Sunday morning cardio is my happy place

Years ago my happy place was Sunday late night drive back home. My then boyfriend and I seemed to always hang out on Sunday doing nothing in particular. I told him that spending time with him on Sunday felt like a great recharge and it gave me energy to fight for the coming week. Always drove home on a fairly empty street at night with peace and content.

When we broke up, I was afraid of losing this small comfort of mine. Who would be there for me now, then?

But you survived, of course you did. And your definition of happy place has also changed over time.

Fast forward to now, my happy place is a completely devoted me time. An hour of cardio session on Sunday morning at 10AM, with lunch, and an amazing oil aromatic massage could give me peace of mind like no others. Self-pampering time feels pretty amazing, which is why I need it from time to time. I always see it as taking myself on a nice date 🙂 Some weekends I am out and about with no me time, which leaves me exhausted. But some weekends I am too free and restless I so wish somebody could get me out of the house right now and do something! Too much of alone time or social time is never good for me. So, on weekends with nice balance like this leaves me feel just right, exactly what I need. Completely recharged and ready to tackle the week ahead!

Never had I thought I would enjoy doing cardio, though! It’s hard for me pushing myself to go work out on Sunday morning, but always glad I did every single time. I felt more refreshed, my body felt lighter, and it really lifted my mood up with energy. In fact, more often than not I think it’s probably better for me to go work out in the morning before going to work, so that I can have energy going throughout the day. Couldn’t make myself get up that early, though. Getting up at 6AM sounds really brutal for me.

More and more I start seeing these benefits of being strong and having energy. I was so weak just a couple years ago and any light physical activities could leave me sore, tired, and grumpy. Talk about one of the biggest changes in life!

Yesterday we started doing simple footwork of Charleston dance, a popular dancing style in 1920s with fast-paced legs swinging, involved a lot of pulsing, jumping around and kicking. To me it was like a light cardio and felt good to sweat it out just a bit! Pulsing with knees bouncing like that felt like half pulse squat, while jumping around felt like jump squat. So funny how I saw it like a bodyweight exercise, with classic jazz music. I didn’t feel tired at all. To me that was such a nice workout with great music which once again lifted my mood up easily, with silly smiles because I was messing up with steps and tempo from time to time.

Curious to see what my definition of “happy place” will be in the next 5 years, in this unpredictable thing called life 🙂

And it’s simply irrational weather. Can’t even hear myself think. Constantly bailing out water. But still feel like I’m gonna sink

Isn’t it so hard to find balance in life? Last year I didn’t have time to write or think or even feel anything, it was mostly moving from multiple tasks to more tasks. Just stressed and tired and a bit burned out from work. Now I’ve got more time to enjoy life and do more things apart from work, yet life or people who walk into my life disappoint me. No longer stressed, but now emotionally exhausted and drained. And somehow feel like I need to keep writing as a way to release.

Currently in this very strange mood, with a lot of weird feelings boiling up inside. Certainly not emotionally stable like my usual self, and I don’t cope with excessive emotions very well. Combined that with lack of sleep. I’ve gotten 5-6 hours of sleep lately which is not enough. Sleep is so important for me and without it I get moody or even sick sometimes. Plus I feel sore all over my body. Those deadlift attempts left my lower back feel funny, which is scary as hell. I’d definitely, gladly drop the weight and stop pursuing big numbers and would go for correct form and technique to prevent injuries. Really scared of getting injured. Plus heavy squat yesterday got my quads quite sore when I walk now. All of those things didn’t help lift up the mood either.

Ugh. Lots of complaints. Why so grumpy? Why so sad? Also the full intention of reducing distraction and gaining focus back this week didn’t quite work out as previously planned at all. I’ll just need to try again next week, or maybe tomorrow.

Let’s focus on something good, shall we? Whenever I feel down, I try to focus on some tiny little things that are nice to cheer me up. It’s those small little things that count.

PR for Squat yesterday was one of the good things. 72.5 kg now. Honestly I didn’t quite feel it because my lower back still felt weird, but somehow managed to squat. Bench also PR a few weeks earlier. In fact, deadlift also PR for 100 kgs 3 reps, come to think about it. July seems to be a good month, if I stop thinking about that failed deadlift and being too hard on myself. I did make some progress this month!

Another tiny little thing is, I was shared a free chocolate nut butter smoothie with whey protein after a workout yesterday. That was tasty! Insisted on paying but the guy at the smoothie bar didn’t accept. And my colleague who turned friend noticed I feel under the weather today, so he made me hot tea and bought me some chocolate Oreos from 7/11 (Because you know, chocolate fixes everything). Tiny things like this touch me the most. It really reminded me of those times I got sick in Japan and my Korean friend cooked for me, English friend made me hot tea, and Japanese friends came over with lots of food supplies to make sure I was ok. Seriously I almost cried because of them.

