*gasp*

I'm so ashamed.... has it been actually one whole year since I last updated? *gulp* well, no time like the present! Today is May 1st, an apt time date to pick this thing back up & start anew. MAYDAY!!!! I'm in my early 40's and time waits for no (hu)man, and the longer I slothfully sit around, the more deeply the blubber & bad habits will become ingrained in me... ugh...

well, today I went hiking up the small mountain for the first time in prolly a year. This sounds pretty uneventful, but hiking in Korea is... shall I say... "interesting". More on that later, but now that I'm home my ankles and lower legs are TIRED. Can't believe the muscles used are so different from everyday walking...

but that's good, it means at least I got a workout today already. I;ve been trying to maintain a smidgeon of fitness by some combination of pushups & crunches... apparently it hasn't been very effective 'cos my legs are definitely smooth & lardy, like twin pillars of jello... not good!

An explanation is in order... just found out yesterday I have asthma. Strange to get it as an adult, but there it is... living in Seoul is hard on me but here is where I live/work & that won't change anytime soon. I have to use a daily inhaler every morning/night and also have the traditional inhaler for emergencies. Ever since last Oct. I've been feeling run down, always tired, arms & legs no strength-- bad complexion (as in a grey, withered face w/ no colur) and difficulty breathing. I finally went to see the doctor yesterday, some tests, and now I belong to "them" -- the people who have asthma. Actually more ppl are telling that they have it too... in the past, I used to think asthmatics were somehow just sickly, or weak, not eating/exercising properly... very, very humbling to have it happen to myself & realise that it's just something that happens.

But onward! It's a new month, and tomorrow will do a photo/stats check, to give me a foundation from which to start. Can only go up!!

Back like the Tasmanian Devil!

Welllllllll . . . it's May 5th here in Korea, aaaannnnnd . . .  feel a bit guilty about not posting anything ALL YEAR!!

I figured, it would help motivate me, keep me on track, give me that impetus not to flake out and fall off the wagon . . .  

instead, I've been keeping track of the workouts in this little book-calendar thing I found at Kyobo Bookstore.  I guess I wanted to solidify my desire to follow my New Year's Resolution, and sort of just wanted to hoard away my little notations and hide under a rock and get myself in gear, if that makes sense.  

Now, after a full five months of actually, really, truly doing at least SOME sort of workout EVERY DAY, I feel as if I can relax a smidgeon, crow a little bit, and feel a teeny crumb of pride in myself.  It's always so easy to urge and coax others to lose weight, work out, have a better self-image, etc. but we all know it's a billion times harder actually following one's own advice.

I have been stoically following my own advice, and while the numbers don't seem TOO different, I feel the overall composition of my body is improving.  Anyone over 35 will know what I'm talking about:  not being really fat, but more of an overall doughiness and flab that never used to be there . . . slowly over the years it creeps up, then one day certain clothes don't fit so well, and it's shocking to notice dimples in your thighs while sitting a certain way, or ripples appear in your behind . . .  ugh . . . 

still, I know it's possible for me to look pretty darn good w/o surgery or weird pipe-dream creams/procedures, just not like I'm 20.  Nothing wrong with that!  I'll never be 20 again, and I accept we all change . . . just don't want to change more than I have to, hehehe . . . 

Ok, here are some stats for the last five months:

Jan:  128.6#/26.8% (eek!)  35/27.5/36.5

Feb:  125.2/24    (happy) 24.5/27/36

Mar:  129.2/22.9   (huh?)  35/2736

Apr:  130/23.1     (hmm)   35/27.5/36.5

May:  127.6/24.1   (^o^)   34.5/26.75/36.5

Soooo . . .  overall my weight hasn't gone down much, but the fat % has done ok.  I also am thrilled to finally break the 27" waist barrier!  I know it sounds like a good measurement, but for someone only 5'4" it's a big difference from 27.5 down to 26.75.

I also have the dreaded "irregular" "monthlies" so often I'll have to weigh/measure myself during the puffed-up puffy pufferfish stage.  Yes, I could wait til the week after, but this should be a realistic snapshot of how I look at any time.  

OK, well, it's been five months, and more of my outfits are fitting better, and I'm SUPER excited to be in So. CA this summer . . . 

yes there are pics, my next goal is to post some . . .

Going to Beat the Odds!!!

OK, it's Jan. 1 here in Korea . . . have a slightly massive tummyache from indulging in way too much fruitcake (homemade by my mother, yummm), choco-covered pretzels, homemade soy eggnog, etc . . . but it's ok since this happens only once a year!  I'm feeling pretty optimistic, this weekend I'll do a 2009 stats check and booty pic and start the new year with a gusto sure to carry me through . . .

I read that about 87% of people who make New Year's resolutions give up on them by Feb. 14 . . . I figure if I can make it to Valentine's Day then I've already beaten the odds and may as well push through for the entire year -- wheeeeee!!

Yes, my New Year's Resolution is to do some sort of workout EVERY DAY.  It doesn't have to be a full-on, sweat-inducing, panting, heaving strenuous bout of muscle-straining frenzy, just as long as it's something . . .  

So, today I did 20 mins on the elliptical trainer . . . so am on a roll!  This Feb. we'll be in Malaysia and Singapore so that means the Feb. 14 Day of Reckoning will be spent somewhere on a lush tropical beach . . .  as long as I do something (other than reach for the next ripe mango to devour) it'll work . . .

Fell Off the Bandwagon (actually down a few stairs)!

Wow, I've been absent from my little corner of the internets for quite some time . . . no frittering away time trying to figure out how to be healthy w/ a minimum of effort, no obsessing over every ripple of flab I spot, no more posting pics of my booty . . . oh blog, how I've missed you!  

