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November Well-Trained Bodies


Soror
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13 hours ago, IvyInFlorida said:

 

Wow, 15lbs!  That's a lot for a boy to lose!  Sorry y'all had the flu, ugh.  Also, eggnog, what a good idea to put some weight on!  My son would like that.

Re: strength training...I'm kind of doing my own thing, just making sure I get in upper body push and pull, lower body push and pull 4x a week.  So right now I'm alternating days between Day 1: pushups/chinups/weighted split squats/weighted single leg Romanian deadlifts and Day 2: dumbbell floor press/dumbbell rows/weighted lunges/KB swings.  Days 3 and 6 are usually more focused on martial arts drills and running or sprints.  Usually something comes up one morning a week to make an unintentional but probably needed rest day, haha.

Are you not doing that Beautiful Badass program anymore?

Food is probably still mostly the same although I am hitting 1 g of protein / lb bodyweight more consistently now.  PB toast, chicken sausage, greek yogurt, big salads with protein, banana smoothie with protein shake, moderate portions of whatever I make the menfolk for supper, lotsa roasted veggies, lol.  I've been fondly thinking about big batches of soup...I'm the only soup eater in the family somehow! 

 

No, not doing BB, I know I flip flopped forever. I've been doing this for 2 months now. Sounds like you have a good plan. I've been doing banana and strawberry smoothies as of late 🙂

 

18 minutes ago, hshibley said:

I ran my half yesterday 2:30:13. I am super pleased. I pushed myself by running with the 2:30 pacer and cut 7 minutes off my fastest training run on a course that is more difficult than where I train. I am sore today. Hopefully I can get to yoga tomorrow and Wednesday and back to easy running Thursday. 

Congratulations, that is awesome, good job! 

_____________________________________

I finished the day with 13k steps, no walks just lots of cleaning, I got so much done.

Unfortunately, I did not sleep well, woke up at 1:30 to go to pee and then of course was stressed I wouldn't fall back asleep (despite trying hard to not think at all) and was awake for 1.5 hrs. I ended with 6 not very good hrs, a score of 61 😞 Thank goodness I got lots of sleep the previous night.

Today's plan is lower body with morning meltdown.

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46 minutes ago, wintermom said:

 

I've also just discovered what mindfulness actually is. If anyone has any podcasts or courses/books they recommend, please share! I did a search and I believe a couple of you mentioned mindfulness a while ago. Are you still actively doing any of it?

I do mindfulness meditation most mornings for between fifteen and thirty minutes. I find it very helpful. There's a free app from Australia that has progressive courses for adults and teenagers. It's called Smiling Mind.

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35 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I do mindfulness meditation most mornings for between fifteen and thirty minutes. I find it very helpful. There's a free app from Australia that has progressive courses for adults and teenagers. It's called Smiling Mind.

Thanks for the recommendation! I am terrible at meditation. Used to be forced to do it in Taekwon-do. I usually just sit there and focus on my breathing. When I get bored of that my mind wanders to usually the most stressful thing in my life. 😂

I may try a form of meditation I will call, "puppy petting." I can do that for hours!

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1 hour ago, wintermom said:

I got in a nice dog walk yesterday before the rain hit. We didn't get to play tennis, though, which was a big disappointment.  

Eating is still going well. I'm fluctuating between 125 - 127 right now, which is my lowest weight since my early 20s (and then it was only fleeting). I feel really good, but wouldn't mind adding on a couple pounds in case I get the flu. A little cushion of weight could be handy. 

I've also just discovered what mindfulness actually is. If anyone has any podcasts or courses/books they recommend, please share! I did a search and I believe a couple of you mentioned mindfulness a while ago. Are you still actively doing any of it?

I have sadly not been practicing mindfulness lately, I let it slip with busyness and have not been able to reesatblish it as a habit. I'll have to look back through my reading lists for you, it has been a few years and my memory is not that good.

Morning Meltdown- Lower Body STrength - 30 min- done

Now onto the day- I had almond butter toast pre-workout (Ivy's suggestion and I've not had that in forever- it was yummy!; Now eating plain nf greek yogurt w/ fruit before taking dd to ortho and starting w/ hs'ing

have a good one ya'll!

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2 hours ago, Slache said:

What's mindfulness?

It's a technique for being completely in the present moment, whether through meditation or by just being completely aware of your current actions.  An example might be brushing your teeth and for the whole time being completely aware of the brush in your hand, the bristles against your teeth, the play of your muscles, the taste of the toothpaste.  If you can be completely aware of the present moment, then your mind will be less tied up in concerns and worries.  Yoga also works for me - I find the asanas difficult enough that I'm only really thinking about them for the hour, not about other issues.

It's a way of disrupting the mind's tendency to dwell on the past or worry about the future.  Many people find it useful to 'reset' their thinking habits out of unhelpful cycles.

