Gym Wear

When you join the gym you need to invest in some gym clothes in which you’ll feel comfortable in. When I joined (exactly three months ago) I put on my clothes I’ve been wearing for years (long sweat pants, some top) and knew right away, I don’t feel good in those. So, the first thing I did is go to my local sports store and get some new pants.

Pants

I wanted tight pants which go just over your knee. For girls it’s ok to wear pants like that, for men… maybe not so much.
I grabbed 15 pairs of pants from a lot of diffferent companies and one pair fit. So you need to bring patience and time to the store. The Puma pants were my first, then I decided I need more!
Gym Pants

  1. Summer Gym Pants
    It’s hot in the summer, well, it can be hot. Make sure you own more than one pair, you’ll need more if you go to the gym regularly. And if it’s super hot, buy and wear shorts. Be sure to buy shorts with “built-in-panties” or, if you don’t have shorts with “built-in-panties”, be sure to buy some hot-pants to wear underneath. Nobody wants to see your private parts when you lie on your back and stretch your legs apart (I’m talking out of experience here! Did that mistake once and never again 🙂 ).
  2. Winter Gym Pants
    Buy those if needed. It’s always good to have one long pair. I don’t sweat too much when I’m lifting weights, so that’s where I would wear the long pants if it’s cold outside.

Tops

I used to wear a regular t-shirt and my regular bra to the gym in the beginning which turned out not be a great idea. I don’t like tops with sleeves at the gym and you could see too much boob with my regular bra. I remember, my last gym wouldn’t allow sleeveless tops, so be careful with that. Anyway, I’m a fan or tank-tops – colorful tops!
gym tops
I prefer tight and longer tops, so Under Armour is the best company for me. I also have two tops which are a bit wider around the belly, I wear those in the winter 🙂

Sport Bras

Pretty much the same scenario with the bras like with the pants and tops – you need to try on a lot before you know which one is right for you.
For me, the model “12-year-old-girl-whos-just-groing-boobs” seemed best for me 🙂 I actually wanted black but neon was the only color available.
gymwear bra adidas
At first I looked for tops with a built-in bra but I didn’t really like them (too short, too big, too small, too ugly) so the option sport-bra and normal sport-top seemed the better and easier (and also cheaper) one.

The shoes

Honestly, I didn’t need new shoes, I have enough Chucks and Asics and Adidas I could have worn. I also own a pair of Nike running shoes which I bought around six years ago. I still wear the Nike to go jogging through the woods, so, when it’s wet outside you can imagine what they look like. And I’m too lazy to clean them, so there, my excuse to buy new shoes just for the gym. I actually bought shoes I liked – I didn’t look at the model (if they are for running or training or cross or whatsoever), I just browsed the internet for shoes I liked. And voila!
gymwear shoes under armour
I really like them, they are comfortable and stable (they are running shoes) and I’m happy with them. I only wear them at the gym so I don’t have to clean them before I put them on. Don’t forget to buy a couple of short socks to go with them – wearing normal socks you’d wear to work etc. doesn’t look good.

What’s in my Gym Bag

Other than the membership card my gym-bag (I just use a backpack) contains
gym bag
The most important thing in my gym bag is probably the drinking bottle, followed by the gym towel. My pulse watch I normally only wear when I do cardio, I bought it for jogging because there’s where I need it. At the gym I mainly use it to see how many calories I’ve lost. Now I also always take my shower stuff with me. I bought some little bottles of shampoo and lotion and cream. I didn’t shower at the gym at the beginning but after you experience an hour of cardio training at 30+ degrees Celsius outside, where you’re not able to stop sweating, there’s nothing better than to jump into the shower right after. It’s not a nice feeling to put on your normal clothes when you’re dripping of sweat all over.

Now I’m addicted on buying gym clothing. My wishlist contains a new pair of running shoes (because they’re so pretty), more Under Armour tops and a GPS watch. I didn’t buy all the clothing at once. At first I thought it’s enough to own one pair of short pants and only one bra and maybe two tops. But, especially now in the hot summer, you’re really grateful if you don’t have to wash your clothes all the time.

Vacation ahead

schatzi_vacation
Oh yeah! I can’t wait to be at the beach, surf a few waves, have sunshine and warm weather. After all the rain and coldness here I’m really really looking forward to this vacation!

A few days ago I had my first strength measurement. I gained a few kilos of strenght almost at every machine

  1. row: May 11: 29,4kg – Jun 28: 29,4kg = +0 kg 🙁
  2. ab crunch: May 11: 22,7kg – Jun 28: 26,7kg = +4 kg
  3. leg curl: May 11: 21,1kg – Jun 28: 29,4kg = +8,3 kg
  4. chest press: May 11: 23,9kg – Jun 28: 27,3kg = +3,4 kg
  5. back extension: May 11: 31kg – Jun 28: 44,3kg = +13,3 kg
  6. leg extension: May 11: 22,9kg – Jun 28: 32,3kg = +9,4 kg
  7. lat pull: May 11: 26kg – Jun 28: 32,7kg = +6,7 kg
  8. glutaeus: May 11: 16,4kg – Jun 28: 29,1kg = +12,7 kg

