Yes, I can!

Since I registered to this other fitness club two weeks ago, I had not had the time to take an appointment with a coach to adapt the program that had been made for me by a coach of my fitness club (that closed for unpaid rents) to the muscle-building machines there.

Leaving work at 6pm, I arrived there at 6:45pm on time for whether Body Pump, Body Attack or Aqua Slim, what only left me the possibility to attend the Body Attack course that does not require any equipment preparation or swimsuit. This a 100% cardio course! It gives you a great energy! I was meeting Philippe, the coach, at 8pm at the end of the course. When I saw him arriving, I puzzled by his physical appearance, bold, all muscle-build on the upper part of his body, with big arms and everything, with muscled but thin shaved legs and big colored tatoo on his left arm... and a strong voice!

The appointment was really worth it, he talked a lot about food, where to find proteins - because you strongly need them when you are working on muscle building your body - what to avoid, etc. Advice that had never been given to me and then he showed me how to use all the machines I would need for my personal training. It lasted about 45 minutes!

The girl coach I had met at my former fitness club had just given me some advice about 3 machines. He explained me how to use between 10 to 15 machines (apart from the cardio ones)! He took my email address and later in the evening, sent me my personal training program with advice notes about muscle-building, diet, etc. and assured me that, if I follow this program, I will have the results expected and be ready for the big day. I hope so!

Finally, going to thisa new fitness club has some advantages, I will maybe be better prepared with this program, he sensed my motivation (good!) and that I was surely the kind of girl that could do it! That is a nice thing to hear.

The only incovenient of this special diet is that for the month to come I will have to eat again chicken, I do not like that but I will need that source of protein (I am absolutely not going to eat again any other kind of meat!), eat lots and lots of eggs, almost every day, prefer five meals to the regular three and be sure to have proteins in each one. Well, let's go!

Xena welcomes Kiwi!

Long-awaited for more than a year, here she is!!! My first vehicle and my first moto!

As I said in a previous post, this is kind of a purchase that costs (a lot) but, what is the use of savings if keeping them in your accounts...

On Friday, I went to see it at the moto dealer, loved it, it is a second-hand but has been almost completely repaired after an accident. So, she is kind of brand new! And I like the digital mileage so you know exactly your speed (damn radars!) but it also provides you the time! How convenient because while driving a motorcycle, you cannot really look at your watch, can you?! lol

I let a deposit and came back to take her yesterday afternoon with a moto pal because I did not want to drive by myself for the first time after so long. All the administrative paperwork took an hour and a half but then it was finally time for me to leave with my new friend!

All the reflexes came back instantly! I was not very comfortable with the trafic and the assholes than do not care about you but I will practice and drive more in the city trafic to get used to it again, we took the périphérique and then a little part of the motorway, drove until St Germain en Laye, stopped on the way back to my town for me to put gas in the moto and then my moto pal left me to head back to where he leaves and I went home too, parked the moto on its private parking place and walked the few meters to go home.

I had forgotten that people often turn their head when they realize your a girl riding a motorcycle or wearing moto outfit and helmet! lol

I am eager to take my little friend out again!

Gone with the Wind

I was in lack of inspiration this week to write on the blog but, unfortunately, what happenned this morning could not be untold about.

I arrived at the fitness club this morning and the door was closed and locked. I was really surprised and wondered what could be the problem. I quickly kind of understood when I saw that official paper that said something that the club was closed because of a judicial procedure! In the following minutes, other members continued to arrive and some of them were kind of aware of what was going on. The club has been closed by bailiffs since Thursday morning and it would be due to unpaid rents amongst other reasons. This means that the club is not ready to reopen soon, the procedure could last for months or years! But whatever the time it will last, I WANT TO SEE MY MONEY BACK sons of a b***.

Like many other people, I paid with several checks and the 4th and last one was cashed a few days ago! So now, my money is gone and so is the one of many other members, some of them had paid for a 2-year membership and some others had been proposed to pay in cash and have a 30% discount, what an odd procedure! Cash is so untraceable and can directly go into the manager's pockets!

You cannot imagine how pissed I was and still am! And as I cannot stay without doing a sportive activity and intensive training because I am preparing myself for some selections to enter a specific job, I need to train regularly if I do not want to fail on the sportive tests!

I called my mom to let her know because I was shocked and scared because I do not have lots of money right now and with all this money gone, it would hard to pay for another membership so she reassured me and she will help me pay for a new one in another club.

So right away when I got back home, I looked on Internet for the closest clubs and decided to go and see the Club Med Gym of La Défense, it is about 20 minutes by bus, so not very practical but as I do not have a car here, it is the closest one. I am usually not fond of chains but I would be too scared to register to another independent fitness club now that this thing happenned.

