Today's anecdote on floor exercises, Bon Jovi, and Doggy-Doo

Before I finish up the posts on my Japan trip I had to slip in a little anecdote of a few things here. 

First of all....one of the dogs I'm watching had diarrhea all night (He got into the wet cat food.) So that's been fun to clean up. Pinesol works great for the patio and baking soda works well for the carpets. Oh and Pepto is safe for dogs (not cats) in about 1 tsp per 5lbs. Now if I can just get the little guy to eat it that would be great. Maybe with some yogurt? I've been wanting to get a steam cleaner for a while now and I think I may be needing to get one sooner than planned! 

(Dog walking business is booming. I'm swamped with clients...both through the company and privately. But its not always the cleanest job!)

But! The best part of today is that I found out that my one true dearest love....Bon Jovi....has released a new album.

It's pretty good- he never fails to disappoint! But it sucks that him and Richie are still on the outs. It's definitely a softer rock album, but A Teardrop to the Ocean I and We don't run are my favorite songs on here. He's touring around in Asia right now (Singapore one the 20th. That would be a fun trip!) So hopefully he comes to the states soon.

Second of all....never underestimate the power of floor/pilate exercises. My mom got me this great book: (the author has a number of them)

Since I've been out of the gym for about a month and I'm getting range of motion back in my arm I thought it would be a good segway back. It's kicking my ass! I've been so focused on lifting and cardio that I haven't spent any time using my own body weight or small static movements. With enough reps they are a killer. I highly recommend it!

To Japan and Back Part 2: Ueno Park

So we got brave and finally figured out the train system...so we ventured on up to Tokyo on an impromptu adventure. We ended up staying the night at a crazy expensive Hyatt (but it was very luxurious. A hundred thousand times better than our place in Yokosuka! Plus we missed our anniversary so we considered it a post celebration)

Anyway, the first night we wandered around and discovered the Roppongi mall. (Roppongi itself was a bit sketchy. There were a bunch of Nigerian men selling girls and their services. They chased down my husband and said "Heyyyy leave your wife and we will show you a good time!"
Had I been drunk I would have punched that guy in the face.)

But the mall was pretty cool. Everything was very expensive and designer wear. My favorite store was a pet boutique in which everything was way over done. Little dog and cat outfits, jewelry, accessories, spa, etc. and there were those little cats with the bent ears and huge eyes in the window. Adorable.

 The view on top of the mall. Absolutely beautiful at night!











This little blue cat character (Doramon?) was all over the place and very popular. He had about a thousand little statues in the courtyard that people were taking pictures with.










And this was just awful. A huge spider sculpture. I got the creeps just walking by it.








The next day we ventured to Ueno Park, which is huge. There are ton of cool things to see. We had a long walk on the way there (and stopped at a Denny's. Which btw is way different over there because breakfast food doesn't exist.)

The shrine at Ueno Park was beautiful. We didn't have time to actually go inside but there were a lot of really neat things on the outside. This is Kaneji Temple which was founded in 1625 (unbelievable to be around something that old!)

 This is where you cleanse by rinsing one hand, then the other, then rinsing the mouth and spitting the water out. These are at each shrine they we visited.

 Prayers are all written on these. Very neat to see so many different languages come together <3








































Our goal for the day was to get to Ueno Zoo, which is Japan's oldest zoo (built in 1882). I was of course most excited to see the giant Pandas. The breeding efforts for keeping them alive is not very progressive but people are working at it nonetheless! Ueno zoo, Hong Kong, and San Diego zoo are all participating in the efforts of preserving the Panda (which is pretty great because Tony and I visited the San Diego zoo on our way to Hawaii)

Of course the zoo was filled with typical zoo- like animals, but it was really interesting to see a much bigger variety of animals. For instance, the bear here is a Malayan Brown Bear. There were a lot of animals specific to Asia that you wouldn't be likely to see anywhere else!