How motivating is that to see how you gain muscle?! VERY! I’m kinda happy with my first milestone I set myself, of course my belly fat is still there but I’m pretty sure it will take me months to get rid of that (IF I get rid of it).
I did reach most of the goals I set though:
My goals for each week:

  • work out at least 3 times during the week check – mon/tue/thu are my work-out days
  • work out 1 or 2 times on the weekend check
  • cut down on sweets – not sure if I can check this 😉
  • on sundays, go to the gym in the morning before (the big) breakfast check – if I have nothing else planned
  • don’t pig out on weekends check
  • ride the bike to work as often as possible the days it didn’t rain and where it wasn’t freezing cold I took the bike
  • get informed about interval training and pre-/post-workout foods – need to check on the foods
  • in the strength circuit, increase weight every week or every two weeks increased
  • at the gym after a working day, try to lose all the calories I’ve eaten up until the workout – nope, not possible when I only do strength training

I might take my running shoes and thera-bands with on vacation, maybe.

Just a random dinner post

Why do so many bloggers post their dinner? Maybe to have something to blog about, I don’t know.
Here’s our dinner we had tonight
Dinner @ Schatzi
Quinoa with Gnocchi (made in butter with sunflower and pumpkin seeds) and green asaparagus made in olive oil with garlic and onions. And herbs and spices. It was very yummy and the lover was proud he ate a dinner without meat.

Last week was a very hot one. Around 35° Celsius Monday to Thursday. At the gym I only made my strength circuit and on Friday I made some barbell training. Cardio I made by riding my bike to work every day (35km) or going jogging, although it was soo hot I didn’t even go jogging. It’s cooler now, it’s raining every now and again and it’s 20° Celsius colder than last week. I’ll go to the gym tomorrow morning again for a few hours. Can’t wait 🙂
schatzi gym

Gym Day #9

  • 18:00 – 18:50: Body Pump (Bench Press, Pullover, Upright Row, Military Press, Biceps Curl, Triceps Extension, Good Morning, Deadlift, Squat) – http://www.barbell-exercises.com
  • 19:00 – 19:24: Circle Training (strength circuit)
  • 19:30 – 19:50: Treadmill HIIT

Calories lost: 616
And here’s my dinner for tonight
schatzi_dinner1

Happy May 2013

Things I have planned for this month:

  • Celebrate my sister’s birthday
  • Book our summer vacation
  • join the gym (test it before)
  • go to the gym regularly
  • buy a new bike helmet, not so happy with the current one

That’s pretty much it. And hopefully finally wear shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops and not long jeans, Chucks, sweaters, jackets, umbrellas… but, next week it should rain every day.
At least I got my balcony all pretty and it makes me happy 🙂
balcony

Bye Bye (much too) long hair!

I decided, that when my diagnosis of the clump in my breast is negative – meaning it’s a good clump and not cancer – I’ll get my hair cut and donate it to women who’ve been diagnosed with cancer.

I like having long hair – I’ve had it long for the last 4 years, but I’m sometimes also annoyed of it because it’s just much too long at times. Donating my hair seemed like a great idea and after I found out that there are a few organisations who take your cut-off hair and use it to make wigs I couldn’t wait to get my hair cut.

Hair Donation Before
Hair Donation – The before shot: the left image shows my daily hairstyle

So I did some research on where to donate and until yesterday I was sure to donate it to “Locks of Love“.
I actually wanted to donate to women my age who are diagnosed with cancer but didn’t find anything and L.o.L. seems like a nice organization. L.o.L. take donations for kids who mainly suffer from “Alopecia Areata” and not cancer, which I’d be ok with, seeing it’s terrible for kids to not have hair in any way.

I called my hairdresser on wednesday and my lovely stylist squeezed me in today at 3:30pm

Pantene Beautiful LengthsYesterday I did some more research and after reading a lot (also a NY Times article) and mainly after clicking following link: American Cancer Society I’ve decided to donate to “Pantene Beautiful Lengths” instead, although I was a bit sceptical at first to donate to such a known and big company – I never trust big companies ;).

But, there are a lot of points which made me feel very confident about Pantene:

  • the wigs go to the American Cancer Society
  • PBL supports women who have lost their hair through any types of cancer
  • The women get the wigs for free

Here’s the Pantene WP blog.

So, here’s my journey…
At the hairdresser:

Hair donation - before and after (ugh the natural wave)
Hair donation – before and after (ugh the natural wave – but also from the hair tie)

I washed my hair this morning at home so my stylist cut it dry. I told her the lenght I’d like to have my “new” hair (about 1-2cm beneath my collarbone) so she cut a little further down so that she has about 2cm left to style my hair. I feel so good now and I can’t wait to send it out to the States on monday 🙂

Hair Donation - before and after - the after shot - I need to wash my hair again tomorrow and dry it to get it nice and straight
Hair Donation – the after shot – I need to wash my hair again tomorrow and dry it to get it nice and straight

It’s amazing, I actually was worried to get 21cm and still keep the length I want, but a great 31cm (around 12 inches) long ponytail was cut , I never thought it would be so long. I’m very happy now 😀
Pantene Beautiful Lengths Logo

I’ve found following organisations to donate hair to: