Posted By hiromi on August 29, 2012 in Thoughts on life |
I am not a health and fitness expert so I’m not going to attempt to talk about the science behind overtraining. I’m just going to tell you what happened to me. I began going to the gym seriously 2+ years ago after a 8 year break. During that time, I gained more and more weight and my blood pressure shot up. I finally adjusted my diet and began exercising in an attempt to stay off the blood pressure medication. I joined a very nice local gym which had just opened. It is a gym that specialises in MMA training. I don’t have any interest in fighting but I really liked the conditioning classes and so I began. Of course the classes were super tough but because it was a brand new gym, there weren’t that many people yet so I managed to keep up. Before you know it, I was stronger and fitter and I began to increase the number of classes I was taking. I could handle it, I thought and at a peak I was taking 8 classes a week. I loved the fact that I could do all those classes and keep up.
In between, I would take 3 week breaks here and there since I didn’t train when I went home to Tokyo and I had cataract surgery and had to stop for almost 4 weeks. I noticed when I came back, I was stronger. I thought it was strange and there were people at the gym who would suggest that it was a sign my body needed rest. Well, I just had three weeks off, that should be enough rest.
Then I took my annual summer holiday with my family. Since it is a holiday involving my entire family, I treat myself to a personal trainer to keep the stress levels down. I was chatting with him about my routine at home and he said to me, “that’s just a lot of stress on your central nervous system” a sentiment that was echoed on a programme I listened to on London Real TV. I also noticed that while I was away and training 3 times a week, I felt great and lost weight. So finally I began thinking about how much I was doing and came to the conclusion it was too much.
Since I’ve been home, I have added one more day off so now I go to the gym 4 times a week and do 5 classes and you know, I feel so much better and stronger when I go to class. I can go all out during the classes knowing that I have the next day to rest and recover. Maybe you know these things when you’ve been involved in sports your whole life. I never was, so it never occurred to me that you could do too much exercise. But as with everything else, it doesn’t matter what anyone says if you’re not ready to hear it. I’m glad I was ready before I did any real damage.
Posted By hiromi on August 7, 2012 in Thoughts on life |
It’s been so long, I’d nearly forgotten that I have a blog that I used to write pretty regularly. Life has been extremely busy and I haven’t had any time for introspection let alone writing anything down. I think that’s one of the hazards of having a blog that you write when you feel like it. Maybe it should be themed, I’ll have to think about that.
Anyway, for a quick recap on what’s been happening since my last post, I’m still juggling my cooking and nut business and have signed up to do my first trade show. I did a show last year with my distributor, but this time it’s all on me. I signed up for it without thinking that much about it as usual and have discovered that there are a million details to keep track of, many e mails to read through, forms to fill out etc. I want a minion but only if he looks like this. 
But I digress. I went away on my annual summer holiday with the family. It was a nice holiday but also a bit of a reality check to discover how old and frail my dad is getting. He never recovered from his heart surgery 18 months ago and the doctors think he had a stroke during surgery. It is so sad to see him struggle with everyday tasks and for him to be bewildered and confused. This was a man who was up until the time of surgery, as sharp as a tack and still travelling domestically by himself. I’m trying hard to see the positive in this and failing. It’s not fair and it sucks.
On a happier note, my kids really pitched in and helped out during the holiday, I don’t think I could have done it if without them. My 80 year old mother, who can barely use a mobile and had absolutely no interest in the computer has gotten herself an iPad. My sister and I each have one and she discovered that she could do things with them. So she went out and got one and we installed Skype on it. I wish I had taped her introduction to Skype, it was a classic. She couldn’t believe she could see me (I was in a different room skyping her) and talk to me. She woke my dad up who was napping on the couch to show him what she could do. I just hope she remembers when she gets home. She’s had no trouble accessing the games we downloaded for her, but the internet remains a bit of a mystery. I think you should be able to relabel the icons so instead of Safari, I could just label it internet, what does she know from Safari?
