Ending 2013 the Right Way

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I really wanted to get some exercise in.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and 30 minutes on the bike.  The first was fairly intense, the second, more gentle.  But, between the two, I got in an hour of exercise and feel like I am ending the year on a positive note.  Tomorrow, I will welcome 2014 and hope for a great year ahead.

Quick update

I did my regular Monday night double workout tonight.  It was a really good, intense workout but now I'm dead.   I'm going to sit in the sauna, try to get warm, and hope that things stop hurting.   Tomorrow will be a better day.

Another walking day - with a speed boost

When I turned on my walk it out game this afternoon, it remembered my music selection from yesterday.  I like that!  And, it meant that I did the entire hour of walking to uptempo music.  I think the minimum was 130 bpm.  The time went fast, and it said that I did almost 4 miles in my hour.  I can't remember if it was 3.7 or 3.9.  Either way, I'm really happy!

It looks like I will be able to raise enough money to our reunion at Biggest Loser Resort Chicago at the end of February.  With thanks to several good friends and anonymous donors.  Now, I am excited and extra motivated to get in as much exercise as I possibly can before I go.  Every ounce I can lose before the trip is an once I won't have to carry with me when I'm there.  I know that you can make it work at whatever fitness level you are at.  However, I want to be as prepared as I can possibly be. 

It's late in the year and I should be thinking about New Year's Resolutions.  But, I haven't given it too much thought this year.  I know I am going to continue this journey, and will tighten up some aspects that have lapsed.  But, mostly I want to appreciate everything I've done so far, and keep going with it.  But, I still have two more days, maybe I'll come up with something creative.

Just Keep Moving

I woke up tired this morning.  And sore.  I think I definitely pushed too hard yesterday.  But, I have a big deadline coming up, so I have extra motivation to keep up with the exercise.  So, I decided it was a great day for walk it out.  I ended up walking for just about an hour.  Toward the end, I kicked it into fast songs only.  It really makes you sweat to keep up with the faster music.  So, it was a good workout.  But, I'm still feeling pretty beat up.  Tonight, I'm going to ask Steve to rub some arnica into my shoulders, after I get out of the sauna.  Between the two, I'm hoping to feel more myself by morning.  Let's just hope my plan works.

Very Exhausting Day

I guess when I jump into things, I jump with two feet.  Today I did twenty minutes on the elliptical, a very intense hour of personal training, 1 mile and a half playing walk it out, and my regular Friday night yoga class.  I'm just exhausted remembering it all! I'm really proud of myself for having such a great day.  Now, I'm ready to get in the HBOT with Michael and then sleep really well tonight.  Happy Friday!

I'm back!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  Mine was really good - lots of time spent with family, a little bit of sleep, and way too many presents.  Unfortunately, I didn't stick to my diet very well.  But, I will get back to it first thing tomorrow.  Overall, it really was a great holiday.  But, now I'm back, and I am getting back into my routine.

I wanted to start out fun and easy today, so I decided to play walk it out on the wii.  It is a really fun, addictive game.  Before I knew it, 90 minutes had gone by and I'd walked 4 miles.  Not bad!  Tomorrow will be a rude awakening, but for now, I'm enjoying the vacation and the fact that I can have fun and exercise at the same time. 

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to check in before the holidays.  For the next week or so my life is going to be really crazy.  We'll be traveling, visiting with family, and I just won't be in control of my schedule.  I figure now is a great time to take a short break, give myself a chance to rest, and then get right back to my schedule the minute I get home.

Of course, while I am away, I will try to sneak in as much activity as I can.  I just won't be posting about it.  For today, I just went to yoga tonight.  I had a really stressful day, and class tonight was just what I needed.  A lot of stretching, some really active poses, and a great savasanah at the end.  Talk about a perfect way to end the day.  Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!!

Frozen Monday

I think I might have pushed a little too hard tonight.  The first class was pretty tough.  She started out with shoulder exercises during the warm up.  By the time we got to the 'regular' part of class, I thought my arms would fall off.  By the end of class I was surprised they hadn't.

Then, she started yoga off with more shoulder exercises. In the time we are normally doing gentle twists, my arms and shoulders were just burning.  Not fair!  But, it was definitely a great workout.  Although, now that I've been home for a while, I really do think I pushed too hard.  My arms are shaking and I am having trouble maintaining temperature.  Something tells me I'll be putting an extra blanket on the bed very quickly.  I'm so glad tomorrow is a rest day!

Walking Fun

I was really sore from my workout yesterday, but wanted to get my exercise in.  And, I wanted to open the rest of the island on walk it out.  So, I spent about an hour opening the rest of the island and collecting songs.  I love how quickly the time goes and how much fun it is to walk to the music.  It wasn't the most intense workout ever, but it made me feel better. 

Another ouch day!

I'm sitting here in my chair with a heating pad on my stomach. I had a personal training session today that was so strongly focused on abs that I am in serious pain.  Normally, when I get muscle soreness after a workout, it's the next day and the day after.  This started about 7 hours after the workout.  I have a feeling I'm in serious trouble.  On the other hand, it means my abs got a serious workout today.

On the plus side, I also went to the Friday night yoga class.  It was just what I needed.  Even though I stretched pretty well after the session this morning, it still felt so good to get a good stretch tonight.  By the time we got to final relaxation, I was ready to nap.  When I left, I was completely relaxed and feeling great.  Of course, now, I'm still in pain, but I'm quite relaxed about it!

Tired

Today was a hard day.  I was in the office all day, and it just seemed like everything was piling on today.  Some days are just more stressful than others.  But, I got home and figured that the best thing I could do would be to exercise.  I turned on the wii and put the Walk It Out game on. 