Even a conference call earlier with our new agency about Google ads & Facebook campaign plan did slightly make me feel better. Crazy, isn’t it? It probably helped redirect my focus to something tangible like campaign re-structure, keyword search volume, audience targeting and other things. I felt good seeing plans laid out like that in spreadsheets, neatly lining in columns and rows, along with next steps and action plans, unlike something unquantifiable like feelings which have layers and nothing clear cut at all.

At the same time I also feel like whatever happened to me really is nothing to be upset about and it’s all in my head. Last night I talked on the phone with my best friend whose mother has a cancer in a serious stage. Her aunt also just found out she has a cancer initial stage and needs to start chemotherapy treatment. Wow, that was SO tough. I was extremely concerned about her as she had to take care of her family while manage her company. Will need to check on her often from now on. You see, redirecting your focus to other people could potentially make you feel better. When you talk to people who experience really serious issues and tough times, you can’t help feeling like what you worry really is nothing compared to them. I’ve always had this problem that I feel feelings on top of feelings (“I feel bad that I feel bad” and so on). However, it probably isn’t healthy to deny your feelings that they aren’t worth it either.

Your feelings are valid and accepting them, working with them, not avoiding them is probably the way to cope.

Easier said than done, as always.

First time I failed a lift – 105 kg deadlift

I failed a 105 kg deadlift yesterday.

Two attempts, and the weight couldn’t go up at all. It hardly moved.

That was the VERY first time it happened.

The coach said it isn’t a big deal. A lot of external factors come into play like sleep, my period cycle and on and on. That’s perfectly normal. It isn’t even a failure. How can you expect yourself to keep progressing ALL the time? Also that wouldn’t be the last time it was going to happen either. It will happen again and again. And that’s how you progress!

Can’t help feeling upset, though.

Have I told you I don’t cope with failures very well?

It probably is silly but here is why, to me, 105 kg deadlift really is NOT a stretched goal, considered I just did 100 kgs for 3 reps just a few weeks earlier. This should have been a breeze! The weight could have gone up somehow, maybe I wouldn’t have been able to lock out, maybe the form wouldn’t have been 100% perfect. I would have been okay with that, at least.

Not like it almost stuck to the ground like that. Not sure what happened there.

In fact, our coach called me out and said stop right then and there after 2 attempts. He saw my back started to curl and that was a no go. That is a good thing. So now I’m also left slightly paranoid that I placed too much weight on my lower back and it felt slightly funny today. Hmm…first of all, progressing and going up in numbers are cool, but the most important thing is correct technique and injury prevention. I would never risk myself for that. I need to look into this or talk to coaches more about lower back and deadlift. I get scared from time to time.

And I know the coach said “external factors” could be the reasons. But you see, for me the first thing I thought of “Wow, I’m shit. I suck” My first internal instinct is to blame myself, which isn’t good at all.

Also, though I said I don’t cope with failures well, I’ve definitely failed before. I failed job interviews. I failed that Japanese government scholarship exam, failed that scholarship screening in University of Bath. It didn’t affect me that much. For some failures, you were completely fine with them.

With our strength training and powerlifting program though, in a way it is like you compete with you and yourself. It feels like I have full responsibility to the outcome and if it’s shit then it’s all on ME. I walk up to the bar, set my feet in the deadlift position, lower my butt down, take a BIG deep breath, engage my core, and it really is just ME AND THE BAR. I knew yesterday I felt nervous as hell, approaching 105 kgs. First attempt I was rocking and swaying, didn’t keep my core as tight as I should have.

I did say in the end it is about the mind, isn’t it?

After that my working set was quite sloppy too. 92.5 kgs could have moved better than that. Yesterday for some reason I wasn’t feeling it.

Oh well. One of those days, they say.

Well, one good thing is my grip seems to be able to tolerate 100kg weight better. It didn’t hurt as bad as it used to. Grip got stronger! Also these days my DELOAD week is at 80 kgs, a couple months ago was around 70 kgs. So this means I got stronger, right!?

(Trying to be more positive here, you see…)

Anyway, I know I definitely am not fully dedicated to this. Nutrition is such a huge factor and I don’t eat enough protein. I keep repeating for the 100th time, but still haven’t changed anything.

It’s great to fail though. I just got excited and wrote all about a linear progress. But hey, maybe progress isn’t linear. There are always ups and downs. It’s about how you fail and come back better and stronger, isn’t it?

At this point one quote came into mind. It couldn’t be more true.

