Category Archives: Celebration

Gym episode 17/03: Back-to-back session

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It’s kinda rough having back to back sessions with the Trainer. He pushes me to go full throttle so I am spent at the end of it. But without a choice, I laced up my sneakers and headed to the gym…..and one hour earlier too! I must really like working with him. Those who know me well, know that I am not a morning person AT ALL.

This morning, I had to have steely resolve to get through the workout. Something had upset my sleep on Wednesday and I woke up twice during the night. Damion always stresses that the mind needs to drive my workouts. Mind, are you present?

Warm up went well enough.

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We did squats on the stationery machine (Smith?) “But didn’t we do squats yesterday?” is my retort when I have to do them on consecutive days. His usual response is “yeah…ok let’s go.” :?:? No sympathy. But it’s good for me.

The trainer had been putting me through a more cardiovascular workout this week so everything had to be done quicker to get the heart rate up. So yes, I huffed and puffed my way through the workout.

At the end of it all, I felt exhilerated, knowing that I was rather tired. It made it all the more worthwhile when I could fit into a jacket which I had not been able to wear in months. It couldn’t even button up back then. 🙂

I mark off my workouts on a calendar at work. Entering today’s session felt particularly satisfying. I can feel my body accepting the challenges I have thrown at it.

Gym episode 02/03: We’re going non-stop

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The second half of the challenge will be more vigorous….if my body allows. I am going to give it a serious talking to! Doh let mi dung! We haffi go non-stop.

Wednesday morning started later than planned because Tuesday night had pain fuh so! And it wasn’t pain from Monday’s cardio class at work with Bambi. My upper body throbbed. Couldn’t find a comfortable position.

Last week when I had steelcut oats before the session, I felt very lethargic so this morning I decided to have 1 tin of sardines… yes….straight outta di tin with nutten on it :o. Had half a carambola and coffee with it.

The Trainer was waiting for me when I got there. Did my 10 minutes warm up on the elliptical, increasing the level every 30 seconds or 1 minute. It felt easier today.

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Ways To Create A Life You Don’t Need To Escape

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A friend posted this article with 11 ways to create a life you don’t need to escape. I was thrilled to read that I have done many of the recommendations on the list.

#1 Moved to Grenada. Also studied and trained in England.

#2 I always live below my means, except when it comes to travel.

#3 I have tried meditation. Actually, Oprah & Deepak’s meditation series continues next Monday and I have signed up again.

#4 I don’t try and prove anything to anyone but myself.

#5 I can’t recall my childhood self looking into the future. I was living in the moment. Didn’t really focus on anything much back then, except playing the piano, then later, being in the theatre. The only thing I remember was that during a lunch time conversation in high school, the year 2000 came up and I calculated that I would be 36 then and remember thinking “gee, that’s old!”

#6 Though I don’t feel I have a life which I want to escape, when I infrequently do, it’s SCHEDULES I want to get away from. I HATE having to HAVE to do something at a particular time. Flexible schedules all the way!

#7 I have definitely struggled with recognizing that small changes do make a difference. Sometimes I think “go big or go home.” I used to think that way about exercise actually. Used to think that if I didn’t have 90 minutes, it didn’t make sense to go to the gym. That was until I discovered high intensity interval training where you could get a good workout in 8 minutes.

#8 I don’t do this I don’t think. I follow a hodge podge of people on Twitter, from all spheres with different interests. I am into learning everything about technology right now so those gurus interest me.

#9 Yes, I do stuff. Sometimes maybe it is not what I SHOULD be doing at that time, but hey…..gotta do what makes you happy.

#10 Joining Instagram recently and (again) following random people which include photographers, has made me start yearning for living somewhere else obscure (so not a major international city) in a big country. Those photos of fall especially, by a lake, are just drawing me in.slap back to reality Yamfoot….winter is coming next.

#11 OMG I have a story in my head everyday all day! Actually I started to write my book and then put it down, now I don’t know where the first few pages are.

Anyway, this was a good list. I think I passed.

 

Pre-birthday views and celebrations

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Normally I would have started the celebrations from 1st October and in fact, when I turned a significant age a few years ago, I celebrated for the whole year. This year, work has kept me busy, so it started late, on Friday, with lunch at the hotel I used to work at. Yesterday was the beach and today I was back for lunch at the hotel again. Here are some scenes. No captions necessary…though I did add some 🙂

Grenada is one seriously beautiful island….like Jamaica.

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Grand Anse Beach

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Panoramic shot

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Healthy eating

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View from the lunch area

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Lagoon by dusk

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Teeny tiny cake

Make a wish!

Make a wish!

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Beautiful sky

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Birthday cake’s in the bag

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Last weekend, I was feeling industrious so picked up a box of cake mix in the supermarket. I don’t normally buy these things. Having worked in hotels all my life, sweet treats were available whenever. And at the last place I worked, I would have been guaranteed to get a cake…..chocolate. Here’s last year’s version.

Chocolate Cake with a nutty coating. Yum!

Chocolate Cake with a nutty coating. Yum!

Ok, so my camera wasn’t very good.

I should have said cakeS, because there was a second one baked by a friend.

Another delicious cake, this time with coffee.

Another delicious cake, this time with coffee.

Since I no longer have the hotel option, I thought I’d bake my own cake. But why so early Yamfoot? Well, this weekend I might not have felt like baking.

Duncan Hines really is moist!

Duncan Hines really is moist!

There was a lil crack in the cake. Guess I didn’t grease the pan enough. I decided to make a layered cake, but did not buy frosting because that would have been just too much sugar. So I whipped up some yogurt with frozen blueberries. Here’s the remnants of that mixture.

My low sugar version of frosting

My low sugar version of frosting

When I was whipping up the frosting, I realized that as it was yogurt based, it couldn’t stay outside. So I cut up the cake in smaller pieces, wrapped each in foil and they are resting comfortably in the freezer. That was also a measure to prevent me from eating all at once!

In a few days, I will be whipping out one of the packages and saying “happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeee”. Look on the sidebar to see when’s the birthday. Usually I don’t work on my birthday but no choice this year. I will probably be at a business lunch, so not too bad.