Edited by Laura Corin
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I ran for the first time at OT today!  I'm not looking to become a runner all the time, but walking, even up big hills has become easier and easier and I thought I'd like to start mixing it up.  Today we did a 6 minute run for distance, which I started at 5 mph but increased up to 5.5 mph in the second half.  After a walking recovery, we did a 30-sec all-out where I did 9 mph.  Second block was a 3 min. run for distance, which I did at 5.5-6 mph, then two all-outs (with recovery in between) at 9 and 9.5 mph, then the third block was a 1.5 min run, which I did at 6.5 mph, and 3 all-outs (w/ recoveries) - I got up to 9.6 mph for the third one.  I have nothing to compare it against, but I'm pretty happy with that for a first run!  Total time was 23 min, I think.  

Rest of class was rowing and floor, each block started off with rowing, a bit less each block (600m, 300m, 150m), then lifting sets and some core work.

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5 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

It's a technique for being completely in the present moment, whether through meditation or by just being completely aware of your current actions.  An example might be brushing your teeth and for the whole time being completely aware of the brush in your hand, the bristles against your teeth, the play of your muscles, the taste of the toothpaste.  If you can be completely aware of the present moment, then your mind will be less tied up in concerns and worries.  Yoga also works for me - I find the asanas difficult enough that I'm only really thinking about them for the hour, not about other issues.

It's a way of disrupting the mind's tendency to dwell on the past or worry about the future.  Many people find it useful to 'reset' their thinking habits out of unhelpful cycles.

Yoga had the opposite effect for me. It was too slow. I had way too much time think. Running was mind numbing - I was so bored, but I just kind of zoned out.  Tennis is great, because it's very fast paced. Music is good, too, especially when I sing and play piano. No time for thought other than being in the moment of the music. 

It's good that there are activities that work for all types of people!

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13 hours ago, wintermom said:

I enjoyed the dancing explanation, too. My dh rediscovered tennis about 7 years ago and it has been wonderful! We can play singles just he and I, or doubles with friends. We have met a lot of really interesting people playing tennis, too. Anywhere from doctors, to musicians, to chefs, to retired fighter pilots. We can keep playing until we hits our 80s if all goes well. There are many people still playing in their 70s and 80s at our little neighbourhood club.

I wish I had enough hand-eye coordination to play tennis!  And dh doesn't play either.  But it's a fantastic sport to play as you age - my MIL's partner played till he was in his late 80's, and when he had to have cataract surgery and stop playing for 6 months, his health declined precipitously, and he was soon in a care facility.  I swear it was having to stop the tennis that did him in.  Before that, he was still riding a bike even.

13 hours ago, wintermom said:

I got in a nice dog walk yesterday before the rain hit. We didn't get to play tennis, though, which was a big disappointment.  

Eating is still going well. I'm fluctuating between 125 - 127 right now, which is my lowest weight since my early 20s (and then it was only fleeting). I feel really good, but wouldn't mind adding on a couple pounds in case I get the flu. A little cushion of weight could be handy. 

I've also just discovered what mindfulness actually is. If anyone has any podcasts or courses/books they recommend, please share! I did a search and I believe a couple of you mentioned mindfulness a while ago. Are you still actively doing any of it?

Yay on the weight.  I'm also at my lowest since my 20s.  I never thought I'd see this weight again.  I still have a bit of a cushion, but I still seem to be very gradually losing - it would be hilarious if I had to actually think making sure I maintain...  Not low enough to actually worry about that yet, though!

I have ambitions to practice mindfulness meditation, but I still seem to be in the reading stage. I once went to a 4-day educational seminar that happened to be led by a Buddhist and we ended up doing a ton of meditating along with learning about the educational theory presented.  That's the most I've ever done.  A great book I read earlier this year is Why Buddhism is True, which is not, as the title seems to suggest, at all about religion, but rather a secular book about how modern science on how the mind works lines up remarkably with the Buddhist theory of the mind, and how mindfulness meditation works according to this new scientific understanding, as well as the author's experience (he is not Buddhist) with mindfulness meditation.  I found that very interesting and have been thinking of signing up for a retreat to kick-start me (as I seem to have the same problem with meditating at home as I do with exercising at home).  I'm currently reading a book called Everyday Zen, which is also about getting into a practice of meditating and mindfulness (Zen I think is technically slightly different, but I'm not sophisticated enough to split those hairs).

9 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

It's a technique for being completely in the present moment, whether through meditation or by just being completely aware of your current actions.  An example might be brushing your teeth and for the whole time being completely aware of the brush in your hand, the bristles against your teeth, the play of your muscles, the taste of the toothpaste.  If you can be completely aware of the present moment, then your mind will be less tied up in concerns and worries.  Yoga also works for me - I find the asanas difficult enough that I'm only really thinking about them for the hour, not about other issues.

It's a way of disrupting the mind's tendency to dwell on the past or worry about the future.  Many people find it useful to 'reset' their thinking habits out of unhelpful cycles.

Wasn't Yoga developed to assist with meditation (Hindu, not Buddhist, but in many ways similar)?  