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better”

Jumbled, Juicy June

Have you ever felt like when things are happening, it’s all happening at once? But when nothing happens, it’s nothing at all. Hardly find a balance, is it? My June falls under the former category.

The old you

Some conversation I had a couple days earlier made me go back and reread my old blog posts 2-3 years ago and, OH MY GOD, who was THAT lost girl? For once I wanted to tell her, GIRL, YOU GOTTA CHILL! As usual, your old writing makes you cringe, but at the same time it’s such a great reflection of who you once were at one point in time. That was too much. Too all over the place. Too serious. Too overthinking. Too worried. While that hasn’t changed and it probably never will as it’s a part of who I am, I do think I’ve gotten slightly better at it than before. I was not that lost in my career anymore. And definitely had gained more confidence and experience in what I do which is a great thing. Can’t say I’ve figured it all out though, but does anyone ever figure EVERYTHING out?

Funny how you’ve changed in JUST 3 years. I hardly look back and appreciate how far I’ve come. Day to day it doesn’t feel like I’ve done enough and I’m kind of staying still. But I guess it isn’t that way from perspective.

Man, I love my 30s so far. You’ve gained more confidence. You feel like you know your shit more. People come ask you for advice and opinion. Yet at the same time I whine about it and am scared of getting old. A walking contradiction, as always.

Anyway, I got a little carried away talking about the past. Let’s come back to the present. June was, wow, so all over the place, quite dynamic. Someone made me realize the other day how distracted I was these past couple of weeks. My mind was elsewhere almost all the time.

Identity Crisis

I don’t know how to best describe this so I’m just going to compare it from a business point of view. In business, we always need to set goals and objectives to achieve, right? Then we start setting action plans and tracking progress on how to achieve them. While in personal life, let’s say my goal is to have a long-term relationship, yet my action plan totally does NOT match my goal. Doing what I do, being involved in the kind of situation I am in now is not going to make me get what I want. This doesn’t make sense at all. Does this mean I don’t actually want that goal hard enough? Or I don’t know the best action plan to achieve it? Or business thinking can’t be applied to one’s personal romantic life? (Ugh, feelings and emotions).

So, how to fix this? I still don’t know. I guess I never knew either.

Did have a bit of an identity crisis and not sure who I have become. Why I have changed to be someone I never thought I would be, do something I never thought I would do. Talked to close friends and they all say I’m being TOO hard on myself again (Wait, didn’t someone just say she got better with overthinking things? I guess not, HA!), because nothing I have done is harmful for anyone else.

Takeaway for this? Never say never. It’s not about what you say you are, it’s about what you do, right?

And what is it that you keep having guys whom you judge to have no long term potential showing interests? (See, mismatch to the goal and objective!). In digital marketing, we call this unqualified leads. And nope, they can’t go down our customer journey funnel. No conversion occurred (Yep, I compare dating to customer journey, I do think it’s a similar process, no jokes).

Acceptance

Lots of things happened that I can’t get into details here. One thing I know, though, is I can take things as they are better now and am not as surprised or freak out as I once was. I lived my life in such a box, a pattern, for the longest time. Only recently that I’ve gotten slightly more chill, while don’t try to define everything too much.

And I’ve gotten better at accepting the fact that meeting right person at the wrong time means they are the wrong person. Back then I would have been devastated. It used to destroy me in my early 20s and took so long for me to get over it. I would have wailed and whined and gotten so upset and kept asking why, why, and why. But hey, after disappointment and heartaches, your heart got colder and more guarded, you got stronger. When nothing is in your control or power, then what can you do but accept it and move on? Just like many times you did in the past anyway.

Lifting

Ok let’s get out of my head and talk about something a bit more substantial here, like new PR on lifting! Again, day to day it feels like I haven’t made progress. But if you look at the timeline, my deadlift was 50 kgs back in October last year, and now in July I could do 100 kgs for 3 reps! I was so excited that I was repping 100 kgs. In February I could lift 100 kgs only once. It took a long time, I could have done better perhaps, but at least I’m going somewhere.

Squat has gotten better too. 75 kgs or 1.5X my bodyweight shouldn’t be too hard now. Lately my squat has been moving quite nicely, better than just a couple months ago. Love it.

Bench will always be my worst enemy as it’s extremely difficult for me to go up in weight for upper body. But finally I managed to bench 30 kgs for 3 reps. Another PR! It has always been my tiny goal to bench with 5 kgs big plates because it looks more badass (yeah…I’m serious). And I finally did that.

I love that I’ve gotten stronger. Love it even more to monitor and track progress (Digital marketing practice, ha!). So far it’s been linear. Why oh why it isn’t linear when it comes to your personal issues!?

