Thursday, March 27, 2008

Ladies and Gentleman, the moment you've all been waiting for!!

the March Update!

I've been slackin on posts this month, so here it is, with a mere 4 days to go. In truth, I'll have to post once more at the end, since I haven't finished everything yet, goal wise. But here's the update.

So, it was a decent month for workouts. As is my trend, I still procrastinated a bit on workouts and so am having to do a few more at the end of the month to pick up the slack.. but, thank god for that tuesday evening thing, I'm actually not too far behind.

Workouts: Rough week was this: Tuesday night workouts with our group of friends, we get there at about 7 and do about an hour and a half of workout stuffs then go down to the pool for a sauna. I have been doing my weights, which I upped again a couple weeks ago.. then 30 minutes of cardio, then stretching and mat work.
Saturday Qi Gong class: This is over now, but for most of the month I had a 4 hour Qi Gong class on Saturdays
other : working out in the gym donstairs.. usually only 1 per week with the other stuff, but now that Qi gong is over, I'll have to do more.

A few funny moments: So Paul and I went to workout together downstairs on friday I think it was.. and he always does an hour on the stairmaster.. every day.. he's crazy. Anyways, I was kinda thinking.. how hard can an hour really be. So I decided to do an hour too. Anyways, I finished the hour ans was feeling all proud of myself, and it really wasn't that bad at all. And I said to Paul about how I burned 912 calories (which I was thinking was pretty awesome) and asked how much he burned and he said 1300.. haha.. I felt pretty lame after that. No wonder he's so skinny now.

Anyways, I have 2 more workouts to go, which I'll do 1 tonight and 1 on monday since I'll be in Vancouver for the weekend

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Le Workout

So, just incase anyone is wondering what I've been doing in my workouts, this is it:
1st set of stuff:
Flat Dumbbell Press with 2 15 lb weights - 12 reps x 3 sets
Squats w/ 2 10 lb weight - 10 reps x 3 sets
Dumbbell Row- 2 15 lb weights - 12 reps x 3 sets

2nd set of stuff:
Military Press - 2 10lb weights - 12 reps x 3 sets
Lunges - 2 10 lb weights - 12 reps x 3 sets
Reverse Fly - 2 8 lb weights - 12 reps x 3 sets

Other:
Lat pull down - not sure the weight, it's the 4th notch on the weight machine

Mat work:
-Pelvic Tilt: 10 x 2 sets
-Modified dead bug (laying on back with legs in the air, and you do kindof a reverse leg lift) - 10 on each side x 2 sets
-Cat/Cow - 10 x 2 sets
-Another one I forget the name of - you sortof "wag your tail" for lack of a more glamourous description - actually, the yoga name for it is "Tigeress" I think
-Planks: 2 sets of 45 seconds each, front, and side planks
-this thing on the ball where you lay facing up, have your feet on it and pull them under your bum as you are keeping your body raised up in a plank - 10 x 2 sets

Cardio:
30 minutes on the Eliptical - I burn about 400 calories according to the machine in this time. So I'm booting along relatively fast.

Stretching:
Hamstring and Hip flexor stretches mainly.

So it usually takes me about an hour and a half to do all of this workout. I'm doing the entire thing atleast twice a week. Some days I'm just doing the cardio, and some days I just do the weights. But Tuesday nights we have a group of us that goes to the Commonwealth pool, so that is my exact routine on tuesdays and one other night at the gym in my building.

The weights are a lot faster the way I do them than the way the boys do them.. rather than sit around and grunt or whatever they do in between every set, I just work a different muscle group, so I can go straight from my DB Press to my squats to my DB Row without taking a rest, then do that 3 more times. As a result, it takes me 40 minutes or so to do my whole weight regime, then I can get to the mat work and cardio.

So there you have it. And, FYI, I just finished this exact workout minutes before starting on this post, so I only have tomorrow's workout to do and I have met my resolution for the month. Yay me.. and I blogged about it, and I worked on my financial plan. I made a whole spreadsheet for tracking exactly when and how many patients/money I'm bringing in. It is quite fascinating. In fact, when Sean saw it, he said he wants all of us at the clinic to make one up so that we can see how different marketing things effect business.

Jam out with your clam out

So, the month is coming to a close.. mighty fast, I might add. With only 29 days I'm having to squeeze in those last two workouts tonight and tomorrow, but I can tell you forsure that I will have met my quota of workouts this month as of tomorrow afternoon.

I realize, once again, that I am a horrible procrastinator if I let myself do it. I will almost always leave til tomorrow what I don't want to do today. Case in point: Paul is in San Francisco right now. Before he left, I had this little vision in my head about how I was going to clean up the house on the very first day he was gone so that, for a whole week, I could live in a nice, tidy, boy-free house. Well, monday ended up being very busy at work, and by the time I finished everything, I plopped down on the couch, and spent the entire night watching stupid tv shows. I think I must have watched about 3 hours of this show that I'd never even heard of before called "Jon and Kate plus 8" about this couple who had a set of twins, then tried for a 3rd, and had sextuplets. yep.. 6 babies at once. Anyways, it was a trippy show, and they kept airing one after another so I somehow kept watching.. transfixed to my tv for the entire night. I didn't do a damn thing around the house. So tuesday, turns out I don't have patients, so I think to myself "cool, I'll have time to watch this safety course thing that I have to do, and tidy up the house" .. Nope again. I slept til 11:30 (granted, I have been sleep deprived for the last 3 weeks, so I did actually need the sleep) and then Paul and I lamented about how much we miss each other over msn. Then I had a waxing appointment, then met my friends for our tuesday night workout at the Commonwealth pool. Still no house cleaning. .. Yesterday I got off work early and ended up spending 4 hours visiting friends downtown instead of going home, then went to this womens self defense seminar until 10pm. So here it is Thursday.. I haven't done the dishes even once since Paul left, and the house is a sty. On the up-side tho, atleast I'm on schedule with my workouts :P

