Enough Already!

So, ok, I am trying to 'Livestrong', really I am. But I have a dilemna. Since my last post I still have not been to the gym. In my head, I have been several times, each time completing a greuling workout that leaves me sweaty and out of breath. The reality is, I am too tired to go to the gym. Really, I am. When I first moved to Norway, my husband and I were contemplating the idea of opening up an authentic Tex-Mex restaurant as there are NONE here. So we concluded that I should get a job in the service industry to 'learn the ropes'. So, there is this quaint little cafe by our house called 'Evita'. I applied for a job. In my mind I envisioned myself to be like Rachel on Friends. Having relaxing days serving cappucinos while various friends came in to visit, and along the way, learning a bit about how the service industry works in Norway. The illusion was quickly shattered. NEVER, and I mean NEVER, in my life, have I worked in a place so utterly stressful. That place is PACKED. Norwegians do not drink coffee the way the majority of Americans do. I used to run into Starbucks and grab a coffee and run back out, my paper cup securely in my hand. Here, they drink out of GLASSES. Latte glasses. They look like run of the mill water glasses, but they are Latte glasses. And then the Cortado glasses. And everyone drinks water with their coffee. Out of glasses. So you are CONSTANTLY running around, trying to find glasses. Washing the glasses. (now I have said 'glasses' so much that it doesn't look like a real word. It is kind of freaking me out. Has that ever happened to you?) Glasses. Glasses. Glasses. EVERYWHERE. I hate them. I secretly delight everytime I hear one break, but then I panic cause I know it means that we are now short one glass and I will have to work harder to find and clean new ones to feed the endless supply of Norwegians who walk through the door and want their coffee in GLASSES! If only we could use paper cups. ONLY paper. But I assure you, there would be a riot if we tried to sneak away the Latte glasses. We would lose customers over it. It's true.
SO...an average day for me working at Evita is: I get up at 5.23am. AT work by 6. Spend half an hour unchaining 16 heavy iron based tables and moving them into their proper places for outdoor seating and then carrying out about 45 chairs and setting them up. (That qualifies as weight training doesn't it??) We open at 7. The second person gets there at 10.30. At this point, the two of you work together to clean up the place, which has been TRASHED from 7 to 10.30, and wash GLASSES to get ready for the lunch crowd. Suddenly it is 2 in the afternoon. I have been there since 6. Running around. Somedays you get a break, somedays you don't. My Canadian friend Tyler who works there with me, he wore a pedometer to work one day, to see how far we 'scurried'. TEN KILOMETERS. That is 6.2 miles. In my mind, I think that is alot. So, like I said, I am TIRED. The mere thought of having to go to the gym after that is torture. So, on Monday I asked Tyler if he thought that the 6.2 miles was enough exercise, or if I needed to do something extra. Tyler says that even though it is 6.2 miles, it still really does not produce any cardio vascular exertion. That is not the answer I was looking for. It is movement is it not?? Then I come home and walk up 4 flights of stairs. More movement that leaves me breathless everytime. So, Monday, I am passed out on the couch, and all I can think about is Tyler saying 'It really doesn't have any cardio vascular benefit as far as exertion goes', and I am doing my best to NOT have to go exercise. Well, I decided that I would go for a jog. So with a lot of whining, I put on my exercise outfit, and out I went. 2 miles. One of which was uphill. Every inch of me ached. I came home and collapsed. But my bloodsugar was 5.9 (about 100), the lowest it has been in a month. I was happy, but at the same time, kind of sad, cause now I knew that even if I work my ass of for 9 hours, I still have to do something else to get my blood sugar down. Oh well. Tyler and his pedometer! I wish I had never known that we go 6.2 miles on average per shift! Because the knowledge that it is not enough is really disappointing to me! I know it is beneficial and good. But it doesn't supply the cardio vascular kickstart that my body so desperatly needs to drive down my blood sugar.
Well, I have to go and get ready for work. It is kind of overcast today, so maybe we will be a little slow. But Norwegians have a saying, 'There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes'. So, even if it starts to rain, they will be there. And they will want their coffee in a glass.

glasses. glasses. glasses.