I think one of the things I like so much about rowing is that I find it very meditative.  It's repetitive, you focus on your breath and the next stroke, and it really empties my mind of anything but that.  I think I might do better with keeping my mind clear with yoga than just sitting there too, but I think I'd have to first memorize some poses and just do them in an order, like sun salutations do, so I didn't have to think about what pose to do next, or how to do it!

12 hours ago, wintermom said:

Thanks for the recommendation! I am terrible at meditation. Used to be forced to do it in Taekwon-do. I usually just sit there and focus on my breathing. When I get bored of that my mind wanders to usually the most stressful thing in my life. 😂

I may try a form of meditation I will call, "puppy petting." I can do that for hours!

LOL, focusing on your breathing is what you're supposed  to be doing in meditation!  Both the sitting kind and yoga, it's 'focus on the breath' - there are breathing techniques that are taught so that you focus better on that breath.  If your mind starts to wander, you kind of look at the thought, but then let it go and go back to the breath.

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11 hours ago, wintermom said:

Yoga had the opposite effect for me. It was too slow. I had way too much time think. Running was mind numbing - I was so bored, but I just kind of zoned out.  Tennis is great, because it's very fast paced. Music is good, too, especially when I sing and play piano. No time for thought other than being in the moment of the music. 

It's good that there are activities that work for all types of people!

The way I was taught, yoga looks static but is actually active. During a simple pose like sitting cross legged, with each breath you are straightening the spine and letting the knees fall to the floor. 

Nordic Walking doesn't keep me engaged - I listen to podcasts.

6 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

 

I have ambitions to practice mindfulness meditation, but I still seem to be in the reading stage. I once went to a 4-day educational seminar that happened to be led by a Buddhist and we ended up doing a ton of meditating along with learning about the educational theory presented.  That's the most I've ever done.  A great book I read earlier this year is Why Buddhism is True, which is not, as the title seems to suggest, at all about religion, but rather a secular book about how modern science on how the mind works lines up remarkably with the Buddhist theory of the mind, and how mindfulness meditation works according to this new scientific understanding, as well as the author's experience (he is not Buddhist) with mindfulness meditation.  I found that very interesting and have been thinking of signing up for a retreat to kick-start me (as I seem to have the same problem with meditating at home as I do with exercising at home).  I'm currently reading a book called Everyday Zen, which is also about getting into a practice of meditating and mindfulness (Zen I think is technically slightly different, but I'm not sophisticated enough to split those hairs).

Wasn't Yoga developed to assist with meditation (Hindu, not Buddhist, but in many ways similar)?  

I think one of the things I like so much about rowing is that I find it very meditative.  It's repetitive, you focus on your breath and the next stroke, and it really empties my mind of anything but that.  I think I might do better with keeping my mind clear with yoga than just sitting there too, but I think I'd have to first memorize some poses and just do them in an order, like sun salutations do, so I didn't have to think about what pose to do next, or how to do it!

LOL, focusing on your breathing is what you're supposed  to be doing in meditation!  Both the sitting kind and yoga, it's 'focus on the breath' - there are breathing techniques that are taught so that you focus better on that breath.  If your mind starts to wander, you kind of look at the thought, but then let it go and go back to the breath.

I have found dedicated meditation weekends very helpful in my practice. 

Although focussing on breathing is classic in meditation, it's not the only way. I have a friend who finds that it exacerbates her asthma, so she makes herself aware of the feelings in her body, or the noises around her.

Edited by Laura Corin
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I'm really worried about my brother, the keen tennis player, who also cycles everywhere and has taken up golf - the fittest 61yo I know. He had a heart attack a few months ago, didn't immediately recognise it as such, and ended up in hospital recently.

He has been diagnosed with an atypical attack caused by an arterial tear. He's on seven medications and starts rehab in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he's only allowed to walk gently. The whole thing is very scary and depressing for him. I'm posting here for people who understand the psychological aspect of dropping exercise. He has always found walking a bit slow and pointless. Prognosis currently uncertain.

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3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm really worried about my brother, the keen tennis player, who also cycles everywhere and has taken up golf - the fittest 61yo I know. He had a heart attack a few months ago, didn't immediately recognise it as such, and ended up in hospital recently.

He has been diagnosed with an atypical attack caused by an arterial tear. He's on seven medications and starts rehab in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he's only allowed to walk gently. The whole thing is very scary and depressing for him. I'm posting here for people who understand the psychological aspect of dropping exercise. He has always found walking a bit slow and pointless. Prognosis currently uncertain.

 

That's terrible, Laura!  Both the health scare and the limitations.  The more invested in the active lifestyle I become, the more aware I am of the possibility of injury or illness bringing it to a screeching halt, ugh.  Def let us know how it goes for him.

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2 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

 

That's terrible, Laura!  Both the health scare and the limitations.  The more invested in the active lifestyle I become, the more aware I am of the possibility of injury or illness bringing it to a screeching halt, ugh.  Def let us know how it goes for him.

