Wednesday, March 30

I'm ALIIIIIIVE!

I was feeling a bit like Frankenstein's monster this morning (you know the feeling - you wake up after a fitful night of dreaming about overdrawn checking accounts, your ex-husband dating Kenny Rodgers and flying puppies), and in a rare moment decided, "what the heck - I already feel like crap, a run won't make me feel any worse."

Where the heck did THAT come from?  I decided not to question the intricacies of my brainwaves too long, fearing that the inspiration to get up and get outside might be fleeting and so within minutes of getting out of bed I found myself walking and jogging with Pooch around our 2.5 mile loop.

With a continued feeling of, "this is going to hurt but let's just do it anyway", I found myself jogging about a third of the loop, making it a goal to jog at least a portion of each block before dialing it back and walking to catch my breath.  Somewhere over the last few weeks of doing squats while reading and checking out Netflix's exercise videos, I have magically increased my stamina.  It's an odd sensation, and maybe I'll try for a repeat tomorrow... maybe.

Funko Frankenstein Plushies

Thursday, March 24

Just In Time

I walked across town to do my errands today, a nice 3.5 mile loop around town with a couple of short stops at the bank and post office.  The weather was pretty nice when I first set out, but the longer I walked the grayer the clouds got.  I lucked out - it didn't start raining until I was back in my own driveway!

Now that I'm home it's time for some deep cleaning and a shower... although maybe not in that order because trying to walk quickly enough to outrun the rain has left me a very sweaty mess.  Fitness smells oh-so-good.

Sloggers 5004RD09 Women's Paisley Tallboot, Red, Size-9Sloggers 5002BK08 Women's Midsummer Tallboot, Size-8, Black

Monday, March 21

Gun Extravaganza

Yesterday the entire family headed out to the gun show, and Mr. Kawaii and I spent around 3 hours walking the several long rows of vendors, seeing all there was to see.  By the end of our three hours at the show, we had walked the hall nearly twice and both of us had broken a sweat.  According to the calorie burning tool on AolHealth, 3 hours of non-grocery shopping with sitting and standing burns roughly 611 calories.  Not bad for milling around finding something amazing to buy.

We did doubly good by avoiding the various snacks, treats and candies at the show.  I smuggled in a couple of low-calorie granola bars for us to nibble on when the smells of hot-dogs, pizza, jerky and baked goods got to be too much.  The healthy snack tided us over until lunch time, when we sat down and shared a basket of fries and a single slice of pizza.  All in all, a great day with the family and a healthy activity out of the house.  Double bonus!Gunvault GV1000D-DLX Mini Vault Deluxe Gun Safe

Thursday, March 17

Getting the Workout In

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't muster up the "gumption" to work out.  I found myself wandering around the internet, checking e-mail and making phone calls instead... until finally I puttered through my workout hour and had to move onto other projects.  The day, as far as exercise was concerned, appeared to be doomed.

I did manage to get the workout in though, amazingly enough!  As a part of my project of getting my novel published, I have been asked to read a pile of books to try to classify the book (it's somewhere between adult fiction and romance) and I have been feeling very sloth as I've been curled up with Pooch on the couch and a book.  This afternoon I had a fantastic idea: Why not do squats while reading?  I made it through a few chapters of squats and lunges, and then decided to walk to the grocery store for some odds and ends so I got a mile of walking in too.

Hooray for multi-tasking!

Wednesday, March 16

Feeling the CRUNCH!

Continuing to browse through the many exercise video offerings of Netflix, this morning I worked out along with Crunch Fat-Burning Pilates.  The Crunch workouts are classically some of my favorite routines, and I have used their workout videos off and on for nearly 15 years.  I recently discovered that Crunch also opened a gym within an hour of my house, and I am struggling with the urge to check it out since I know it is too far for me to visit regularly should I fall in love with it.

But I digress.  I have never really gotten into Pilates, but the Crunch workout married it with a cardio routine to make it feel a bit more familiar to me.  The first 20 minutes really got my heart pumping and sweat beating, and then the last 20 minutes which was a purely Pilates routine made my core scream... in a good way!  The good news is that I got the workout in and completed it from start to finish, something I doubted I'd be able to do because of an achy shoulder (I really do wish I'd stop getting older). Now I'm crunched on time and late for my next To-Do, but at least I'm worked out!

Crunch - Fat Burning Pilates

Sunday, March 13

Wii Played

Mr. Kawaii and I had an unsuccessful round of house hunting this afternoon, and when we came home we had to decide if we were going to hang our heads in mopey despair or find some other way to blow off some steam. In a moment of brilliant healthy and proactive thought, we decided to turn on the Wii and play some Wii Sports games to shake the blues out of our systems.

A few rounds of tennis, 9 holes of golf and a game of bowling later, we both felt much better about the world in general.  It is amazing how a little jumping, waving and twitching around the living room makes the world seem a little brighter.

Wii Sports

Saturday, March 12

Dancing Away the Morning

This morning I was having some difficulty getting into motion (is it just me, or does it seem that most mornings are that way?) and as I scrolled through the many selections for my daily workout I struggled to find one that could inspire me to get up off the couch and up on my feet.

I finally stumbled upon some dance videos and decided, why not?  I got started with Dance Off the Inches - Tummy Tone Party Zone with Marie Forleo, intending on spending 15 minute or so moving around the living room.  Just enough time to say I gave a workout a shot.

