A New Identity

I was so happy to receive this email yesterday morning:

I passed my Fitness Trainer final exam with a 91%. I had really worked hard on the exam; I'm so pleased with how I did -- and I'm super happy to have been able to turn my life around to such an extent that not only have I been learning how to cook and eat healthy and been working out regularly, but also that it has become an integral part of my life -- and of who I am.

It's a great feeling!

Holding Still

The semester is winding down, so the next week and a half is going to be spent focusing on getting my students ready for their final exam.

Speaking of final exams -- I just submitted my Personal Trainer Certification final exam. I'm so nervous!! The last two sections of the exam were really challenging. I know I did my best, but the paranoid student in me is continuously second guessing myself. My main concern is - did I put enough detail?

Oh well. It's done now (yay!). All I have to do now is wait for the results.

In the meantime, there's much to be done!

The final exam was on my mind all day today. Even though I was stressed about it, I went to see an orthopedic surgeon about my wrist.

I thought the appointment would only take half an hour. Given that my appointment was at 11:30 a.m., I thought I'd be home by 12:30 p.m. or 1 at the latest.

That didn't happen.

He saw me at 11:30. After checking me he said that he wanted an MRI done. The fact that it's still hurting after 6 weeks (and of those six weeks 3 have been with rest, physiotherapy, and no strain) worried him. So I went for an MRI. I was in the MRI machine at 12:30 ... and I emerged at 1:15!! OMG. I'm not claustrophobic, but let me tell you, it was NOT FUN being in there for 45 minutes! The sound was so loud, and holding still for that long was a nightmare!

Anyway. I got it done. Results and a follow-up appointment tomorrow.

Time to go home -- shouldn't be more than 20 minutes.

How wrong I was! Apparently there was some sort of international conference in Kuwait today and many of the major highways were blocked off (so that the diplomats could have clear roads). It took me 1.5 hours to get home!!! I was at my wits end by the time I got here.

I don't mind the day passing by quickly and me being productive - but being stuck in traffic ... so not fun at all!

I had just enough time to eat a bit of lunch, do some work, and then get ready for jiujitsu class. Then it was back home to finish off my last bit of editing and submit the exam.

I'm so glad it's over!!!

I'm looking forward to staring a new day with that pressure off my back.

I'll leave you with a couple of pix from last night which is when I held my annual Secret Santa gathering. It was a lot of fun - a much needed break from everything else that's been going on!

I love the glow in the house during Christmas time! From the Christmas tree lights to the candles to the red and white all over the house - the house was definitely filled with holiday cheer :)

The gals and I in full Christmas spirit :)

Lost

I feel like I have no control over my time. I have no schedule, and I'm so busy with finishing up the last portion of my Personal Trainer Certification final exam that I have no desire to even sit down and come up with a schedule. I just want everything else to stop so that I can get my exam done and get on with my life.

No schedule = not feeling in control = general listlessness

I just don't feel like myself at all. I'm going through the motions of everything else except my studies right now. It's the only thing I'm concentrating on. My deadline is approaching, and although I finished a big portion of my exam a while ago, I left 2 sections for the end thinking that they wouldn't take too much time. How wrong was I?! Part of it is because I'm obsessing over details. I want to make sure I'm answering correctly and thoroughly. The paranoid student in me comes out -- and all those haunting memories of writing my PhD thesis and fretting over details are coming back.

It sucks.

The only training I've done is when I've left the house to go to a class. I'm so distracted that I have just been submitting myself to the orders of someone else. It's been helpful. At least I'm getting in a workout  plus relieving some stress.

However, a big part of me just hasn't been in the mood. When I was at my HIIT training on Friday, part of me kept thinking - You really should be at your desk studying.

Of course this stupid wrist pain is also bringing me down. No improvement. All this typing and sitting at my computer is not helping. I just want it to be fixed. The physio/IMS treatments are spaced out way too much, so I think that I'm getting as much benefit from them as I should be. Tomorrow I'm schedule to see an orthopedist - let's see what he says.

