Such a coward!

It has been a few times that I see him at the fitness club, on Thursday (running on the treadmill or at the assisted-muscle-building section) and on Saturday in the muscle-building room (when I go to the Body Pump class that is just next to it).

Last Thursday, I was working on a back-muscle machine - and during each little breaks between each series, I chill, I look around - I looked in the lateral mirror and I saw him on the treadmill and thought "oohh he is here!!!" and kept turning over and looking in the mirror, again and again.

-I know nothing about him but he looks fiiine, is tall, dresses well (at least to train, hey, it counts, some dudes dress badly at the fitness club) and... is sportive! lol One of my "must be" criteria -

When I changed machine, I looked towards the treadmills but, he was gone! Such short time again! So I thought, "you should go and talk to him some day"... yeah right! Like if I was the kind of girl to do that. Never happened! Too shy But hey, what could happen if I wait for something... to happen.

I talked about the cute-guy-from-the-fitness-club to a friend and she said "Go and talk to him!". Easy to say, I am not the kind of person to make first move with someone I don't know, even on dating sites, I never send emails because I never know what to write

So yesterday evening I thought about what I could say to approach him, thought about some lame sentences and then thought, the guy is going to wonder where I come from, who I am, what I want from him, and what could I possibly say to a stranger running on a treadmill to start the conversation and risk to disturb him but also get a "not interested" answer straight away.

I finally decided to take a piece of paper, write my cellphone number, name and a lame sentence such as "to maybe go and have a drink...". OMG, I was so laughing once I wrote that, I have NO IDEA what to say, what to do, so next time I see him I am going to (try to) give him the magic note and say something like "I am lame at doing this" and see what happens.

Then I thought, when what if he accepts and he finally turns out to be a jerk... damn...
Anyway, first, I will see if I even dare to do any first step.

There is another guy (hey, I have been single for almost a year and need a man to move one! ), he is one of the receptionists, good looking too. I was working on other muscle-building machines and saw him walk by to the emergency exit wearing a moto jacket and moto boots (a moto rider?! another "must be" criteria lol) and saw him come back after a few minutes (smelling cigarette, a "must not be criteria"). Then, one of the coaches walked by the same exit wearing a moto jacket and a helmet and coming back few minutes later also, so I thought, hey, here is an excuse to make first step and talk to the receptionist saying something about a secret moto parking spot or anything related to moto (female moto riders generally interest guys and especially riders ), then I don't know, but, at least, it would be a way to start a conversation.

So when I was leaving, I arrived at the counter, they were four men talking (including the two moto riders). I said my name with a nice smile, he did not hear with the loud music and people shouting, so I repeated it, and he handed me my member card in exchange of the towel with a nice smile, I said "thanks, have a nice weekend" and... I walked out. Such a coward! Next chance is Tuesday (if any of them is there).

Thursday it ends.

Here it is, this is my last week of work.

Due to various reasons, I will be out of work at the end of this week.

The tests I was scheduled to take for the dream job on early May are postponned till the end of May or early June because of some personnal problems.

Indeed, I will take advantage of this free time to go as I want to the fitness club but will also try to find some temp work or hosting missions till then at least.

The bad news are that at the same time I lose this job, the government help I was receiving since last April, will be reduced from May till July because I have worked since January and files are reviewed every three-month. BAD TIMING!

It is going to be even harder that it already was, just spend money on rent, bills and grocery. No any luxuary, for now.

Right now, I am kind of stressed about that situation but also kind of relieved because the job was becoming a pain in the a**. I am so eager to be at the end of this week and be done with that and be able to go on a new path, but which one?

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!

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!

Pump it!

Last year, well, December 2007, I decided handle my health and body seriously. I used to go to a little fitness club in Paris but as I just paid each session and did not registered, and also because I had to take the train to go there, I would not go very often. So, I took advantage of a special offer to register to a nice big fitness club in the town where I lived, in the region Commercial Center, very practical, 10min away from home by car. I instantly became addicted to being a sporty girl as I discovered the Body Pump! It is a course that lasts 55 minutes and contains 8 muscle-group specific songs, it is nice to work with music and I found this course very entertaining! Along with more traditional abs & butt courses or stretching course, I just loved BP and I had to have my dose each week, like an addict! lol

Indeed, I began to like this challenging course, you handle your weight bar and day after day, you put heavier weights on it, it is also nice to feel this healthy tiredness at the end of the day.

