-whites + 1 whole egg omelet, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, 15 almonds, 1 banana

** 4oz tuna fish with water completely drained, 2 slices lite whole wheat bread, garden vegetable salad

** 2 cups chicken/vegetable soup, 1 cup couscous, 1 fruit that is in the house

** stir fry which includes sweet red bell peppers. onions, broccolli, green cabbage, 2-3oz lean chicken breast, one cup brown rice

** 4oz roasted chicken, 1 sweet potatoe, 1 fruit that is in the house

** 4oz grilled salmon, 1 sweet potatoe, garden vegetable salad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i will be updating this list when i think of more good meal combinations. i know i have a whole lot more on file in my brain, but i just can't remember them right now.

one step at a time and i'm going onward and upward !!


and today i'm tired

wouldn't you know it? today i'm ready to pass out and it's only 12:30am ! i am so incredibly upside-down it's really not funny.

i worked a bit today, nothing serious. got rid of some pesky leads that have been sitting in my leads preview list for some time now. i have to have this type of dead time to be able to concentrate on those hard ones. i'm glad i did it though... another 6 preview sent out today, making it a total of 306 for now. that's pretty good for the first half of the month. i'm bound and determined to make the 600 mark by may 31st.

i am going to Holmes Place on sunday and swim ! i'm so excited about it. i might even have the time to go ahead and do a full exercise program for the day. it all depends on when i actually get up and get over there. i have to remember to glue the sole of my walking shoe tomorrow or else i'll be stuck for yet another day.

we've started a weight-loss challenge here in modiin. a wonderful woman, Jackie, started the whole thing and she built the most incredible website in just minutes. what a wiz she is. now i have the CD forums and *Lose Some, Win Sum*, along with this blog, to keep me out of trouble.

i just got done watching Babel. interesting movie. a bit hard to follow at times since i had to read so much of the hebrew translation when the japanese and arabic was spoken. but i was able to follow it pretty well and found it a very moving movie. well, anything with Brad Pitt is moving in one way or another, no? i can't believe how far he's come since that hotel sceen in Thelma & Louise, flashing his 6-pack. in Babel he actually had gray in his hair and beard. so incredibly sexy, he is.

now i'm off to watch Out of Africa, with the pre-Brad Pitt of the silver screen, Robert Redford. oh man, i had forgotten what a fabulous hunk of man he was, and still is too.

i'm also going to keep resting through tomorrow evening, when Shabbat ends. i hope to have enough energy tomorrow evening to prepare follow-up emails since sunday will be taken up by Holmes Place.

onward and upward !!

Friday, May 16, 2008

can't sleep again

i wonder how i'm going to deal with these late night rumblings when i start going to the gym. i am hoping that once i get into the different daily schedule i won't have so much trouble falling asleep at a normal-ish hour... at least by 2am!

i did so many mistakes with work today that i have no idea how Helen didn't just yell at me and throw me off the sales team. it was one thing after another, but completely inadvertantly. i ended up sending the same stupid preview to the same contact about 15 diferent times in the past three days. not a good thing.

i'm a bit disappointed that the kind realtor didn't immediately order a plaque. he was so nice and excited on the phone. maybe i'll send him a follow-up email tomorrow already, instead of waiting too long. i'll see how i feel when i get up later in the day (it's already 2:50am).

Tamar got her room all cleaned up and it looks wonderful. too bad we can't just freeze it in that clean condition and make it stay that way forever.

slowly. slowly we are getting the apartment in shape, one balata at a time. i really have to go through some things here in the living-room and start chucking things out that are not relevant any more.

i found some interesting websites today and i'm going to start checking them out as soon as i finish this post. so....... bye for now. good night world !

onward and upward !!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

of mosquitos and a good order

the hummingbird size mosquitos are out in full force this evening ! they are just vicious this year. i don't remember a time that it was this bad in the last 10 years. i have to keep putting on the roll-on repellant throughout the evening. i'm sure it's going to cause some kind of cancer one day !

on another note, i finally put through the order of the infamous Mr. Richard I. Brown, Attorney at Law. phew! what a relief. i thought forsure i was going to loose it because of all the system problems. Annette helped me so much that she deserves more than the 5% she'll get on that order !

i just now got off the phone with a very kind man, a realtor in Spokane, Washington. he was so happy that i had called about his recognition in the very special magazine which he obviously adores. i hope he places an order too.

gotta get back to work. i need to send out a minimum of 40 previews today to make up for yesterday's be-fumbled attempts.

onward and upward !!

lower body workout

here we go !

lower body weight training:

(all weights are in kilograms X reps. one minute between reps. two minutes between sets. this is all according to the Body for Life program that i love so much -- http://www.bodyforlife.com/)

quads

machine
30 x 12
40 x 10
50 x 8
60 x 6
30 x 12
30 x 12

leg press
40 x 12
50 x 10
60 x 8
70 x 6
40 x 12
40 x 12

thighs

machine out
25 x 12
30 x 10
35 x 8
40 x 6
25 x 12
25 x 12

machine in
25 x 12
30 x 10
35 x 8
40 x 6
25 x 12
25 x 12

legs

machine
5 x 12
7.5 x 10
10 x 8
12.5 x 6
5 x 12

abs

machine
25 x 12
27.5 x 10
30 x 8
32.5 x 6
25 x 12
25 x 12

gluts


** a bit of stairmaster

** a bit of walking on an incline


cardio:


starting out with whatever I can walk right now. 2 minute warm up at a very slow pace then going up a bit for some minutes. then a 1 minute cool down.

stretches:

do as many as possible using the stretching machine.

pool:

40 laps minimum !!!

that's it for now. i have no idea how i'm going to do because i've lost so much muscle power due to the MS and steroids.


Wednesday, May 14, 2008

what a day :-)

if i come away from this day with nothing else, i come away knowing that i am in MUCH better mental health than i have been in a very long time, and that is sooooo .

i cannot wait till friday when i go to the gym to sign-up and start my exercise program. i have to get my act together and plan out my lower body work-outs !

i'm feeling good and strong in so many ways. i feel that i'm really up to doing good work at the gym and being able to take full advantage of all the good things they have going on there. of course, spinning is out of the question right now.... but one day i'll be able to spin again.

now it's time to walk away from the computer and give myself some relaxing time, just hang out a few minutes with the girls, send them off to bed and watch tv for a bit.

onward and upward !!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

finally feeling better

i took a bit of time away from the computer. time to watch "Cashmere Mafia". what a great show. about four very powerful women. well, not Oprah or Martha Stewart powerful, but still powerful in their careers.

it's really interesting seeing how they all manage a very demanding job, of their own choosing, and try to also have some kind of normal life with either husband and kids, or a new love interest.

that made me think: in matters of career and other parts of one's life, what wins out in the end?

when i found out i was pregnant with our forth child, Nina, i decided to quit work and dedicate myself to being a full-time mother. a decision that i bless God for on a daily basis ! i just don't understand how a woman can actually have a demanding job, work so many hours, and still expect some kind of "normalcy" at home with husband and kids. believe me, i tried it, and it just didn't work. home always suffered when i worked hard, even though the work was great and i was a power-player of sorts.

now that i am working again, for the first time in 16 years, i see that the girls are a bit on the back-burner. even though i am working from home i don't have the opportunity to "connect" with them as much as i did in the past. do i like this situation? yes, very much. why? because they are old enough so i can allow myself to stand back a bit more and have complete faith that they will be okay. besides, i'm right here, in the middle of the livingroom.

food for thought: is this "disconnection" good for all three of us?

onward and upward !!

not feeling very well today

i don't have any idea what's up with me today. i have brain-fog, mixed with confusion, pressure on my forehead and brain-stem area. i feel like i'm on another planet altogether .

i'm really, really hoping that this is something related to the changing weather these past few days. i called Kaufman and he was be-fumbled by my present state. we had a good laugh, which is always good.

i'm dying to get to holmes place and start swimming, weight training and a bit on the treadmill. i hope i can really get some distance on the treadmill without falling flat on my fact. i mean, for christ's sake, i fall at home just going to the bathroom !

