Something about a dungy basement just makes you feel badass

Well I am home on Long Island for the weekend to do a face painting party. It went surprisingly very well, made over $100 for an hour! It's crazy how much people pay me to paint little faces.

Anyways, while I was home, I did my workout in Steve's Uncles basement which is the most badass lifting gym ever. It's covered in dust, has no windows and there's just weights and equipment everywhere. I didn't go there planning to workout and then just ended up testing my deadlift max. I worked up to 185 lbs. which was I guess a big deal. I felt surprisingly too calm and relaxed for the day and wasn't pumped at all. I attempted 200 lbs and I failed, but that will just have to be my goal now. It was exhausting, I wanted to go to sleep afterwards. I ended up coming home and eating a whole buttload of chocolate cake that my Mom made. (Relax, I ate a very delicious and wholesome meal of sausage and peppers before the cake) Good thing I'm not weightlifting to lose weight!

Actually, now that I am starting to get into jiu jitsu, I am really trying my best to refine my diet and work out harder and more often. I ran this morning and did some body weight exercises just to get my body moving. I want to eat as pure as possible and get as strong as possible. I want to be a lean, mean fighting machine. I'd really love to take a boxing class but I can't find one in the area (and I can't afford it.) My main motivation right now is this girl that's been coming to the jiu jitsu class every Wednesday. We're both starting basically at the same time and she's freakin' better than me. I think I have a little bit more background knowledge but she has the physical drive. Im feeling very competitive lately and really just want to be better than her. Thats all I care about!

I think I'm picking up too many hobbies...

So the title of this entry basically sums up how I am feeling right now. As if my intense "professional semester" at New Paltz wasn't enough work, I joined a club (The Future Teachers of America) and also started a club (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). So now am I not only doing school observations, taking all these classes, doing heavy lifting, climbing, but now I am also trying to get into jiu jitsu. It's really not to fair to say that I've been climbing though because I may climb for a total of half an hour every week haha but I want to start climbing more. Now that jiu jitsu is in the picture, I'm trying to set the goal of getting a blue belt by the time that I graduate. Maybe that is an unrealistic goal for now, considering I really can't even hold my own against any one! But I need to set goals like that to keep me motivated. There is another girl in the class who is about my size and she's progressing faster than me already and it frustrates me. I guess I'm just not a visual learner, I just don't get it when I see something demonstrated. It is just so difficult for me. And it's embarrassing because people seem to get irritated when trying to teach me something physical. And then there's the classic Steve saying that, "I don't try." Which has to be the most annoying thing ever, he says that about everything. I don't know anyone that tries harder at me. I have so much on my plate and I do it all and with a smile! I'll show him!

So I really need to start lifting more frequently and doing jiu jitsu more often. It is hard to keep up with the jiu jitsu because you have to do it with someone else! At least the lifting I can go off and do on my own. Tomorrow after volunteering at Lenape Elementary School, I am going to the gym and gonna bust my butt! No girl will be stronger than me, at least not at my college. Because I WILL SQUASH HER! AHHHhh!

School, workout, eat, repeat.

This semester has been completely insane. It's been a while since I've logged my workouts and school is completely at blame for that. I am not taking a lot of classes, but I'm taking a lot of credits if that makes any sense. One course taught entirely in Spanish and two six-credit education courses. I can't really tell which one is harder yet, but their both incredibly difficult and make my brain throb by the end of the day. Therefore, I've still been working out 3x a week, just not writing down what I do. I'm in teacher mode since school started and all I can think about is kids, kids, kids!

Anyways, I have off today and decided to take a break from crazy kids and head to the gym. I pushed myself harder today than any other day. Adding weight to my squats and deadlifts and adding a new workout - dumbell lunges!

Here's how it went:

Squat
5 x 5 - 85 lbs

Deads
5 x 5 - 125

Pull ups
3 x 3

Push up singles starting from ground
6 x 1

Walking Lunges
10 lbs. - 10 each leg
20 lbs. - 10 each leg

and WOW! My cheeks are already sore from today's workout, but I feel fantastic. I've also been training a little bit of jiu jitsu here and there and hope to get more serious with that. My lifetime goal of getting my blue belt needs to have some work!

Anyways, time for a big old salad and some rest.

~Stick Legs (but not for long!)