45 minutes and three segments later, I am winded and sweaty, and surprised that I was able to keep moving well beyond what I had intended.  And my abs are KILLING me!

Dance Off the Inches: Tummy Tone Party Zone!

Friday, March 11

The Poop Walk

Mini-workout rant:

I don't know why it is that when I take Pooch out on the long loop around the neighborhood... 2 and a half miles... he insists on pooping 2 blocks from the house.  It's like he knows that we're going on a long walk and that I will have to carry his steamy gift in a plastic bag for a half hour and takes pleasure in making me do so.

If you haven't already caught it, Pooch and I did the long walk around the neighborhood this morning and I rushed through it in hopes of finding a neighbor's trash can left out and open on the curb after the garbage man drove by.

It's mornings like these when a long hot shower after the workout is much appreciated.  Yuck!

Bags on Board Bone Dispenser, 30 Bags

Wednesday, March 9

Walking the Town

I failed to update the blog yesterday even though I did get quite the workout in. I have decided that to try to save some money on gas (I hear it is going to reach near $5/Gallon this summer) that I would try walking or riding my bike to my errands in town instead of hopping in the car for 3 minutes every time I need to go four blocks to the grocery store.

I tried the experiment out yesterday, walking both to the bank and to my friend's house a couple miles away, and was surprised to find that while I was away from the house for an extra 20 to 30 minutes compared to what I would have been driving, the difference in time wasn't so significant that I can't use it as an excuse to NOT walk to the bank, grocery store, favorite restaurants or friend's and family homes.  By ditching the car I not only got my workout in without really trying, but I also discovered that I don't need those four wheels as often as I think I do.  I didn't even miss out on listening to music during the adventure, plugging a pair of headphones into my cell-phone and listening to music that I downloaded to it long ago.

Even though the left ear-piece on the headphones stopped working on the second leg of my journey, the trip was a success and I discovered that listening to the Hamster Dance in only one ear only makes you go half as crazy by the end of the song.

The Hampsterdance Song

Thursday, March 3

This Workout Brought to you by... Netflix

Recently, Mr. Kawaii and I joined the golden age of video rental by joining Netflix.  Although it's been around for years now, it took our local video rental store closing down for us to finally make the leap to give Netflix a try.  As we have been browsing through the instant downloads on our Xbox, I noticed that there are quite a few workout videos available to watch instantly, and DVDs available by mail.

This morning when I poked my head out the door and a blast of cold air hit me in the face, I decided to stay in and give the Netflix queue a try.  I quickly found Self: Bikini Ready Fast! and decided to give it a shot.  It was a pretty low-impact strength training workout, and I pulled my trusty Kidney Bean cans out of the cabinet to substitute for weights.  It was easy to follow along, and I was SUPREMELY pleased when at the end of the exercise the instructor gave tips on eating a healthy diet including a little bit of everything.  She spoke of the importance of including fats, carbs, protein and fiber into well-rounded eating habits as well as giving ourselves a break now and again to splurge on our favorite foods.

With all the hype of wildly popular shows like The Biggest Loser focusing on how to lose as much weight as possible - and fast - a big gap has been left for people who are looking for sustainable solutions.  Restrictive diets and hours-long exercise routines are difficult for most people to follow for more than a few weeks at a time, and it takes a big reality check for those of us who need to come to terms with understanding that eating 1,100 calories and spending 3 hours at the gym every single day is just not something we can do.

I have learned over the last year that the most difficult and rewarding part of living a healthy lifestyle is finding patience.  We need patience for ourselves so that we can move at our own pace and find long-lasting results, we need patience for others who think we aren't getting "enough" results and we need patience for our bodies to know that they will change in their own way and time.  Changing the way we live is a very difficult task, which is why so few people are able to see their goals through to the end.  The most important thing for me, and for you, is to just keep trying.  We'll get there when we get there!

Self: Bikini Ready Fast

Wednesday, March 2

A Two-Fer

I was feeling on my a-game this morning and so Pooch and I went for a nice mile-long walk around the neighborhood (in the wind and rain) and then I came back inside to do a half hour of yoga (god bless heat and a freshly vacuumed carpet).  Now my clothes are wet from the rain and my abs feel like a pile of jelly so I know I did a good job working out today!

Now that we're back home, Dummy the cat and Pooch are curled up for a nap and I'm feeling a little jealous.  I have no time for such frivolities.  But I am going to take an extra long shower before I dive back into work for the afternoon.

Tuesday, March 1

Starting Off On The Right Foot

I woke up bright and early this morning to flip all of my calendars to "March" and get a workout in before moving on to work, errands and family responsibilities.  This drive to start the month off with a 30 minute yoga workout instead of a bucket of doughnuts came from talking to my most beautiful friend, E, about her firefighter training.  After our chat last night I decided that if she can get up in the rain, sleet, hail and snow to run 5 miles a day then I can certainly do some Warrior Stances for a half hour in the comfort of my warm and cozy living room.

When I'm feeling discouraged it often (if not always) helps to know that I'm not the only one trying to get a smaller bottom.  There are many others out there sweating on sidewalks, treadmills, monkey bars and in swimming pools in search of a more fit self.  It makes the whole early morning yoga endeavor seem like part of a movement far bigger than me.  Together, we can find fitness!

173 DOUGHNUT RECIPES eBOOK Doughnuts Cookbook