I ended up walking for about 50 minutes.  I had developed a cramp in my leg and it just wasn't going away. I tried to push for the full hour, but it just wasn't happening.  But, that's OK.  Fifty minutes of walking on a stress filled office day, I'll take it!

Wonderful Wednesday

The day started with a text message from my trainer with instructions to do two 90 second planks, a minute of push ups, and an hour on the elliptical with 20 minutes of high incline.  So, the day definitely started out scary!

I did the planks pretty much first thing, just to get them over with. I wasn't able to hold them for the full 90 seconds, but I'm definitely getting better.  The first session on the elliptical went pretty well with 484 calories burned.  I took a few hours off, did the push ups, and then did the second elliptical session - 502 more calories burned.  I don't think I've ever burned so many calories in an hour!

Of course, after I got off the elliptical, I was exhausted.  I thought I'd recover in time to get to yoga tonight.  I really wanted to make it three days in a row of 2 hours of exercise.  But, then I realized that it wasn't what I really needed.  Tonight, I was tired and needed a break.  So I made the choice to listen to my body and stay home.  I'm glad I did.  I am still learning this balance between pushing hard and respecting my limits.  Today, I had the best of both worlds.  Overall, a great day!

Remembering Fun

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but since I took Sunday off, I wanted to do something.  I wanted a low impact activity, but that was still fun.  I used to play a game on the wii called Walk It Out.  It's basically an island where you walk to music.  Each step earns you coins you can spend building up your island, and you can also use them to get more songs for your playlist.

I spent an hour and a half at lunch time walking.  I wasn't supposed to spend that long, but I was just having too much fun.  It was like visiting with an old friend, and getting a walk in at the same time.  And, the game tricks you.  It's so easy to 'just get the next item', or 'just clear this area'.  But, before you know it, you've spend another thirty minutes walking.

Then, after work, I wanted to check on something, so I did another 45 minutes.  I have a feeling my legs are going to be pretty sore tomorrow.  But, it was for a good cause, and I enjoyed it.  As much as I like the games on wii Fit, this is better.  It's just addicting.  And, anything that can trick me into over two hours of exercise, that's a good thing!

Magnificent Monday Workouts

I definitely made up for yesterday with today's back to back workouts.  The muscle challenge class was especially challenging tonight.  We did a routine of one arm rows followed by concentration curls, followed by dips.  I used a twenty pound weight and thought I would die.  Then, she did an ab routine which was a set of three exercises using the yoga balls.  I am fully expecting to hear from my abs tomorrow!

What I loved was when a couple people noticed that I stay for both classes and think it's a lot of work.  It is!  But, it's worth it.  And, I am not shy about taking child pose if I need it.  After the first class, there are times my arms are like jelly.  Balancing down dog is just not going to happen.  So, I catch my breath and prepare for the next pose.  It works for me.  And, one day I'll be able to do all the poses... or not.  I'm just proud of myself for doing my best.  Not a cop out, real, actual pride!

Rough Day

Friday and Saturday were great exercise days.  Today, not so much. Michael was up pretty much all night, and then was in meltdown most of the day.  Needless to say, I wasn't in great shape today.  I decided it would definitely be a rest day.  And, an early to bed night!

Something new!

For as long as I've been doing the elliptical, I've only played with the resistance, never the incline.  So, today I finally worked up the courage to play with the incline!  I did two thirty minute sessions, and in teach of those I had two five minute blocks on an incline level of 10.  I was so proud of myself!  I burned over 900 calories and conquered a fear.  Go me!

And, I did my regular Friday night yoga class.  It felt so good tonight.  It's been a really rough week here, so it was nice to just focus on breath and movement for a change.  And, the relaxation at the end was absolutely heavenly.  Overall, a great day!

Ouch and ouch!

OK, so Monday night I just did the muscle challenge class.  Then yesterday was a rest day.  Today, my arms are still killing me.  To the point that I can barely lift my arms over shoulder level without major pain.  I know it's good that I'm working my triceps, but does it have to hurt so much??

Today was a great exercise day, though.  I did an hour on the elliptical, and kept a steady, challenging pace.  According to the machine, I burned 848 calories in the hour.  Now, I know it's not accurate, but when I use it as a benchmark, it's really, really good.  It was hard to push to keep the pace for the whole time, but I was so proud of myself when I finished!

Then, I did yoga tonight.  It was a challenging class, but not impossible.  In fact, there weren't any poses I couldn't do.  I really like that.  So, two good workouts, one great day!

Beyond Happy

Some days are just really, really good days.  Yesterday and today have been spent decorating the house for Christmas.  I didn't get any official exercise yesterday, but I did get half an hour on the elliptical today.  So, why am I so happy?  I had the energy to do so much more than I have in the last several years. 

Instead of waiting for Steve to bring in the boxes and unpack them, I went out to the garage, found what I wanted, and carted everything in.  Before he even knew what I was doing, I had almost everything in and set up.  I was so proud of myself!

Of course, the tree itself was a big deal to decorate, and Steve did all the outdoor decorations.  But, overall, this was a really 'energetic' year for me.  So, even though it wasn't a lot of 'exercise', I was more active this weekend than I have been in a while.  And, I am thrilled about it!

And, now that Thanksgiving is over, and the house is decorated, I can focus on enjoying the holiday season, and make sure I get my exercise in.  There is nothing like the feeling of knowing my house is mostly clean, the decorations are up, the shopping is mostly done, and I can enjoy the holidays.  I am just so happy and peaceful.  I need this to last!