The Chicken Scoop

I was thinking that you guys don’t really know that much about me.  All I ever talk about is health this and fitness that.  And if you don’t know me in real life, there are lots of things you don’t know!  So I figured I would put together some tidbits about me that aren’t health or fitness related!

1.  The Basics:  My name is Angela and I’m 27 and married.  I always sign my comments “Ang” but no one really calls me that (only 1 or 2 people maybe).  I’m just too lazy to sign my whole name!  Places I’ve lived include South Jersey, Syracuse NY, Brooklyn NY, and Dover DE.  The house I grew up in is also the house my mom grew up in since she was 12.

2.  I am a graduate student in Optics.  It is a specialization in physics, of which I have my undergraduate degree.  I also have my degree in mathematics and went to grad school for 2 years in math for my master’s but never finished.  I worked for a few years before deciding to take the leap to go back to school for my doctorate.

3.  I’m a hobby junkie.  I get this from my mom!  She was always interested in lots of things and shared that with me.  I’m into doing crafts like scrapbooking and sewing.  I make my own greeting cards. I love to paint and draw.  I’ve made my own jewelry before.  I make chocolates.  I’ll even do my own woodwork if I have to!  (Picture of chocolate favors I made for a bridal shower)

4.  I’m a former band dork.  The hobbies don’t end with crafts.  I was in band since 5th grade and I’ve played the trumpet, the mellophone, the flugelhorn, the tuba, the bass drum, and the cello.  I even know how to play the saxophone and the flute but never did officially for a group.  I was in concert band, symphony band, jazz band, marching band, orchestra, pep band, a tuba Christmas band, and indoor drumline.  I never played in pit band for the musicals because I was too busy dancing and singing in those (in The Wiz, I’m on the right).

5.  I know how to fence.  I was never big on sports and only played soccer for 1 year of high school for fun but I did take up fencing for a few years.  It was a lot of fun and I’d love to get back into it but its not a very common sport!

6. I own chickens. If you are new to The Chicken Scoop, you might not have known that its named that because I have chickens. I used to talk about them more but now with school, I don’t get to play farmer as much. They are still going strong though!

7.  I know how to work on my own computer.  My dad is a computer person and showed me when I was younger how to basically dissect and repair a desktop.  Need more memory?  A second hard drive?  A new card?  I can help you with that.  Laptops though are trickier and I leave that up to Rob who is also a computer geek.  I had a broken laptop that required 2 hours of work and $3 battery to fix.  It would have cost hundreds if Rob hadn’t done it for me!

8.  I’ve known Rob since middle school.  You guys hear about him all the time since he’s obviously my husband but we’re also best friends.  We do everything together to the point where if you invite me, you should also realize you are inviting Rob (and you need to clarify if I shouldn’t bring him!).  We’ve known each other since we were 12 but didn’t date until we were 22.  So being away at school is really tough because I don’t like my alone time, I like my Rob time.

9.  I love reading the classics.  I am super picky about books and rarely read anything new (unless it’s health related).  If I am reading a book, you can almost bet it is a classic novel.  Jane Austen is my favorite but I do try to branch out.  Right now, I’m reading “Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce.

So I think that’s it for now!  Did you learn something new about me?  Do we have anything in common?  Completely different?  Want to share something I don’t know about you?

I thought Insanity was starting to wear on me mentally.
I thought I was tired from lack of sleep.
I thought the heat was bothering me.
I thought my ankle was still holding me back from a good workout.
I thought I wasn’t performing my workouts to my best abilities.
I thought wrong.

I really have felt fatigued for my workouts and had no idea why.  Well, my Garmin came back over the weekend (they sent me a new one! yay!) and I set it up for my workout yesterday.  Compared to last time I did this workout, my heart rate is higher and I burned 40 more calories!  So I’ve been tired because I’ve been kicking my own butt!  Hm, who knew?

I tend to do this often, give myself a hard time over a workout because I think I’m not performing up to my high standards.  As a solution, here is my new checklist to see if I’m doing my best with my Insanity workouts:

1)  Am I so drenched my sweat is stinging my eyes?
2)  Did my 20 ounce water bottle get empty so fast, I thought maybe I never filled it?
3)  Am I left panting on the floor while Shawn T is yelling “Dig Deeper!” in the background?
4)  Did I face-plant the floor from plank position at least once because my arms gave out?
5)  Am I mad at myself that I can’t keep up with the video?

Then I’m pretty much pushing as hard as I can.  Now I’ll have to think up some questions for my runs since that starts next week!!!  So excited!  It’s been great doing Insanity but I really can’t wait to just go for a jog!  And strength training!  Oh so excited to move some heavy weights around!

Are you hard on yourself during workouts?  How do you measure your performance or effort level?