[Edit: Then a few days after I wrote that “Progress is linear” I got proven that I was wrong. It really isn’t, either! See here] 

Swing dance

You know what, I FINALLY did it! Signed up for Lindy Hop level 1 Swing dance lesson at The Hop. Wow, I really enjoyed it too. Just hearing swing jazz music was enough to make my day. It was so much fun and I enjoyed this feeling of NOT knowing what I’m doing and challenging myself trying something new and fun! We haven’t done much in the past 2 lessons, just a couple steps and turns and movements. But I’ve loved it so far.

It’s such a great community at The Hop. It’s definitely more than just a dance studio but more like a friendly get together kind of place that brings people with same passion together. Teachers were so nice and friendly and fun. It’s also an international setting with quite a few foreigners from all ages. They have social night party after class on Saturday night too. My friends and I will probably join that and see how it goes.

Wrote longer than I thought I would have. Oh, also for some reason I’m getting addicted to getting massage and spa every week again! A bit guilty for that but I’ve felt quite stiff these days. Hmm, maybe lifting can make you stiff? I probably should do something about this, but haven’t read or explored how to fix this yet.

Hopefully I will be LESS distracted. Trying to get back on track and gain my focus back. Get my list of priorities out and just stick to it!

Those leftover emotional scars

This morning I just read this post “The art of pushing people away” from Sophie, one of the fashion bloggers I follow. Whoa. Wow. What a RIGHT timing. It’s been on my mind in the past 2 weeks and resonates to WhatsApp conversation with my friend last night! It’s such an open, honest post and I love how real it sounds, showing the struggle of late 20somethings. Hell, I’m in my 30s and STILL struggling with this.

While I can’t relate to everything she wrote, there are some things that really, really ring true. Let me quote some of her paragraphs here.

I think it’s safe to say when you hit your mid-late twenties you’ve dealt with enough car crashes in relationships and have had to grow a hardened protective layer. Like scar tissue. 

I think the problem is this. You’re single. You’re emotionally independent. And you think you’re fine. Because you are fine. But as soon as you start dating, you realise the scars that still exist.

I want to be adored, but I don’t want to let my guard down and let someone in. I want someone to care about me but I’m scared of the commitment. Are you still following? Because I sure as fuck am not. Who would want to date me? I’m so indecisive! But also, I am a firm believer if you have all of these questions and doubts, that they’re probably not the right person for you anyway.

Everyone says I have high standards – which yes, can totally be a good thing – but what if they are so high they are unattainable? That they don’t even really exist? And well, perhaps the only reason they exist is actually only for yourself, so that you can keep them so very high that it keeps others out of your perfect world where you have control over everything? Your standards become an impenetrable wall to keep anybody else out.

Okay, so I may have quoted half of her post. Damn.

But the thing is, my problem is quite the opposite of her. I’m not afraid to REALLY like someone. And I don’t seek for validation to find some guys to like me AT ALL. In fact, I couldn’t care less. If we hit it off, that’s cool. If we don’t, I never force anything to happen further. It’s easier than ever now to move on, sometimes too easy to disregard any kind of opportunities, when you have a better idea of what you want.

So what’s the issue? I can go on dates, no problem. Once in a while I even initiate meeting up with new people, because meeting new people can be cool! (Doesn’t happen a lot, though). BUT I seem to go on dates and think about all the reasons for this NOT working out. My default thinking is to immediately find flaws of the person and list all the reasons or probabilities of this not being the right one. There are other good things about the person, of course, there are also possibilities we might hit it off, but I don’t look at those.

The older I get, the easier I find talking to someone. I ALWAYS have something to talk about and can connect with people rather easily, especially when it comes to one-on-one conversation. I used to think it was very special when this happened and this person must have been The One. Now I know NOT to mistake the sign. It’s still and will always be really important for me; the ability to have conversation and connection. But it isn’t everything. (See why shit got so much harder now? Duh).

Another thing is, I’m not sure anymore if there’s anyone really looking for a relationship. For some reasons I feel like everyone just wants to have fun these days. No one really puts effort anymore, do they? I know I don’t. How could I expect other people to do so?

What else? I overthink as hell, trying to predict the future, painting all the scenarios and complication of this not being the right guy for me and I’d probably be better off alone, in my safe zone. I’m aware of it, and I REALLY hate how I’ve become. When I was in my early 20s, I was almost the exact opposite; wearing my heart on sleeves and approaching dates with excitement, curiosity, and nonchalant attitudes. I called it my experimenting phase. Even went for relationships without really giving it much thought. And now it’s all about thoughts, where did my feelings go?