He's even gloomy about the (group) rehab, because his kind of heart attack is rare, so most people doing the rehab will be much less fit.  He's not convinced the rehab will be relevant to his kind of heart attack and his level of fitness.  I suggested that, if the session wasn't relevant, he try to take the medic aside and ask for something more tailored, but I don't know if that's possible.

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No formal exercise for me yesterday except the zillions of miles I walked taking my 23 year old cousin shopping in a nearby city, haha.  The time change has really thrown my sleep for a loop unfortunately, but I finally slept a solid 8 hours last night and hopefully am ready to launch in to all my activities this week.  I have a strength training session this morning and CKD class tonight, rinse and repeat all week.  Thrilled to report that I tried on some jeans while shopping yesterday and am down a size!  Two years ago I wore 12 or 14, depending, and now I'm a 6 in the same brand/style.  I'm pretty sure I went from being a preschooler straight into like junior size 11 as a kid, so it's pretty crazy for me to experience seeing that 6 on the label.

Today I'm going to experiment with dropsets during my workout, or switching to lighter weights or easier variations of movements when I max out the ones at my current level.  Sounds like a killer--in a good way!

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3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

I'm really worried about my brother, the keen tennis player, who also cycles everywhere and has taken up golf - the fittest 61yo I know. He had a heart attack a few months ago, didn't immediately recognise it as such, and ended up in hospital recently.

He has been diagnosed with an atypical attack caused by an arterial tear. He's on seven medications and starts rehab in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, he's only allowed to walk gently. The whole thing is very scary and depressing for him. I'm posting here for people who understand the psychological aspect of dropping exercise. He has always found walking a bit slow and pointless. Prognosis currently uncertain.

That is worrying, he's not that old but it is still easy to see rapid effects physically and mentally from such a decrease in activity.

18 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

I ran for the first time at OT today!  I'm not looking to become a runner all the time, but walking, even up big hills has become easier and easier and I thought I'd like to start mixing it up.  Today we did a 6 minute run for distance, which I started at 5 mph but increased up to 5.5 mph in the second half.  After a walking recovery, we did a 30-sec all-out where I did 9 mph.  Second block was a 3 min. run for distance, which I did at 5.5-6 mph, then two all-outs (with recovery in between) at 9 and 9.5 mph, then the third block was a 1.5 min run, which I did at 6.5 mph, and 3 all-outs (w/ recoveries) - I got up to 9.6 mph for the third one.  I have nothing to compare it against, but I'm pretty happy with that for a first run!  Total time was 23 min, I think.  

Rest of class was rowing and floor, each block started off with rowing, a bit less each block (600m, 300m, 150m), then lifting sets and some core work.

Wow, WTG, that is awesome!!! I'm sure you have the cardio endurance to run already, and the strength, it is just getting in the groove with it.

_________________________________

Today is MMA- 30 min(hiit workout) at home and lifting at the gym

Slept about the same as Sun night but didn't wake in the middle, so I feel much better.

Still adjusting intake from the weekend getaways, I realized that I'm sometimes not eating enough which causes me to then eat too much or not so great food later. Whole foods are less calorically dense and take more energy to digest. I also just need more food for maintenance than some plans have and when I try to box in my eating to fit what things say I should need it is often not enough, I need to trust my body and listen to it. It is much better for me to plan to eat more and not need it than not plan enough and reach for junky food that isn't as filling or good for me.

 I made a big batch of soup yesterday- homemade broth, with roasted chicken(skinned and boned), onions, celery, carrots, green beans, tons of zucchini (noodles) with lots of spices (turmeric, garlic, chili) and coconut milk. I topped a big scoop over some brown jasmine rice and hope I have enough to last the week. Last night I did some spicy chicken w/ onions, red peppers, and tomatoes over red lentil noodles, mmm!

Today's food- 

toast w/ almond butter; omlette w/ veggies and roasted potatoes

spicy chicken soup w/ veggies over brown rice

snack- 1/2 gf bagel w/ slice of colby

after workout yogurt smoothie nf greek yogurt, 1/2 banana, 4 strawberries, 1/2 c unsweet almond, and 1/2 choc almond milk

chicken w/ black bean quesadilla(gf) w/ salsa

 

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1 hour ago, IvyInFlorida said:

No formal exercise for me yesterday except the zillions of miles I walked taking my 23 year old cousin shopping in a nearby city, haha.  The time change has really thrown my sleep for a loop unfortunately, but I finally slept a solid 8 hours last night and hopefully am ready to launch in to all my activities this week.  I have a strength training session this morning and CKD class tonight, rinse and repeat all week.  Thrilled to report that I tried on some jeans while shopping yesterday and am down a size!  Two years ago I wore 12 or 14, depending, and now I'm a 6 in the same brand/style.  I'm pretty sure I went from being a preschooler straight into like junior size 11 as a kid, so it's pretty crazy for me to experience seeing that 6 on the label.

Today I'm going to experiment with dropsets during my workout, or switching to lighter weights or easier variations of movements when I max out the ones at my current level.  Sounds like a killer--in a good way!

8 hrs sleep last night, jealous!!! That is such a big change in size, congrats on the hard work. Let us know how the dropsets work for you.