A beautiful view of the park! This place was huge. We had a fantastic day at the zoo and only got to experience a little bit of Ueno Park. We made perfect timing back to the train station because the sky opened up and began to pour!

To Japan and Back Part 1: Yokosuka

Alright so it's been a while again since my last post...the blog kind of got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. August was an absolutely insane month! I finally had my mid deployment break down...I was so stressed out about everything going on in life that it was just ridiculous.

The biggest lesson I am continuously confronted with is that nothing is ever in our control. Just gotta sit back and let things happen right? Everything has a way of working itself out. We are now in the homestretch of deployment and I couldn't be more excited. The port call we visited was stressful to get to (the dates changed 3 or 4 times....) so three canceled flights, rebooked hotel rooms, refunds and insurance claims (thank god for travel insurance!) and one last minute ticket purchase later.....we made it to Japan. 

And it was so worth it. I hadn't seen my husband in 102 days and hadn't had any form of contact with him in 67. (But whose counting?) It's safe to say I cried like a ridiculous person when I saw him- absolute relief is the only way I can describe it. He really is my sanity.

After much needed time together and a ton of conversation (we can talk for hours on end) we did get to do some exploring of Yokosuka and ventured up to Tokyo. There is so much to see in Japan and I know we barely scratched the surface, but it was a wonderful cultural experience, and I have never felt so "american" and out of place in my life!

It was fantastic.


These are just a few sights around Yokosuka. The Daiei was across the street from the hotel which is where I spent a good amount of time wandering around.

This was a really beautiful park that was along the pier. It had a bunch of benches and a fountain and overlooked the water. A very serene place to be! 















I'm not sure what this is...but I pointed at the menu and ordered it. (I really need to learn another language.) It was some sort of egg and cabbage mix with a sauce, and then very thinly sliced meat of some sort on top. It was pretty good, but a little disconcerting when the meat started moving.

Not sure how or why that happened....

But this made up for it after. Boba tea (took a minute to acquire a taste to the tapioca balls, but these drinks are everywhere in Hawaii too. Seriously everything Japanese is squishy in texture...) Basically was like a delicious watery chocolate milk shake. Much more my style!



















And this is the view from the best Starbucks ever (Our first sunny day! It was very rainy when we visited.) But seriously this Starbucks was beautiful. Two levels of comfort overlooking the water.




Which reminds me....McDonald's is an extremely nice place in Tokyo (at least the one we visited was. Yes....we went to McD's.) I was very impressed with how nice it was! Very upscale.

The one word I know =) Which is very ironic considering we always make fun that when the Japanese visit here the one word they know is "thank youuuuu". Turns out I'm the same way!

"Arigatoooo."

Somewhere down the fitness road....the top tips I've learned about working out.

Well it's official.... I've been working out regularly for about 6 months.  I go to the gym about 3-4 times a week and the routines have changed pretty often. For a while I was lifting weights every other day and running the days in between, plus throwing in some yoga or hiking, and riding horses. As of lately I've been doing weights and a lot of walking (thanks to my fitbit!)      (Sorry something is wrong with my formatting thing today. It is determined to center everything....ugh.)

 Anyway, when researching working out and fitness tips, I feel like there is always something to contradict what you just read. Some of these examples might be "Hit the gym hard every day to shred and lose the weight you want...." or "You only need to work out effectively 5 minutes a day to lose the weight you want!" "Bananas make you gain belly fat.." "Bananas speed up your metabolism!"

etc. etc. I have read a lot of fitness articles, magazines, you name it.

So... based on everything I have read, this is what I have decided are they key points to exercise and what I try to follow. My personal fitness goals haven't been to lose weight (which is good, because in fact I have gained weight from working out.) I don't necessarily want to turn into a body builder or anything, but I want to shape some muscle and just be healthy, strong, and fit.

1. Continue to change your routine so your body doesn't plateau. It's easy to do the same thing over and over and just start increasing weight or whatever, but you need to change it up. Try a different exercise, or experiment with different  angles (some times just changing the angle of what you're lifting makes you realize how not strong you still are. 

