You Should Be Drinking Not Climbing or Month-End Review, December

One of my friends was taunting me by waving a bowl of Hershey's chocolate in my vicinity; she, essentially, beckoned me in a voice that said chill out about the sweet stuff.

I decided to retaliate in my own little way and asked her if she wanted to go rock climbing after our half day at work. She looked at me in horror when another associate actually voiced his horror. You should be drinking not climbing. Oh well, to each his or her own.

Plus, the taunter failed to realize that Hershey's would not make me cave. Kinder Bueno? Yes. Hershey's? No...

As I was belaying for Jessica, one of the Upper Limits folks came to give us the countdown to closure. What? We thought the gym was closing at 4 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. Can you say rock climbing interruptus?

Before I left the gym, though, I was able to make it up the 5.8 Face Plant route. So, I'm able to climb that route on every other outing. Ha.

I headed to the bank with the intention of going from there straight to the gym and squeaking in because, clearly, I hadn't worked out enough but, dang it, I didn't have my tennis shoes.

I headed by the house, ate a few Wasa crackers and hummus and headed back out. When I got to the gym, there were no signs about early closure and I was told that there would be no early closure. Hmmm, I could potentially play Biggest Loser contestant and really get my exercise in today.

When I got to the locker room, I discovered that I did not have my MP3 player. Ironically, I did not have the energy to put on my street clothes and go back to the car to retrieve my tunes. I blame my misplaced MP3 player on too many bags: bag with rock climbing gear, bag with work gear and another gym bag with my regular workout stuff. I did a little self-talk and told myself that I could gut it out for at least 30 minutes without the television or music. Almost the whole time, It Takes Two, was on loop in my head. It's all the fault of that goofy little flick, The Proposal.

Here's how things played out this month. I deliberately set aside more time for stretching which felt good...

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones! (Stretching), 3 x's

10 Minute Solution: Yoga (Flexibility and Relaxation), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 3 x's

Crunch: Candlelight Yoga, 1 x

Drills To Make You Sweat (Class), 1 x

Rock Climbing, 6 x's

StairMaster, 3 x's

Stationary Bike, 1 x

Step and Muscle (Class), 3 x's

Swimming, 6 x's

Treadmill (with bouts of jogging), 14 x's

Best sound of the day: Primal screams from a female lead climber as she made an ascent.

Honorable mention: Me. I'm told that I was making Serena Williams-like sounds going up the Face Plant route.

Phrase of the day: Amazonian Toes -- a male to his female friend after a discussion about rock climbing shoes.


And the song of the day?????????

The Muscle Card

When I step on the scale in the morning, I think about a New Yorker cartoon that I read eons ago. I also think about The Biggest Loser weigh-ins.

You probably can't read the fine print but the cartoon caption says:

And, in this corner, weighing five pounds more than she'd like...

Weight loss, in my corner, has come to a screeching halt. The scale is doing its magic act again. I shook up my workout routine and I'm still counting calories etc. etc. but there's been no movement on the scale. My clothes do have some wiggle room but there's something more tangible about seeing the scale move south.

When I went to work today, one of my friends called me Olive Oyl. I shook my head no and she shook her head yes.

She told me that I had surely gained muscle and that I needed to pull out the measuring tape.

Muscle references make me laugh because a lot of people tend to pull the muscle card when they've gained weight. Nevertheless, I pulled out my fitness and nutrition journal from the National Body Challenge which contains the only measurements that I've ever taken and that was back in Jan. '08. The measurements have not changed much but I also remember having on workout clothes underneath my regular clothes when the Bally's guy took my measurements. So, the initial measurements are probably off.

Under body composition, my body fat was put down as 42.2% and my BMI was recorded as 38.4. If nothing else, my BMI is lower. I definitely have to keep the wiggle room in mind and be glad that I am, for the most part, maintaining and not gaining.

Around The World And Some Planks

No wonder I felt like I was about to keel over yesterday. I woke up and....mucus which is not unusual after swimming but this mucus had, um, color character.

I took some Emergen-C, drank the last of my ginger tea and hoped for the best.

I sometimes take for granted how nice it is to be well and to move around unfettered. I was dragging today and wondered if I should just go home, get under the covers and skip Step and Muscle class but I pressed on.

Step and Muscle is the one class that I have consistently gone to. I like the instructor who is energetic but not too perky and her off and on popping of faux ocean blue colored gum doesn't even bother me. Her routine is challenging but not difficult to follow.

I learn something new in every class that I take and I want to tell you that a plank by any other name is still a plank.

We did planks on the step and we did plank jacks. We also went around the world on the step -- stepping back and hopping over it as we literally faced every part of the room.

I noticed that it's getting easier to watch myself exercise in the mirror and I thought that I looked strong while lifting weights. I've always wanted more upper body strength and, now, it's becoming a reality.

I think that I missed my calling as the next Laila Ali because I loved the kickboxing moves that she threw in today: uppercut, jab etc.

It seemed kind of perverse to be doing a jumping jack/hopscotch move to a remix of Celebration but it kept me moving. In fact, I was so hyper after class that I hit the treadmill for 15 minutes. I had to dispense with some energy by doing my little jogging thing -- for a few minutes anyway.

A Gala Apple, Chili Lime Peanuts & A Wheat Barley Stick

I was visualizing my exercise schedule for this week when I contacted Patti to see when we were going rock climbing.

I had two reasons. First, it takes at least two folks to rock climb -- unless you're using a designated route with an auto-belay.

Second, I wanted to take the torture step and muscle class and step and muscle back-to-back with rock climbing do not go together. Thus, the plotting and planning.