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

He's even gloomy about the (group) rehab, because his kind of heart attack is rare, so most people doing the rehab will be much less fit.  He's not convinced the rehab will be relevant to his kind of heart attack and his level of fitness.  I suggested that, if the session wasn't relevant, he try to take the medic aside and ask for something more tailored, but I don't know if that's possible.

Oh, that is hard, I can see feeling that way too honestly, I hope that he goes to check it out and they give him some things that will be helpful for his particular situation. Have the dr's told him what he can do?

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23 minutes ago, soror said:

Oh, that is hard, I can see feeling that way too honestly, I hope that he goes to check it out and they give him some things that will be helpful for his particular situation. Have the dr's told him what he can do?

So far, he's only allowed to walk gently while the tear in his artery heals. They couldn't put a stent in or anything, because it could have caused more tearing.

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1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

He's even gloomy about the (group) rehab, because his kind of heart attack is rare, so most people doing the rehab will be much less fit.  He's not convinced the rehab will be relevant to his kind of heart attack and his level of fitness.  I suggested that, if the session wasn't relevant, he try to take the medic aside and ask for something more tailored, but I don't know if that's possible.

Can he hook up with a sport physician and get into a support group with other athletes? There is a reason why REST is a "four letter word" among athletes. We hate rest. It feels like the death knell of our existence. Walking is annoying because one should be running or biking. It's too slow and boring. Normal people don't understand. 😉

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2 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Can he hook up with a sport physician and get into a support group with other athletes? There is a reason why REST is a "four letter word" among athletes. We hate rest. It feels like the death knell of our existence. Walking is annoying because one should be running or biking. It's too slow and boring. Normal people don't understand.

It would be great if he could work with a sports physician.  Unfortunately, the condition is rare and almost always happens to women, particularly post-partem.  So he's a rarity among a rarity.  I suspect that, until he's given some kind of concrete guidance by his cardiologist, a sports physician will be wary.

A general support group for athletes who are having to rest due to injury might be helpful though.  I don't know if he does much online chat, but I can suggest it.  Thanks.

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1 minute ago, Laura Corin said:

It would be great if he could work with a sports physician.  Unfortunately, the condition is rare and almost always happens to women, particularly post-partem.  So he's a rarity among a rarity.  I suspect that, until he's given some kind of concrete guidance by his cardiologist, a sports physician will be wary.

A general support group for athletes who are having to rest due to injury might be helpful though.  I don't know if he does much online chat, but I can suggest it.  Thanks.

Maybe he could rent/buy an electric bike so that he could at least still be out there on the road feeling the wind in his hair (or helmet if his hair is sparse)? 😉

A sport psychologist might be helpful as they would look at the "injury" in general terms, but really know how to approach the mind of a life-long athlete and keep them motivated and goal orientated. 

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3 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Maybe he could rent/buy an electric bike so that he could at least still be out there on the road feeling the wind in his hair (or helmet if his hair is sparse)?

He's not allowed to drive at present - the electric bike idea would be good, but I don't know if he's meant to be 'on the road'.  There's no one else around who could help him to transport a bike to an off-road area.  Maybe there are specialist places where he could hire a bike next to a trail. Thanks.

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1 minute ago, Laura Corin said:

He's not allowed to drive at present - the electric bike idea would be good, but I don't know if he's meant to be 'on the road'.  There's no one else around who could help him to transport a bike to an off-road area.  Maybe there are specialist places where he could hire a bike next to a trail. Thanks.

Is his mind as active as his body? He may need a mind stimulant so he doesn't lose it sitting still too long. 

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Just now, wintermom said:

Is his mind as active as his body? He may need a mind stimulant so he doesn't lose it sitting still too long. 

He should be able to work from home when he's taken off complete rest.  That should help a bit.  He likes to learn languages, so that's something he can work on if he wants.  

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re: mindfulness- I think it varies some are more able to be mindful when they are doing something difficult that requires a lot of concentration(as it is more difficult to be thinking of a million things), others doing things that require no thought. Yoga can be both, there is such a wide range- from really slow restorative classes to intense power yoga and everything in between. I think mindfulness is so appealing and needed because we live in a culture of multi-tasking, we are so rarely in the moment and constantly distracted, it is a good antidote . I've not been practicing mindfulness faithfully but have been working on being more present and engaged in the moment.

Fight Club workout done, it felt great this morning and I'm enjoying having extra time. Sleep hasn't been great so far but still better than last year, so maybe it won't be so bad. Off to get some school with the girls and maybe take a walk. Yummy breakfast just finished 🙂

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8 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I've come down with a cold, started to get dizzy at work and came home. Diet of tea, toast and the box set of the Sanditon adaptation.

Hope you feel better really soon. Had to google Sanditon adaptation. I want to watch it, too! Let us know what you think. It's been a while since I read any Jane Austin. 

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17 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Hope you feel better really soon. Had to google Sanditon adaptation. I want to watch it, too! Let us know what you think. It's been a while since I read any Jane Austin. 

