Ghrelin the Gremlin

So  I feel a little better today. Tonight will be round three for Hairspray auditions and seeing as how they hired me to be Assistant to the Choreographer I get to go to all of them and dance for a long time. It's so wonderful....

On a brighter note, this morning I found a great website: http://www.youbeauty.com
It's a wonderful place to learn about health and beauty, and I mean beauty as in healthy hair, healthy skin and exactly what hormones make us desire sweets! Apparently there is this hormone called ghrelin and I hope I'm spelling it right because my spell check told me to spell it like gremlin, which is not too far off. Ghrelin is a feisty chemical that is released into your stomach every 20 to 30 minutes telling your brain it's empty. However, sometimes it can be a bit too loud and messed up when we eat too much of the wrong foods.
Here is the gibber jabberish looking link where I found the article and it is a very interesting and informative one at that: http://www.youbeauty.com/nutrition/hunger-explained?gclid=CKjo5Omxxa4CFUJN4Aod9XI5TQ

       As for my gym adventures, yesterday I had the strong urge to go home and take a nice long nap after work because there was no dance due to all the snow. And, you know, it was just one of those days where it was wet and cold and the couch seemed more inviting than the weight machines. Yet, I figured that exercising and taking it easy was more productive than not going at all and I new that if I didn't go I would only be upset with myself later.
       In the end, it was better than I thought. While I did not burn as many calories on the bike nor did I do the weight machine which builds up my upper back and arms, I did the leg extensions and curls and sat on the bike. Now, the bike was the worst and by the time I was done on the weights I wanted to go home - seriously. I went on it anyway and just said to myself "Going slow and lazy is better than not going at all." So that's what I did. Soon, I had become accustom to the slowness and went a little faster gradually. By the time ten minutes rolled around, my blood was pumping, my adrenaline was running and I wound up going full throttle for twenty minutes. I did not stretch yesterday because I wanted to try something else....
      I am scared of doing front limbers in acrobatics class. I can certainly do them and if I am held for my first few I can go up and down the mats like crazy. Yet, sometimes I'm overly scared and I think my fright annoys me more than anything else. I think it is not the fact of going up and over, but the fact of being upside down. I'm scared of  landing on my head or my neck or just plain hurting myself. So, I spent the last fifteen minutes before I decided to cut my exercise short by a half hour to take a shower in the gym (I specifically packed for it and everything :D ) I decided to balance in a tripod and then in a head stand up against the wall. At first, even with the wall, I was frightened which only confirmed my assumption of being upside down. Then, I just balanced with my legs bent to my chest and my feet pointed towards the ceiling...and I came back down. Then I slowly brought my legs up - freaked out and came back down. Next step was "sitting" in the head stand for about five seconds. By the time I had to get in the shower, I was balancing on my head for a good five minutes, loving every minute of being upside down.
Now let's see if it will work for me again and I don't freak out!

Ha! Yeah right....but I can dream, can't I?

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 174lbs

To the Gym!

Meet my best friend.
Her name is Sasquabadalia.
If it were not for her I would despise the gym and call it an utterly boring place. 
However, with Sasqua clipped to my side, I can get into the music and forget about exercising...while I'm exercising. Especially when I'm on the bike, I stare out the window and fantasize while I listen music - whether it be a dance I'm choreographing or just a really intense song. With her I have exercised at the gym for an hour and a half and she made it feel like nothing at all.

It is amazing what the body can do when not paying attention.

So I went across the parking lot after work to the gym and for a half hour I went on two weight machines that when used in different ways it worked on my arms and upper/lower back. I did a weight that seemed effortless at first, but after 3 sets of 20 reps, they were aching. This helps with not only strength, but also endurance. I did the same thing for my legs on the leg extensions/leg curls machine. By 2:25 I was on the bike, pedaling away for twenty minutes, all the while Sasquabadalia was going through the music of Love Never Dies - the second Phantom musical only in London right now (which I pre-ordered the dvd that I won't get until May 28th, but that's besides the point). Before I knew it, I burned 164 calories on just the bike by 2:45. Then, I went into the aerobics room that has wall to wall mirrors like a dance room and started stretching for the next 45 minutes. By 3:30 my body was so warmed and stretched I was not only sitting in a kneeling back bend with my toes touching my head, but also in a split (only on my left side) with my back leg lifted and my toes touching my head (that would make such a great ring leap....).

 I like using the weights first because it warmed up all my muscles before I got on the bike. The bike made me even warmer and helped me to sweat. By the time I got to my favorite part - stretching - I was so warm that it seemed effortless and my flexibility exceeded.

On a dancing schedule I can only keep this three days a week, but this week I can go for four days straight....
Right now, Sasqua is charging. She needs to keep up her strength so I can too :)

Signing off....

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 171Lbs
Mood: A little hopeful