It doesn’t help either that I’m quite satisfied with my life right now. My life IS good. It’s not perfect, but I’ve got shit to do while always try to learn something new and become a better, smarter person. I like my job now. I don’t know about passion and all that shit, but I always try to improve my knowledge in digital marketing. ALWAYS. I’ve got my fitness routine that I keep up and want to be better at it. I’m healthy. I’m not a billionaire, but I’m financially independent. I still don’t have debts. I can do whatever I want with no responsibilities much. I mean, what more could you ask for!? And I believe I’m scared to add someone in life as it could make things worse. Seriously though, I gave up hope long time ago to have someone and make my life better. Just be my supportive companion and don’t make shit worse. Even that, it’s still pretty hard to find.

People don’t really believe when I say I’m single. And many conclude that I am picky and have high standards (just like the quote above!). My world isn’t perfect, but I have control with my life for the most part. Adding someone into it is definitely going to change the dynamics. It’s likely that I’m scared of the uncertainty this person could bring. Ah, psychoanalyzing myself here.

Last night WhatsApp conversation with a friend was all about Love, and it made me feel so weird thinking about that word. Romantic love, what’s that? I haven’t felt it in the past YEARS. And really feel ok with not feeling it, this love thing. I told my friend how I could be slightly more emotionally dependent when falling in love, which I suppose natural when you love someone. But I hate that feeling and that word “Dependence” Oh please. Give me a break.

He called me a tough cookie. Not the first time I heard this. And I still don’t have the answer or solution to everything I’ve written here. Aware of it, though. Maybe this could be a good start, for a change, if I want to change, that is.

Review: Base Bangkok (Thonglor, Sathorn, Chidlom branches)

เพิ่งรู้สึกตัวว่าไม่เคยเขียนรีวิวที่ Base ทั้งที่เป็นยิมประจำของตัวเอง ปกติไปทองหล่อ ซึ่งเป็นสาขาแรก แต่ไหนๆก็ได้ไปลองมาครบ 3 สาขาแล้วเลยขอเขียนรีวิวหน่อยละกัน

Base Bangkok มีที่ทองหล่อ (คอนโด Noble remix ติด BTS ทองหล่อ) สาทร (ตึกสาทรธานี ติด BTS ช่องนนทรี) และล่าสุดคือชิดลม (ตึกอัมรินทร์พลาซ่า ติด BTS ชิดลม) เราว่าจุดเด่นของ Base คือโลเคชั่นนี่แหละ ทุกสาขาจะมี sky walk เชื่อมถึงเลย สะดวกมากๆ

Classes

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) + Strength Training เราว่าคลาสที่ Base สำหรับมือใหม่ที่ไม่ค่อยออกกำลังกายมากอาจจะโหดนะ เราเคยมาลองเล่น HIIT ตอนเริ่มออกกำลังกายสม่ำเสมอแค่ไม่กี่เดือน ตอนนั้นยังอ่อนแอมาก (แต่ก่อนเราทำอะไรไม่ได้เลยจริงๆ plank ก็ไม่ได้ ยกอะไรไม่ได้เลย อาการหนักมากๆ) บอกเลยว่าเล่น HIIT แล้วเหนื่อยแบบท้อแท้อะ55 คือทุกอย่างมันเยอะ เร็วไปหมด แล้ว core เราอ่อนแอ ทำอะไรก็ไม่ไหวเลย แค่วอร์มอัพ 10 นาทีแรกเราก็เหนื่อยจะตายแล้ว ยกเวทอะไรก็ต้องเอาแบบน้ำหนักน้อยสุดๆ เลยไม่สนุก

แต่สำหรับมือใหม่เราว่าถ้าฝืนใจทนไป ร่างกายก็น่าจะปรับตัวได้นะ ที่ Base คนที่มาเล่นหลายคนจะดูจริงจังมาก แบบหุ่นดีดูออกกำลังกายตลอด ฝรั่งก็เยอะ อาจจะรู้สึก intimidated ได้ เป็นเรื่องธรรมดา แต่ไม่ต้องไปสนใจ เราก็ทำของเราเท่าที่ได้พอ

(รูปนี้ที่ Base ทองหล่อ เล่นคลาสกันตรงนี้แหละ)

คลาสก็มีให้เลือกหลากหลายเลย แต่ละคลาสก็จะมีจุดเด่นแตกต่างกันไป เช่น

– Basecamp จะผสม cardio & strength ใน 6 stations station นึงจะราว 5 นาที ไม่นาน พอเสร็จ station นึงก็เปลี่ยนไปเรื่อยๆ