Thank you. It's an adaptation and extension of an unfinished novel, so it's not really Austen. I like how hard-headed it is about the reality of money and marriage in that era. It's there in the other books, but readers often focus on the bonnets.

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I ended up only doing dropsets for squats because I ran out of time.  I did 3 sets of goblet squats and with each set started at 45 lbs then went down by 10s or 5s every time I was about to fail until I was doing bodyweight.  I feel it!  I think dropsets are a great tool for getting more out of a movement when you don't have enough weight to max yourself out with regular sets.  I might try doing it with pushups and going to easier pushup variations until failure.  Good times, lol.

I had the best lunchtime salad: spring mix, cukes, carrots, toms, olives, hemp oil, salt and pepper, topped with chopped leftover balsamic roast beef from supper.  YUM.

Have any of y'all had those Dr. Kracker 3 seed flatbread crackers?  I had some at a Jason's Deli yesterday and they were amazing (and organic).  King Arthur Flour has a copycat-ish recipe on their website and I might just try it, they were that good.

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1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

Thank you. It's an adaptation and extension of an unfinished novel, so it's not really Austen. I like how hard-headed it is about the reality of money and marriage in that era. It's there in the other books, but readers often focus on the bonnets.

Well, in the films I definitely focus on the bonnets and dresses for some weird reason. I'm not really into fashion, either. I never thought about the clothing as much when I read the books. Maybe I just figure they'd wear the same thing I'm wearing now? 😂

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30 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Well, in the films I definitely focus on the bonnets and dresses for some weird reason. I'm not really into fashion, either. I never thought about the clothing as much when I read the books. Maybe I just figure they'd wear the same thing I'm wearing now? 😂

Except for the awful version with Kiera Knightley where she's running around outside all the time with no bonnet at all.  😱  The trollop. 😂

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Laura- I'm sorry you are not feeling well. The book sounds great, I'd love to hear more on that side of the story.

Ivy- thanks for the report on the dropsets, I don't think I've done those. The salad does sound yummy, what is your beef recipe? I've not had the crackers but some gf similar. I've not tried to make homemade crackers in ages.

 

Lifting last night went well, it is good to have workouts that go well, I had too many in the fall that were rather blah.

Today I plan to do 2 beachbody workouts, we'll see, my day is a bit packed already.

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1 minute ago, soror said:

Laura- I'm sorry you are not feeling well. The book sounds great, I'd love to hear more on that side of the story.

The original text of Sanditon is just a fragment, but it concerns a somewhat deluded entrepreneur who has a vision to build a coastal fashionable resort. The young heroine is from a farming family. A secondary heroine is mixed race - an heiress from the Caribbean.

So a departure from the more settled-seeming societies of Austen's other novels. You can see social revolutions in the other ones too though: increased social mixing due to the raising of armies and navies against Napoleon, the influence of the West Indies, the changing backgrounds of the wealthy classes, etc 

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1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

The original text of Sanditon is just a fragment, but it concerns a somewhat deluded entrepreneur who has a vision to build a coastal fashionable resort. The young heroine is from a farming family. A secondary heroine is mixed race - an heiress from the Caribbean.

So a departure from the more settled-seeming societies of Austen's other novels. You can see social revolutions in the other ones too though: increased social mixing due to the raising of armies and navies against Napoleon, the influence of the West Indies, the changing backgrounds of the wealthy classes, etc 

Interesting. I wonder if tossing in the term "heiress" onto the secondary heroine is a way to keep the story "legitimate" or acceptable. Heaven forbid it was a mixed race women with no money or social standing! Horrors! Maybe I'm just too cynical.  Though I gather it was pretty bold for a woman to be writing and publishing in her own name at all in those days. Extra bold to be writing about non-white people, and certainly not as a heroine in a book.

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It was a day of highs and lows yesterday. Highs involved some exercise for me that felt great and didn't stress my body too much. 

The lows involved a crazy situation with my 17 yo ds. He was taking a city bus home at 1:30 pm from his university course yesterday, and he was attacked on his bus. It was a completely unprovoked attack by a 32 year old man who was acting out on the bus, and my son was the poor guy he decided to pick on. Ds was kicked twice in the head. We were in the ED for most of the day. He has a concussion and sore jaw and neck. 

So I've been in three different Emergency Departments in just over a week. My dh, who has also been the main support guy for all 3 visits, told me yesterday that he's feeling somewhat stressed himself. Really?!! That's a good sign that you are NORMAL! 😂

BTW, my exercise involved running around from car to ED. So not a relaxing, mindful experience. I did stop to think about the mud along the way, though, visualizing myself not slipping on it and spraining my ankle! 😉

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57 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Interesting. I wonder if tossing in the term "heiress" onto the secondary heroine is a way to keep the story "legitimate" or acceptable. Heaven forbid it was a mixed race women with no money or social standing! Horrors! Maybe I'm just too cynical.  Though I gather it was pretty bold for a woman to be writing and publishing in her own name at all in those days. Extra bold to be writing about non-white people, and certainly not as a heroine in a book.

