Category Archives: workout

Crazy altered schedule

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Monday was a typical gym day. Some cardio, some weights, some core stuff on a mat. Nothing to write home about.
Monday night was 7:15-8:45pm Power Yoga! There were 3 students including me, plus the teacher – so it was intimate and she gave us lots of personal attention. I even stuck my dreaded half moon pose for 2 breaths. But not 3. Yet. I find I can relax in to the pose better if I start from triangle.

The teacher is grounded and strong, and has the voice and inflection of a football coach but the vocabulary of a preschool teacher – “GOOD job, that was really hard work and you did a GOOD job. Now I shift my weight and do not favor one foot over the other and equally distribute my weight as I lift my right arm overhead. That’s perfect, Julie. Great job guys!” I leave her class drenched with sweat but totally released, flexible and giggling.

Tuesday I had a doctor’s appt in the morning. And I figured I worked out twice Monday, so I took it easy. Wendy came home saying her knee still hurt from her soccer injury 2 wks ago, so I called a client who is an orthopod, and scheduled a Wed AM appt. Thus, no workout Wed AM.

I took Wendy to the doctor. She had an Xray and they didn’t see anything unusual on it but are concerned it might be a stress fracture so they scheduled an MRI. They said our insurance won’t cover a same day MRI (because taking care of everything at once would just be too easy) so we go back again tomorrow morning at 8:45 – and she misses more school, and I miss more work, and I can’t go to the gym in the AM. It was kind of an extra bummer because I had some mommy-friends lined up to go to Yoga Sculpt with me in the morning, but Wendy’s knee is way more important.

Knowing I wouldn’t be able to go tomorrow, I hit the gym for Bodyflow tonight. It’s much more sedate than Power Yoga or Yoga Sculpt. I don’t leave sweaty, but it’s great for chilling out in the evening. My butt probably needs the 3 mile run more, but my brain really likes the Bodyflow. Can I go to the MRI in yoga class and stretch out in the waiting room? Maybe I’ll just bring a book…

I was a good girl and avoided the pizza my family was having for dinner. It’s so easy to wolf down a slice without realizing what I’m doing because it smells so good, but I know the white bread and grease are NOT what I need. I had a chicken / sundried tomato sausage instead with a bunch of veggies. And then went back for a spoonful of peanut butter.

Which got me to thinking – we go through TONS of peanut butter (yes, it’s all natural with no crazy oils added) – and I wondered if I could buy it online in bigger containers for a better price. Yes on bigger containers, no on better price. Bulk was not better.

A present we ordered came in the mail today. BottlecapJen on Etsy makes bottlecap jewelry. She adds beads and silk necklaces – cute stuff. And inexpensive if you need a quick birthday present for the age 8-18 girl in your life and don’t know what to get her. AND since I am a graphic designer and LOVE to customize – she let me email custom artwork to her and she put it on the kids’ friend’s necklaces with matching beads. So cute! You can get cupcakes or Hello Kitty for the girly-girl and a college mascot or soccer ball or ruby slippers – whatever each girl loves.

Now I am off to bed. Think happy thoughts about Wendy’s knee! She has a lot of dance parties she’s invited to over the next months (4? 5?) and it would suck for her to be on cruches now! (or ever!) I hope the MRI and the braces on her teeth play nicely together!

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Weekend Warrior

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Friday was core class at the gym. I did about 15 mins on the Stairmaster beforehand.

That night we all watched the movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock) and Ellen Page (Juno). I like Ellen Page a lot. It’s still funny for me to see the kid from 3rd Rock as an adult on screen. It was a weird sci-fi thriller where people can enter each other’s dreams, and the issues that can cause. I give it a B-. The effects were good but I think the story missed its mark.

Saturday I had to wake up early to take Wendy to the S.A.T. My baby at the SAT. Crazy. It’s part of a special program to identify smart 7th graders, and I thought it was nice that the 7th graders had their own part of the hall for the test separate from the high schoolers. Since I was awake anyway, I headed over to Yogablu for some Power Yoga. That woke me up!

Every time I take a yoga class with a new teacher, there’s something the teacher says that sticks with my practice for the long-term. I hear different teachers in my head as I do Yoga, guiding me, no matter who the actual instructor is at the time. The little nugget I took away from this lady was while we were lying with our legs back over our heads for plow, moving into candlestick. Sometimes that hurts my neck, and holding candlestick for a few breaths is hard for me. She said, simply, “There should be no weight at all on your traps or neck, it’s all on the tops of your shoulderblades.” And that was all I needed to change my candlestick pose.

