New Job, New Obstacles

Okay, am I the only non-American who’s been oddly craving turkey and stuffing all day? :P Well, holiday or not, I hope everyone had a fabulous Thursday :D

Mine started off a little too early for my liking, so I went for a little comfort in a big bowl of oat bran.

With almond butter and marshmallow fluff. Mature, yet immature all at the same time ;)

I triple-checked the gym schedule and made it to the right BodyPump class this week (after going to the wrong gym last week). I was really looking forward to it for a nice change in my routine.

But I have to say, this was my third BodyPump class, and I’m still not entirely sure if I like it! I want to like it. But I just don’t like doing the same moves for 3-4 minutes at a time. According to the Les Mills website a typical class is broken down to target one area for each song played. 

• Warmup – a mix of all the moves using light weight
• Legs/Squats – barbell squats
• Chest – barbell presses laying on a step
• Back – deadlifts, rows, clean&press
• Triceps – skull crushers, tricep extension
• Biceps – curls
• Lunges – couple varieties, today we did it off a step
• Shoulders – various rotations with small plates and barbell presses
• Abdominals – crunches
• Cooldown – typical stretches

So each bullet point is the length of one song, and we only do the moves listed for the duration of the song. That’s right, I did bicep curls for 4 minutes straight. Choosing weight is really difficult too. I choose light weights so I can maintain the movement for such a long period. But it means the first couple minutes are always too easy, then all of a sudden it gets really hard and I can’t finish. I dunno, it’s just a set-up that isn’t for me.

Our instructor also said the typical calorie burn for the 60 minute class is 460 and I burned 220. I was hurtin’ too. Maybe if I was stronger and could push higher weights I would get a better burn. OR she’s full of BS :P

Aaaanyways, I did 18 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical after and called it a day. I will at least say my muscles got a good workout and will be appropriately sore tomorrow :)

Came home and got some protein in me asap. Starting with some protein juice, aka PVL peach flavoured whey cooler.

And by “asap” I mean I started drinking it before I even took the picture :P It’d been a long time since breakfast!

Accompanied by a bagel with Yves cajun chicken slices, tomato and swiss cheese.

NOM. Everything becomes instantly better the second you melt cheese on top.

I used up the last of my leftover roast chicken for dinner (*sob*) and opted for something other than a sandwich.

Chicken omelette! I used one whole egg and a whack of egg whites, and a delicious filling of chicken, spinach and laughing cow cheese. I dusted the top with paprika, so it’s not as burnt as looks ;)

Then it was off to Starbucks for my first training shift!! This is the third time I’ve done the training in five years. Ugh! It’s because this is the first time I’ve ever worked for a corporate Starbucks, the other ones were licensed concepts.

 

Now, I’m not going to lie here, I’m a little apprehensive about how being back at Starbucks will change my current lifestyle. Let me explain.

The last time I worked at Starbucks was Summer 2008. I was 30 lbs heavier. I would go into work and drink a giant latte and have a cinnamon roll for breakfast. Then the guys from New York fries would come over and bring us free poutines for lunch (in exchange for free frappuccinos, of course). A snack would usually consist of my own frappuccino or another latte, and then nibbles of whatever brownie or cookie we were sampling that afternoon.

Oh, and we’re allowed to bring the old pastries home at night. So I would come home to a freezer full of frozen muffins and scones that I’d been bringing home from work.

Obviously, that last stint at Starbucks was a little over-the-top, even for “Old Susan.” It’s what brought me to my all-time highest weight. I know there’s no way I’ll ever eat like that again. I’ve learned sooooo much about nutrition since then. I don’t think I ever want to put a cinnamon roll in my body for breakfast again, (hello! fat? protein? fibre?).

There’s also the fact that I’m going from a job where I spend 30% of the day on my feet, to a job where I spend 100% of the day on my feet. I remember what’s it’s like to work on your feet all day, it sucks. Your feet hurt, your back hurt, and you go home at the end of the day just exhausted. I have concerns that I may have trouble keeping up my current level of exercise when I’m running around a cafe all day.

With that said, I’m determined to make it work. Black coffee and tea are my new best friends :) I will bring in a slew of healthy snacks with me, so I can grab my own bag of homemade trail mix instead of snacking on the Starbucks packaged variety.

I’m going to work really hard at working out before my shifts, when I still have energy. I have a feeling I won’t be up for running on the treadmill after eight hours of churning out lattes at the mall on a Saturday afternoon. But maybe a stellar sweat sesh before my shift will give me the energy and stamina I need to get through it.

Finally, I need new work clothes! I looked like I was swimming in my old black pants and collared shirt tonight. I felt like a bum :P

 

Oh, and I just gobbled up this delicious snack:

Kashi peanut peanut butter bar with an extra slathering of PB on top. Take that tempting Starbucks peanut butter bar, this was delicious ;)

 

Question of the day: How do you stay healthy with you current job? Working as a reporter wasn’t easy either. Since I didn’t spend much time in the office, I always made sure I had a bag of healthy goodies on my person that I could dig into while running around. A lot of meals were eaten in the car, and snacks shoved down while rushing from one assignment to the next. My weekend shifts really tuckered me out for exercise. It’s hard to find the motivation to work out after an 8-hour day that started at 4:30 am. But we’ve got to find a way to make it work! :)

Speaking of which, I’m getting up for a 6am spin class before my reporting shift tomorrow. My bed is beckoning, lator gators!