– Base Build เน้น strength training ยกเวท ไม่มีกระโดด ไม่คาร์ดิโอ มี 4 stations

– Base Burn ตามชื่อเลยค่ะ คือเน้น cardio ล้วน เหนื่อยสุดๆ เป็นคลาสที่ส่วนตัวแล้วแทบไม่เข้าเลย55 ไม่ชอบคาร์ดิโอจริงๆ ขอเข้าคลาสที่มีเวทมาตัดนิดนึงก็ยังดี

– The Works อันนี้สนุกและเหนื่อยดี ผสม cardio & strength แต่มีถึง 9 stations station นึงแค่ 45 วิ คือจะเปลี่ยนเร็วมากๆ แต่ทำทั้ง circuit อะ 3 รอบ เพราะฉะนั้นคือเหนื่อยนะ แต่ด้วยความที่มันเร็วดีเราก็จะไม่เบื่อมาก โดยเฉพาะเวลา station run, row, bike (Read: cardio) เราก็จะไม่ทรมานเท่าไร 555

– Base X อันนี้ผสมๆเหมือนกัน แต่รู้สึกคลาสจะสั้นกว่า แค่ 45 นาที คลาสปกติจะ 1 ชม.

– Base Strong คลาสประจำเราที่ทองหล่อค่ะ อันนี้คลาสพิเศษ คือจำกัดแค่ 10 คนต่อคลาส และจองเต็มเร็วมากกกก คือเราต้องตั้งนาฬิกาปลุกตอน 23:55 เพื่อจะได้จองคลาสตอน 00.00 พอ 00.01 คลาสเต็มแล้ว! waitlist กันไปตามระเบียบ คลาสนี้คือต้องเคยเล่นมาแล้วพอสมควร มีพื้นฐานด้านการยกเวท ไม่แนะนำสำหรับคนเพิ่งเริ่มเล่น เพราะเรายกกันหนักพอสมควร หลักๆที่เราทำคือ Squat, bench, deadlift (powerlifting style) โดยจะมีโปรแกรมแต่ละวันให้ทำต่างกันไป เพื่อเสริมสร้างความแข็งแรง ส่วนตัวเล่นมา 4-5 เดือน ไป 2-3ครั้งต่อวีค เห็นผลมากๆ แข็งแรงขึ้นมากจริงๆ โค้ชดีมากๆ มีความรู้ ช่วยดูฟอร์มอย่างดี ถามอะไรได้หมด

(รูปนี้น่าจะตอน join Base Strong เดือนแรกเลย deadlift ได้แค่ 60 โล)

– Speed & Endurance คลาสพิเศษจำกัดคน เป็น intense cardio คิดว่าเราจะเคยเข้าปะ? แน่นอนค่ะว่าไม่ จุดยืนชัดเจน555

Facilities

เอาแค่ชุดออกกำลังกายมากับรองเท้า นอกนั้นที่นี่มีให้หมด ผ้าเช็ดตัว ผ้าขนหนูซับเหงื่อ น้ำเปล่าขวดละ 10 บาท ที่เราชอบมากกกกกที่สุดในโลก คือแชมพู ครีมนวด กับสบู่ในห้องน้ำ Base ค่ะ! ยี่ห้อ Malin + Goetz แชมพูออแกนิกกลิ่น peppermint คือหอมมากกกกกกก! เหมือนเคยเสิร์ชราคาในไทยมันแพงมากๆอะ มาใช้เอาที่ Base แทนละกันนะ

นอกจากนี้ก็มีโลชั่น Malin + Goetz ให้เหมือนกัน มีไดร์เป่าผม หนังยางรัดผม deodorant spray cotton bud ถุงใส่เสื้อผ้าที่ใช้แล้ว tampon ยังมีวางไว้ให้อะ ทุกอย่างมีให้ครบจริงๆตามราคาที่จ่ายไปนะคะ

อ้อ แต่มีข้อติของสาขาสาทรกับชิดลมนิดนึง สาทรเหมือนต้องแชร์ห้องอาบน้ำใน co working space แล้วห้องน้ำต้องเดินไปอีกฟากนึง อุปกรณ์ก็ไม่ครบเหมือนทองหล่อ แชมพูสบู่ก็แบบธรรมดาๆ

ส่วนสาขาชิดลม ห้องน้ำต้องใช้ของตึก เดินไปอีกฝั่งนึงเหมือนกัน ไม่ค่อยสะดวกเท่าไร แต่ยังดีมีห้องอาบน้ำในยิมให้ สถานที่ชิดลมโดยรวมก็จะใหม่สุด ดูดีสุด มีสกรีนออกจอใหญ่และเด่นมาก

(รูปนี้ที่ Base ชิดลม / Plates ใหม่คือมีสลักชื่อ Base Bangkok ด้วยจ้า เพิ่งใช้กันได้ไม่นาน)

