I miss the gym!

This is the first time since 2012 that I’m sick. And with sick I mean, having a bad cold and not being able to go to work. It started on Sunday, January 5th, that day I did a 30 minute circuit training workout. I didn’t feel too well but I didn’t feel too bad either. Monday was a holiday, so, no work and I stayed home Tuesday and Wednesday. I did go to work on Thursday because I felt quite good on Wednesday but my running nose started on Thursday so I stayed home on Friday.

Now it’s Sunday and I still don’t feel 100%. It feels like (I hope) I need about two more days to be back on track!

Anyway, knock on wood, I only missed work one day last year (after I got stung by a bee and couldn’t sleep the whole night).

I didn’t feel too good before my trip to France in October last year and blogged about what sucks the most when you’re sick, and it’s NOT BEING ABLE TO GO TO THE GYM!!

I don’t believe in working out with a cold. I think your body needs all the energy it can get to get healthy again and not to build muscles or improve your fitness. And also, I can’t imagine people at the gym would appreciate when I sneeze and caugh and blow my nose all the time. I wouldn’t like that either.

So, yesterday I was so bored so I took some random photos.

PhotographyPhotographyPhotographyHello Kitty Photography

Pizza

The biggest Pizza in the City.
bigpizza
Half Italian Sausage, half veggies.
I invited my boyfriend for a birthday dinner, we watched “Despicable Me 2” before that (cute movie, the first is cuter and funnier but pt.2 is good too).
The pizza is so big it hardly fits on the table (and plate) and guess what?! I ate it all!

Cupcakes

never fail cupcakes

You need:

  1. 2 eggs
  2. 1 cup coca
  3. 1 cup butter
  4. 3 cups flour
  5. 1 cup sour milk (to sour put 1 teaspoon of vinegar – let is get sour overnight
  6. 2 teaspoons vanilla
  7. 2 teaspoons soda (Hirschhornsalz)
  8. 1,5 cups sugar
  9. 1 cup hot water

For the frosting:

  1. Powdered sugar (Puderzucker)
  2. Soft butter
  3. Milk (teaspoon-wise, shouldn’t be too liquidy)
  4. Cocoa

For decoration

  1. Smarties

Put these ingredients into a bowl in the order they are given.
Do not mix until last item has been added. Then beat well.
Put butter in muffin tins.

Bake at 190 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 24 cups.

Gym Wear

When you join the gym you need to invest in some gym clothes in which you’ll feel comfortable in. When I joined (exactly three months ago) I put on my clothes I’ve been wearing for years (long sweat pants, some top) and knew right away, I don’t feel good in those. So, the first thing I did is go to my local sports store and get some new pants.

Pants

I wanted tight pants which go just over your knee. For girls it’s ok to wear pants like that, for men… maybe not so much.
I grabbed 15 pairs of pants from a lot of diffferent companies and one pair fit. So you need to bring patience and time to the store. The Puma pants were my first, then I decided I need more!
Gym Pants

  1. Summer Gym Pants
    It’s hot in the summer, well, it can be hot. Make sure you own more than one pair, you’ll need more if you go to the gym regularly. And if it’s super hot, buy and wear shorts. Be sure to buy shorts with “built-in-panties” or, if you don’t have shorts with “built-in-panties”, be sure to buy some hot-pants to wear underneath. Nobody wants to see your private parts when you lie on your back and stretch your legs apart (I’m talking out of experience here! Did that mistake once and never again 🙂 ).
  2. Winter Gym Pants
    Buy those if needed. It’s always good to have one long pair. I don’t sweat too much when I’m lifting weights, so that’s where I would wear the long pants if it’s cold outside.

Tops

I used to wear a regular t-shirt and my regular bra to the gym in the beginning which turned out not be a great idea. I don’t like tops with sleeves at the gym and you could see too much boob with my regular bra. I remember, my last gym wouldn’t allow sleeveless tops, so be careful with that. Anyway, I’m a fan or tank-tops – colorful tops!
gym tops
I prefer tight and longer tops, so Under Armour is the best company for me. I also have two tops which are a bit wider around the belly, I wear those in the winter 🙂

Sport Bras

Pretty much the same scenario with the bras like with the pants and tops – you need to try on a lot before you know which one is right for you.
For me, the model “12-year-old-girl-whos-just-groing-boobs” seemed best for me 🙂 I actually wanted black but neon was the only color available.
gymwear bra adidas
At first I looked for tops with a built-in bra but I didn’t really like them (too short, too big, too small, too ugly) so the option sport-bra and normal sport-top seemed the better and easier (and also cheaper) one.