I visited the place and it is very big and nice, with many cardio machines (about 20 treadmills compared to the only 2 of my beloved fitness club), a sauna, a hammam, two courses rooms, a cycling room and a swimming pool. It is open from 7am to 9:30pm! (the fitness club of my town was open from 10am only to 9pm). I registered for a trimester because it is cheaper in the end than monthly and I will see how it goes in June.

I am still mad at those people but I need to focus on my training and will put all my energy in that, I will have lost a week of training with all this and will lose some time having to go further away now on the new fitness club but cannot do differently... so let's move!

You only live ones!

Last year when I started this blog, I was a freshly new motorcycle driver!

It has been a year since I has been waiting to be able to afford the buying of a moto but also the insurance, the gas, the renting of a car park place, etc. as I did not have any fixed job or salary.

Right now, even if I have been working as a temp salesperson, which means that I do not have a important salary, I have helps to pay the rent of my apartment but also live so I decided to please myself and buy a motorcycle! As we say "one only lives ones!".

It may be hard to live comfortably for the next few months but I have been used to that already and do not spend money of silly things, do not go out or buy lost of extra besides paying the bills and go to the supermarket and eat well. So let's do it!

This past weekend, I made some calculus between what I earn in total and what I spend each month and what will cost the moto with all the spendings aside.
- I have enough money to buy a nice a secondhand moto (my maximum budget is 4000 euros).

- My mom will offer me the first year of insurance (approximatly 1000 euros, I have made online quotations and will now call two of them to have more details and chose of of the two).

- As I live downtown, I do not have any room to park a vehicule so I have looked online for a car park place to rent ( a private garage is too expensive!) and will finally take a subcription in one of the nearest public car park of where I live (it is 5 min away on foot, is closed at night and only people who registered and have an electronic key can have access to the car park and thus their vehicule, it costs 45 euros a month for a moto and is cheaper than what I found through private renting).

- Then I will just need to buy a second helmet for any person who would want to ride with me, a anti-theft device and be ready to wait half a day at the Préfecture with a good book - like last year - to have my first carte grise (car registration document).

I am so excited, happy and scared! It is a lot of money but I want to do this, I do not go on vacation anymore since I have not had a fixed job, so this spring/summer, my vacation will be on my moto, riding the road of the neighborhood and the region. I am like a child who is about to have her first doll, her first makeup vanity, her first puppy or any FIRST great thing she has been expecting wisely for so long.

This Friday, is Friday 13 again, I will buy a loterie ticket, any more lucky money would be welcome! Please, please, moto fairy, come to me!

February feed back

It is already March!

I was thinking that, as always, time goes by fast and two months have already passed since the beginning of 2009!

I have so many expectations this year, let us see where I am now.

*I started a new part-time job and I really like it, the environment, the colleagues, the fact that it is 5min away by foot, it is not my dream job but so far it is okay. The woman in charge of the shop offered me to switch my part-time contract on a full-time one and become her assistant. As I have said before, I am preparing myself for some tests for a job I dream to be able to do in a few weeks. If I succeed these tests next month - medical tests, sport, psychotechnic, motivation, etc. it lasts 3 days - I will not enter the training next May but next September, so it lets me five months to work and take some vacation till then and I don't know if I want to stay at Kookaï and switch to part-time of course or find another job, since I have not found one for the last 2 years!

I really got to think about it!

*In order to be able to pass the tests for my dream job next month, I kept going to the fitness club because I love it but last month I started a more intense rythme and a coach there created me a personnalized program. More muscle-building exercises and a specific running /cardio exercise - I hate running. I have to keep on that track until next month and if I pass (I will... I will!), I will be able to slow it down a little.


* Along with the sport thing, I need to keep on the good track about food. I can be easily week on sweet things, eat between meals (crackers, biscuits, a bowl of cereals, etc.), so I need to get rid of this for now (very very hard) and eat more proteines (egg, soft white cheese, lentils, bananas) but also ananas to burn bad calories and rapid sugar before and after sport to help muscles to work well and not weaken them and thus avoid possible injuries.

*Now that I know that I will be in Paris until, at least, end of August, I will continue the decoration of my apartlent. I had made a break last November because I wanted to be sure I would stay here for some time so that it would be worth it (painting, putting shelves, etc.). I will not spend a lot of money on that but I have been already bored with wall walls everywhere, I need some color and more decoration.

* I want to keep cooking, going to the movies, go out more with my friends for a drink or something (depends on money), go to bed earlier than I used to (it has been years since I am used to go to bed around midnight) and take time to read all my books (bought the next Twilight's saga novels in English), take advantage of the upcoming nice weekends and finally go for walks in the neighborhood and discover all the parks, woods and towns I don't know around here. I miss being in a relationship, but I got to thinking, I think I would not even have time for another person, when I don't work, I go to the fitness club or want to have time for myself, to cook, take care of the apartment, go out on my own or with my friends... I will see where I am at in a few weeks when it gets less busy in my life.