It was suggested that I actually post the weigh-in results and scores each week. Okay, if you insist...JEFF!!!
Week One - Weigh-in
Karl - lost 2 kg
Jeff - lost 2 kg
Mande - no change
Paul - lost 3 kg
Week One - Golf Challenge Competition
Karl - 20 points
Jeff - 14 points
Mande - 14 points
Paul - 8 points
Next challenge - Batting cages!!!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
GWL Challenge #1 - Golf
From front to back: Jeff, Paul, Mande & Karl
The Gaijin Weight Loss Challenge kicked off last night with our first Wednesday activity. We went to the driving range in Makuhari to hit golf balls. I used to do this as a stress reliever back in my bachelorette days, but I had not touched a golf club in 8 years! To be honest, I had to ask Jeff for some pointers on how to hold the club and how to swing properly.
While Paul had never swung a club in his life (Tennis is his sport of choice.), and Karl apparently had gone to driving ranges in the past, Jeff was the pro among us. He used to be really into golf and he actually owns a set of clubs.
Jeff in all his glory
Let's get down to business here. Makuhari's driving range has free parking and charges 500 yen for unlimited usage. You can rent a club for 200 yen. And, you can fill your basket with golf balls - 600 yen for 55 balls if you use the 2nd floor, and 50 balls if you use the 1st floor.
The weather was perfect, the company was swell, and a good time was had by all, except maybe Paul, who hit the golf ball machine more times than he hit the ball, and who took longer to get through his basket because he kept missing. Even though we gave him shit for sucking so bad, we assured him that he would kick our asses in tennis.
Paul - wishing it was a tennis racket
Boys will be boys, so as you can imagine, they wanted to use the last of our balls to make a competition. We could earn points based on the "straightness" of our drives, first using a wood, and then using an iron. Being the only girl, I couldn't care less about points and was much more worried about relationships and how everyone is "feeling." But, screw that, I won 2nd place in the wood compe, and 3rd place in the iron compe. I have no idea what we are earning these points for...but we'll have to think of something. They are already brainstorming about good competitions for upcoming sports.
Mande getting ready to go pro
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Gaijin Weight Loss Challenge
Last week, we gaijin (a.k.a my colleagues and I) were sitting around complaining about our weight and lack of control when we suddenly decided to start a group challenge, similar to that on the TV show, The Biggest Loser. I have never seen this show, but Karl has, and I suppose that is how this idea came about.
First, we had a "weigh in" and everyone got weighed and Karl put our weights on a chart. Each Thursday will be our "weigh in" day. On Wednesdays, after school, we will challenge ourselves to a fun, but active sport. Our first will be a driving range - hitting golf balls for an hour will be a good workout, but not too strenuous for us fatties.
We have plans for each Wednesday for the next 6 weeks, and they include going to a batting cage, rock wall climbing, ice skating, swimming, throwing frisbee, etc. (We do have some alternative activities in mind as well.) Then, we decided to do mini-challenges on Mondays after school as well. These are less extreme, but basically consist of activities like ping pong, tennis, basketball, brisk walk along the beach, etc...basically, anything we can do on or near the school premise.
Each person has to manage their diets individually, be together we will try out these challenges. I have never tried some of these sports before, so it will be fun to do with a group of people.
At the 6 week check point, we are going to determine who is the biggest loser at that point. Then, we plan to go out to lunch at a nearby restaurant - one of those healthy buffet places - and we will treat the biggest loser to lunch.
Then, if things are going well and we are up for it, we will continue on with another 6 week round.
One of the great benefits of this weight loss challenge is the opporunity to try out some activities that I would never have the guts to do on my own. Of course, my over-worked husband is usually not interested in trying these things with me, and even if he was, weekends are nearly impossible with the crowds! Plus, if I go about these activities with my colleagues (for example, going to a driving range for the first time in Japan), it gives me a chance to find out where it is, how to get there, details like cost and rental fees, etc. So, next time, if I want to go there alone or with my husband, it won't seem so daunting.
Doing things for the first time in a foreign country is often daunting, and I think this will be a good way to break down some barriers which have existed in my life since moving to Japan. In fact, just in the last week, through our quick research and pooling of resources, we realized that there is a driving range, a batting cage, an ice rink, a rock climbing wall, and ping pong courts right in the area where our school is located!! We never realized this before!!! Plus, our school is one block from the beach and sea-side park - perfect for jogs, brisk walks and frisbee-throwing.
Well, let's see if I can manage to lose the 10 kg I have yet to lose since getting pregnant. (I have only lost 8 kg so far since having the baby over a year ago!)
First, we had a "weigh in" and everyone got weighed and Karl put our weights on a chart. Each Thursday will be our "weigh in" day. On Wednesdays, after school, we will challenge ourselves to a fun, but active sport. Our first will be a driving range - hitting golf balls for an hour will be a good workout, but not too strenuous for us fatties.
We have plans for each Wednesday for the next 6 weeks, and they include going to a batting cage, rock wall climbing, ice skating, swimming, throwing frisbee, etc. (We do have some alternative activities in mind as well.) Then, we decided to do mini-challenges on Mondays after school as well. These are less extreme, but basically consist of activities like ping pong, tennis, basketball, brisk walk along the beach, etc...basically, anything we can do on or near the school premise.
