Pages

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

A picture is worth a thousand words

I love photography.  Landscapes.  People.  Weird things.  Cool things.  Beautiful things.  Sunsets are the best!  The ocean.  Horses. 

Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers.  I have five or six of his photos in my house.  I love the black and white landscapes.  So simple yet so striking.  My all-time favorite is a photograph of a graveyard.  I understand it was a time release photograph, so the moon is high in the sky, yet the grave stones are still lit up as if they were in sunlight.  I love it! 

My friend, Andrew (Liquidpulp Photography), takes amazing photographs as well.  He also takes beautiful landscapes.  And when he photographs people, he is often looking for a look that is interesting, more than something beautiful by society's standards. 

I've always loved photography.  I have a camera in my purse at all times.  I am constantly snapping photos of the sky with my iPhone as I'm driving down the road.  This is how my love affair with Creepy Tree started.  One day I took a picture, posted it on Facebook, and now Creepy Tree has his own fan club!

I dream of one day buying an expensive digital SLR and traveling the world to photograph cool and interesting places.  In fact, if I am one day blessed by the lotto gods and win my $350 million (wait, $317 million), that is exactly what I will do!  Until then, my fantasies and little camera will have to do.  :-)

 Sunset while driving home from Alameda (Oakland), California

Full moon from Concord, California a couple of years ago

The flag in Las Vegas, Nevada (outside of Mandalay Bay) in July 2009

Sunset and Creepy Tree's cousins in Walnut Creek, California

Creepy Tree in Clayton, California with no leaves in late 2009/early 2010

Creepy Tree with the sun peeking through in early 2010 (and growing leaves now!)

A photograph Andrew took of me in March 2010

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Let the insanity begin...P90X

After three weeks of talking about it, Rob and I finally got our front room cleaned up a little and started P90X yesterday.   I know a few people who are following this program and they talk about how hard it is.  Luckily, I am the queen of modification, so I am only following it to the best of my ability (for right now).  Yes, this probably means I am not pushing myself as hard as I SHOULD but, with Rob there watching, I am pushing myself harder than I normally would while working out alone. If you're a member at Beach Body, add me!  Here's my profile

I took my Day 1 photos in a bikini.  YUCK.  I offended myself.  I am so unhappy with how I look.  My lower back is all swollen out and my thighs are fat and dimply.  Once I see some results, I will post the photos.  But not yet.   

So, the first day on the program is chest and back (with the ab ripper at the end).  I actually didn't have heavy enough weights.  The heaviest weight I have is 12 pounds.  So, it was kind of easy.  I need to go pick up 15's and 20's.  Also, we haven't found the brackets to set up the pull up bar.  So, we tried to use bands to simulate a pull up.  It wasn't enough.  They want you to hook it to something in the ceiling, so you're pulling down.  We didn't have anything to attach it to, so we were more doing chest presses than pull downs.   I was kind of aggravated about it yesterday, because I felt like we didn't properly prepare.  However, when you go from doing very little to working out six days a week, any activity will be a benefit.  So, I'm over it today.

This morning, we did the plyometrics DVD.  It was 5:00 a.m. and, even though we are on the bottom floor, I was scared that two of us jumping around might be bothering our upstairs neighbors.  So, I modified some of the exercises.  My heart rate averaged 160.  I burned around 520 calories.  Normally, a good workout for me is 600 calories burned.  A great workout is 800.  So, once I get into it and feel more comfortable, I will bump up the intensity.  I've realized that even if you can't do high impact, you can often do things to make the workout more intense. 

P90X is definitely an intense program, and not for the faint of heart.  Beach Body offers many programs to help people get in shape.  My plan isn't to get completely ripped.  I am currently not planning to follow the food plan.  I just want to lose my 25-45 pounds and feel better about myself.  I workout to eat yummy food.  As I've said before, I try not to overindulge too often but I definitely don't want to feel like I'm on a diet.  I am closely tracking my progress through weight, body fat, measurements and photos. 

P90X is a 90 day program.  Interestingly enough, it ends on my birthday.  So, I hope to still hit my weight loss goal (set earlier this year) right on time!

If anyone else is doing P90X (or another Beach Body program), I'd love to hear about your experience!