Yesterday during Kajukenbo class I was in a bad mood. I did not want to be there. I mean, I wanted to be in class, but I just wanted to do the work and go home - not talk or anything. There was one portion in the class when our coach was punching us in the stomach. Repeated punches with moderate intensity, then some single powerful punches, and then dropping tires on our stomachs when we were lying on the ground.

It hurt. Kind of. I was so focused on being in a bad mood and not wanting to be there that I just started straight ahead and took it all.

I guess the good thing is that I know that I can block out the pain if I want to.

Anyway - enough complaining and whining. A few photos of cheerier things that have been happening.

Qout market is something that started last month. It's promotes local produce and organic/healthy goods. This month's event was so lovely. I took a 1 hour study break to go check it out:

 I picked up some kale chips and a nutrition fact -- such a cute idea!

A self snapshot of my brother and I on our morning drive to work

A glimpse of an overcast morning in Kuwait - water towers, mosque, and date palms

The Christmas tree is up! Aside from my gloomy mood, it feels quite festive in the house!

Studying

I'm taking it slightly easy on the exercise front while my hand heals. I'm using the time to focus on finishing up my Personal Trainer certification. The deadline is approaching and I still have some essay questions to complete. The thing that sucks is that I've been sitting at my desk for the past 9 hours and not only is it annoying my back, but it is also aggravating my arm/wrist. It's time to get up and do some stretches.



I spent most of today researching medical articles that looked at the link between cancer and exercise. It's been really interesting. It hasn't been proven that exercise can prevent cancer, though there are some studies that have found that it lowers the risk of suffering from cancer (often because exercise is associated with other good habits such as eating right and not smoking). What they have found is that participating in exercise reduces stress and increases strength, both of which contribute to a better quality of life as well as improved recovery in general.

I know that when I went through my second surgery, my recovery process was greatly facilitated by the fact that I had been exercising and that I had developed so much more strength. The recovery was still painful, but I was up and about a lot sooner than my first surgery.

Exercise -- there really aren't any disadvantages!

Another crockpot meal tonight - garlic lemon chicken. It was alright. Not picture-worthy though.

Wish me luck on my final exam!!

Getting Ready for the Next Phase

Now that the Whole Life Challenge is over, and I'm just one workout away from finishing Phase II of the New Rules of Lifting program, it's time to start thinking about what I'm going to do next.

There are, of course, a few things that I really want to do but I can't just yet for various logistical reasons. Thinking about all those things was starting to get me down but then today I decided to focus on all the things that I can do. I still have so much work to do in terms of getting in shape that there really will never be any shortage of workouts to do/good habits to follow/clean foods to eat! So, with that much more positive attitude in mind, I'm moving on to my next phase, which I hope will last until I travel in June.

My materials from the ISSA arrived yesterday so I've got everything I need to start working towards my Personal Trainer certification.

My good friend K, who is a LesMills instructor, has been encouraging me to do my training to teach Body Pump and Body Combat. I've already practiced studying the choreography for Body Pump, but it's the first time I'm looking at the Body Combat choreography. It's definitely more challenging than Pump. It's an exhausting class; add to that the whole speaking while teaching/jumping around and you get to a whole new level of fitness! Still, I'm up for the challenge. I started practicing day before yesterday and I spent quite a bit of time on it today. We'll see how it goes.

In terms of weight training, I'm just going to move on to the next Phase in the New Rules of Lifting book. I'm happy with how I've progressed through this phase. The more I lift, the more I love it!



Those are the three main things I'll be getting into. In the meantime, I'm still continuing with CrossFit, my MMA training (though it's not nearly as intense as it was before), my yoga/balance classes, and my cardio ... and of course Eating Clean!