anyway.... i'm going to take a break from work and watch "Cashmere Mafia" and "Will & Grace"; i should feel a whole lot better after these two shows :-)

i am brain dead...

or at least that how i feel right now. i have no idea what the problem is but i'm sleeping good at night and then it takes my brain hours and hours to wake up !

needless to say, i didn't make it to the gym, once again. i am going to just set friday aside for this because i don't work on fridays. that way i know that i'll make it and it's the middle of the month, leaving me an entire two weeks in may to have fun with my work-outs.

i'm going to go have some green tea and hopefully wake up a bit before work starts in one hour.

oh, oh !! i had an order yesterday for 2 pieces. a really nice guy, Cory, called and left a voice message stating that he was interested in both a wall plaque and a desktop marquee. i promptly called him back, and of course, i couldn't answer the one question he had ! i really still have a lot to learn on this job. anyway, after being yelled at by Helen (my boss) i finally got the answer from Annette (my mentor) and then i just called Cory back up with the breakdown of the purchase. he promptly gave me his credit card into and i placed an order BY MYSELF !!
i then spun turbo and got double commission. i was really rooting for triple, but double is good too !
okay, now off to wake up.
onward and upward !!

Monday, May 12, 2008

didn't make it to the gym today to join

i'm a bit bummed out that i didn't make it to the gym to re-new my membership. i just couldn't wake up ! and by the time i did get up it was time to plop my butt down at the computer for work.

i'm going to give it my all to get there tomorrow though. i have the money in hand and a great urge to swim.

i had a great order today and i'm hoping that i'll have another one from the attorney who called me friday night.

enough for now. i have to get back to work.

onward and upward !

decision made ! upper body weight training

i have decided to go ahead and join the gym today. i have about $2,000 in "mad money" and i'm just going to jump in and do it in one cash payment. what a relief that i've made the decision !



i spent quite a lot of time yesterday afternoon/evening/night preparing follow-up emails to all sorts of contacts. time consuming, to say the least, but it works. i feel good that i'll start out the work-week with 150 follow-ups ready to go first thing when work starts (at 4pm).

here is the plan for my first week of upper-body work-outs:

upper body weight training:
(all weights are in kilograms X reps. one minute between reps. two minutes between sets. this is all according to the Body for Life program that i love so much -- http://www.bodyforlife.com/)

shoulders:

machine
2.5 x 12
5 x 10
7.5 x 8
10 x 6
2.5 x 12
2.5 x 12

dumbbells side-raises
1 x 12
2 x 10
3 x 8
4 x 6
1 x 12
1 x 12

chest:


machine
7.5 x 12
10 x 10
12.5 x 8
15 x 6
7.5 x 12

7.5 x 12

machine #14
7.5 x 12
10 x 10
12.5 x 8
15 x 6
7.5 x 12

7.5 x 12

back:

machine
12.5 x 12
15 x 10
17.5 x 8
20 x 6
12.5 x 12

12.5 x 12

one arm dumbbell row
2 x 12
3 x 10
4 x 8
5 x 6
2 x 12

2 x 12

machine – row
25 x 12
27.5 x 10
30 x 8
32.5 x 6
25 x 12

25 x 12

biceps

machine
2.5 x 12
5 x 10
5 x 8
7.5 x 6
2.5 x 12

2.5 x 12

lying dumbbell extensions
1 x 12
2 x 10
3 x 8
4 x 6
1 x 12

1x 12

triceps:

machine
10 x 12
12.5 x 10
15 x 8
17.5 x 6
10 x 12

10 x 12

cable pressdown
5 x 12
10 x 10
12.5 x 8
15 x 6
5 x 12

5 x 12

cardio:

starting out with whatever I can walk right now. 2 minute warm up at a very slow pace then going up a bit for some minutes. then a 1 minute cool down.


stretches:

do as many as possible using the stretching machine.


pool:

40 laps minimum !!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

that's it for now. lower body weight plan will be posted when it's completed.


onward and upward !!