I wrote about being miserably sick and busy at work two weeks ago. After a day off on Friday and a restful weekend, I was totally back to normal though – and thankfully, so was my workload at work!

The past week or so has been full of some good workouts:
Sunday: Local Barre (5:30 pm, 60 min) – Dragged myself out of bed (which I had not left for a good two days) for this and it was worth it!
Monday: Local Barre (5:45 pm, 60 min) – One of my less memorable workouts this week, though I remember struggling a bit since I’d taken most of the week before off.
Tuesday: Revolve Rip Ride (7:30 pm, 60 min) – My first time taking this class and I loved it! Great upper body workout too, which I don’t usually expect in a spin class.
Wednesday: SLT Megaformer (5:30 pm, 50 min) – Another first-time workout for me. It was really hard but a lot of fun! My abs and obliques were feeling the burn the next day.
Thursday: Flybarre (5:45 pm, 60 min) – Not my first barre class, but my first at Flywheel. They switch things up and hm the class overall was harder than what I’m used to. A lot of fun and I really loved the instructor!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Flybarre (1:15 pm, 60 min) – I wanted to double up on classes on Saturday, but I had to cancel my planned classes since I didn’t know what conditions would be like after Nemo. I ended up going to Flybarre for an afternoon class and tried a different instructor this time. She was more laidback than the first but the class was still killer. I especially love Flybarre’s arm series.
Sunday: Refine Method (12 pm, 60 min) & Flybarre (5:15 pm, 60 min) – Finally got around to trying Refine for the first time with Dori! I expected it to be more similar to my barre classes, but it’s really different with a lot more cardio and strength. No complaints here because it was a fun mix with a great instructor! And I went back to Flybarre for another class, which my inner thighs and glutes are seriously feeling today. I wore my new heart rate monitor for the first time at both classes and was happy to see that I burned over 900 calories between the two. Love my double-up days!

As you can see, I tried a lot of new things this week! I’ve been wanting to get out of my Local Barre comfort zone for a while and I’m so glad I did because I loved everything new that I tried and it made me feel challenged in a whole new way. I’m especially loving Flybarre since it’s something new but still in my barre comfort zone. I’m also really excited about Refine and getting back into spinning at Revolve – both are really fun and great ways for me to get in some cardio without running. This week, I’m planning to get in a good mix of Revolve, Flybarre, and Refine.

Speaking of running, I went back to my orthopedist about my snapping hip last Wednesday. She agreed that it doesn’t seem like the topical cream is working and wanted to give me a shot. I’m not big on shots or the idea of putting chemicals into my body though, so in the end, we settled on doing an ultrasound on the hip and starting physical therapy. I’m getting the ultrasound done this Thursday and starting physical therapy next Tuesday. In the meantime, I’m fine to continue my usual fitness regimen as long as it doesn’t cause pain in my hip – which it hasn’t up so far. So good news overall!

Oh and for my fellow Asians out there – happy Chinese New Year! I didn’t do much to celebrate since I couldn’t make it home for the weekend, but I did celebrate in another way! According to superstition, since this is the year of the snake and my Chinese zodiac symbol is the snake, I should wear red for the entire year to ward off bad luck. So I bought myself a cute little ring with a lab-grown ruby. Another something new! It’s good luck, right?

It seems like my bursts of work busyness ALWAYS seem to come at a bad time.

Case in point, this week I’ve been tasked with working with senior management on an important strategy deck that’s due this Friday. Normally, I really wouldn’t complain at all about having to work hard and stay late for this type of thing. I’m good at these kind of things and I recognize the importance of getting exposure to your senior management in your first few years of work.

It’s kind of a different story this time though. I woke up with a seriously sore throat yesterday morning, which morphed into a full-blown cold by the time I woke up this morning. I’d had plans to go Revolve’s Rip Ride with Kira after work today, but decided earlier in the day that I’d just have to cancel so I could go home and rest up. But rest and my warm bed wasn’t in the cards tonight… Instead, I ended up getting stuck at work until 8:30 for a meeting for my new project.

I don’t mean to complain with this post. Really, I just want to remind myself that I need to work on this work-life balance thing and making sure I get enough “me time” in a week. “Me time” is important to me. All of my friends know that it’s a priority. I can’t totally blame work for the lack of “me time” either. I mean, just look at the last week or so when things were slower at work:

Sunday: Local Barre (5:30 pm)
Monday: Local Barre (5:45 pm)
Tuesday: GoRow (6:30 pm) & Local Barre (8:15 pm)
Wednesday: Local Barre (7:15 pm)
Thursday: Revolve Real Ride (7 am)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Revolve Body Ride (8:30 am) & Local Barre (10:15 am)
Sunday: Local Barre (10 am)
Monday: Local Barre (7:45 pm)
Tuesday: Rest

That doesn’t leave a lot of “me time” on the weekdays. So anyway, while I would love it if I could manage to work my usual hours in a day, work out, and still have “me time” in the evening, it’s just not realistic. I need to work on treating myself a little better.