Today's Food:
Breakfast #1: 1 teaspoon of peanut butter & 2 dates
Breakfast #2: 3 egg muffins, 1 cup of grilled vegetables (cauliflower, sweet potato, and bell peppers), and half an avocado
Lunch: grilled chicken with 2 cups of vegetables
Dinner: coconut shrimp curry
Snacks: 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt; 3 peanut butter date balls

Today's Workouts:
Kickboxing (30 minutes)
Combat training (45 minutes)
Body Balance (1 hour)
Day 2 of squat challenge: 60 squats

So Busy!!

I'm struggling to keep up with my blog. I really do want to get back to blogging regularly, but I just haven't managed to squeeze in the time. Things have been SO busy, and I feel like they're about to get busier. I seriously need a few extra hours in my day!

I totally forgot about writing a Friday Five post -- that post was supposed to be my easy post to help me keep up with my blog ... ya, didn't happen.

What did happen on Friday was that I spent 6 hours at my desk working on my Specialist in Fitness Nutrition final exam. It's a LONG exam. I only finished 260 questions out of the 350 multiple-choice questions and I've still got the essay and case study to complete. I've pretty much done the case study. I just need to type it up.

On Wednesday I met up with my first 'client' -- she's actually my case study, but she's also going to be a real client of mine. I was nervous, but it went well. It took about 2 hours and I think we're going to need at least another 2-4 hours before I can set something up for her properly. There are so many factors involved in setting up a good program. I don't want to just give out a food plan. I really want to come up with a plan that's going to be sustainable and help the person reach their goals -- and stay positive and motivated throughout the process. It's a tall order, but one that I want to fulfill!

Thursday I had a really good gym session in the morning - weights and cardio - followed by a good RPM session at night.

Me on my bike :)

Today - I did yoga in the morning, followed by RPM ... and then CrossFit in the evening. It kinda sucks that Saturday is the last day of our weekend here and I spent the whole day running around ... but I had the time so I took the opportunity to workout. I'm just going to have to find time during the week to squeeze in those errands that are normally saved for the weekends.

Our yoga pyramid this morning on the beach :) 

As I said, busy, busy, busy.

One week left of the Whole Life Challenge -- going to try and finish off STRONG!!

Still Getting Sorted!

I didn't make it to the gym today. I try my best to workout even when I've got terrible cramps, but today it just wasn't happening. My cramps were excruciating (to the point of almost passing out). Add the fatigue of only getting 3 hours of sleep from the night before ... it just wasn't happening. I don't like taking days off from the gym, but sometimes that's the way it works out. I know I have the discipline to keep up with my routine. Today my body said no so I listened. So, I took it relatively easy through the day but did manage to get quite a few things organized.

Clothes
I'm still sorting through clothes. I really didn't know I had so many. I feel like I've been throwing clothes out for months. Actually now I'm giving away my clothes from last winter and I'm also letting go of even more summer/fall clothes that I clung on to from before. Slowly but surely I'm getting the hang of this. What was wonderful was fitting into several clothes that I had bought ages ago and fitting into them with some room to spare. Some will be taken to the tailor to be altered, others can be worn as is, and some need to be donated as well.

2013 Goals
I also sat down and worked on figuring out my goals for 2013. I've signed up for Rebecca's 13 in 13 challenge (click here to join) to help me stay focused next year. I've come up with 10 goals so far; I need to figure out 3 more. I'm trying to be as specific as possible, and I'm also writing down consequences for not reaching any goals (if that happens).

Food Plan
My menu for the week has been written out. I have two social events next week that I have to work around, but other than that, it should be a smooth start to 2013. As always, planning is key!

Nutrition Studies
I have been a total slacker when it has come to my Specialist in Fitness Nutrition course (through the International Sports Science Association). I finally sat down and went through the module and completed the first quiz:

I'm such a nerd (and proud of it) :) So, it's a good start. Completing this course is definitely a goal for 2013!

I'm struggling with structuring my workout schedule for next year as timings are changing for some of the classes, and they're clashing with other classes ... I really need to figure out what I'll be doing and when ... and in a way that doesn't leave me broke!