Where was the hubby in all of this? He has been in New York on a consulting gig. He did a whirlwind visit on our holiday but really I haven’t seen him since he went away at the end of May. As this is likely to continue for some time I am planning a visit out to see him. It’s been a wonderful experience for him, catching up with friends and living again in the city that he loves.
Now that I’ve written it down, it doesn’t sound like I’ve done much, but I swear I’ve been really busy. I must get back to it now, I have more arrangements to make for the show and I need to place orders to get my Christmas products in place.
I’ll try not to let another 3 months go by, talk soon.
Posted By hiromi on July 31, 2010 in Thoughts on life |
Every year, my family meets up in Hawaii. We have been getting together like this probably for the better part of 20 years. My kids have gotten to know their cousins even though we have never lived close by. My parents get to see all the grand kids at the same time and I get to spend time in a place I love. I have also had the pleasure of seeing my nephews grow up into thoughtful, funny people who are also great athletes.
When I was younger and the kids were little, the entire vacation was spent “doing”. We’d have activities for the kids, pool, beach, museum, something to keep them occupied as well as the futile attempts to get them to nap. My parents were younger too so came with us on a lot of the outings. Then everyone got a little older and the pace slowed, there was less activity, kids wanted to sleep all the time and my parents wanted to sit more.
I think this year, we may have entered a new phase. The kids are grown ups now, capable of doing things on their own and familiar enough with the city that I don’t worry. Their cousin drives too, which adds a whole new dimension to their activity.
For me, it’s been a welcome change from the extremely hectic life I lead at home. There’s nothing to do but hang out and enjoy my family. Of course it is a multi generational family vacation, there are tensions and a fair amount of negotiating and coordinating before things happen, but I think our days of getting together like this are numbered as the children begin their lives away from us and my parents become less mobile.
So I grab a little me time before anyone wakes up and go walking on the beach. Then the rest of the day unfolds in a leisurely fashion, where does the time go? Before you know it, it will be time to go home and resume my life. I hope to remember with gratitude the warmth, fun and aggravation that is my family.
Posted By hiromi on July 19, 2010 in Thoughts on life |
I have been wanting to consolidate my cooking and blogging under one roof for awhile now. It was also recommended that I buy my own domain and pay for hosting. That was the easy part. So now what? I managed to get my posts moved over, come up with some tabs, decided there should be a tab on translating as long as I’m at it, then the problems started. It turns out that if you have a non methodical mind, these things are very hard to comprehend, let alone navigate. Who said this blogging software was easy and anyone could do it? I couldn’t figure out how to add photos, I could upload them, but the same stupid tree that came with the template just wouldn’t leave. And that was just the beginning.
So I decided that I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay someone. Now for those of you who’ve read my Scammed Again post know that paying people online has not worked out that well for me lately. So an anxious few days ensued when I realized that I was going to have to pay this so far very reasonable and friendly person my internet budget. It seems to have worked out, and I think we are on our way.
What this whole exercise has made me realize is that I am heading towards branding myself. Now, I’ve heard all that talk about personal branding and I always thought it was hooey. But, now it is starting to make sense to bring all the different things together under one label. Maybe there should be a tab for Dress for Success? I have volunteered there for 4 years and it is very much a part of my life. While I don’t think that I need to share my entire life with the internet world, maybe there’s information that I can share which would be of actual interest to people.
I’m planning to give it some thought over my holiday and hopefully come up with some decent content. I need to work out a schedule for my autumn classes and maybe even do a bit of marketing.
My next post will probably be about what a relaxing time I’m having. Fingers crossed.
Oh, by the way, I just signed up to participate in the second Underground Gourmet farmer’s market. in September. I will be doing a demonstration and potentially selling some stuff. I think I took a monumental step doing this, but as with most of my decisions, I didn’t think that much about it, it felt right. So I hope everything comes together, I’m not sure I have any time to be lounging around on the beach.
