Happy Hallmark Day

I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day–it was an obnoxious holiday when I was single and now that I’m in a relationship it’s a holiday full of expectations. No thanks! Even though I’m not a fan of the naked cherub, I certainly wasn’t looking forward to spending it alone this year. That’s how it turned out, though. Michael had to go to Seattle finish up a big project for work that was started back in November. I made a bunch of plans with friends I don’t get to see as often as I’d like for the days he was gone and Michael and I celebrated Valentine’s Day on Wednesday instead.

On Wednesday after work we went to a new volunteer orientation for the Pixie Project. It’s a fantastic organization that my friend Nicole told us about. She’s a huge animal advocate and she thought it would be a good place for us to volunteer to get used to the idea of getting a dog.

Pixie Project is a non-profit animal shelter for dogs and cats, too. We signed up to be volunteer dog walkers! I think it will help us get comfortable around dogs, figure out what breed we are looking for and give us some experience. Also, I think it will be something fun Michael and I can do together.

Ironically, we went there to play with dogs and ended up playing with the kitties. They were all so adorable and playful. I don’t care how awful someone’s day or mood is, playing with cats will immediately fix that sour mood! This little guy below was super playful and was quite the jumper.

We did the orientation, which was short and to the point, and we’ll be able to sign up for our first session soon. I’m really really excited about being a dog walker! The director explained that the key to happy shelter dogs is lots of walks, playtime with humans and other dogs in the shelter. All the dogs get a playtime with their dog buddies every day and they get to go out on walks multiple times a day. During the orientation we saw one volunteer taking out all the dogs for the last walk of the evening, the “potty walk.” The parade of Chihuahuas,  black labs, golden retrievers, boxers and mutts through the orientation was hilarious. They were so happy to be going outside!

After the orientation, we went to Que Pasa–a fantastic Mexican restaurant that we’ve been to before. Michael had a soon-to-be-expiring groupon for it. At first I was apprehensive about going while on this “diet.” I mean, Mexican food is full of dairy! I scoured the menu and saw that I could order corn tortillas (gluten free) and I knew I could ask for them to leave off the cheese. So what to do order that’s cheese free?

I went with fajitas. Meat, veggies, rice, corn tortillas–sounds like it’s on the plan! I got guacamole as a substitute for the cheese and sour cream.

I think the refried beans were probably not on the plan–I vaguely remember reading that they might have dairy in them, but I did the best I could. We also got to sit in the back lounge and had it all to ourselves. It was really quiet and romantic and the perfect way to celebrate our valentine.

I had one drink with dinner and nursed it the whole evening. I got the Bloody Mary and asked for it to be spicy and boy it was!

I also tried Body Pump at the gym this week for the first time. I’ve wanted to try the class for over a year now. It came to my gym last January–complete with months of hype and advertisement–and thus the classes were always too full. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a fan of classes. It’s hard for me to get to the class and it’s usually scheduled at an inconvenient time for my life and routine. But this time I just happened to get there just in time for the class.

I was feeling blah about going to the gym Tuesday night. I didn’t really want to do anything, honestly. The previous week my knees had flared up (I think due to the orthopedic massage which I have since stopped doing) so I was taking it easy. The prospect of lifting weights for an hour and zero cardio didn’t appeal to me. But the class did!

It was just as packed as it’s been since Body Pump came to my gym but I found an empty spot in the back. Since it was my time trying it, I went light on the weights. I used 5 pound plates on the bar. I knew I could lift more than 10 pounds but I didn’t want to cripple myself the first time. Truthfully, on many of the weight machines I’m up to lifting 50-75 pounds depending on the muscle.

Even though 10 pounds was clearly too light for me, I stayed at that weight. And after you do about 30 repetitions of something, you can feel those 10 pounds! I did the routines and was able to keep up. I also got to learn the proper form for some moves (like the clean and press). There was definitely an advantage being in the back of the class.

The class involved a LOT of squatting. I took it easy and did about half of what the rest of the class was doing. When the rest of class switched to lunges I did bicep curls. Lunges are not on the menu for me right now.

I was sweaty by the end of class but not drenched like I was expecting to be. I’m sure if I hadn’t modified some of the moves I would be. I will definitely go back to Body Pump. It was fun and something different. I needed to change things up! And yes, I was sore for days!

Man, what a busy week! I am so glad it’s Friday and a long weekend!

QUESTION: Have you ever tried Body Pump or similar?