A Bit of Stitching, High Anxiety, and Instruments of Medieval Torture

Hello, dear friends!
First of all, I want to share some stitching I have done over the past three weeks...

First, I thought of posting five or six progress pictures, but then, feeling brave(r) than usual, I decided to make it into a movie. This is still work in progress - desperately needing a broom and a header (where the huge brown circle is) - but, overall, I am happy with the result. Now to see if Blogger is able to play this... Keep your fingers crossed for me! 

Other than stitching, I am still dedicated to the gym, although in my mind I now refer to it as "medieval torture chamber." I am sure many of you can relate: when you are on the machine, everything hurts, and afterwords, everything hurts even more. The look of the machine, with all of its gadgets, screws and adjustment levers, strongly reminds me of the medieval torture device. In my case, the personal trainer (a.k.a. "the torture master") adjusts the devices and makes me go through the routine, assuring me the whole time that it's good for me. Finally, the screams, moans and groans of people around me (mostly males lifting weights) add the final touch and make the experience of the torture chamber complete.

A separate word about the moaning and groaning fellow sufferers... Mostly, they are men, and they lift weights, and they tend to drop and smash those weights all over the place. From a distance, it sounds something like this: "Arrrrgh! - Boom! - Clang... - Oooh... " The sound sequence is repeated over and over, with the "arrrgh"'s getting louder and more painful, and booms and clangs more loud. I don't know why these men do it this way - maybe, they think it sounds macho, attractive, like "look at me, I am so strong"? For me, at its loudest/dramatic it sounded like the guy was having a heart attack. Otherwise, it seemed like he was taking a painful dump. So, in conclusion: gentlemen, stop showing off! If you have to scream lifting the weight, that means you need to switch to a lighter weight. Making scary near-death-like noises only intensifies the "torture chamber" effect I talked about earlier.

To be fair, going to the gym does make me feel better overall, and I also lost a little weight - five pounds, to be exact, - thanks mostly to following the "torture master"'s routine. So, although I do call her that (in my mind), I am actually grateful to her.

Until next time - happy everything!

A Little Self Love...

Hello, dear friends,

This will not be a stitching post... Not that I have not stitched - in fact, it's what I have been doing most of the time, - but... there is something else on my mind today: my own needs...

To begin: with all the non-stop stitching, my bum has taken over. It has been growing exponentially, and no matter how I tried to curb my eating habits, it did not seem to make any difference. It was growing, and growing, and nothing would stop it - while I at the same time was feeling more and more tired, getting dizzy spells every time I left the house.

The situation forced me to look at myself - and sign up for a gym membership. For the past three weeks, I have been going to the gym - three times a week: walking on the treadmill, exercising on the bike, swimming in the pool - among other things.

Now, exercising in the gym when you are thirty six is a different experience from when you are, say, eighteen or twenty five. When you are eighteen, exercising is more of a "pleasant distraction", it seems. You are naturally graceful - at least on the outside - and slender; working out is done "just for upkeep" or "just to gain some extra strength", - or, in my case, just because I liked swimming. Mirrors are your friends: every time you look at yourself, you think, "I look all right!"

Not the same when you are thirty six, after giving birth to three kids... All the marks life has imprinted on your body - stretch marks, saggy boobs, "love handles" (why the hell are they called that? there's not much to love there), extended stomach - all that is there for you to see in every mirror you pass by - so, you avoid mirrors.

Exercising is no longer "just for fun" - you came with a purpose: to lose weight, to lose the gut, to get healthy, - however you phrase it, the goal really is to both look and feel better.. So, you focus on the exercises, on strengthening proper muscles, on increasing resistance, - instead of "just doing stuff". This time, you know what you want. Consequently, this is no longer a social get together with friends - it's a place of sweating and pain. You do not expect to look "sexy" or "attractive" during these times - you just want, mostly, to be left alone, and occasionally for someone to let you know if you are doing something wrong- and correct you.

My personal goal is to lose 20 pounds (about 9 kilograms) in the next six months. It is a long road, and I even had a meeting with a personal trainer, who assured me that my goal was entirely reachable - provided I exercised regularly and ate right. He took my measurements, gave me an outline of cardio and workout exercises, showed me a couple of machines I could start on - and I went to work.

For the first two weeks, I worked out entirely by myself: walking on the treadmill and riding a bike for cardio, doing sets on the machines the trainer showed, and swimming in the pool. By the end of the second week, I noticed that walking no longer pushed the wind out of me, and I could increase the speed on the treadmill. The bike became more familiar, and as far as stomach crunches - I could now do three sets of 20 (up from 15) and not feel like I needed to lie down.

I have obviously been getting stronger. So, feeling brave and certain that I was ready for the "next step", I decided to go to one of the group lessons... Oh boy was I humbled! Every time I jumped, my boobs were flying everywhere... When the trainer said to the group, "Drop it, push-up!" - I could only think, "If I drop it, I won't be able to get up." Some exercises - designed to be "funny" or "sexy" in addition to working out the muscles, perhaps - made my inner voice state with dignity to me, "There are things I just will not do!" So - I was able to last about 40 minutes out of an hour workout.. I am not giving up, and will try again tomorrow. Maybe bring a longer shirt, hehe...

This is my third week at the gym. I know I am getting stronger: I can walk longer distances without getting dizzy, I don't have to catch my breath going up and down the stairs... I have been sleeping better and not feeling as tired. Also, I can better concentrate when stitching, so - it's an improvement. I have not bothered weighing myself - the trainer said that, most likely, I am not to lose weight during the first 4 to 5 weeks, and I may even gain a couple of pounds - because of gaining muscle mass.

Back to the gym tomorrow morning... wish me luck!