After class we were talking a bit about childbirth (there were only 3 of us and we were all women) and the teacher said she had a 20 month old when she was 8 month pregnant with #2 (I have that part beat) and she went in for her 8 month checkup and they said they had to turn the baby because her feet were down. So she had a special ultrasound appointment, and when she went in for that she found out she was having twins! She went to tell her husband immediately – at work – and went in to labor 5 DAYS later! So she had 5 days prep for twins! And they wouldn’t have known at all if baby Stephanie had had her feet up. Yowza.

Sunday I did not work out. There may have been bra shopping with a daughter. And laundry. And the eating of whole wheat spinach ravioli with sauteed zucchini and tomatoes on top. I also used the $20 Amamzon gift card I got for only $10 from Living Social to buy my niece the Prince from Tangled Doll (Flynn Rider?) He was unavail during the holiday season so he’ll just show up this week in the mail!

Today I am off to the gym. And it’s new intern day 2 at work. He’s awfully quiet while he works but nice when we discuss his work. I think there’s still a level of awkwardness that needs to wear off.

I will also be trying to avoid the chocolate cupcakes with raspberry sauce that Alice made. (Cupcakes from box, sauce from scratch.) And just for Lindsay I’ll try to get a picture of me in workout gear ;)

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My kids blog for homework

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We have Netflix streaming through our Wii, and the girls and I have been watching a series called Rita Rocks. We never saw it when it was on TV, and there are only 2 seasons, and now we’re on the last episode of season 2. We’re all curled up on the couch ready for 20 mins of giggling. The dad on the show reminds us a bit of Brian, and they have 2 girls battling “sisterly love” like our house. And the mom is about to have a baby. But Alice jumps up and says -

“I forgot to blog for English class.”

Not only are my kids required to blog for certain classes and to prove they read certain assignments, they are occasionally required to comment on classmates’ blogs too. Between blogging and Facebook and Youtube and sports, I don’t know how they fit in homework!

Wendy had her last soccer game of the season today. She came home bummed because NOT ONLY did they lose, but the ref messed up so many calls that the parents were yelling at him. I know that happens a lot in the movies, but it’s usually not allowed at my kids’ games. Meanwhile Alice signed up for track season and is very excited about the new rubberized track the school just got.

This morning I started the day with Yoga Sculpt. It was a flow class with weights. I used 4 lb weights and will try 5 lbs next time. Lots of sun salutation type stuff sprinkled with some squats, presses, flies, tricep kickbacks, mountain climbers and Warrior 2 with weights. It was 75 mins and I think I started sweating around 50 mins. The studio also offers hot yoga – not Bikram, just hot flow class – and I am excited to try that. I bought a one month pass.

Wendy takes the SAT on Saturday. Have you heard about 7th graders taking the SAT? Did you know the SAT has a written essay now? And it’s out of 2400 points, not 1600 points. Yep, totally different. Should we tell them it doesn’t matter because finding a way to be happy is way more important than tests and which school you go to? Nah, we’ll let the kids figure that out on their own…

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Tried something new

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Sunday I went for an almost 3 miler with my friend Sheri. She said it was her first run in 15 mos so we had some walk/drinking fountain breaks along the way. She turned her MP3 player on in the last mile and I can say she is one of those people who runs harder-better-faster-stronger when she has techno driving her forward.

Monday was MLK day and my friend Maria was off work and wanted to work out together. She belongs to the YMCA and printed out a free 3-day pass for me. We met for 7:50 am Yoga and then chatted at Starbucks for a while. I had my first orange-mango smoothie (nonfat with added cinnamon). It was yummy.

I went back to the Y at 5pm for “core and more” class. We used a band, a ball, a block, a mat… and I think our abs a bit too! The 3 women around me had also never been to the class before. Even though it was an hour and my Fri core class is a half hour it didn’t seem that much longer because she had a long warm up and cool down, which we hardly do at my regular gym.

That night since we were all home and it was a bit laid back, we made sushi for dinner. We cheated and seared the salmon, but it was tasty!