The shoes

Honestly, I didn’t need new shoes, I have enough Chucks and Asics and Adidas I could have worn. I also own a pair of Nike running shoes which I bought around six years ago. I still wear the Nike to go jogging through the woods, so, when it’s wet outside you can imagine what they look like. And I’m too lazy to clean them, so there, my excuse to buy new shoes just for the gym. I actually bought shoes I liked – I didn’t look at the model (if they are for running or training or cross or whatsoever), I just browsed the internet for shoes I liked. And voila!
gymwear shoes under armour
I really like them, they are comfortable and stable (they are running shoes) and I’m happy with them. I only wear them at the gym so I don’t have to clean them before I put them on. Don’t forget to buy a couple of short socks to go with them – wearing normal socks you’d wear to work etc. doesn’t look good.

What’s in my Gym Bag

Other than the membership card my gym-bag (I just use a backpack) contains
gym bag
The most important thing in my gym bag is probably the drinking bottle, followed by the gym towel. My pulse watch I normally only wear when I do cardio, I bought it for jogging because there’s where I need it. At the gym I mainly use it to see how many calories I’ve lost. Now I also always take my shower stuff with me. I bought some little bottles of shampoo and lotion and cream. I didn’t shower at the gym at the beginning but after you experience an hour of cardio training at 30+ degrees Celsius outside, where you’re not able to stop sweating, there’s nothing better than to jump into the shower right after. It’s not a nice feeling to put on your normal clothes when you’re dripping of sweat all over.

Now I’m addicted on buying gym clothing. My wishlist contains a new pair of running shoes (because they’re so pretty), more Under Armour tops and a GPS watch. I didn’t buy all the clothing at once. At first I thought it’s enough to own one pair of short pants and only one bra and maybe two tops. But, especially now in the hot summer, you’re really grateful if you don’t have to wash your clothes all the time.

Vacation ahead

schatzi_vacation
Oh yeah! I can’t wait to be at the beach, surf a few waves, have sunshine and warm weather. After all the rain and coldness here I’m really really looking forward to this vacation!

A few days ago I had my first strength measurement. I gained a few kilos of strenght almost at every machine

  1. row: May 11: 29,4kg – Jun 28: 29,4kg = +0 kg 🙁
  2. ab crunch: May 11: 22,7kg – Jun 28: 26,7kg = +4 kg
  3. leg curl: May 11: 21,1kg – Jun 28: 29,4kg = +8,3 kg
  4. chest press: May 11: 23,9kg – Jun 28: 27,3kg = +3,4 kg
  5. back extension: May 11: 31kg – Jun 28: 44,3kg = +13,3 kg
  6. leg extension: May 11: 22,9kg – Jun 28: 32,3kg = +9,4 kg
  7. lat pull: May 11: 26kg – Jun 28: 32,7kg = +6,7 kg
  8. glutaeus: May 11: 16,4kg – Jun 28: 29,1kg = +12,7 kg

How motivating is that to see how you gain muscle?! VERY! I’m kinda happy with my first milestone I set myself, of course my belly fat is still there but I’m pretty sure it will take me months to get rid of that (IF I get rid of it).
I did reach most of the goals I set though:
My goals for each week:

  • work out at least 3 times during the week check – mon/tue/thu are my work-out days
  • work out 1 or 2 times on the weekend check
  • cut down on sweets – not sure if I can check this 😉
  • on sundays, go to the gym in the morning before (the big) breakfast check – if I have nothing else planned
  • don’t pig out on weekends check
  • ride the bike to work as often as possible the days it didn’t rain and where it wasn’t freezing cold I took the bike
  • get informed about interval training and pre-/post-workout foods – need to check on the foods
  • in the strength circuit, increase weight every week or every two weeks increased
  • at the gym after a working day, try to lose all the calories I’ve eaten up until the workout – nope, not possible when I only do strength training

I might take my running shoes and thera-bands with on vacation, maybe.