Since I moved, last summer, I tried to go to the fitness club in my former town twice a week, would slept at my mom's who still lives there, it was not practical but since I have not being working from October to December, I could do it.

My subscription ended in late December so I had to find another fitness club. I decided to register to closest one in my new town, that is near the train station and 15min away from home by foot (or 5 min by bus). I went there for the first time last Monday. It is not as nice and cool and big as my former club but it is okay. On Monday, I will go after my work day, as I finish at 6pm. Last week, there were so many people, the club was crowded and you had to wait your turn to be able to jump on a bycicle or another cardio machine. The BP course was also very crowded and you could barely see the coach on her platform.

I went back there yesterday, and thought it would also be crowded because, it is the weekend and places like that are generally full on people days off... but it was not. It was kind of empty! And it is like that every weekend, people use to come on Monday or between 5 to 7pm. It was nice to have ones own space to practice correctly and jump from one cardio machine to another or in the muscle-building machines. I will definitely go more often in the weekend!

A little more than a year ago, I was far from being a sporty person, I would not go as a pleasure activity, now, I could not imagine leaving without sport. And when, I cannot go at least once a week, I feel bad, sore, old and stressed! lol

I also need to have a good health and sport condition for my HNJ , so it is more than a good motivation!

Tomorrow evening, I am going again for a BP course and will probably stay for a abs & butt course and then stretching course to feel good and have a nice sleep.

A hot and wild weekend

On Friday night, we went to one of D.'s colleagues to celebrate his birthday, we were three couples and another single colleague. I do not drink. I mean, I like one cocktail once in a while but, I only got shit plastered one time in my life, last summer, in Malta. But Friday went differently, I do not know if that was the environment, the vibes, etc. One rum/orange led to another one after 5 of them, I was "happy"! Indeed, we all got quite drunk, except D. who had to be ready in case he would be called for an intervention for work and because he was working on Saturday morning also.

After the birthday dinner, we went to a night club they are used to go to. I am not a night club person but, as I said, the night livened things up. D. wanted to take his birthday pal on his moto but he was way to drunk so I took his place.

The day after was a hell of a bad day. OMG!! I can tell you that I now understand why I do not drink! I have been sick all day. Not like last year but not feeling good at all. I am now detoxified with alcohol for a while now! lol

Saturday night was a nice went evening. Ito the Stade de France - and in any stadium - for the first time to see the finale of the Top 14 (French competition) between Toulouse and Clermont-Ferrand. It has nothing to do with soccer, supporters are very nice to each other, even mixed together in the stadium. The atmosphere was very nice!















Sunday was such a nice sunny and hot day. We got a sunburn on the face (ouch, how to not look ridiculous when you got the sunglasses tan on your face and your nose all red!) and a light one on the arms and the décolleté. D. and I went to the Stunt Bike Show near Paris, I had been there last year, it was very nice and D. loved it! The moto is so practical when the motorway is full with traffic jam at the end of the day.



This week is going to be dedicated to boxes, packing again... and getting that sunburn into a nice suntan!

The past week

HOT:

- Went out with D. and friends of him on Wednesday evening to watch independent short movies, it was nice.

- Went out with D. and a couple of friends of mine (it was time!) on Friday night. I am my friend's witness for her wedding in September. We ate at Planet Sushi, in the center of Paris, the place is gorgous! It is the only one like this in Paris. And the food... I love Japanese food, but they propose some pieces of food you will not find anywhere else, it was a very nice dinner.

- On Saturday afternoon, as I know that D. likes flowers and plants and knows some about it, I knew where to take him. I had been there once with my dad and his partner and fortunately found the way back there. We went to the greenhouses of Porte d'Auteuil and he loved it! (photos on Shoot a Life!)


NOT:

- D. is gone to see his parents - an hour away from Paris - for his (step) mother birthday and did not tell me he wanted to go until Monday night when I asked him if it was sure we was not working on Tuesday night because I wanted to take him out for his birthday (we did not have time to do it yet). I did not tell him why but I had told him I wanted to take him out on Tuesday evening but... he forgot. I was very glad on Monday night. Especially because he will only come back on Thursday afternoon, has a BBQ evening with some colleagues, I am going to my Dad's on Friday night. So we will only see each other on Saturday night for the Music Feast if he does not work (he may...) or on Sunday...

- We had to call our Internet provider AGAIN and we are really angry about it and will write a letter to ask for a payback because we do not think it is normal to have had our Internet connection go off each week for the past two months. Fortunately, we will be soon done with them!