Tues I couldn’t hit the gym in the am because I had to take a daughter to the orthodontist. But I made up for that with the 2 workouts Monday and then 2 workouts again on Wed.

Wed morning I hit the gym. I did a fast mile warm up on the treadmill. Then:

1. Around the World upperback/shoulder exercise with band.

2. Plank with a twist, 12 to each side.

3. Cross shoulder press with band.I would call this a squat shoulder press.

4. Washboard circle with band. This one bored me.

5. Punch and row with 8 lb hand weights

6. Quadruped Plus with band.

7. Side lunge with reach.

8. Squats on the BOSU

Then I went back up to do a slow mile on the treadmill. Then, round 2:

1. Around the World upperback/shoulder exercise with 8 lb weights.

2. Plank with a twist, 10 to each side.

3. Cross shoulder press with band.I would call this a squat shoulder press.

4. Washboard circle with band. This one bored me.

5. Punch and row with 8 lb hand weights

6. Plank and side plank followed by stretching

Then, at 6pm Brian and Alice and I met up with 3 Ragnar Relay buddies. We had 3 fast runners and 3 slower runners. (I was in the slow group). We did about 3 miles in 34 mins. It was a gorgeous 61 degrees with a huge, golden moon setting slowly over the water of Tampa Bay.

I’ve taken off 2 lbs and a half inch from my waist since Jan 4. My collarbone is starting to peek through again. It probably helps that I haven’t done any baking recently. Brian making French Toast for dinner from cinnamon swirl bread the other night did NOT help.

I just found out today that St. Pete has a raw vegan restaurant downtown. Someplace new to try!

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Workouts

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While I was on the road, the only workouts I got were yoga, dancing in a bar, and running to a van. But now I am home and back in business. Tues I did a 5k run with Hunter from our Ragnar Team at the park. Wed I went to the gym for my first upper body workout in a long time. I started with 12 mins on the Stairmaster, moved on to upper body machines, then did my 2nd set with free weights, and finished with decline crunches, clamshell crunches, side taps with 4 lb ball, and some yoga stretching.

Today I took a workout from Fitness Magazine. My dog has a free subscription. My dog is also a Brown Sugar Puppy built with love at Build-a-Bear, but he gets many perks. One of them is a free subscription to Fitness, and the Jan 2011 issue had a Lose 10 lbs Fast workout. Here’s how I made it work for me:

1. 10 min run on treadmill.

2. Around the World upperback/shoulder exercise with 8lb hand weights.

3. Plank with a twist, 10 to each side.

4. Cross shoulder press with 8 lb hand weights.I would call this a squat shoulder press.

4. Washboard circle with band. This one bored me.

5. Punch and row with 8 lb hand weights (suddenly the weights felt really heavy!)

6. Quadruped Plus with band.

7. Side lunge with reach. These are much harder than they look! I totally felt it in my pec. I didn’t lean forward as much as the girl in the picture. Maybe my legs were too close together.

8. Dip hip and raise. These felt really awkward. I’d rather just do tricep dips off the edge of a workout bench with one leg.

9. Arabesque Kickback, which actually came from a different workout further in the magazine.

Then I hopped back on the treadmill (next to Brian, aww) and did 12 mins of intervals because the gym got new treadmills this month and they all have a built-in interval program now.

For my 2nd set I did: Around the World upperback/shoulder exercise with 5lb hand weights. Plank with a twist, 10 to each side. Cross shoulder press with 5 lb hand weights. Punch and row with 5 lb hand weights. Quadruped Plus with band. Side lunge with reach with band. Then I did 30 clamshell crunches, some other ab thing I forgot about, and stretched. Looking back now I wish I had not forgotten the 2nd set of arabesque kickbacks. Those felt great.

After work I was the soccer mom who brought snack. My daughter and I picked it out before the temperature dropped, but the kids were fine with the popsicles! (and chips, raisins and juice boxes.) It was a tie 0/0. Then Brian grilled some chicken while I sauteed spinach and cooked up some jasmine rice, and now we’re all just chillin’.

Last night I had a glass of sangria. I haven’t had alcohol since new years, and even that was just a few sips. I probably had about 1/4C when I couldn’t feel anything below my knees. Not like I was paralyzed, just overly sensitive to the alcohol. And I’m sure it was a lot of OJ in the sangria. Eating healthy can make you such a lightweight!! I’m OK with that though. Just saying.

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