It's a low key day today as far as exercise goes. I did my morning yoga and push-ups, and then went for a nice walk with dh. It's been a long time we walked together, and I hope we continue with this trend. My push-ups were definitely tougher today after the tennis and long bike ride yesterday.

Yes, the muscles needed for physical labour are sometimes very unexpected ones, and musices that you can't see all that well. With my flooring work, it was my forearms that *I* felt were 'bulging' but in reality looked no different than usual. I even had a friend feel my forearm muscles. Ya, nothing to feel there except tight tendons. 😂 Which of your muscles are getting used a lot and which are perhaps getting missed? These times of cross-training are an opportunity to develop areas in our body that may otherwise be overlooked. 😉

@soror Thanks so much for the photo of your home. It looks lovely! You did a fantastic job on the painting, and I really like the colour. Superb! I'm sure you've developed a lot of muscles from all that work. I remember when I spent a summer installing flooring upstairs. I had ZERO interest in exercise after all the physical labour. All I wanted was a strong drink and to rest every evening. My tennis match this morning was interesting. There was a 5th 'player' in the game, namely the wind. It was moving the ball around in crazy ways so there weren't too many rallies happening. My bike ride was wonderful, though my friend and I got a little ambitious and extended our ride to 2 hr. Fortunately it's raining now, so I don't feel too guilty about doing nothing for the rest of the evening. 😉

I wouldn't change anything I did in my 20's. I was fortunate enough to have the family stability, genes and determination to get an undergraduate degree, work in my field, travel, complete a graduate degree and get married before turning 30. I created a really firm foundation of academics, work and life experience that served me very well for the next 3 decades. I might change what I did in my 30's, which was having 4 dc in the span of 6.5 years and disappear from work almost completely. However, I've been able to get back into work in a slightly different career path.

@soror and @Laura Corin I'm in the same boat with weight up a bit and eating kind of weird. I'm going to blame mine on the weird weather. 😉 We went from the coldest capital on earth to the hottest capital in the span of a couple weeks. My body is not adjusting well. Add in the underlying stress of the ongoing pandemic to simply wear a person out like a slowly dripping tap. Hopefully we can all get a mental and physical boost sometime soon! Sleep has been wonky for me as well. I'm constantly going through cycles of being a little cold then suddenly sweating. Can't seem to figure out the exact right bed covering from one night to the next. Going to push on today and play some tennis and go for a bike ride with a friend. It has cooled off a lot, so that is a relief. I'm also continuing to do my morning yoga and push-ups. As far as food goes, my breakfast is my anchor for the day. Not too much excitement for the other meals, and trying not to snack too much.

@soror Glad you had the weather to get your outdoor yard work finished. We were supposed to get storms yesterday, too, and they never came. Enjoy your day! @Laura Corin That's great your calf soreness disappeared. Enjoy your walk at lunch. @Dreamergal Hope you can begin swimming again soon. @barnwife Being pregnant in hot weather is tough. Hope you get some relief and are able to sleep well. When is your due date? @EmilyGF That's wonderful you and your dh can do yoga together! You can do your own HIIT with any activity (e.g., running, biking, stair climbing or steps, elliptical, etc.). Just pick a short distance or time interval for the sprint/intense part, and alternate with a longer, low intensity part. Decide how many repetitions in a set you want to do to start with, and make sure you build in lots of recovery/rest between sets. For example, 3 X 30 sec high knees running on the spot, walking around the room or yard for 90 sec between each rep. Do this set 3 times. @Matryoshka Thanks for typing out the fitness test! I may try it next month. ----------------------------------------------- I cancelled my tennis match today, as it's another very hot, humid day today. It's going up to 91F. It would be too hard on my body to have 2 days in a row of 'heat exhaustion tennis.' I've completed my yoga and push-ups, and I took the dog for a very short walk in the woods with dd. A swim in a pool would be great, but sadly not available.

It's a scorcher out there at 89F (31C)! Dh and I played doubles tennis in the heat. It was a really fun match, though draining. The season is too short to waste, though. 😉 @soror Hope you got your lawn mowed before the storm hit. @EmilyGF Enjoy your HIIT work-out and the dinner by dh!

It turned out to be a beautiful and relaxing day. I walked the dog a couple times, did yoga with dh, and did some gardening with dd. We finally got out to a garden centre to buy some new plants. It was very fun! I was very excited to find Thai Basil plants, so I bought 2 to supply my stir fries and pho cooking. I also bought some bird seed and put my feeder back up. I found a much better spot for it and I've already seen one visitor! I think it was a female cardinal. 😃

What is a 'viking tour?' See open air historic viking towns/building and ships?