Tonight: Swimming
Tomorrow: Step and Muscle Class
Wednesday: Any Machine
Thursday: Rock Climbing
Friday: TBA
Saturday: TBA
Sunday:TBA

When I got to Riverchase, the lanes were occupied.

Lane 1: Instructor and student plus one lap swimmer
Lane 2: Six kids frolicking
Lane 3: Two women walking

I wondered what had happened to lap swimming.

I waited for about twenty minutes for a lane to open up. I was so eager to get in the pool that I swam the front crawl without pulling up. I went at the water for about an hour, took a shower and had notions of going to the store to secure ingredients for a meal. I quickly nixed that idea, turned on my GPS and looked for the nearest Crazy Bowls and Wraps where I got a Mediterranean wrap i.e. a baked falafel sandwich.


I took my face, ashy from being submerged in the water, into Trader Joe's. I just had to go to TJ's -- seeing that I was low on coffee and all.

At various points in my journey, I noshed on a Gala apple, chili lime peanuts and a wheat barley stick and the thought crossed my mind that I may very well kill myself via excessive exercise.

I didn't even care that my Mediterranean wrap might not be the best option. Tired and hungry, I devoured (half) it when I got home.

As I think about excessive exercise, my mind goes to The Biggest Loser's Where Are They Now? episode. Matt Hoover, a former contestant, participated in the Kona Ironman triathlon:

2.4-miles of swimming
112-miles of biking
26.2-mile marathon run

Hoover, who needed to complete the Ironmnan in 17 hours, missed the cutoff by three minutes and 43 seconds but still learned from the experience:

Our bodies -- they're amazing...I should not have been able to do what I did that day but my body kept going. There's something about pushing yourself beyond your limits that people need to do once in their life...

Seventeen hours, hunh?

And, on that note, I purchased a Groupon coupon today.

$20 for 20 Full-Access Day Passes to The Heights Fitness Center (Up to $120 Value)

I don't need to worry about where I will swim (for a minute anyway) while I figure out the best fitness club option for my varied needs.

My Hamstrings Say No

Cut my fingernails, grabbed my new rock climbing kicks and headed to the gym.

Although not an excellent outing, today was a pretty good day for rock climbing.

Afterwards, I headed to the fitness club to hit the treadmill because while rock climbing torches a lot of calories, you don't spend a whole lot of time on the routes. Although, I do wonder how many calories are burned during belaying.

I also did some stretching because my hamstrings were tight after doing a 10 Minute Solution total body toning yesterday.

RC and swimming always leave me wanting more.

I feel like Aaron in that Seinfeld episode, The Raincoats.

AARON: I could've done more. I could've done so much more.

I feel as if I could head back to Upper Limits right now but


my hamstrings say no.

Best Food Gifts

All of this gift giving in the air made me think about some of the best food gifts that I've received.

Gevalia coffee + coffee maker

I went to visit my friend Martene in Newark about nine years ago and she is not a coffee drinker which made the fresh Gevalia coffee even more special.

Half a Pomegranate

One of my aunts, unbeknown to me, still had a pomegranate post-season last year and I was going on and on about pomegranates and she came out of the kitchen with it. I was so happy when she shared with me.

Homemade Yogurt with 1% Milk

The person who made it for me does not like 1% milk.

Harry and David Pear

Several years ago, a coworker received a fruit basket and shared a pear. To this day, that was the most delicious pear that I've ever tasted.

Tomatoes

One of my coworkers left a handful of tiny tomatoes on my desk and they were delicious.

Vosges Barcelona and Woolloomooloo Bars

A friend included them in a care package when I needed some, well, extra care.

Amish Honey & Green Tea


I think this person, prone to ultra-hospitality, felt bad because I was not eating anything and finally found something that I would ingest.

Mint

On a regular basis, I would come to work and have mint from three rotating benefactors. I even got starter plants which I, sadly, couldn't get beyond the starting point.

Honorable Mention

Uncle Pop's Barley Wheat Sticks


This food gift was an office one. One of my colleagues said that they reminded him of Sugar Smacks. I like them. They're airy and not too sweet. I'm gonna have to find out where I can get the barley sticks because they've grown on me.

I love this article on wikiHow about How to Give Gifts Unconditionally.

Thought for Today

"What delights me most about the holiday season is that people are more open to giving and sharing. And actively thinking about how to spread more joy." —Oprah

Anatomy of A Rock Climbing Shoe

Since I've been regularly rock climbing, I decided it was time to invest in some gear. I headed to REI to try on some shoes but they didn't have a huge selection in the store. The ones I tried on were tight and uncomfortable except for the La Sportiva Mythos, which could be mine for $130 dollars but I wasn't expecting to drop that much on shoes.

I headed online but didn't want to order from anyone who didn't have a friendly return policy especially since all of the shoes that I tried on in the store felt so different.

There are many varying opinions about what to look for in rock climbing shoes depending on your skill level etc.

Rock Climbing Shoes Review

Best Rock Climbing Shoes For Beginners

Over at Vegan Fitness, there's a discussion regarding the best shoes for vegans which include the Evolv and 5.10 brands.

This diagram that I found at Cheap Rock Climbing Shoes was cool. All I know is that I don't ever want a tight toe box.



I decided to go with La Sportiva since I found them comfortable and, yes, comfort is everything to me.

I first settled on The Mojo:



Then, I decided that a slip-on shoe would be better. Check out the curve on this shoe.

I'm hoping that the shape will allow the shoes to mold beautifully to those tiny holds.

Now that I have my La Sportiva Katanas, this article on rock shoe care will also be helpful.