Anyway, switching gears now. One of my favorite ways to treat myself is with good food! On Sunday, my parents and aunt met me in the city to see Chicago and get dinner afterward. We ended up going to New Wonjo in Koreatown and it was amazing! It’s the perfect cuisine for cold winter day!

Let’s take a better look at the table!

Dduk boki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes)

Sundubu Jjigae (spicy soft tofu soup with kimchi)

Bibim Bop (rice with ground beef and vegetables)

Galbi Jjim (boiled marinated prime short ribs and vegetables)

Anyway, that’s more than enough of my introspective self-indulgence for this blog. Nyquil always makes things interesting…

I’d have a lot of reasons for feeling annoyed about today if I wanted to: a frustrating day at work, the ridiculously cold weather, not being able to meet with my mentee this week, being generally behind on a few things, and so on. Normally, all these things would drive me insane but amazingly, they don’t today.

As cheesy as this sounds, I’m on a fitness high. Ah, endorphins. It’s true what they say about you and your magic.

Let’s back it up so I can tell the whole story. I had plans after work today to try Go Row with a coworker since we bought a LivingSocial deal for it last week. It’s a rowing based class in Hoboken that also mixes in some strength training. Rowing’s not my favorite exercise but it’s a great way to get in some cardio without putting pressure on the hips so I thought it’d be a good option.

I’ll admit that I probably could have challenged myself by going a little heavier with the weights, but even so, it was a good full-body workout that made me sweat. It also made it abundantly obvious that I need to do more cardio! The strength intervals were comfortable for me, but the rowing sprints were a lot harder. Overall, it was really fun though and I’m looking forward to going back.

Afterward I felt like I still needed a little something more – maybe because I didn’t work myself to exhaustion during the strength circuits. I ended up going to the 8:15 Local Barre class to close out the night and it was an awesome decision! My favorite instructor (whose class I haven’t been able to take for two weeks or so now) was teaching and the class was tiny with only four people in it. I love having all that space. And the cardio-toning combination is stellar. I need to do this more!

So, yeah. Endorphin-induced fitness high. Embrace the cheesiness.

One of these things is not like the others…
Sunday: Local Barre
Monday: Local Barre
Tuesday: Local Barre
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Local Barre
Saturday: Core Fusion Barre

See it?

I mentioned in my last post that I’m kind of obsessed with Local Barre in Hoboken lately. Well, yesterday I had plans to go and even though I woke up early enough to make their morning classes, I was being lazy and it just wasn’t going to happen. Instead I decided to try one of Exhale’s afternoon Core Fusion Barre classes.

It actually worked out perfectly because I’ve been curious about other studios’ interpretations of the Lotte Berk method compared to Local Barre’s anyway. There are about ten or so different studios in the city that offer barre classes and Exhale is one of the more popular ones.

I found Exhale’s class to be pretty similar to Local Barre’s, though not as challenging overall. I did get that signature barre burn a few times, but most of the sprints were shorter than I’m used to and didn’t feel that hard, especially the thigh section. Exhale’s glute section is a lot different from Local Barre’s in that we did most of it while sitting on the floor. The ab section was different too and I just didn’t get it. Maybe I wasn’t doing it right but it felt awkward and didn’t burn at all. I remember having some trouble with the movements at my first few Local Barre classes too, so it could just be that I need more time at Exhale to get the hang of their methods.

That being said, my arms are a little sore today, especially my triceps. Yay! No complaints at all here – in my opinion, there’s nothing like some muscle soreness to let you know you worked hard! I didn’t feel that the arms section was that hard but something the instructor was doing was clearly working. Their Core Fusion series also includes cardio, sports, and yoga classes, which I’d like to try even though it’s a bit of trek for me (especially compared to Local Barre).

Oh and another benefit of going to Exhale? I was in the city and passed about a million chopped salad places on my way back to the PATH. Mmmm. I really love these make-your-own-salad type places… I wish there was one closer to me. I had a magnificent mix of mesclun, avocado, cherry tomatoes, craisins, bleu cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

And going back to the theme of switching it up, you’ll notice my blog looks a lot different. It’s had a major facelift! Let me know what you think.