Afternoon Awakening

Tehehe, just in time for Spring!!

Today was just one of those days--I had to be at work at 8am, which meant waking up at 6am to eat breakfast, get ready, pack copious meals, and get all my ducks in a row to run to class as soon as I got out of work. Not to mention I had a reading quiz in my News & Reality class (of which I had not done the reading...not to worry, I soon found out others hadn't either). So needless to say, I was all over the place, but I was feeling good when I got in the car to go to work. That is until I realized I left my water bottle at home! All 1.5 liters (times ~2.5)! Noooo, this was going to set me back with my water intake for the day. I'm trying to get it all in, but it's SO HARD. Then, I get out of work, grab my to-go meal that I had gotten ready and placed in the fridge and headed out the door for class. But guess what--forgot the darn water bottle AGAIN! So not my day! AND it's been either humid & rainy or storming all day (the power even went out at the gym for a good 60ish seconds)!

By the time I got to the gym tonight, I was under-hydrated, tired, somewhat moody, and I felt like a whale. I needed the water that I hadn't had throughout the day, but it was already too late. I was dreading pretty unmotivated to workout; I just felt blah. I felt apathetic toward the gym. I never feel that way! I'm so sorry gym, I really do love you! Needless to say, I didn't do my usual treadmill routine--granted, yesterday was HIIT so today would have been just a steady state day. Instead I took to the StairMaster. I hadn't been on one in a while, and lord knows my shins needed a break from pounding the "pavement" of the treadmill. It felt okay good though--got in intervals on the StairMaster (slow speed = skip stairs, high speed = all out without gripping the handlebars) for about 25 minutes. Looking back now, I'm glad I took it easy. It was back day and I had no idea what Kevin had in store for me.

Can someone please tell me where I can order
one of these signs for my wall??

Starting my lifting tonight, Kevin introduced a new circuit workout--dead lifts, bent over rows, straight-legged dead lifts, and pull-ups. 5 circuits. FIVE! No rest except at the end of each circuit. AND we increased my weights this time around. I may have told Kevin that I am not going to be his biggest fan tomorrow. I take back this statement. As unmotivated tired as I was, this was exactly what I needed. I didn't need an easy workout because I was not feeling the whole being at the gym thing tonight. I didn't need an easy out or someone to say, "Okay, you're feeling tired, we all get that way sometimes. Take the night off." Hell no! I needed someone to see through the bull sh*t, kick my ass, and push me harder. I did admit to him that I forgot my water bottle, and I almost feel like this workout was partially punishment for being so forgetful utterly stupid. Who forgets their water bottle twice in one day? This girl, that's who! But no, seriously though, I don't think it was punishment. Like I said, I think he just saw through the bull sh*t.

On another note, when I was interning at the Newsplex today (which, by the way, I got a new badge to wear around!!), I read the packaging of my Muscle Milk Light bar. I did not like what I saw. It wasn't pretty. A lot of words that most people probably can't pronounce, and something called High Maltose Corn Syrup. Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup, but very similar. I got curious, so I immediately googled the ingredient to figure out what it was, and oddly enough, there were no definitive sources. Hmmm, not a good sign. I would like to know what I'm ingesting. I suppose I could always email the CytoSport company and ask them what it is, if they even know. They should since they manufacture the bars (and I just bought 16 of them on Sunday...). Do any of you have any insight about this ingredient?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not really one of those "organic-only" consumers, but knowing that this ingredient sounds so much like HFCS gets me a little nervous. Also, this just goes to show another example of the sheer influence corn production has over EVERYTHING nowadays. 

My amazing lil sister carved this--it's a relief for her freshman art class at Old Dominion University. Isn't she awesomely artistic?? I asked her to make me something to put on the wall of my new apartment when I move at the end of may :) Love you, Eleanor!

Oh, hey sister!