Weights

If you caught my New Year's post (not linking it, it's only a few entries back) then you may remember that one of my New Year's resolutions was to have more balance in my life.  This is kind of an "all-inclusive" resolution, but one thing I definitely wanted to work on was adding a little more balance to my work-outs.  I wanted to do more cross-training (truth: any kind of cross-training would be more than I was doing last year) and I wanted to incorporate weights into my routine.  I have been successful with one of these and unsuccessful with the other.  


The cross-training has not happened yet.  I had the best of intentions today, but sometimes these things don't work out.  The gym I belong to in Charleston is pretty good.  There are a lot of locations all across the Low Country, so you're never far from one.  Which I like a lot.  They have a wide variety of classes offered all day.  Which I also like a lot (actually these are the two reasons I joined this gym, but I never really take advantage of these things).  Two of them have pools.  


So today I decided to skip my run and go for a nice swim instead.  I got all ready, packed my gym bag, and drove over to one of the locations that is advertised as having a pool.  Technically the gym does have a pool.  I mean there is a large-ish, in-ground pool-like structure, but in no way, shape or form was it the type of pool that I expected to find at a gym.  I was expecting lap lanes and found a place where you can splash around with your kids.  A few gym members were bobbing around on pool noodles and I knew that there was no way that I could swim laps there.  Pretty disappointing.  I think I'll give the other pool location a shot, but I think this time I'll do some investigative work before.


Ok, so the cross-training's been a total bust.  But the weight lifting has not.  And I'm excited about it.  A few weeks ago I bought a book on weight lifting for women.  More specifically I bought this book:

which you can purchase here

This book's pretty intense.  I don't know if I'm as weight-lifty as the guy who wrote it (ok, actually I do know that I'm not nearly as weight-lifty as he is.  Exhibit A: I said "weight-lifty").  But its full of great information and misconceptions about women and weight-lifting, comes with a nutrition section, and (here's the best part) SIX MONTHS of weight lifting work outs.  


It's broken down into stages and each stage is made up of two work-outs that you do for a certain amount of times.  In stage one, you do each of the two work-outs 8 times or a total of 16 lifting sessions.  The best part is that it's not a long, drawn out sequence.  Both sequences in stage one are only five exercises long.  Even when I really took my time today, I was done in less than twenty minutes.  Which is totally great and really manageable.  And if soreness is any kind of indication of effectiveness, it's totally working - I'm crazy sore from my Monday weight lifting session and I'm simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the soreness I'll feel tomorrow.


I think I'll take some before and after pictures, but I won't post them until I see a major difference.  So there's that to look forward to :)


Hope everyone's having a great week so far!

Law School Exam Survival Guide

It's that time of year again!  Finals!  YIKES!!!!


One of my least favorite things about law school is the grading method.  See, we study, HARD, for three and a half months.  Reading, taking notes, reading, going to class, reading, studying in groups, reading, doing practice problems, reading, making flashcards, reading, outlining, and did I mention reading?  After all of this, you kind of are reduced down to the legal principles and theories that have been consuming your life since January (honestly I can't remember the last time I had a conversation with someone that didn't end with me babbling incoherently about negligence or property rights).  And how are you evaluated?  ONE test.  ONE test decides your ENTIRE grade.  


It's a lot of pressure.  You want to do well for a lot of reasons including the fact that this stuff has taken over your life for the past 100 days to the point that non law school people (including your parents) are getting weary with you and your recommendations to stay in the class action suit they were notified (hear that Mom and Dad?!?).


It's a stressful time.  So much material to review, learn, commit to memory so that its readily accessible on test day.  How is a little law student to survive?!?


Well I've compiled some of the things that I think are essential to surviving the two week hell that is the exam period.


1.  Yoga pants/comfy lounge shorts
     I lived in this pair during winter exams.  Seriously, they stayed on my body until I did laundry when I washed them and then immediately put them back on.  Best.pants.ever.  Its warmer now, so I'm currently rocking my Nike running shorts, but I have a feeling a trip to Target is on the agenda for later this evening for a pair of these.


2.  Running shoes
    In college, I ate my stress.  I also gained about 40 pounds over four years.  In an effort to avoid that, I'm trying this new thing where I work off my stress instead.  Its way better.  I even lost weight last finals period.  Honestly, I'll just be happy to maintain my weight during the next two weeks.  The half hour of exercise also helps me sleep better, which helps me focus more when I'm studying which helps me do better on exams.  All in all, this is a much better plan than the eat-my-feelings method I prescribed to in college.  Really, its win-win-win.


