Thursday, February 26, 2009

Teaching Boot Camp?

I was talking to my sister-in-law Amy about revising my previous “Lark in the Park” outdoor fitness class and offering it again, and she told me about Boot Camp SF (http://www.bootcampsf.com) which she used to do. I checked them out online and found they also have classes in Oakland at Lake Merritt. That reminded me of Adventure Boot Camp (http://www.oaklandbootcamp.com/index.html ), which also takes place there. The manager was my manager at Baby Boot Camp http://www.babybootcamp.com ). . .

One thing I read about future trends in exercise is that boot camp classes will continue to be popular, while Personal Training and gym memberships will decline, with the current economy. I’d always shied away from boot camp classes because they sounded too early (5:30 a.m.) and too hard core for me. Despite being a Personal Trainer, I’m not a hard core workout person. I just want to stay fit, but as I become fitter, I still need a challenging workout. However, Adventure Boot Camp appealed to me for several reasons: (1) they offer classes at other times than just 5:30, (2) they are results-oriented, (3) participants commit to 3, 4, or 5 days a week of class, for 4 weeks. I’ll get more job satisfaction from helping participants who commit to attaining their goals, and I’ve always liked a one-month goal timeframe.

. . . So I emailed my former manager, telling her what I’ve been doing since instructing Baby Boot Camp and asking if she needs any more instructors or subs. I mean, why start my own class if one already exists with a business plan, marketing program, etc. She wrote right back, saying they are considering starting a class in Alameda, and can I teach at 6:00 M-F! We’ve been emailing back and forth, figuring out details, so we’ll see what happens, but it could be a great opportunity to get back outdoors to teach exercise!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Incomplete Thoughts . . .

I haven’t blogged much this month because . . .
1. I haven’t been keeping track of living the SWEET Life – my February goal.
2. I finally joined Facebook, and we expanded our cable TV service, so I’ve been spending time doing those two things instead.
3. I’ve been having a lot of incomplete thoughts lately:
a. One of them has been about revising my previous “Lark in the Park” outdoor fitness class and offering it again.
b. Another has been about the unhealthy state of our economy and health, and the fact that good health is bad for our economy.
c. A third has been how I’m not quite satisfied with my work, but I still haven’t quite articulated what I indeed want to be doing.
d. A fourth is how to make the above feasible in the current economic downturn.
I’m stuck on these thoughts, not sure where to go with them. Therefore, #2 above, to escape, and #1 above in denial.
Now, how to link this to Facebook . . .

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

January Accomplishments & February SWEET Life

The last week of January, I did well in accomplishing my January goal of accomplishing something every day, by accomplishing 14 things, none of which were particularly interesting to write about, but it always feels good to cross things off my list. Sometimes I get bogged down in the daily stuff to do around the house, so I have to catch myself and remember to also complete one-time-things that I can cross off forever!

I also started living the SWEET Life again this past week. I did well on living the S__ET life. I Slept well 6 nights; I Exercised 5 times during the week so that I didn’t have to think about it on the weekend; and I had Tranquil, fun, restorative time every day. However, I didn’t pay attention to my Eating or drinking Water. Most days I could just say, “I don’t know” whether I ate a balanced, healthy diet. But Friday & Superbowl Sunday I definitely did not eat well.

Tracking food intake is always such a drag! Whether it’s writing down everything eaten or just checking off quantities of the major food groups; it always seems to be a drag. Would an Iphone application for that be helpful? Sometimes I think yes, and sometimes no. It takes all day to track food intake; little nibbles are difficult to assess (I guess the idea is to stop eating the little nibbles); and some foods overlap categories and are more difficult to track. Humbug! However, it does make a big difference in weight loss. People who track calories meticulously always lose more weight. Anyone have any ideas how to make it less painful? Anyone know any good websites for tracking food intake?