"Fitness Advice?" written by Tinypliny on estrip.org

Category: goals

12/15/10 07:09 - 22.ºF - ID#53281

Fitness Advice?

The people have spoken. (E:peeps) have infinite wisdom and are to be trusted. So I have a fitness question for you all.

I think I have finally identified the weakest link behind my lack of core stability - and no, it's not my stick-like forearms. I have a fairly good posture and no lower back or upper back issues so it's most certainly my weak abdomen muscles. I really loathe doing abdominal crunches... well, I guess I could do them, but they will be my last resort. Can you think of any other exercises or exercise-routines that you have personally done and seen results with?

I know the web has a trillion pieces of advice and probably a zillion flatten-your-abdomen exercises, but I am specifically looking for exercises that you have achieved results with - not really to flatten my abdomen, but to build up the isotonic strength of my abdominal muscles, however un-flat the results might be.

Ideas?

PS: Before you suggest belly-dancing, have YOU really achieved muscle tone with beginner belly dancing?!

lauren writes at 12:36:40 12/18/10 - Comment #59831: Haha no. A windmill is incredibly difficult. Felly was able to do a backspin, which uses the same principles, but she could only spin for maybe a second or two before losing the momentum. The exercise I am talking about though, isn't as hard as it sounds, just best to do it on carpet if your hips are sensitive at all. Oh and, I was never fond of standing on my head either. I did it once and felt like I was going to pass out, so that was it for me. Felly did it well though so she would just do them randomly throughout the day and swore that they helped her core.

tinypliny writes at 09:54:05 12/17/10 - Comment #59814: Were you able to do the complete windmill when you were in hip hop class??

tinypliny writes at 09:52:52 12/17/10 - Comment #59813: Stand on my hands or head?! The answer is an emphatic NO!! I haven't even joined that class yet. I looked at that windmill exercise you described and yikers... that is intense! How does your hip keep from dislocating while doing that?!! I think I will have to join the hip hop class along with the yoga because I want to get better at Salsa - if that makes any sense!

Thanks, (e:lauren)!!! :-)

lauren writes at 09:52:35 12/17/10 - Comment #59804: are you able to stand on your hands or your head? if you can do that a couple times a day it definitely builds up your core. there are also planks, which look so easy but when you actually do them, they burn. and my last bit of advice is pretty difficult to explain, but it is basically a mimicking of the windmill in breakdancing, but without the spinning on your back part. start lying with your back on the ground and your feet up to the ceiling, spread in a v. then you are basically going to use the momentum of your legs to go onto your stomach and follow through till you are on your back again, keep your legs spread the entire time. The best video I found of this is below, although this guy doesn't go all the way over, I help it shows what I mean. Also, just check out Bboy exercises for the windmill, which is all core.
:::link:::

tinypliny writes at 09:50:07 12/15/10 - Comment #59785: I am encouraged to give it a whirl! Thanks so much! :) Thinking of doing Saturday mornings...

mrmike writes at 09:41:14 12/15/10 - Comment #59784: I haven't had the problem there at all. I go in the evenings and all the folks teach so somebody coming for the first time can do it.Believe me, I have no sense of proper yoga fashion and I do fine

tinypliny writes at 09:34:56 12/15/10 - Comment #59783: You mean Evolation? There are a zillion instructors there... any tips on who might be non-snobbish and kind to beginners and those without a sense of yoga fashion?

mrmike writes at 09:00:59 12/15/10 - Comment #59780: Having decent luck with my Bikram Yoga at the studio on Elmwood

Permalink: Fitness_Advice_.html
Words: 176
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/15/10 07:09

Category: the odes

12/13/10 10:42 - 12.ºF - ID#53269

Hispanophile!!!

I am ALWAYS mistaken for a Hispanic at Pricerite by someone or the other especially when I am hovering in the Goya section or near the root vegetables, wondering for the nth time what one does with them.

I don't think I look particularly Hispanic but I admit it - I would LOVE to be able to speak fluently in Spanish. I think the language is so poetic and sounds so much like my mother-tongue.

My favourite band has always sung in Spanish and I know most of their lyrics by heart - even though I have no idea what they mean.

(well... not exactly, I have looked up translations in the past and know the gist of their songs. But yes, if you ask me for a word-for-word translation, I would probably just blink dully at you.)

I also love MarÃa Dolores Pradera beyond a healthy limit.

Oh, and let's not forget the latest addiction to Salsa that I seemed to have sponged up.