3.  Coffee/Diet Coke
     We all know I'm a caffeine addict.  I don't know if I'd make it through without the stuff.


4.  Wall calendar
     Looking at it reminds me that my current hell is temporary.  I can see my future and it involves freedom, sunshine, and the ocean.


5.  iTunes/Pandora/Complete Friends series on DVD
    I've never been one who can study in complete silence.  I start thinking about how quiet it is and get anxious that people will be annoyed when I sneeze or cough or make any kind of movement/noise at all.  Background noise helps me tune all of that out.  Plus I've only seen every episode of friends at least 25 times, it doesn't distract me anymore because I know I could quote it line for line if I really wanted to.

That's all for now!  

Zoom, Zoom, Zumba!

A few weeks ago my pal Ginny asked me if I wanted to take a Zumba class with her.  As anyone who knows me can tell you, I've been trying to lose a few pounds for forever; so I decided - why not?  

Zumba is a cardio work-out that is based on Latin dances like the rumba, samba, and mambo.  You pretty much get to dance for an hour.  There's a lot of movement some reminiscent of high school soccer/football practice, some more elegant and lady-like, and a lot of booty shakin'.  When done correctly, you look coordinated, confident, and kinda sexy (at least as sexy as you can look as you are pouring sweat).  Its cardio dance class at its finest.


So here's the deal.  I am not a dancer.  I never have been.  And I never will be.  Uncoordinated and ungraceful, a day is a success if I manage to not trip over my own feet or walk into an inanimate object.  When I was three my parents, like so many other parents, decided that it was time for me to take ballet lessons.  After signing me up, buying me a leotard, some ballet slippers, and a snazzy bag to carry all of my gear they dropped me off at my first class.  My memories of that class are hazy at best, but I remember lots of running around on my tiptoes and pretending to be a prima donna.  Even though this totally sounds like the sort of thing I would have LOVED at three, I didn't.  I hated it (apparently there was another Andrea in the class who was not as well-behaved as I was, when her mom would yell at her, I would cry because I thought this strange woman was yelling at me).  I think I made it 6 weeks.  I certainly did NOT make it to the recital.


I decided to give ballet another shot when I got to college.  "Short Courses" were offered through the University and covered everything from Beginner's Ballet to Wine and Beer Tasting.  I excitedly signed up for Beginner's Ballet - for $40 I got 8 classes that was supposed to cover all of the basics of ballet.  Even though I didn't buy a leotard, I did buy ballet slippers.  I was so excited.  I got to my first class a little early.  All of the other girls in my class had on nice dance clothes.  I got a little nervous.  The first thing we did was go around the circle to introduce ourselves, just the basics: name, year, dance experience.  Slowly we make it around the circle.  Girl after girl states her name, year, and dance experience - three years, four years, seven years, ten years.  Then its my turn.  I slowly mutter, "My name is Andrea, I'm a first year, and (rightly believing my short lived experience at 3 didn't count) I've had not dance experience."  The teacher assures me that this is fine since we'll all be working on the basics.  It wasn't.  Did you know you can be really bad at plieing?  Which is for all intents and purposes graceful squatting?  I stuck it out for a couple of weeks but once we started leaping (and I subsequently started regularly falling on my ass) my embarrassment got the best of me and I dropped out.  Again.  No recital for me.


I decided that was it for me and dance.


Then I tried Zumba.


The class I've been going to with Ginny is really popular (you have to call the day before to reserve your spot) and held in the gym at the YMCA.  Which I like because gym = no mirrors.  No mirrors = me not able to see how ridiculous I look while Zumbaing.  Ginny's fun and not judgmental, so even if she is laughing at me, I know its never mean.  We stand in the back where hardly anyone can see us (which is ideal since I think that I look like a cross between Foghorn Leghorn and a Leprechaun while doing Zumba).  So even though I am almost positive that I look like an idiot, there is a little part of me that thinks that I look just as beautiful and graceful as all of the Zumba-aholics.   


Last night's class was especially fun.  While I really liked the fact that I burned a butt ton of calories, I really really love the fact that we did Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance.  In case you live under a rock (like my dad apparently does, he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about) the little confident part of my brain thinks that I looked like Beyonce in this video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTibf0qIzw&NR=1


But I'm pretty sure that I look more like Andy Samberg in this one:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBC7pilGoPc