The best part about the partial move this past weekend is that my apartment’s living room is now blissfully empty of the obstructive furniture that I rarely used and don’t even miss. I used to have two end tables, a coffee table, a large three-cushion sofa, and a matching two-cushion loveseat in my living room along with 4 bookcases and a TV cart. Now I’m down to the bookcases and TV cart, and the papasan chair that had been taking up space in my bedroom is in the corner of the living room.

There is a tidy row of dumbbells against the exterior wall beneath the windows, a folding bench and yoga mat leaning against the far bookcase and a stability ball cradled in the papasan, but my floor is pretty much clear.

Can we say “Perfect home workout space?”

I wish I’d done this two and a half years ago when I first moved into the apartment instead of two months shy of the end of my lease. All this time I have been wasting the precious exercise space in my living room by trying to conform to the accepted standard of living room decor–bulky, overstuffed seating interspersed with extraneous tables–on the off chance that I’d have guests to entertain.

I have had exactly ONE dinner/karaoke party in my apartment since I moved here.

On the other hand, I’ve averaged 6 workouts a week for over a year.

Even before I started BFL last year, I hardly ever used my living room because I don’t watch television. When I’m at home, I am either in the kitchen, in the bathroom, at the computer desk, or in bed. For the most part, the living room was just a space I had to move through to get from the kitchen to the bedroom.

How many folks out there have a pristine living room with all the expected furniture…and never spend any time in it? Quite a few homes I’ve visited have a second family room or den where the real “living” happens. The official living room is just for display.

From now on I vow I will always examine my actual functional needs when I set up my living space instead of simply plunking down money for furniture I won’t use just so I can say that I, too, have all the components of a typical American home.

I don’t want the typical American couch potato ass. Why should I provide it with the typical American couch to widen upon when I use my daily hour or two of free time to work out instead of vegetating in front of the tube?

My current set up is perfect: a kitchen in which to cook and eat, a bedroom that houses my bed, computer, and drafting table, a balcony full of container-grown vegetables, and a “living” room that is a spacious, basic home gym with just one comfy chair for those rare times when I do want to watch a movie, sing some karaoke or play some games on the Xbox or PS2.

What took me so long to get here?

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Nutrition: Non-Training Day Menu
(SGX nutrition details omitted by request of trainer)

1: SGX meal
2: Turkey/TVP in marinara sauce with 2 oz. WW spaghetti
3: SGX Meal
4: SGX Meal
5: 2/3 c. FF cottage cheese, 1/2 c. grapes, 1 T. oats
6: Turkey/TVP in marinara sauce with 2 oz. WW spaghetti

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil or natural peanut butter

Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
12:00 PM Stationary Bike (20 minutes)
12:30 PM YF Fitness Upper Body (30 minutes)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Had a cookie from the Bloodmobile after donating a pint.

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Brownie Points:
1. Donated blood again today and got $15 in Darden Restaurant gift certificates.
2. Earned another $25 Amazon.com GC from my Visa card.
3. Restocked groceries.
4. Updated Money.
5. Unlocked shih tzu puppy option in Nintendogs.
6. Didn’t have any leftover Halloween candy brought in by co-workers.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Update HandBase workout module.
2. Read a few chapters from NASM book.
3. Restore Palm programs to Tungsten T3.
4. Install DEA desktop.
5. Create new profile in Dietpower.
6. Bake new batch of carrot raisin bread.
7. Look up turkey breast recipes.