The only way that a mixed race person would enter into the social circles that Austen writes about is with money. Without money she would have been a non person in the eyes of 'society', possibly a servant but barely mentioned. That's not cynicism, just the truth of the day. This is Austen's description of Miss Lambe:

'Mrs. Griffiths was a very well-behaved, genteel kind of Woman, who supported herself by receiving such great girls and young Ladies, as wanted either Masters for finishing their Education, or a home for beginning their Displays. She had several more under her care than the three who were now come to Sanditon, but the others all happened to be absent. Of these three, and indeed of all, Miss Lambe was beyond comparison the most important and precious, as she paid in proportion to her fortune. She was about 17, half Mulatto, chilly and tender, had a maid of her own, was to have the best room in the Lodgings, and was always of the first consequence in every plan of Mrs. Griffiths.'

Austen was a gentleman's daughter but not wealthy. It is only because one of her brothers was adopted by a wealthy couple that Austen, her sister, her mother and her friend had anywhere to live after her father's death. I think she was quite clear eyed about money.

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1 hour ago, wintermom said:

It was a day of highs and lows yesterday. Highs involved some exercise for me that felt great and didn't stress my body too much. 

The lows involved a crazy situation with my 17 yo ds. He was taking a city bus home at 1:30 pm from his university course yesterday, and he was attacked on his bus. It was a completely unprovoked attack by a 32 year old man who was acting out on the bus, and my son was the poor guy he decided to pick on. Ds was kicked twice in the head. We were in the ED for most of the day. He has a concussion and sore jaw and neck. 

So I've been in three different Emergency Departments in just over a week. My dh, who has also been the main support guy for all 3 visits, told me yesterday that he's feeling somewhat stressed himself. Really?!! That's a good sign that you are NORMAL! 😂

BTW, my exercise involved running around from car to ED. So not a relaxing, mindful experience. I did stop to think about the mud along the way, though, visualizing myself not slipping on it and spraining my ankle! 😉

, I am so sorry, that is horrible, I bet everyone is quite shaken. I really hope things calm down for you, you guys deserve a break.

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

The original text of Sanditon is just a fragment, but it concerns a somewhat deluded entrepreneur who has a vision to build a coastal fashionable resort. The young heroine is from a farming family. A secondary heroine is mixed race - an heiress from the Caribbean.

So a departure from the more settled-seeming societies of Austen's other novels. You can see social revolutions in the other ones too though: increased social mixing due to the raising of armies and navies against Napoleon, the influence of the West Indies, the changing backgrounds of the wealthy classes, etc 

Interesting, it is interesting to see a glimpse into society at the time that is a bit more realistic. it can be easy to romanticize pasta eras. (although to me the clothes are not something I care for)

______________________

Core and Yoga this morning, about 45 minutes total.

Last nights lifting was around 45 minutes too, then I did 10 minutes on the stair climber on Level 8-10, that was my first time and I'm happy to report I didn't fall but it didn't count as steps b/c I wasn't moving my hands (too busy holding on!)

food today-

before workout- gf seed/whole grain toast w/ almond butter; breakfast plain steel cut oats w/ spiced baked apples and a bit of chopped pecans- 1 uncured turkey bacon; homemade chai w/ unsweet almond milk and honey

lunch- ginger, garlic, chile chicken and veggie soup w/ 1/2 cup brown rice

dinner-- beef w/ mushroom sauteed, smashed potatoes, and roasted garlic green green beans

snacks- as wanted  homemade granola and plain greek yogurt; nuts/seeds, fruit, small greek salad

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42 minutes ago, soror said:

Interesting, it is interesting to see a glimpse into society at the time that is a bit more realistic. it can be easy to romanticize pasta eras. (although to me the clothes are not something I care for)

What we, as modern readers, miss is a background in the novels of the previous few decades, which are shot through with financial, class-based, sexual and physical coercion. Pamela is an example. Notions of safety are fragile for the individual and also for the country at war.

Even the weather was out of joint: the year previous to the writing of Sanditon was the year without a summer, when the eruption of an Indonesian volcano caused famine across the world. If people in the novels try to hold onto conventions, it may be to counter their sense of unease. 

Hijack over!

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@wintermom I am so sorry that happened to your son.  What a crazy story!!!  That must have been really scary.  

@Laura Corin Sorry to hear about your brother!  

 

While we're talking about books, is anyone else worried the new Little Women may be too far, as in, more than what Alcott was intending?  I'm nervous!  I'll watch it because I'm a huge Little Women fan, but I'm nervous.  I don't want it modernized beyond Alcott's original intentions.  

 

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@Laura Corin so sorry to hear about your brother; I hope he finds a way to recover and become more active again.  That's a huge worry as we get older, that any injury or fluke medical condition could still happen and then it is so hard to get back in the groove.  And I have to say that now that I'm consistently exercising, I really get how if your body is used to it, how antsy you get when you can't!  Wishing him a steady and hopefully not too drawn out recovery.