Each person has to manage their diets individually, be together we will try out these challenges. I have never tried some of these sports before, so it will be fun to do with a group of people.
At the 6 week check point, we are going to determine who is the biggest loser at that point. Then, we plan to go out to lunch at a nearby restaurant - one of those healthy buffet places - and we will treat the biggest loser to lunch.
Then, if things are going well and we are up for it, we will continue on with another 6 week round.
One of the great benefits of this weight loss challenge is the opporunity to try out some activities that I would never have the guts to do on my own. Of course, my over-worked husband is usually not interested in trying these things with me, and even if he was, weekends are nearly impossible with the crowds! Plus, if I go about these activities with my colleagues (for example, going to a driving range for the first time in Japan), it gives me a chance to find out where it is, how to get there, details like cost and rental fees, etc. So, next time, if I want to go there alone or with my husband, it won't seem so daunting.
Doing things for the first time in a foreign country is often daunting, and I think this will be a good way to break down some barriers which have existed in my life since moving to Japan. In fact, just in the last week, through our quick research and pooling of resources, we realized that there is a driving range, a batting cage, an ice rink, a rock climbing wall, and ping pong courts right in the area where our school is located!! We never realized this before!!! Plus, our school is one block from the beach and sea-side park - perfect for jogs, brisk walks and frisbee-throwing.
Well, let's see if I can manage to lose the 10 kg I have yet to lose since getting pregnant. (I have only lost 8 kg so far since having the baby over a year ago!)
Not an Update
And, I was doing so well for a while! Time really gets away from you when you suddenly go back to work and have a million other things going on. I really don't want to turn this into an update, but I'll just write briefly about what is currently happening.
1. Ailin loves her new day care. She has been there for almost one month and she seemed to like it from the first day.
2. Work is going splendidly...classes started a couple weeks ago, and most of them are going well. One class is giving me a bit of trouble, but I am not sure of the reason yet. Either the kids are "dumbasses" or I am making several small mistakes which lead to lesson plans not going as well as expected. I am sure it is a mixture of both.
3. A friend and I are are getting ready to launch a co-operative learning group called Bilingual Kids Club. We are planning to meet on Saturday mornings each week, and are still in the process of gathering enough members and finding the best location for the group. We are hoping to start meeting in May after Golden Week. Fingers crossed. It's harder to find members than I thought. I imagined that people would jump at the chance to join the BKC, as other groups like this exist throughout Japan, and some even have waiting lists. I think that once we get going, more people might be interested in joining...well, I hope that's what will happen.
4. I am also preparing to launch an on-line magazine, but am still working on the technical aspect of building my web site. I also need to recruit more writers, but have not been so active in doing that lately. I have so little time at night to work on my personal stuff, and I am often too tired to do much - I mean, everything takes a back seat to laundry these days. Anyway, as I get this web site built, I would like to put an open call out there to potential writers - if you live in Japan and want to write for this magazine which will be geared towards "gaijin", especially men and women who are in a relationship with Japanese, please contact me. I would like to see writing samples or a reference to other things you have written, and I will send information to you about my plans for the magazine along with the types of columns and articles I am looking for. Just email me privately!
5. The Gaijin Weight Loss Challenge - this topic deserves its own entry, so I will wait until later. But, in your mind, just imagine something like the TV Show, The Biggest Loser.
6. This is it for now. Like I said, this is not an update!
1. Ailin loves her new day care. She has been there for almost one month and she seemed to like it from the first day.
2. Work is going splendidly...classes started a couple weeks ago, and most of them are going well. One class is giving me a bit of trouble, but I am not sure of the reason yet. Either the kids are "dumbasses" or I am making several small mistakes which lead to lesson plans not going as well as expected. I am sure it is a mixture of both.
3. A friend and I are are getting ready to launch a co-operative learning group called Bilingual Kids Club. We are planning to meet on Saturday mornings each week, and are still in the process of gathering enough members and finding the best location for the group. We are hoping to start meeting in May after Golden Week. Fingers crossed. It's harder to find members than I thought. I imagined that people would jump at the chance to join the BKC, as other groups like this exist throughout Japan, and some even have waiting lists. I think that once we get going, more people might be interested in joining...well, I hope that's what will happen.
4. I am also preparing to launch an on-line magazine, but am still working on the technical aspect of building my web site. I also need to recruit more writers, but have not been so active in doing that lately. I have so little time at night to work on my personal stuff, and I am often too tired to do much - I mean, everything takes a back seat to laundry these days. Anyway, as I get this web site built, I would like to put an open call out there to potential writers - if you live in Japan and want to write for this magazine which will be geared towards "gaijin", especially men and women who are in a relationship with Japanese, please contact me. I would like to see writing samples or a reference to other things you have written, and I will send information to you about my plans for the magazine along with the types of columns and articles I am looking for. Just email me privately!
5. The Gaijin Weight Loss Challenge - this topic deserves its own entry, so I will wait until later. But, in your mind, just imagine something like the TV Show, The Biggest Loser.
6. This is it for now. Like I said, this is not an update!
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