Atmosphere

Base ทองหล่อเป็นที่ที่ Soooo expat-oriented! เดินเข้ามาแทบจะไม่ได้ยินภาษาไทยคุยกันละ ภาษาอังกฤษที่ได้ยินก็จะแนวสำเนียงเด็กนอกหมด อินเตอร์มากๆ คนไทยที่เราได้ยินบ่อยๆก็จะพูดไทย 2 ประโยค สลับกับอังกฤษอีก 5 ประโยค (Oh you know I แบบชอบใช้ trainer เพราะว่า he can motivate me…แนวๆนี้) เราเป็นเด็กไทยแท้เรียนไทยก็จะไม่ชินหูอย่างแรง และแอบทึ่งว่าเค้าสลับภาษาทันได้ไงนะ เราพูดได้แค่ภาษาเดียวยาวๆ ให้สลับไปมานี่เราทำไม่ได้อะ งง555 Base เป็นที่ที่เดินเข้ามาแล้วจะไม่รู้สึกเหมือนอยู่ประเทศไทยเลย แต่เพื่อนเราบอกสาทรก็จะไทยๆมากกว่า เป็นพวกพนักงานออฟฟิศแถวนั้นกันเยอะ

Instructors ทุกคนที่นี่เฟรนด์ลี่มากกกก และดีมากกกก เราจำได้วันที่เรามาเล่นครั้งแรก มาคนเดียวแบบเด๋อด๋า instructor เข้ามาทักเราเลยตอนเริ่มคลาส hey you are new here right? แล้วก็บอกเลยว่าจะทำอะไรบ้าง แล้วก็ดูแลเรา มาจัดฟอร์มเราให้แบบใกล้ชิด คือรู้สึกดีอะที่เค้าใส่ใจ

เราคุยกะเพื่อนที่เล่นที่นี่ เพื่อนบอกว่า You do feel like people who are here truly want to be here ซึ่งเราเห็นด้วยมากๆ ฟีลลิ่งมันจะไม่เหมือนกับพวก fitness first, we fitness อันนั้นมันก็คนหลากหลายอะนะ ตามลักษณะธุรกิจเค้าที่เป็น mass โอเคที่นี่ก็จะมีหน้าใหม่ๆแบบใช้ guavapass เข้ามา แต่ความที่มัน niche กว่า เล็กกว่า เจ้าประจำก็จะมากันเรื่อยๆ เห็นหน้ากันประจำๆ ทุกคนก็ดูตั้งใจ จริงจังอะ เราว่ามันเป็นสภาพแวดล้อมที่ดีเหมาะกับการเล่นฟิตเนส ฟิตเนสที่ดีก็ควรเป็นแบบนี้แหละ สร้าง community อะนะ

ที่สำคัญก็พวกเทรนเนอร์นี่แหละที่ทุกคนไนซ์มากๆ และความรู้แน่นมากด้วย เราเริ่มมาอ่านๆเรื่องพวกการเล่น การยกเวท การกิน ก็เพราะจากที่ได้คุยกะพวกเทรนเนอร์ที่ Base เนี่ย ทุกคนอธิบายได้แบบมีเหตุผล มีความรู้ ถ้าพวก fitness first บางทีก็มั่วๆ พูดอะไรก็ไม่เมคเซนส์บ้าง หรือไม่อธิบายบ้าง แต่ Base จะไม่มีแบบนั้น

Price

เช็คได้จากเว็บ เราว่าแพง แพงเลยแหละ55 ตอนนี้เราใช้แพคเกจ unlimited 6 months รู้สึกจะจ่ายไปราวๆ 30,000 บาท ซึ่งถ้าเป็นพวก fitness first, Virgin ราคาเท่ากันอาจจะเล่นได้ทั้งปีเลย แต่คิดว่าก็คุ้มค่ากับคุณภาพที่ได้รับมั้งนะ

ถ้า PT ราคาก็โหดมากกก ชม.ละเกิน 2,000 บาท เราว่าราคาแรงเกินเหตุ… แต่เพราะเป็น Base เค้าก็มีกลุ่มลูกค้าของเค้าอยู่แล้ว (Read: rich people555) ดาราอะไรก็มาเทรนที่นี่บ่อยเหมือนกัน

สรุป

เขียนมายาวยืด สรุปเราก็ชอบแหละ พอใจ Base แบบรวมๆ ที่นี่ดี แต่ที่ชอบมากๆคือ Base Strong class มากกว่า (ถ้ามีเวลาอาจจะเขียนรีวิว Base Strong แยกอีกโพสว่าทำไมถึงชอบมาก) เลยรู้สึกโอเคที่จะจ่าย