- Being very tired since last week and have been to the fitness club just once as a consequence.

- Still being stressed about the moving, not knowing when we will do it, how... not having papercard boxes to put things in yet, thinking that if the dinner table and the chairs are sold on Ebay this week, we will not have anything to eat and put my laptop on... if the closets are gone, we will not anything to put our clothes...

- Still being stressed about that job hunting that leads nowhere.

- France off the European Soccer Competition. What can I say, was it this new team that was not good and/or our manager?
Anyway, I did not feel it that year compared to two years ago, when I knew they would be in finals.
Good luck to the Netherlands! You deserve it.

Life Updates

*My blog is two month old

*D. and I are almost one month old (only!...)

*Sisi is feeling better, she is back to normal, I would say that she is back to being a crazy little rabbit doing silly things - grrrrr - but an ear infection can come back anytime so, we will be watching her carefully

*I have been given advice about my CV that I changed quite much, let's hope it will be productive

*The idea of moving from here where I have been living for the past 25 years is still scary but I will have the whole month to get used to it

*I have been against moving in with a boyfriend for a long time but surprisingly, I am eager to be moving with D.!

*The good thing about moving is that you HAVE to tidy and sort out all your personal stuff!

*This week is the first one D. and I are apart for so long, we will see how it goes

*The good thing about not being home much is that I do not have sweet stuff and biscuits to eat between meals

*We are 2 weeks and a half away from the surprise weekend when D. will take me somewhere

*Yesterday, I put heavier weights for the second time at the Body Pump course, I am proud of me (and my muscles lol)

*D. should have his moto back from the garage in less than 2 weeks, I cannot wait for it! I miss riding a moto (or at least being a passenger) so much!

*Last Sunday, we had a very nice afternoon at the Musée Rodin, it was the only sunny day within these successive rainy and stormy days (pictures posted on Shoot a Life!)

The fatal 16 days off

This morning I was back to the Body Pump course. I usually try to go twice on a week (on Tuesday and Thursday morning as long as I don't work) but I haven't been able to go for the last two weeks because of medical and job appointments, and I FELT IT!

My muscles had some troubles doing their job, especially at the beginning. For someone who never was an athletic person before January 2008, suffering few hours a week feels so good aftwards!

In French we say: "c'est un mal pour un bien" (it's hurting but for good)

Hide that body that I shall not see

Last December, I registered to a fitness club of my town. I haven't been an athletic person, I have a breathing problem so I can't do cardio activities and I became a little lazy. The sport we used to do at school and high school wasn't always fun either so it didn't convert me, so, I didn't like sport. I registered to a little fitness club in Paris when I was in University, I would actually buy some tickets and use them each time I went, so with the studies and the homework at the Univ and then the Business School, I didn't really go too often, also because I had to take the transportation to go there and it wasn't close to my home.

But a few months ago, I took the advantage of a special offer to go and have some information about this club. The offer was supposed to be "over" but I managed to benefit from it (900€ is way to expensive for me!) so it was the occasion to register, as I could also pay in 4 payments.

I'm really happy I did it cause I've become a soon-to-be-addicted to sport! =) I discovered Pilates, Body Pump, Body Combat, Body Balance, the cardio and body building facilities are really nice, as are the teachers.

Anyway, as in every fitness club, the changing room where there are the lockers is shared, this was not a surprise. What surprised me is that most of women there do not feel embarrassed to change in front of the others, most of all, hang around naked, put body lotion after the shower even without wearing a towel, etc. This morning, while I was changing (the minimum, as I take the shower at home), two women were talking, naked, with their towel on their arm, before to go to the shared shower booths. lol That was... bizarre.

So I thought 'am I being too chaste or modest?'. I have, like many women, some complexes about my body, I don't like to show some lower parts of my body on the beach and wearing a bathing suit has been a torture lately but it's ok as long as I don't do long walks! lol So, seeing all these women that seem to be without complexes kind of stunned me and made me question myself.

Soon after, I met a friend who is also going to a fitness club where she made the same comment and we talked about it. Most of these woman are not even looking like models, there are real women, with flesh, stretch marks, etc.

I got to thinking: do men also hang around in their lockers room, nonchalant, all attributes outside?

So, I'm asking, what are the limits? Are there any limits? Why do some women have no problems walking around naked in front of others women and others do?!