Coffee and the Tour de France and some writing, and yoga

So I haven't updated in a bit. Oops! Anyways, I have been a bit busy. I worked a lot last week. So between working, working out, and the Tour de France, I've been busy!

So I guess I have a lot to cover today. First I will discuss what I like so far about the Tour de France, then I will discuss yoga. So there.

So this year's tour has been exciting because it's basically a total free for all. I mean, who would have expected Pollito to be in both Yellow and Polka Dots!? It's crazy. So this is what I love so far:

-Pollito (Rasmussen) is in both Yellow and Polka Dots
-Boonen is in Green, like I predicted
-I originally predicted/wanted to see Valverde in Yellow overall at the end, but now I want Alexander Vinokourov, because that man is a fighter. He went down hard on stage 5 with his teemmate Andreas Kloden, and has around 50 stitches in his knees, and he dropped down to about 20th place when he was the overall favorite to win the tour. He ended stage 9 I think it was in tears because he lost so much and dropped down to 20th place. BUT then on stage 10 or 11 (its all blurring into one, sorry), he was in the front of the Peloton with his team, and to catch the breakaway and to shed some riders who werent paying attention in the Peloton, he suddenly put the hammer down with this team, dropped Moreau, and caught the breakaway. THEN with 3km left, all of a sudden in the final spring, VINO goes and tries to attack! I couldn't believe it. He made a statement, and that statement was watch the fuck out, because even though I am in 20th and have 50 stitches in my legs, I still want to win, and I will win. That was definitely my favorite part, up until today.
-Now my new favorite: Alexander Vinokourov's fucking super time trial today. What the fuck Vino. You are the man. He ate up the road and blew away the field today. Fucking brilliant, Vino. I really hope you win it. You deserve it if you can get back the 8 minutes youve lost. Your performance today in the TT was brilliant. BRILLIANT.

Some other lesser parts of the tour that I am loving:
-The race for the green jersey
-Pollito
-37 year old Zabel making himself a rival for Tom Boonen's chase for Green
-Linus Gerdemann winning stage 7, and taking both the White and the Yellow jerseys. And Linus Gerdemann in general. How cute is he!?
-Linus Gerdemann's foam coming out of his mouth after his stage 7 win
-Pollito
-Cancellara's grip on the yellow jersey in the first week of the tour
-Moreau being dropped by the Peloton and team Astana. I really don't like Moreau
-Pollito
-Robbie McEwen's stage 1 win

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So now let's talk yoga. I used to do yoga almost daily, and I used to be pretty badass at it. I took a hatha yoga class for a year at Franklin Yoga, and I've read a few books on hatha yoga and the history and tradition of yoga, so I feel I am qualified to make my own personal opinion on yoga in general. And I am saying this because I know that someone who reads this will not like that I am going to be criticial of a workout DVD, because they are "professionals" and I am not :-P

Anyways so I decided to get back into my yoga routine, so I popped in the yoga DVD that comes with the P90X workout DVD series (http://www.beachbody.com/jump.jsp?itemType=GATEWAY&itemID=63). So I put it in the DVD player, laid down my yoga mat, and started doing the DVD. I must say, I was more than disappointed. They totally miss the point of yoga. It's not even yoga, really. It's super power yoga. They start off doing sun salutations, which I have done many, many, many times before, trust me. I have done them in the class I used to take, and I have done them on my own. So the first problem, they start you off by doing very advanced moves. Bad. 90% of the people buying P90x to get into shape havent done yoga before. So if you haven't done yoga before, you don't start someone off by doing half moon and crane poses. Its ridiculous. You have to build up. That would be like,if you never lifted before, going into the gym and trying to bench 250. Not gonna fucking happen. There is nothing wrong with being a beginner, and starting slow, and building up. If youve never done yoga, and you try to do half moon or crane, you will injure yourself, or get extremely discouraged. One should never, ever get discouraged in yoga. That defeats the purpose. Then, they had me doing pushups in the middle of the sun salutations. What!? No pushups during yoga. The whole thing just defeated the purpose the yoga. It stunk of always having to do more more more, which isnt what yoga is about. Yoga is about moderation, relaxation, perfection, and connections. You dont have to pump up your yoga workout wtih pushups in the middle of your sun salutation. And you dont start off beginners with advanced poses. It was just ridiculous. They missed the point of yoga, and it made me a bit upset and sad. It was a bunch of muscle heads trying to make yoga into an intense muscle head workout. ugh. And once they went into crane pose, I just started laughing. I did the Lolz and shut it off.

It's raining

I was supposed to tan today, but alas, it's pouring.

This is my favorite time of the year, though. For serious, I think I like this time of the year more than Christmas, because.....because.....it's time for the TOUR DE FRANCE. I love watching the Tour de France for three weeks in July. That sound of the helicopter watching the riders from up above, those skinny boys in those tight shorts and colorful shirts. Oh the Tour is so much fun to watch.


In other news, I've been working this summer to save up money for rent for the fall, but I did spend money on an mp3 player yesterday, and I am so so so excited. I decided to buy a Creative Zen mp3 player. I got the white one. It is here:


Isn't it pretty? I think it's way better than an ipod. Ipods are overrated. I had a good run with the one Jonathan gave me last year, but it has shat the bed, so I think I will try something other than an Ipod. Yay!

Long week!

Gah it has been a long week! I didn't get to work out as much as I wanted to this week, and my eating habits were less than fantastic, but it's ok. Monday and Tuesday were ok, Wednesday was bad, Thursday was kind of ok, today was kind of ok. Wednesday though was the 4th, and I drank. And drank. And drank. And drank some more at the cookout we had here. I was pretty smashed. But I haven't been drunk in a long time, so it's all good. I won't be drinking another drop of alcohol for a while though, because I am trying really hard to lose just 5 more pounds.

I also haven't been riding my bike as much as I wanted to this past week or so! I've been busy though. If I am not working an 11-9 shift or something, I have to do something for my parents during the day. Tomorrow morning though I am going out for a nice, long, slow ride. I am not going to worry about how fast I go. I just want to ride. Burn some good calories, get some good miles in.

I've been doing the P90X workout videos occasionally though when I can get a workout in, before work or whatever, and I am definitely noticing a difference. I am using those mostly for toning up my muscles in my arms and for working my abs. My abs need a lot of work, as do my abs. I am hoping to be able to burn fat by biking, and to tone up my muscles with the P90X videos. Ah well. We shall see how it happens. I am going to go really strict on my diet and exercise for 4 weeks and see how that goes. So in 4 weeks, I will be checking back in.

So other than that not much else has been going on. Just the same old crap. Work, reading, exercise. Yea it's boring, but it's part of my life.

OH! Tour de France starts....TOMORROW. That's right biatches! TOMORROW! WHEE! I want Valverde to win, but alas, I think Alexander Vinokourov is looking pretty good. He is a talented rider, however, and I would support him if he won. He seems like a decent boy, despite the Levi thing he pulled a few weeks ago.

weight loss

I think I broke through that plateau with my weight loss. I was losing a decent amount of weight for someone my size, but then the weight loss kind of stopped, which happens. But I lost a few more pounds in the past week. I'm not happy yet though. I have to lose a few more pounds before I reveal the grand total and the new after photos :-P It feels really good, though, to be back to a weight that I feel comfortable with. I can wear old shirts that I couldn't wear before :-P It's so exciting.