@wintermom That's so scary about your son.   I'm glad he's okay; hope he recovers quickly, and that all your lives are boring for a while (in a good way).

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22 hours ago, IvyInFlorida said:

I ended up only doing dropsets for squats because I ran out of time.  I did 3 sets of goblet squats and with each set started at 45 lbs then went down by 10s or 5s every time I was about to fail until I was doing bodyweight.  I feel it!  I think dropsets are a great tool for getting more out of a movement when you don't have enough weight to max yourself out with regular sets.  I might try doing it with pushups and going to easier pushup variations until failure.  Good times, lol.

They've started adding in dropsets at OT some days.  Today I did some kind of an accidental dropset - we were doing 3 sets of 5 chest presses with 10 sec recovery, then 2 other exercises, and back to the sets of chest presses and repeat.  I got through the first two 3x5s with 25 lbs, but on the third time through I dropped to 20 lbs - my arms were done!  We did the same pattern in the next block with goblet squats, did get through all the reps with 45 lbs (3x through 3x5). 

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2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

What we, as modern readers, miss is a background in the novels of the previous few decades, which are shot through with financial, class-based, sexual and physical coercion. Pamela is an example. Notions of safety are fragile for the individual and also for the country at war.

Even the weather was out of joint: the year previous to the writing of Sanditon was the year without a summer, when the eruption of an Indonesian volcano caused famine across the world. If people in the novels try to hold onto conventions, it may be to counter their sense of unease. 

Hijack over!

 

Pamela, ha!  I did my thesis on Pamela (my masters is in 18th c Brit Lit).  It is not a very well known novel in the US outside of academia (or inside it either, these days).

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2 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Pamela, ha!  I did my thesis on Pamela (my masters is in 18th c Brit Lit).  It is not a very well known novel in the US outside of academia (or inside it either, these days).

Did you ever read Evelina?  I had great fun reading it, because some of the sleazy haunts she visits were in the part of Bristol (Clifton and Hotwells) where I grew up.  Those shady 'pleasure gardens'...

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6 hours ago, soror said:

 

Ivy- thanks for the report on the dropsets, I don't think I've done those. The salad does sound yummy, what is your beef recipe? I've not had the crackers but some gf similar. I've not tried to make homemade crackers in ages.

 

 

In a crockpot, put a beef roast, 1/2 c brown sugar, 1/4 c balsamic vinegar, 1 TB soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, and 3 pressed garlic cloves, plus 1 c beef broth.  Cook all day on low.  If it doesn't get as tender as you want, slice it up and let cook another hour.  Sounds like a lot of sugar, but since it's spread out over many servings of beef it doesn't bother me.  SO AMAZINGLY GOOD.  Excellent the next day as a hot pressed sandwich on ciabatta with provolone.

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Just now, Laura Corin said:

Did you ever read Evelina?  I had great fun reading it, because some of the sleazy haunts she visits were in the part of Bristol (Clifton and Hotwells) where I grew up.  Those shady 'pleasure gardens'...

 

Yes I did!!  That's hilarious.  I forgot about the pleasure gardens!

 

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4 hours ago, wintermom said:

It was a day of highs and lows yesterday. Highs involved some exercise for me that felt great and didn't stress my body too much. 

The lows involved a crazy situation with my 17 yo ds. He was taking a city bus home at 1:30 pm from his university course yesterday, and he was attacked on his bus. It was a completely unprovoked attack by a 32 year old man who was acting out on the bus, and my son was the poor guy he decided to pick on. Ds was kicked twice in the head. We were in the ED for most of the day. He has a concussion and sore jaw and neck. 

So I've been in three different Emergency Departments in just over a week. My dh, who has also been the main support guy for all 3 visits, told me yesterday that he's feeling somewhat stressed himself. Really?!! That's a good sign that you are NORMAL! 😂

BTW, my exercise involved running around from car to ED. So not a relaxing, mindful experience. I did stop to think about the mud along the way, though, visualizing myself not slipping on it and spraining my ankle! 😉

 

Oh wow.  I so hope things calm down for you and your son feels better quickly!

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1 hour ago, Matryoshka said:

They've started adding in dropsets at OT some days.  Today I did some kind of an accidental dropset - we were doing 3 sets of 5 chest presses with 10 sec recovery, then 2 other exercises, and back to the sets of chest presses and repeat.  I got through the first two 3x5s with 25 lbs, but on the third time through I dropped to 20 lbs - my arms were done!  We did the same pattern in the next block with goblet squats, did get through all the reps with 45 lbs (3x through 3x5). 

 

I'm really glad I found out about this method.  I had some trouble with dumbbell floor press this morning but wasn't ready to throw in the towel, so I did it as a dropset and got a great workout.

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8 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Yes I did!!  That's hilarious.  I forgot about the pleasure gardens!

I did a lot of background reading in 18th century novels (English and French) because I had a place at Cambridge to do a PhD on Les Liaisons Dangereuses. But then I got diverted and never took up the place.  Fun reading though.

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