I think this was just inevitable. ~~Friends, Romans,~~ Mum, (E:peeps), you are now reading the journal of a bonafide Hispanophile!

Permalink: Hispanophile_.html
Words: 195
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/10 11:38

Category: the odes

12/12/10 10:35 - 35.ºF - ID#53255

Wake up?!

The lamp is on a deal at Amazon. This promotional video made me laugh!

I can totally see myself as part of that geeky little team of technicians cheering at 3 AM because a rooster crowed early. lol

Permalink: Wake_up_.html
Words: 40
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/12/10 10:37

Category: eating in

12/12/10 01:54 - 35.ºF - ID#53247

Baking without recipÃ©s. Finally!

I made this.

A super-tasty spice and nut bread.
Without a recipÃ©.
Without eggs.
Without butter.
Without sugar - well... added sugar, that is.

With plum jam, flax seed, almonds, milk powder, 100% whole wheat and a tonload of wheat bran. It is SUPER-delicious out of the oven, can be toasted to perfection and is divine with just about anything. And one slice meets 50% of my daily fiber AND protein requirements.

This may look like a small baking step, but its a big leap for ~~mankind~~ ME!

I never follow recipÃ©s and can't remember any of them anyway. I don't have measuring paraphernalia, refuse to let my life be ruled by tablespoons and cups and hate non-metric units that everyone seems to be obsessed with! And I really dislike that eggy smell that surfaces once in a while when you don't want it to.

Well...not anymore!!!!! You won't smell the fear of baking ever again in my kitchen! You will only smell cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and a ton of triumph... and maybe a bit of banana since some of those have been ripening on my table for ages.

Permalink: Baking_without_recip_s_Finally_.html
Words: 192
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/12/10 01:54

Category: buffalo

12/12/10 11:43 - 35.ºF - ID#53245

Grouponoids

I was wondering about just how many Groupon-like online daily discount deal websites exist for Buffalo, did a quick web-trawl and found five.

1. Groupon

2. LivingSocial

3. SocialBuy

4. Deal of the day

5. WGRZ discount deals

One of these days, I might be persuaded to get a mani-pedi and a swedish massage or maybe I could go y0ga-craZy and try out every flavour of class down Elmwood.

All of the other zillion grouponoids cater to posher cities and of course, NYC - regardless of wherever they are based. I even found some European ones from UK and Germany that had NYC listed as one of the deal cities! Buffalo doesn't seem to be that popular...

Permalink: Grouponoids.html
Words: 136
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/14/10 12:33

Category: the odes

12/11/10 04:33 - 38.ºF - ID#53237

The evil shadows of Facebook.

At my department party yesterday, someone from the department that I didn't know very well knew me from some of my pictures posted by her boyfriend's friend who is on facebook and went to the same baking workshop as I did. Minutes after the party, I ran into (e:enknot) who said he finds (e:strip) boring nowadays because it's the same old 5 people posting. And something to the effect of facebook being a much more dynamic connection to the planet.

On the detour-ridden walk home through smoky downtown, I really missed my dance class (we are on holiday break and classes resume January) and the absolute joy of salsa beats. To make up for the vacuum and erase an overdose of lady blabla and the impersonal nature of electronic music, I dropped by Club Barcelona hoping to catch the latin jazz project and Ibrahim Ferrer in the making. Turned out they had taken a leave of absence just for yesterday.

As I walked two other annoying points came to mind. My Ã¼bercool salsa teachers are on facebook and nowhere else. And not just that, my primary citation manager is now suggesting that I "like" articles and login with my facebook login. To give in or not to give in to facebook-it's-so-cool pressure? That was the irritating question.

I don't want a connection with the planet. I like my own little flow of thoughts here and I completely love the new interface of the site. Big thumbs down to Dr. Evil. I am not filling in the mini-me shoes anytime soon.

tinypliny writes at 10:23:49 12/13/10 - Comment #59716: THEY were right THERE in downtown on saturday. :::link:::

DAMN, you fb. Don't want to join you and yet everyone I am seeking is with you. Aaarrgh. Wish I had seen this sooner - I would have headed straight to the Pucho Olivencia Center on Swan after the party!

tinypliny writes at 11:52:13 12/12/10 - Comment #59658: haha - I think the dangers and distractions of joining outweigh the pleasure of stalking my teachers. I don't think I am quite at the desperate stalkerish level yet. May in a few months... :-)

I tried twittering and it totally wiped out my desire to write here for a bit. When I was twittering, I felt like I was frittering away my thoughts in 140 characters and being even more vain and trivial than I usually am... I see facebook as a similar, if not worse, experiment.