2. Balance cardio with weights. Only cardio will cause you to burn through carbs and fat, but you don't gain any muscle tone. Only doing weights will cause you to bulk up, but if you don't burn fat things will just look bigger and not more defined.

3. Speed up your metabolism. We have all heard that you should eat several small meals a day and its true. The goal to burning fat is to keep your metabolism active all day which you can do by 1. eating small meals every 2-4 hours. 2. work out later in the afternoon when your metabolism and blood sugar starts to drop 3. start the day off with cardio or going for a nice long walk before breakfast.

Walking in the mornings has become a new favorite thing of mine (and my dogs. They wake me up every morning so we can go at the same time.) We walk for about an hour or two and half miles. Even though I have met my running goal I still hate doing it, and this way I can feel refreshed by the time I sit down to eat breakfast, and I'm  a responsible dog owner as well.

4. Nutrition is everything. Sure you should probably count calories because you will soon realize how much you are over eating. But the quality of food is most important... Eat a lot of protein and lean meats with slow burning carbs (brown rice etc.) healthy fats (such as nuts) and make small changes. 

I don't drink soda or eat junk food and my body reacts very unhappily now if I do. (Don't get me wrong...I have no problem indulging once in a while with pretzel bites at a movie or with a thing of ice cream. You have to be healthy but you still have to live life!) Incorporate healthier foods, fruits and veggies, and try not eat things that don't come from nature. Simple. 

But remember it is important to cheat every now and then...then you won't find yourself losing control and binge eating all of the bad things for you.

I read an article on beachbody.com that put everything into a super complicated equation with how much protein to eat etc. and you can look it up if you're really looking to gain mass. What I took from the article was this:

Every other day should be cardio- such as brisk walking or running. Try to make this day low with starches and carbs, and focus on mostly fruits and veggies. The days in between should be weights, followed by  a little bit of cardio (such as walking up hill on the treadmill for 15-20 min briskly.) Start the day with low carbs, and post working out its time to over feed (yay!) Frequent meals full of protein to recover and build muscle.

5. Don't live by the scale. It will put you in a  bad mood if you do... Yes have a scale and check your weight often to use as a guideline, but remember that a lot of things factor into what it is telling you. Water weight, inflammation, time of day, etc. because your body is constantly working and changing. Try to check your weight consistently to keep similar factors (such as first thing in the morning before breakfast and no clothes.)

I would also take monthly pictures...because when you see results you like you know that something is happening. This has been particularly important to me, because like I said, I've actually gained about 5 lbs since I started working out. Normally this would cause me to totally freak out...but when I look at my monthly pictures I see things are shaping into how I want them to and I'm not just putting on fatty weight. (I always gain it first in my butt and hips. That's the tell tale sign!)

The best tip I think I have read was this: "There is no such thing as toning. You either have muscle or you don't. You either have a bunch of fat over that muscle....or you don't. If you want to "tone" you need to strengthen and build that muscle while equally losing fat over the top of it."

Sounds pretty solid.

So below are some pictures I've taken.... (sorry there's really terrible lighting upstairs and makes the pictures very grainy) The first one on the left is from February when I started this process, the middle is some time in between, and the right is August. When I first took them I was a little disappointed because I feel like I've worked harder than what I can see....but really what I have done is change my lifestyle to have way healthier habits and to exercise often. I don't have the dedication to become a bikini model (those women have serious self control!) I love to eat food and don't have the discipline to follow formulas and eat only a few limited things. (Thus I'm not ripped and haven't shredded!) But I have gotten much stronger, and though I've actually gained about five pounds my hips have gotten more slim, my tummy flatter, and I have more muscle in my legs, back, and arms.

Which is all I've really been looking for so mission accomplished!

Good luck to everyone and their own personal journeys with their bodies. <3

And please ignore my awful shorts tan line. Lordy.