Well, here is what happened:  about one month ago I sat down hard on my foot to keep myself from tumbling clumsily down the stairs at school, in a sad attempt to keep my paper cup of tea safe . .   I kept the cup upright (although the tea mysteriously disappeared) at dreadful cost to my foot, which got juggernauted down two steps and curled under me like an instant Chinese foot binding.  OUCH!!  

I had to cancel my two classes the next day and my husband took me to Severance hospital in Seoul.  I got to be pushed around in a wheelchair by a nurse smaller than me, wheeee!!  The x-rays showed no serious damage but the doctor said it would be several months before it would be fully healed.  *GASP*  But it's been a month and it looks almost normal, I'm going to start on the elliptical slowly . . .  can't stand the idea of getting doughier and more slothful . . . as long as go carefully and gently it'll be ok . . 

note the humoungous purply-green bruise

compared to my normal foot which also got a bit bashed(after about three weeks)

the puffer fish foot after two weeks (puffiness came first, then bruising)

frozen veggies in a bag for two weeks really helped!

had to wear longer skirts and sturdy sandals at work --note the Storm Trooper ankle brace, a lovely accessory to any ensemble

After an entire month not doing anything, I thought I'd majorly regress but the stats from Dec. 1 weren't that bad, plus got new booty pics for the photo check too -- I guess I've been coasting, which won't last so I'm motivated to get back on track!

Week 13

Arrghhh . . .  still sloughing off and being BAD and lazy.  I need to continue motivating myself . . .  still have some outfits i want to squeeze into and still have quite a ways to go . . . 

week 13

M - 0

T - 25 mins, 45 - - 

W - 25 mins, 

Th - 25 mins, 45 - - 

F - 0

Sa - 30 mins, 45 - -

Sun - 25 mins, 45 - - 

I had two days off this week -- and as can be seen above, haven't lived up to my goal of doing squats, crunches, and pushups every day.  I wish I weren't such a lazy mofo, but it's a bad trait of mine that needs constant attention.  Vanity is the only thing that works . . .  so I need to picture myself on that beach in Thailand, prancing around in  my teeny triangle-top and string bikini -- looking sleek and svelte of course -- just need to hold that thought and follow through on my plans!!

I think also I need a day or two to just allow myself to be lazy . . .  or is that an evil slippery slope that I'm heading onto?  Should I aim for seven-days-a-week workouts or try for five or six? Which will I be least likely to flake out on?  Hmm . . . decisions, decisions . . . 

to make it worse, here I am in week 14 and feeling super puffy and bloated . . . just a horrible feeling, I did a stats weigh in but since I'm retaining major water the numbers were depressing . . . aarrrgghhh . . .  can't menopause just come already???

Well, I'll keep slugging away at it, things are bound to improve. . .  need a better strategy though for my workouts.  I hate spending too much time on them, if I can devise a way to hit all major body parts AND do the elliptical, I'll be elated . . .  more on that later . . . <3!

Aaiiiiieeee!!! Week 12

I haven't gotten around to posting my weekly workouts 'cos frankly these last two weeks have been BAD.  In Seoul, where I live now, there is a seasonal condition called "hwang-sa" -- meaning "yellow dust".  This is a pale yellow, hideously grey and choking dust cloud which has been swept across the sea from China and deposited onto the Korean peninsula.  It often reaches Japan, and has been found in small amounts on the US West Coast.  Anyway, this hwang-sa is one of the most miserable things about living here -- you can't go hiking, running, in-like skating, etc. and it's even nasty to go outdoors during a bad bout of it.  We shut all our windows and just hunker down, but we still have to go up to our college campus to teach . . .  so there is no escape.  It gets in your hair, lungs, teeth, everything -- a horrible hollow, wheezy feeling deep in your bronchial tubes . . . and we just had to endure it for two weeks.

My Korean students say they didn;t notice it, but I had classes filled w/ red-eyed, sniffling students so I think they're in denial.  Perhaps my lungs are just extra tender and fresh, having lived in quite nice areas of the world and have been lucky to grow up in natural surroundinds w/ plenty of fresh air . . .  but then again i wouldn't want to have corroded, toughened-up lungs either.  

So, my workouts have sort of sloughed off recently. . . 

week 12

M -nothing, choking and gasping from dusty air

T - 20 mins, 45 squats

W - 15 mins, 45 squats

Th - 15 mins. 45 squats

F - 10 mins

Sa - 0

Su - 0

I'm so ashamed.

It's Early Christmas for me!!!!

I just made a huge order for some basic outfits online, sooo excited -- here in Korea the fashions are super frumpy or frilly or just thin and shabby looking.  That, or I could go into the older dragon-lady section of the store and come out looking like my Great-Aunt Eustace.  

I've gone shopping, I do go shopping a lot here in Seoul, but the value and styles just aren't there.  I don't think paying $40 for a skirt is so dirt-cheap that I deserve to have it fall apart in the first wash, and it's exhausting to schlepp around trying to find things w/o frills and bows and furbelows -- or w/o scrawly text all over them.  I like simple, clean lines, close-fitted but not tight, somewhat basic but flattering to my body shape.  

Anyway, my colours are hard to find here too -- basically I wear pinks of all shades, greys, white, a little lavender . . .   not much else.  I do have a yellow skirt w/ pink stitching, and a brown skirt w/ pink floral appliques (from Australia), and a few black skirts (w/, yes, correct, pink detailing!) -- so there is a narrow range of what I'm looking for.  

Another thing that pushes me to online shopping:  sales!  I can't believe some of the great bargains out there now,  my MIL is always bugging me to visit outlet malls w/ her (YAWN  there's never anything good for me) but w/ some of the sales I;ve found it's better than outlet malls!

I'll have to post pics when i get my stuff . . .  actually I should post the pics I already have of my outfits and such . . .  bad blogstress!