เหมาะกับคนที่อยาก challenge ตัวเองในการออกกำลังกาย คลาสมันเหนื่อยนะ55 อาจจะเหมาะกะคนขี้เบื่อเพราะมันเร็วๆ แป๊บๆ ดี หรืออาจจะเหมาะกะคนที่เริ่มเบื่อพวก chain fitness (fitness first, we fitness, Virgin) ที่นี่ก็อาจจะตอบโจทย์คุณมากกว่าค่ะ

ปิดท้ายด้วย Gymfie 1 รูป 55 (คนจะถามว่าทำไมใส่ converse มายิม? เวลายกเวทเราต้องฟีลพื้นให้ได้มากสุดเพื่อจะได้มีแรง drive ขึ้น แล้ว converse ส้นมันเรียบแบนเลยใส่ได้ รองเท้าวิ่งนิ่มๆเด้งๆนี่ห้ามค่ะ ไม่อีกทีหลายคนก็ยกกันเท้าเปล่าเลย)

Ko Lanta Solo Travel (Part 2): Yoga by the sea

Continuing from my previous post, I’m really in the mood of writing and documenting stuff on this trip! I just finished working on some freelance stuff, might as well continue typing it away while I’m at it.

Love that I eat tons of fruit here! I don’t eat healthy at all at home. This is a really nice change and I can feel it’s good for my body too!

Originally I planned to hit it hard for CrossFit today, but didn’t feel like it at all this morning. I wasn’t extremely sore, but didn’t feel 100% for some reason and was in the mood of something with a slower pace. No problem, yoga it was then!

It was so lovely. Yoga in an open air in a little Sala overlooking the sea was incredibly soothing. You focus on your breathing and posture while listening to birds chirping and gentle sea waves. I haven’t done yoga for at least 4 years and am really not a yoga person at all. Tried hot yoga at Absolute yoga years ago, and I felt it was too slow and not for me. This time, however, I felt pretty amazing. It was so private as there were only 3 of us, and the environment and everything just felt so right. We did Ashtanga and Vinyasa (I think). Oh dear, only a few rounds of Sun Salutation made me sweat like crazy! How come all these slow movements got you sweat like a cardio! Incredible.

I’m not flexible at all and I felt my body was quite tight. Our yoga teacher, Kru Thip, used to do CrossFit for 2 years and she understands me. She said lifting weight made your body really tight which isn’t good (mental note to research on this afterwards). Yoga is an entirely different movement and focus in your body. Found it really funny when she tried to re-arrange my body and said, stop squeezing your glutes, it’s not a hip thrust, use your inner thigh instead!

The rest of the day was pretty random and relaxing. I was walking around everywhere, even in the afternoon heat and I felt my back was burning. Long beach stretched over 3 km long (or maybe longer), so I kept walking along the beach, be in the afternoon or evening before sunset. I love the feeling of the waves touching my feet. Not sure how to describe it, but it’s definitely one of my favorite feelings.

When I stopped at a beach bar for an happy hour to watch a sunset, it just hit me that I was so, so wrong about this trip. I really should have come here for at least A WEEK! Everything about this trip is exactly what I need in a holiday. This is a real holiday, not the kind of holiday you want another holiday to recover from it. Ko Lanta trip did make every cell in my body relax and learn to enjoy simple, beautiful things in life. Can you ever get tired of watching sunset on the beach? I wonder. This alone is more than enough. I definitely should do this more often. Pick some island in Thailand and just go by myself. Save money enough to splurge and live comfortably on an island a bit, sounds great to me.

My bestie called to check on me and asked if I’m ok or already died from loneliness. HAHA. That was really sweet of her. She asked if I made any new friends. But you know what, I didn’t. Not at all. The thing is, I don’t seem to know how to strike a conversion with strangers!? How do people do this? Do people still talk to new people in a bar? It looks so, so easy for some people, but I’m at a lost at how to do it. It’s pretty funny because many people comment I’m a friendly person, and I do talk to people a lot as a huge part of my job. But when it comes to initiating conversion with random people, I just can’t. Not sure why, but I would really love to crack this “art”

Having said that, I still confirm that everyone on Ko Lanta is incredibly nice and friendly, like people in restaurants, bars, and cafes. I did have some small talk with them and most people have smiles on their faces the whole time. They greet their regulars (mostly westerners) with this sincere smile like good friends. I LOVE IT! It’s so nice. This would be one of the reasons for me to come back; nice and friendly people!

I can keep going on and on for every single topic running in my head right now as I have lots of time to reflect on every single thing in life at the moment. Will spare you and call this post an end here. I’m really not ready to go back to the city at all *Sad puppy face*