Friday, February 22, 2008

Getting there

I'm doing better on my workouts since my last post. I still am going to have to workout a fair bit next week to meet my quota of 12, but that's ok, cuz Paul is down in San Francisco, and I'll have a lot of time to kill all by myself at home.

So, I have done my weight workout 4 times this month(3 in the past week), that is going well. I upped my sets from 2 sets of 15 to 3 sets of 12. I'm using 10 lb wieghts for most of everything now. The squats and lunges are getting a little less lame, so all is well there. Been stretching as part of that workout also. My qigong thing is going well, I've been doing the meditation almost every night before bed, however, I'm only counting the 3.5 hours classes as being a "workout". Other than that, I've done a hike, went swimming, and tonight this Taekwon Do class, so I think as of Saturday I'll be at 7 workouts this month. That means I pretty well have to workout every day next week to make my quota. That's ok tho. I plan to do weights on Sunday, cardio monday, weights again tuesday (I am going to the pool with a group of friends to workout and then sauna tuesday night), Wednesday If I do anything I'll do cardio, then I'll do my last workout on Friday probably, cuz Thursday is usually a really busy day.

In other news, I have got a haircut, and it is awesome. It's an inverted bob, pretty short in the back, a little longer in the front, just below chin length. Anyways, I got that done on Wednesday, and I've been having a blast so far figuring out how to style it. Believe it or not, I even started wearing makeup to work cuz my hair looks so awesome, I figured I better put on makeup too. Aggie and Liz are having a hayday with me, turning me into a girly girl. It's quite fun actually. I don't think I'll go quite to the extent of Liz tho, who gives massage in high heels. lol.. plus, I'd be like 6'3" in heels, and I save that for special occasions :P

Anyways, I'll get a camera and get Paul to take a pic of my new hair.

Over and out.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

February 12th

ok, this month has been terrible for my workouts so far. I did that stupid Bikrams yoga with Aggie a couple weeks ago, and my back has been fucked ever since, so I have only been doing really chill stuff like a hike here and there or some Qi Gong. I have yet to do my weight workout this month! I know, that is terrible and I'm going to have to get my act together if I want to meet my schedule of 12 workouts for this month. However, Paul is going away to San Francisco for a week for work, and I know I'll probably work out every day out of sheer boredom while he's gone. So that will help things along a great deal. Also, I am starting Qi Gong classes again on saturdays, and that is 3.5 hours of Qi Gong, so I'm going to count that as a workout once a week, but I won't count the at home practice because my "workout" resolution was actually supposed to be for hard workouts, not gentle things like Qi Gong.

Next friday I am also doing a Tae Kwon Do class cuz this guy in our BNI group who runs a school has invited the group to a free class. Honestly, I get the impression that tae kwon do is kinda crap, but I'll give it a go. I am suspicious of anything where you can have a black belt in 3 or 4 years of going to only 2 classes a week. If that were the case, I'd have a black belt in Karate already from the 5 years I did of it when I was a teenager, and quite frankly, I don't think I deserve a black belt for my knowledge of karate, so I don't know how this is any different. I feel like these programs that propell people thru the ranks really trivializes the spirit behind the meaning of "black belt"

As wikipedia says: The term black belt has become widely known as way to describe an expert in martial arts

Maybe my idea of "expert" is different from the idea of other peoples.. who knows.. but as I see most martial arts as life long endeavors, I don't see how someone can be an expert in so short a time. I mean, if it was a 40 hour a week program, then sure.. (even after my 4 year TCM program of over 40 hours a week of class and studying, I still don't feel like an "expert" at all) but 2 hours a week? Come on! It's a joke.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

January comes to a close

Workouts: Check
Marketting Plan in the works: Check
Blog about it: Check
Money bryce is going to owe me at the end of the year: Cheque

Section 1: Situation Analysis

Current Service: General practice with TCM style Acupuncture, Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine and topical oil and tincture sales. I also teach a few classes on TCM related subjects at the Monterey Center.

Current Marketing: BNI (business referral group), Business Cards, Website, Health shows, community talks/workshops.

Current Marketing Advantages: The ability to go in on marketing costs with my colleagues;
There are no other acupuncturists in this area of town, about a mile radius; The clinic has a pre-existing website and branding that we all are able to use; specialization of Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture gives me a niche market

Current Marketing Challenges: lack of money for expensive marketing ideas, the city is quite saturated with acupuncturists already

I have been in business for 1 year. My patient base is 71 patients, with 32 of them coming to see me regularly at the moment. I am seeing roughly 10 patients a week.
There is a breakdown of the number of patients I saw per month for the last 11 months since I started:
March 2007: 20
April 2007: 16
May 2007: 31
June 2007: 52
July 2007: 57
August 2007: 39
September 2007: 37
October 2007: 33
November 2007: 24
December 2007: 29
January 2007: 42