I had to get my own coffee grinder as the ones I usually access were closed, so now I have the smell of fresh ground coffee beans and delicious coffee to enjoy in the morning. I've also indulged in real maple syrup for sweetener. Got a subscription to Britbox so I can watch a more British TV series. I love it! Time for long walks and bike rides.

I thought so, too. I'd never heard of it much before, but there seem to be several places to do it now. I don't live near an ocean, so it would also mean a trip to the ocean, which is really exciting as well. I love beachcombing and eating seafood.

Board games or outdoor games? I've never heard of 'deer in the headlights."

I'd love to go whale watching off the east or west coast of North America, or perhaps off the coast of Scotland.

That was my dh as well. He talked about it for a bit out of the blue, and then suddenly said that today he would start.

Dh asked to do yoga with me this morning! It was really nice having company, and it will be great for him if he keeps it up. We may even get our ds 14 joining us eventually.

Great job on the restorative yoga. I plan to do some of that this morning as well. Yes, I'm going to have to try and spread out the tennis so I don't wreck my body. Right now it's once a day with rest days scattered throughout the week. Keeping up with my stretching and yoga is really helping. It's also helping by avoiding piling on additional intensive activities on the same days as tennis. I may play singles tennis later this afternoon if the rain holds off. Otherwise, it will be a relaxing yoga and walking day today.

That does sound like a really big job moving the shed. Congratulations for pulling it off with success and creativity. Enjoy some lovely yoga today. 😃 Your food sounds delicious!

I played my first singles tennis match this morning. It was really fun, though a lot more physical work than doubles. It's sunny and hot outside (for our standards) and I ran out of water right at the end of the match. Have to bring more next time. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with a friend and go for a walk this afternoon.

Dh and I played mixed doubles tennis this morning. It was gorgeous outside again, and a lot of fun playing. My body needs some rest time now, that's for sure! First I should stretch or I won't be able to move later. 😉

There is definitely a feeling of relief to simply know what we're doing with the move. It was hard being in limbo. It is really nice to have such warm weather, but I didn't prepare enough with sunscreen. Got a nice burn on my arms and legs. It's only very recently that I've been wearing shorts and t-shirt outside. 😅 That's interesting about you craving a more relaxed pace. I've been in the same boat. I have no interest in running anymore, just happy to walk and enjoy nature. I'm sure you'll come up with something fun to do while you keep moving.

He must be happy to get back out on the court. Glad his recovery is coming along well. Tennis is a great activity in many ways, as you can isolate certain body parts for a work-out and feel pretty satisfied. If he has access to a ball machine, he can stand still and smack balls for fun. 😉

That's good you are still exercising even if there's little joy in it. Hopefully the spark will ignite soon. Is there an activity you've been thinking about trying, or returning to, and not had the time? Maybe the poor weather in your area is getting to you.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today. Very warm and sunny. Tennis was really fun. Got my push-ups and yoga completed, plus walked the dog twice with dd. Even squeezed in a little volleyball with the boys. It's amazing how 2 weeks ago we had snow, and today it was 80F! I have more tennis scheduled for the next 2 days, which is wonderful. Everyone is keen to get out and smack the balls around. @Laura Corin Happy birthday to Hobbes! That cake looks delicious!

@IvyInFlorida It's wonderful to hear your family's name suggestions. So creative! So glad you are sleeping well, feeling more energetic and able to eat salad again! @soror Glad the allergy meds are having a positive effect - at least on your sleep! My allergies haven't kicked in too hard yet. Just some sneezing and runny nose so far. Your blondies sound delicious! Sorry your Spartan Race was cancelled. So many disappointments for people this summer. @KathyBC That's really disappointment about your race cancellation. Sounds like your running is coming along really well. Hope you can stay motivated even without a race goal. Great job completing the yoga program! -------------------------------------------------- News flash: We won't be moving until next summer. It's both sweet and sad, but makes complete sense in the circumstances. The dc are all happy with staying here for another year, so that's good news. I'll have to re-think my plans. I left my job in clinical trials research because of the move. I'm not sure if I want to go back to university to finish off my certificate, or do something else. Youngest ds still wants to homeschool next year, which I'm fine with. On the activity front, dh and I are playing tennis again today. Should be good fun. I'll definitely need a rest this weekend, though. 😉

It was a beautiful day outside and I managed to get in some really fun activities. I went for a nice 1.5 hr bike ride with a friend along a trail system to the river. This evening dh and I played tennis for 2 hr with friends. It was wonderful to see them in person. It's so nice to have a small part of life back to sort-of normal. 😉