metalpeter writes at 11:38:31 12/12/10 - Comment #59657: I think you should join and also stay here. Maybe connect with the dance people and try to get them to Join Here?

metalpeter writes at 10:52:50 12/12/10 - Comment #59656: Well the thing that is funny about facebook is that I have friends on there that I have meet at (e:strip) parties that I'm not sure if they are on (e:strip). Or if they are I don't know there user names..............

uncutsaniflush writes at 09:53:40 12/11/10 - Comment #59634: (e:paul) - I think your analysis is spot on. If people put in as much energy here as they do on facebook, estrip would be a different place.

I'm a member of facebook but I don't really very much there at all.

I like the idea of a blog better than the idea of immediate social networking. The only places that I've blogged are estrip.org and wordpress. I like the control that I have over the look of the interface on wordpress. But I also really like the new estrip. I've decided that for the nonce if I'm going to blog only in one place, it will be estrip.

Ironically enough, as the internet has gotten more into the social side, I've become more of a recluse. I used to be on irc, on usenet, on aim, on icq sometimes all at once. It was great to be able to talk to someone half a world away. It seems less cool to talk to someone online that you just saw at work. But that is just me.

I've been thinking that I'm going to post links to my estrip stuff on facebook. Go figure.

I think that I might be a bit of a Luddite or some sort of dinosaur destined to die when the next social networking comet hits the earth.

tinypliny writes at 07:42:47 12/11/10 - Comment #59622: "you entire friends, family, and coworkers are here"

That FREAKS me out. I am SO glad I am boring and don't want to be poked or liked. I use (e:strip) almost as a personal reference. I wish I had kept a regular record even earlier when I was in med school. My life was so jam-packed with craziness then and now I can't really identify with that crazy person anymore...

paul writes at 05:19:37 12/11/10 - Comment #59619: You don't have to feel guilty and I don't think they are evil. (e:enknot) is right, estrip is boring now because no one posts anymore besides a very few of us. Its especially boring if you are the type of person who is always on the prowl for "La fille du jour" or the internet meme of the day.

For me I prefer the longterm journal nature of a blog than the immediate feedback of of a whole slew of semi random acquaintances feeding each other links and brief status updates. I mean its fun to have other people participate in your life but even if everyone one else left I would keep writing as I love in my blog as I love being able to flip back through my life.

At the same time, I can understand wanting move to a more immediate feedback environment if that is the type of thing someone is looking for - especially for more social individuals. There is really nothing estrip can do to compete with the "you entire friends, family, and coworkers are here" and they all want to "like" what you say and poke you to make you feel special that face book has. I guess unless that is what you were not looking for in the first place.

Permalink: The_evil_shadows_of_Facebook_.html
Words: 265
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/11/10 04:38

Category: dance

12/11/10 02:31 - 39.ºF - ID#53235

Who would I rather be?!

I do look a lot like that man on the right. In fact I know how to do that exact trick with the office chair. Learning to swirl-walk with my hands seems like a tall order.

Permalink: Who_would_I_rather_be_.html
Words: 40
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/11/10 02:31

Category: music

12/11/10 05:32 - 37.ºF - ID#53233

25 Delaware

YEah, that's the bus I love.

Permalink: 25_Delaware.html
Words: 10
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/11/10 05:32

Category: the odes

12/06/10 11:31 - 24.ºF - ID#53220

I spend 29 calories...

walking to work everyday.

Route Summary
Total Distance: 0.60 miles
Avg Speed: 3.2 miles/h
Estimated Time: 11m 19s
Start Elevation: 666.01 ft
End Elevation: 679.13 ft
Minimum Elevation: 652.89 ft
Maximum Elevation: 679.13 ft
Elevation Ascent: 45.93 ft
Elevation Descent: 32.81 ft
Estimated Calories: 29.37

That's even less calories than one of those teeny apples you get when you buy them by the bag.

Abysmal.

Permalink: I_spend_29_calories_.html
Words: 61
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/06/10 11:36

Category: buffalo

12/06/10 07:16 - 25.ºF - ID#53217

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

{For, I have a wonderful pair of snowproof boots this winter.}

And Prof. LÃ³pez-PiÃ±eiro is embarking on some really cool art with all that snow!

I have one question, though... Where exactly is this front park? Is it the same as the "park" near the boardwalk where we go to see the July 4 fireworks?
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More info on the snow art: