April 2020 Well-Trained Bodies

[wintermom]

It's sunny and chilly outside today. The crazy wind has finally gone down, though, so I will try to get out on my bike. I need to check out some of my favourite wooded areas and see if they have dried out. I'll also do some raking and yard work, a short dog walk with the dog (his sore paw is looking great!), and my push-ups and yoga. 

I missed putting my caramel popcorn into 'ration baggies' and ate the entire bag yesterday. Oops. I guess I need to get the snacks into baggies immediately upon opening the package. 🙄

[Laura Corin]

20 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I find the whole 'porridge vs pudding' topic fascinating. What is a pudding in the UK? What makes it different than porridge? Is it always a dessert? What is its consistency? I've eaten Christmas Pudding, and it was a lot more solid than I would have expected. Delicious, though! 

From my Canadian experience, porridge is a cooked breakfast food. There are very few different kinds (i.e., oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, and I used to be forced to eat this disgusting "Sunny Boy" porridge as a kid). Pudding is a sweet dessert, usually served cold, and there are lots of different kinds (i.e., chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, rice, tapioca, etc.).

Thanks for being our UK expert!! 😉

Why can't I edit quotations?

I think that porridge is always breakfast food here these days.

Anyway.  Pudding is a difficult one.  The pudding in the nursery rhyme is savoury, I think, made out of dried peas (I believe that 'pea' is a back formation from 'pease' which was not originally a plural but a singular, like 'rice'). I have always imagined it being something like a pottage: a very thick soup or stew, like a dried pea and ham soup.  See KJV:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+25%3A29-34&version=KJV

Christmas pudding is a steamed pudding, so that's what you get when you put the same starchy, fatty ingredients into a cloth and steam it over boiling water.  The dividing line between savoury and sweet was much less clear in medieval cookery - see for example 'mince pies', which these days are sweet, but originally also contained meat (minced, i.e., ground, meat).

The traditional puddings that I grew up with were sweet and starchy: treacle pudding, sponge pudding.  They were designed to fill you up at the end of the meal, and were often served with hot custard.

More generally, 'pudding' can just mean 'dessert', as in 'the pudding course'.

What N. Americans call 'pudding' is normally called blancmange, custard or just dessert.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/261048135

Nice and simple!

[Soror]

35 minutes ago, wintermom said:

It's sunny and chilly outside today. The crazy wind has finally gone down, though, so I will try to get out on my bike. I need to check out some of my favourite wooded areas and see if they have dried out. I'll also do some raking and yard work, a short dog walk with the dog (his sore paw is looking great!), and my push-ups and yoga. 

I missed putting my caramel popcorn into 'ration baggies' and ate the entire bag yesterday. Oops. I guess I need to get the snacks into baggies immediately upon opening the package. 🙄

Well, we have your weather today so I expect no outside work for me. Glad the doggy is better 😞 I want some caramel popcorn, I'd have to put it aside or I'd eat it all too.

38 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Brava, brave woman facing the dreaded scale! 😉  I do it almost every morning to help keep me on track. When I reach a certain number I snap into action. This usually means cutting back on snacks.  Your exercise and food plans sound wonderful!!  I love the name 'body combat.' I picture lots of kicking and punching. 😄

LOL. I weighed every day for the longest time but decided I wanted to try maintenance without it seeing how well I could judge I was doing on my own. I moved to weighing once a week and have been doing that since the beginning of the year and have fared ok but it has been a little wonky here, with hormones, holidays, and such an increased amount of outside work messing things up. Thankfully my hormones are finally back in order after screwing them up when I messed up my progesterone dose. I'm still not sure what to do about the days I'm working outside all day. I guess I just need to do bigger meals. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing that much so I shouldnt' really need more but then it seems to catch up to me anyway.

______________

I know very little of baking(I much prefer cooing) and especially of Brittish baking, pretty much limited to what I've learned on the Great British Baking show. I find it so fascinating to see the differences.

[Matryoshka]

16 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Hallo everyone,

Hope you join you. My regular gym is of course impossible now so except walks, a bit lost about how to work out without equipment. I will lurk here and learn. I tried looking at what's out there and it is a bit overwhelming.

Keeping up with exercise seems to be one of the things keeping me focused during this weird time, but it's sooo much harder without the gym!  A ton of places have put free workouts online.  My local gym (Orangetheory) has daily workouts stream live with our local coaches, but corporate also has free workouts up on YouTube. They're all adapted assuming people have zero workout equipment at home.  I'm pretty sure Planet Fitness, as well as a lot of other places are doing this as well.  Even if you weren't a member before - it's probably quite good business, to get new people to come in when this is all over.  I've been doing a mix of the local OT workouts, some of the corporate ones, some old BeachBody DVDs I've had lying around for years, and stuff I've made up myself.  In the morning I try to decide what I'm going to do so I don't dither around and procrastinate all day and not get to it.

I saw some of your posts over on the other thread being worried about keeping things like blood sugar and blood pressure down (can't remember exactly what it was) and not having access to labs to check on them.  I lost almost 40 lbs. last year and my numbers all look much better as of last check (for me the biggest problem was cholesterol/triglycerides).  I'm figuring if I keep on keeping on with healthy eating and exercise I should be good and am going to assume the levels will stay within range.  The one lab I'd like to get done is a check of my vit D levels, but I'm just going to take the supplements and hope for the best...

2 hours ago, wintermom said:

Brava, brave woman facing the dreaded scale! 😉  I do it almost every morning to help keep me on track. When I reach a certain number I snap into action. This usually means cutting back on snacks.  Your exercise and food plans sound wonderful!!  I love the name 'body combat.' I picture lots of kicking and punching. 😄

I used to check every day when I was steadily losing, still do sometimes but then other times it's spottier.  I seem to have actually finally lost the couple of pounds I put back on over Christmas, and am back close to the 130lb threshold, though I'm hoping it's not muscle I'm losing!  Another incentive to keep on lifting heavy things.

[Laura Corin]

11 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

Thank you. I used to do a lot of swimming and less gym and the exercise and equipment usage was first taught to me by a personal trainer. Injury is my biggest fear because I do not know how much I can do by basically watching a video with no one to correct my posture or tell me if I am doing it wrong. I know a bit a yoga, as in basic, how to sit in the lotus position and breathe. We have doing a bit of the breathing exercises now to increase lung capacity in case we get COVID 😊.  

We unfortunately do not have hills, more flat and sidewalks. I want to find something that is whole body, low impact and minimal risk of injury without a trainer present. I would like some links please for a beginner in yoga. If I understand correctly yoga will tone, correct ? 

 

Yes, yoga will tone. I use the videos by Adriene. She's on YouTube if you search - just make sure to choose her beginner videos. Her Foundations ones are good too, because they take you slowly into a particular Asana, with lots of advice.

[Laura Corin]

Forty minutes of Eagle, Side Crow and headstand practice. A five mile walk up and down the hills. 

Supper was very successful - it was a recipe that came with our veg box, for spinach, rosti, poached eggs and wild garlic pesto. We actually had smoked trout instead of the eggs; I made a second veg too - samphire and mushrooms.

[Matryoshka]

2 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Thank you. I don't do well with just watching something and learning, I do best with personal instruction based on past history. How good are these classes when it comes to instruction ? Will I be able to pick up basic things ? Fear of injury is another. I would like low impact, full body and easy to learn. 

Congrats on the weight loss. I want to monitor levels too, so I bought a BP monitor and sugar testing thing yesterday. I am trying to eat healthy, but I personally used to eat healthier. I used to eat a lot of salads, now personally I am afraid to eat anything raw so even though I wash vegetables, every single vegetable we eat is cooked. 

VitD is done by going out in the sunshine and supplements. I used to do more working out and less on the food because we used to eat out. Now no eating out, so I figure that part should be better, but lot more baking. DH and I are doing intermittent fasting, basically two meals a day and healthy snacking. 

I miss swimming so much. I picked it up in my 20s after I came to the US. So I am basically trying to replicate the closest thing on land. 🤣. Is there something like that ??

It is hard to learn from videos.  I did years of in-person Pilates classes as well as taking the OT classes for a bit over a year that taught me good form.  I would also have trouble just following a video if I didn't have that background.

I'm not sure what would be similar to swimming at home.  That's hard- and it's not like you can get a lap pool installed now!  The other thing I do is row - the reason I joined OT to begin with was to have access to a rowing machine off-season.  But now I don't have one at home, and I really wish I did, since the summer on-water sessions will not be happening this year.  Boo.  

[Soror]

Youtube is a great way to find some free videos to try out, so many out there.

13 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Forty minutes of Eagle, Side Crow and headstand practice. A five mile walk up and down the hills. 

Supper was very successful - it was a recipe that came with our veg box, for spinach, rosti, poached eggs and wild garlic pesto. We actually had smoked trout instead of the eggs; I made a second veg too - samphire and mushrooms.

Sounds delicious! How did practice go?

I kept to my food plan except for 1 cookie 🙂 that is sadly an improvement. I got in a short walk.

Strength work this am. Not sure what else.

Food plan:

steelcut oats+ ground flax, whole grain gluten free toast w/ almond butter and banana; nf plain greek yogurt + blueberries

tuna on gf bagel, carrots

baked eggplant + meat sauce

snacks: pineapple + cottage cheese; apple and pb, baked kale chips

 

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, soror said:

Youtube is a great way to find some free videos to try out, so many out there.

Sounds delicious! How did practice go?

I kept to my food plan except for 1 cookie 🙂 that is sadly an improvement. I got in a short walk.

Strength work this am. Not sure what else.

Food plan:

steelcut oats+ ground flax, whole grain gluten free toast w/ almond butter and banana; nf plain greek yogurt + blueberries

tuna on gf bagel, carrots

baked eggplant + meat sauce

snacks: pineapple + cottage cheese; apple and pb, baked kale chips

 

Sounds like a great plan! Do you make your own kale chips? I used to do this, but the trade off of all the prep + 20 min of baking = 2 min eating was too much for me. The kids loved them, though. 😉

 

[wintermom]

Completed my morning stretches and strength exercises. I'm at 45 push-ups today! Did 1 set of 30 and 1 set of 15. My plan is to go up to 50 and hold there for a few weeks.

I'm meeting a friend for a walk on a big wide trail so we can social distance easily. It's an old railway, so very flat. Otherwise, I'll probably be tempted to finish off the raking in the backyard. 

[regentrude]

Oh man, I gotta join for accountability. I have so much work, and such a hard time focusing. Making food and eating it seems to be the only thing that gives me joy these days.

Walking for 1+ hour in the evening does not compensate for sitting on my butt all day. I miss all the movement I used to get at work.

[Laura Corin]

29 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Oh man, I gotta join for accountability. I have so much work, and such a hard time focusing. Making food and eating it seems to be the only thing that gives me joy these days.

Walking for 1+ hour in the evening does not compensate for sitting on my butt all day. I miss all the movement I used to get at work.

Welcome!  I've found I have to schedule exercise at lunchtime as well as after work.  I know your main meal is in the middle of the day - would before work be possible?  I also try to stop every hour and do a Sun Salutation, to make up for not having my sit-stand desk at home.

@soror- the yoga was good.  I think my Eagle is improving a bit.  I'm taking Headstand very slowly - I'm basically working on arm and shoulder strength and (mostly) leaving work on my head for later.  I managed a second on each side in Side Crow.

@wintermom you're a pushup machine!

My old-lady hip suddenly went out from under me yesterday evening: I don't think it was anything I did - it sometimes just happens.  It was sore all evening but a bit better today, especially after some very gentle yoga at lunchtime.  I'm about to head out to walk a couple of miles - that will be it for the day.  I'm due to do some pretty vigorous yoga tomorrow, but I may delay that to give time for my hip to settle.

The veg box had beetroot this week, so I'm making beet balls with basil and tahini for supper, with a mint-yoghurt dip.

Edited April 24, 2020 by Laura Corin

[Matryoshka]

14 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

I thought I was crazy trying to simulate swimming at home. Apparently, there exists such a thing. So I found two videos

This one seems incredibly hard on the knees and legs. I can't even imagine doing the third one and again, risk of injury if I do not know how to maintain posture. Most of all I am nowhere as fit as this guy. 

I ff'd through with mute on, lol... looks like jump squats with arms overhead, alternating jump lunges, downward dog into chaturanga to a cobra variation, regular squats, step lunges with side twists, plank w/ kicks, side plank w/ rotation, superman and then hollow hold/banana with flutter kicks.  We do tons of things like that in my OT classes - just with more clothes and no goggles, lol.

Quote

 

Pilates has one called a "swimming exercise" but it is a medium level and people work up to it. It seems more closer to actual swimming.

 

 

 

Yes, this is a great exercise.  There is a prep version of it where you tighten the core up and raise arms/legs (aka superman - that's kind of like a prep to the prep), then raise alternate leg/arms higher (like left leg/right arm raise, then switch) - slow and controlled till you can keep your core still while the limbs are moving.  After you master than you can move on to the flutter.

There's also a breast stroke Pilates move, and a breast stroke prep to get you there.

 

Quote

 

Sorry about your rowing. I found this video on "rowing" in Pilates. No clue about any of this. Perhaps you can look into this for you.

We tried biking, but I feel far safer walking especially with a little kid because practically everyone is on the sidewalk and the amount of people driving around on our streets is insane. 

 

Thanks - that is cool, and I've never seen the rowing series.  Those movements, unfortunately, have very little to do with actual rowing movements, which are I think best replicated by squats and jump squats, deadlifts, and high row lifts.  But like with everything Pilates, it isolates and strengthens lots of muscles and looks fun - I may try  it out!  I miss Pilates.  

 

Quote

So the plan now is basic, baby, beginner yoga and pilates. Gentle family walks. Plus badminton. I am willing to lose things to COVID, but not fitness and consequently general health.

Sounds like a good plan!  And yes to the bolded!  I worked so hard to get in shape - I am not going to lose it now (and at my age, just taking a few days off and I start to lose it!)

Edited April 24, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Matryoshka]

34 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Oh man, I gotta join for accountability. I have so much work, and such a hard time focusing. Making food and eating it seems to be the only thing that gives me joy these days.

Walking for 1+ hour in the evening does not compensate for sitting on my butt all day. I miss all the movement I used to get at work.

Welcome!  Yeah, it's hard getting movement in at home.  My daily step count is always pitiful.  I don't seem to be able to consistently get that up, so I try to get about an hour a day of concentrated vigorous exercise in to compensate.

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Dreamergal said:

I second this. I was all, oh I love walking and family walking is so nice. Then the first week, I felt weird. I don't know how to articulate, but if you work out quite regularly and vigorously, the gentle walks are not cutting it. Concentrated exercise is better. 

You may want to consider power walking or nordic walking to increase the intensity and to include the  whole body. Power walking doesn't require any special equipment, which is a bonus. You mentioned being very conscious of staying injury-free as well as finding it challenging to learn new movements without an in-person trainer. Sticking with a movement like walking, that is very low impact and doesn't require that much in the way of specific technique, may be a good option for the short-term until you can get back to swimming. 

 

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

Welcome!  I've found I have to schedule exercise at lunchtime as well as after work.  I know your main meal is in the middle of the day - would before work be possible? 

Possible?.Sure. Realistic? No way. I am a morning person, but I never felt the urge to get up at 5:30 in order to exercise and don't think the pandemic is the time to start a habit I never managed to stick with when I led a balanced life and was feeling well, LOL. 
I am fit because I had incorporated physical activity into my daily life, walked a lot, hiked, rock climbed. But I hate "exercise".

After my doctor told me to stop weight work when I was a teen because it could lead to retina detachment, I'm not touching any weights. 
My attempt at regular yoga failed spectacularly when it turned out that inversions cause me benign positional vertigo. I have a toe condition that means I cannot do any poses like planks where you put the tips of the toes on the floor (or pushups, or run).

So when I'm not working,  I cook. And bake. And eat. And feel like a slob.

[Laura Corin]

Just now, wintermom said:

You may want to consider power walking or nordic walking to increase the intensity and to include the  whole body. Power walking doesn't require any special equipment, which is a bonus. You mentioned being very conscious of staying injury-free as well as finding it challenging to learn new movements without an in-person trainer. Sticking with a movement like walking, that is very low impact and doesn't require that much in the way of specific technique, may be a good option for the short-term until you can get back to swimming. 

 

I Nordic Walk when I can get to a good location. It engages the arms and shoulders, and increases energy use. It's not the same as using hiking poles for balance, for example.

[Laura Corin]

3 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Possible?.Sure. Realistic? No way. I am a morning person, but I never felt the urge to get up at 5:30 in order to exercise and don't think the pandemic is the time to start a habit I never managed to stick with when I led a balanced life and was feeling well, LOL. 
I am fit because I had incorporated physical activity into my daily life, walked a lot, hiked, rock climbed. But I hate "exercise".

After my doctor told me to stop weight work when I was a teen because it could lead to retina detachment, I'm not touching any weights. 
My attempt at regular yoga failed spectacularly when it turned out that inversions cause me benign positional vertigo. I have a toe condition that means I cannot do any poses like planks where you put the tips of the toes on the floor (or pushups, or run).

So when I'm not working,  I cook. And bake. And eat. And feel like a slob.

Dancing for five minutes every hour?

[wintermom]

9 minutes ago, regentrude said:

Possible?.Sure. Realistic? No way. I am a morning person, but I never felt the urge to get up at 5:30 in order to exercise and don't think the pandemic is the time to start a habit I never managed to stick with when I led a balanced life and was feeling well, LOL. 
I am fit because I had incorporated physical activity into my daily life, walked a lot, hiked, rock climbed. But I hate "exercise".

After my doctor told me to stop weight work when I was a teen because it could lead to retina detachment, I'm not touching any weights. 
My attempt at regular yoga failed spectacularly when it turned out that inversions cause me benign positional vertigo. I have a toe condition that means I cannot do any poses like planks where you put the tips of the toes on the floor (or pushups, or run).

So when I'm not working,  I cook. And bake. And eat. And feel like a slob.

I much prefer practical physical activity as part of my daily life, too. I intentionally go up and down stairs multiple times a day, practice one-leg balances in the kitchen while cooking, don't use a cart in the grocery store and carry all the groceries I can, walk or bike to stores, etc. 

I did notice a neighbour build a rock climbing walk in his garage a couple weeks ago. I thought that was brilliant! He made an L-shape, with one wall flat and the other over-hang. 

[Laura Corin]

5 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

Thank you. Looking at various options right now. We cannot go on long family walks because we have a 4 year old who cannot handle it and is a bit clingy right now. I am not giving into the temptation of carrying her and walking, So I think I will walk earlier. I am looking into slowly building up into running too perhaps, but I must do anything alone before the kids awake. The family walks will be more of an activity we do together than actual exercise.

I am a terrible learner through videos as today's exercise attempt proved. 😒

If you want to build towards running, there are various Couch to 5k programmes and apps that some people find useful.

[Soror]

I like to look like exercise over the year in seasons. Just like with regular athletes I have times where I am more active and less active. It stinks, really stinks, to want to be active and not be able to but we're all doing the best with what we got. We've all been thrown into this without much warning we've had to alter our lives, some of us drastically.

15 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Thank you, thank you for articulating this. This is me. I started exercising because I have a terrible family history of hypertension and diabetes. It's like 40 hits and everyone is diabetic. I tried things and did it because I had to, not because I even liked it. lI found something I love in swimming, I picked up the skill in my 20s and the first time in the pool after I felt comfortable being in one was amazing. I am trying so hard to replace it with something .

I am terrible at learning things through video, most probably land myself in the hospital injured badly because I can't understand instructions as today's workout showed. I did not even know I think in my language, so even understanding how to implement "folding an egg" in a recipe was difficult to me in the beginning even though I understood the words. I am having the same problem now with the videos, understanding the words, but failing in interpreting them and therefore implement them correctly . I have always learned better with a person showing me and correcting me.

Cooking is also my refuge now.  I feel like I am eating badly though I try my utmost to eat healthy. In the big scheme of things this may sound like a high maintenance whine, but I am not willing to lose fitness and consequently health because of this stupid virus. 😔

I know learning through video is not ideal for me either, there are some super basic workouts though, stuff that anyone can do. Jumping jacks, run in place, high knees. You might look at bootcamp workouts for simple workouts to get your heartrate up. If it is an issue with language you might try searching for "native language" workout video. I've got 4 kids so I understand that little ones can make it hard for outside workouts. When my youngest 2 were small I had a bike trailer that I'd use so I could bike more, bonus it gives you a better workout 🙂 The C25K program mentioned above is a good one to build up running endurance.

 

[Soror]

I ended up working outside yesterday as the rain held off all day. It is a high chance of rain and bad storms today so it will likely be an inside day.

I have some strength work to do today and dh has homework so I should be interrupted.

I had 3 cookies yesterday. Yep. On the plus side I wasn't snacky all day though, meals were as planned.

Food today: 

breakfast tbd

lunch: thai peanut quinoa salad (red cabbage, green onions, carrots- homemade dressing) chopping chicken

dinner: chicken chili

snacks: dark chocolate: popcorn, oranges, cottage cheese 

 

[wintermom]

36 minutes ago, soror said:

I ended up working outside yesterday as the rain held off all day. It is a high chance of rain and bad storms today so it will likely be an inside day.

I have some strength work to do today and dh has homework so I should be interrupted.

I had 3 cookies yesterday. Yep. On the plus side I wasn't snacky all day though, meals were as planned.

Food today: 

breakfast tbd

lunch: thai peanut quinoa salad (red cabbage, green onions, carrots- homemade dressing) chopping chicken

dinner: chicken chili

snacks: dark chocolate: popcorn, oranges, cottage cheese 

 

Hope your weather stays nice for the weekend and you can get all your painting finished up.  The Thai salad sounds amazing! I love Thai food, but sadly can't eat peanuts anymore. Thankfully there a lots of other tasty dishes without nuts. Oh, and I managed to kill off my Thai basil plant. Boo. No more fragrant leaves for my dishes. 🙁

[wintermom]

It's sunny and going to get relatively warm. I'll be happy with no snow at this point. 😉  I really want to hike to my little beaver pond and check out the action there. I think there will be a lot of Canada goose activity and noise. 

Question: Anyone have pussy willows in your area? I saw some last week, and this week the pussy part had burst open and leaf buds are coming out.  I always wondered what happened to the fuzzy bulbs. 😄

 

[wintermom]

22 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

My old-lady hip suddenly went out from under me yesterday evening: I don't think it was anything I did - it sometimes just happens.  It was sore all evening but a bit better today, especially after some very gentle yoga at lunchtime.  I'm about to head out to walk a couple of miles - that will be it for the day.  I'm due to do some pretty vigorous yoga tomorrow, but I may delay that to give time for my hip to settle.

The veg box had beetroot this week, so I'm making beet balls with basil and tahini for supper, with a mint-yoghurt dip.

How is your hip doing?  What is your 'veg box?' Is this a vegetable delivery service? How did the beet balls turn out?  The only way I will eat a beet is pickled. But I haven't really had much opportunity to eat any since childhood. 😉

[Laura Corin]

12 minutes ago, wintermom said:

It's sunny and going to get relatively warm. I'll be happy with no snow at this point. 😉  I really want to hike to my little beaver pond and check out the action there. I think there will be a lot of Canada goose activity and noise. 

Question: Anyone have pussy willows in your area? I saw some last week, and this week the pussy part had burst open and leaf buds are coming out.  I always wondered what happened to the fuzzy bulbs. 😄

 

We have some that I planted in a wet part of the garden to screen us from the road.

@Dreamergal, I've always been weirdly tempted by the Canadian Air force exercise videos

https://youtu.be/NMGQzMjeO1k

My hip is a lot better, but I'll take it easy again: light yoga and two mile walk. Apart from that: some cleaning, reading. A quiet day.

[wintermom]

51 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

We have some that I planted in a wet part of the garden to screen us from the road.

@Dreamergal, I've always been weirdly tempted by the Canadian Air force exercise videos

https://youtu.be/NMGQzMjeO1k

My hip is a lot better, but I'll take it easy again: light yoga and two mile walk. Apart from that: some cleaning, reading. A quiet day.

The 1959 RCAF video is pretty awesome! Some many great things checked off: like we don't call them RCAF anymore as the Air Force is combined with Army and Navy into Canadian Forces; there must be an acronym in the name (basic exercises = BX), and there are both French and English names in the film credits.  And the reasoning for stay fit is so you can drive without being a menas on the road if you have to get to an emergency.  😄  I think they forgot to mention that it would be a benefit for shoveling snow 6 months of the year. 

The actual principles behind the exercise program, being progressive, daily and based on age, are still great. 

Thanks for sharing!

Edited April 25, 2020 by wintermom

[Laura Corin]

@Dreamergal I think you are right to just keep things simple. There's enough stress in all our lives right now with adding complications. I think I actually did those Canadian exercises for a while a couple of decades ago when I needed something simple. Language can really get in the way - I first learned yoga in France from a teacher with a strong Spanish accent . Between understanding her pronunciation and trying to remember what 'ankle' was in French, I was completely at sea.

Thanks, my hip is much better today.

@wintermom the veg box is a weekly delivery from a local organic farm. The beetroot was raw, so I just washed it and roasted it in foil. I made patties rather than balls, because it was easier, and ended up making pureed peas with mint to go with. It worked well.

@soror your food sounds great, including the cookies.

 

[wintermom]

My hike in the big forest to the beaver pond was amazing! I saw all kinds of critters and birds, but the highlight was being able to watch 2 beavers swimming in their pond. One may have been fishing, as it dove down in the water splashing it's giant tail a couple times. They are kind of like hippos when they swim, as only their nose, eyes and ears stay above water. That's one truly Canadian experience I'm happy to check off my list of cool things to do. 😁 

[wintermom]

My dream come true!! Our own tennis court. It's even better, though, because we can raise the net to play badminton, or raise it more to play volleyball. How awesome is that?! Notice the fully functional crank to add tension to the net when playing. 😁

 

[Laura Corin]

7 hours ago, wintermom said:

My dream come true!! Our own tennis court. It's even better, though, because we can raise the net to play badminton, or raise it more to play volleyball. How awesome is that?! Notice the fully functional crank to add tension to the net when playing. 😁

 

Looks great! Do you need to add netting above your fence? I know you and your husband are good at tennis, so maybe lost balls are not a problem.

[IvyInFlorida]

@wintermom Yay, your own tennis court!!!

 

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I haven't been by in awhile.  It gets me down that I can't be active AT ALL right now so I'll probably just pop in to wave until I (hopefully) start to feel better in the second trimester.  I have anemia apparently and am awaiting the results of a second set of blood tests before they decide how they want to treat it.  In the meantime, any exertion wipes me out completely and triggers intense nausea and dizziness.  I am getting increasingly excited and happy about having this baby, but it is really surreal to have gone from a two-a-day workout person to an on-the-couch-at-4pm person.

Also, food aversion is so crazy!  I can't stand meat right now, and since eggs upset my stomach, I don't manage nearly the amount of protein I used to.  Basically the only foods I'm not averse to (besides junk food--what the heck has happened to me?!?!) are bread, peanut butter, fruit, pasta, cheese, greek yogurt only if it's in a fruit smoothie, potatoes, and salad only if it has pickles and honey mustard dressing.  Is it horrible if I live on this stuff for the next 3 or 4 weeks until the 1st trimester is over?  Or do y'all think I need to force myself to eat a larger variety? I did manage some ground beef last night but it was a huge struggle and made me miserable.  UGH.  I feel like a picky toddler!  LOL.

I know this comes as no surprise to any of y'all that have gone through this before, but I had no idea how much smells would affect me.  The smell of the fridge turns my stomach.  The kids' morning breath makes me gag.  I usually LOVE the way my husband smells but now he smells weird.  Pregnancy is CRAZY, y'all!!  At least my boobs are getting bigger!

Anyways, I miss you guys and sharing the active lifestyle with y'all.  I'm 9 weeks today, so hopefully another month and some iron supplementation and I'll be able to report on walks and pregnancy yoga, etc.

[Laura Corin]

@IvyInFlorida that diet isn't nearly as bad as it could be. Can you slip some dark leafy greens into a salad or smoothie for the iron? Hang in there!

[IvyInFlorida]

24 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

@IvyInFlorida that diet isn't nearly as bad as it could be. Can you slip some dark leafy greens into a salad or smoothie for the iron? Hang in there!

 

Thank you!  Yes, at my mom's suggestion I've been putting spinach in my fruit smoothies.  My salads can only be romaine for some reason, I think because it's kind of watery with the big midrib?  Watery fruit and veg go down best it seems like.  Can't wait till local watermelon starts showing up!!!

[Soror]

59 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

@wintermom Yay, your own tennis court!!!

 

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I haven't been by in awhile.  It gets me down that I can't be active AT ALL right now so I'll probably just pop in to wave until I (hopefully) start to feel better in the second trimester.  I have anemia apparently and am awaiting the results of a second set of blood tests before they decide how they want to treat it.  In the meantime, any exertion wipes me out completely and triggers intense nausea and dizziness.  I am getting increasingly excited and happy about having this baby, but it is really surreal to have gone from a two-a-day workout person to an on-the-couch-at-4pm person.

Also, food aversion is so crazy!  I can't stand meat right now, and since eggs upset my stomach, I don't manage nearly the amount of protein I used to.  Basically the only foods I'm not averse to (besides junk food--what the heck has happened to me?!?!) are bread, peanut butter, fruit, pasta, cheese, greek yogurt only if it's in a fruit smoothie, potatoes, and salad only if it has pickles and honey mustard dressing.  Is it horrible if I live on this stuff for the next 3 or 4 weeks until the 1st trimester is over?  Or do y'all think I need to force myself to eat a larger variety? I did manage some ground beef last night but it was a huge struggle and made me miserable.  UGH.  I feel like a picky toddler!  LOL.

I know this comes as no surprise to any of y'all that have gone through this before, but I had no idea how much smells would affect me.  The smell of the fridge turns my stomach.  The kids' morning breath makes me gag.  I usually LOVE the way my husband smells but now he smells weird.  Pregnancy is CRAZY, y'all!!  At least my boobs are getting bigger!

Anyways, I miss you guys and sharing the active lifestyle with y'all.  I'm 9 weeks today, so hopefully another month and some iron supplementation and I'll be able to report on walks and pregnancy yoga, etc.

I'm sorry you are feeling so rough. I think it is a great idea to try some different things in the smoothie- maybe protein powder and the greens. I really hope that you have some relief in the second trimester, only a few weeks to go. I'm so glad you are excited, that makes the miserable feelings much easier to take!

Fwiw I found iron bisglycinate to be a great way to get my iron levels up quickly with minimal affect on my stomach ( I took 100mg a day when my ferritin was at an 11 and was doing well in about a month). I'm peeved they are not doing anything at all for that yet, I hope they are testing you soon. That in itself can be a big cause of your fatigue and shortness of breath. I guess it was low before but the pregnancy put you over the edge and combine those and you are really feeling it. 

Don't be ashamed of naps, they are your friends. And don't feel you have to be active to participate here you know! When I felt really bad and was working on getting my thyroid treated my goal was to make it outside. Not to walk or anything else but to make it off the couch and out of the house, that's it. Low thyroid with low b12 and low iron was a rough combo. So, do what you can when you are up to it, I know it is so very, very hard when you are used to being able to do more to change course. You feel like you should be able to do more but your body is in a different place now.

[regentrude]

1 hour ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Also, food aversion is so crazy!  I can't stand meat right now, and since eggs upset my stomach, I don't manage nearly the amount of protein I used to.  Basically the only foods I'm not averse to (besides junk food--what the heck has happened to me?!?!) are bread, peanut butter, fruit, pasta, cheese, greek yogurt only if it's in a fruit smoothie, potatoes, and salad only if it has pickles and honey mustard dressing.  Is it horrible if I live on this stuff for the next 3 or 4 weeks until the 1st trimester is over?  Or do y'all think I need to force myself to eat a larger variety? I did manage some ground beef last night but it was a huge struggle and made me miserable.  UGH.  I feel like a picky toddler!  LOL.

That diet sounds just fine, and you can live on it indefinitely. Peanut butter and dairy are excellent sources of protein,together with fruit smoothies and salads that is a balanced diet. It is not necessary to eat meat or eggs. Pick a variety of veggies and some dark leafy greens for the salads, and you're all set. One can be perfectly healthy, and have healthy pregnancies, as a vegetarian.

Edited April 26, 2020 by regentrude

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, IvyInFlorida said:

@wintermom Yay, your own tennis court!!!

 

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I haven't been by in awhile.  It gets me down that I can't be active AT ALL right now so I'll probably just pop in to wave until I (hopefully) start to feel better in the second trimester.  I have anemia apparently and am awaiting the results of a second set of blood tests before they decide how they want to treat it.  In the meantime, any exertion wipes me out completely and triggers intense nausea and dizziness.  I am getting increasingly excited and happy about having this baby, but it is really surreal to have gone from a two-a-day workout person to an on-the-couch-at-4pm person.

Also, food aversion is so crazy!  I can't stand meat right now, and since eggs upset my stomach, I don't manage nearly the amount of protein I used to.  Basically the only foods I'm not averse to (besides junk food--what the heck has happened to me?!?!) are bread, peanut butter, fruit, pasta, cheese, greek yogurt only if it's in a fruit smoothie, potatoes, and salad only if it has pickles and honey mustard dressing.  Is it horrible if I live on this stuff for the next 3 or 4 weeks until the 1st trimester is over?  Or do y'all think I need to force myself to eat a larger variety? I did manage some ground beef last night but it was a huge struggle and made me miserable.  UGH.  I feel like a picky toddler!  LOL.

I know this comes as no surprise to any of y'all that have gone through this before, but I had no idea how much smells would affect me.  The smell of the fridge turns my stomach.  The kids' morning breath makes me gag.  I usually LOVE the way my husband smells but now he smells weird.  Pregnancy is CRAZY, y'all!!  At least my boobs are getting bigger!

Anyways, I miss you guys and sharing the active lifestyle with y'all.  I'm 9 weeks today, so hopefully another month and some iron supplementation and I'll be able to report on walks and pregnancy yoga, etc.

Thanks so much for popping in to has hi!! So great to hear from you. That's too bad about anemia. Hope you are able to control that. Also not fun about the smell aversion. I had a tough time with that, too. My mother got quite offended when I asked her to stop putting on perfume. Your pregnancy diet sounds pretty normal in its originality and weirdness. 🤣 

The tennis court is great! There is the downside, however, that playing volleyball with my teen boys is way more intense exercise than I'm used to right now. I was completely exhausted early last night.

[wintermom]

7 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Looks great! Do you need to add netting above your fence? I know you and your husband are good at tennis, so maybe lost balls are not a problem.

No netting and I already put the volleyball over the fence. 😄  We bought lots of extra tennis balls as we plan to be losing them pretty frequently. I hope the neighbours don't end up hating us!

[wintermom]

Got in my indoor stretch and strength work, plus push-ups. Then I played a bunch of lawn tennis. It is quite exhausting, but really fun! Ds 14 and I can keep a rally going pretty well. 

[Laura Corin]

Did some fairly vigorous yoga, then worked in the garden for a couple of hours. Really not looking forward to the week. Feeling very down tonight.  And I'm so lucky.

[lynn]

Still doing BeachBody on Demand. Completed 30 days of hammer and chisel now onto The Work until Shaun Ts summer challenge starts.

Edited April 26, 2020 by lynn

[Laura Corin]

11 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

(((Hugs))) Laura. Sending wishes for a peaceful week.

Thanks, Dreamergal.  I had a definite dip last night.  I'm now at my home-office desk, the sun is shining, the dog is asleep on the sofa.

I've decided to write a list, today, of everything I get done.  Not gratitude, or anything, just stuff done.  Little stuff.  Like checking for messages on the office phone.  Suggesting to a colleague how to resolve a difficulty.  Asking a graduating student if they would be willing to provide a testimonial and whether they would like their name on the website to be 'Ms' or 'Mrs'.  Little things.  I was feeling so at-sea last night, that I think the list might help.

[Soror]

15 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Did some fairly vigorous yoga, then worked in the garden for a couple of hours. Really not looking forward to the week. Feeling very down tonight.  And I'm so lucky.

 

3 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Thanks, Dreamergal.  I had a definite dip last night.  I'm now at my home-office desk, the sun is shining, the dog is asleep on the sofa.

I've decided to write a list, today, of everything I get done.  Not gratitude, or anything, just stuff done.  Little stuff.  Like checking for messages on the office phone.  Suggesting to a colleague how to resolve a difficulty.  Asking a graduating student if they would be willing to provide a testimonial and whether they would like their name on the website to be 'Ms' or 'Mrs'.  Little things.  I was feeling so at-sea last night, that I think the list might help.

Making a list sounds like a wonderful idea, I hope today is a better one.

15 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

I wanted to see thank you Ladies. The last 24 hours has been really amazing. Your advice to go down to the basics really re-adjusted my thinking. I have been so immersed in learning new skills, trying to sanitize, overthinking every little thing, I just couldn't even go for a walk without silently measuring if people were 6 feet apart. I was never a nature person who knows names of tree, flowers or birds, more a gym person. But I never realized how much time we spent outside. We would sit and eat outside a lot, much of the year, all times of the day, watch stars. Sit by the fire pit. I just let everything go, just sitting inside even afraid to breathe the air, not opening windows like we used to, always turning air purifiers on all in apparent fear of this stupid virus.

So yesterday I raised up the screens, opened the french doors, let air circulate. Sat outside in the fresh air and sunshine for hours. We cooked and ate outside on the front porch in full view of our neighbors who we used to share so many meals. We were responsible about social distancing but still did things we loved and used to. I looked around and found yoga classes done in a language I know very well. Something clicked in my brain automatically and I had a really good workout, the first one I had since this thing descended. I also figured out a way to get the feeling of water. I guess I loved swimming so much because I love the feeling of water surrounding me. I filled the tub and sat  in it for a long time, nothing added, just the water.surrounding me. I feel like a fog has lifted and feel so much better and in control. I may yet have bad days, but I know I must get fresh air, sunshine and go back to the basics to reset me. Thank you once again.

I'm so glad to read this. Change is hard, I'm happy that we were able to help you. It is a great idea to look for the things that are the same still after so much that is different.

______________________

We had a busy and not fun day working on painting yesterday. Today we have some more to do and I plan on some yard work since the weather will be nice.

My appetite has continued to lessen, thank goodness it seems the hormones are lining back out after that wonky month +.  Weight is tettering on the edge, so I gotta keep focused and getting meal size down, eating more nutrient dense calorically light foods.

food plans:

before workout: green tea; whole grain gf toast w/ smear of almond butter and 1/3rd banana

oatmeal w/ 2 dates, 1 T pecans+ coconut; blueberries + nonfat greek yogurt

thai quinoa salad (cabbage, carrots, quinoa, bit of chicken and edamame)

dinner: spaghetti- I'm having very small serving of noodles and cucumber, red onion, and mesclun(from my garden) salad 

snacks: apple and pb; strawberry, beet, collagen smoothie

Today is strength work (on a 6x week schedule now) and yoga in the am before starting outside work.

23 min yoga done

 

 

Edited April 27, 2020 by soror

[regentrude]

did a 9 mile hike yesterday. that was good. still not moving enough, and now I'll go sit on the computer again

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

did a 9 mile hike yesterday. that was good. still not moving enough, and now I'll go sit on the computer again

So glad you were able to get in a wonderful hike!  Is it possible you could benefit from more outdoor exposure, rather than simply more moving? Can you open your window while on the computer? Or perhaps build in frequent, short outdoor breaks where you walk or run around the block? Outdoor yoga or stretching?  

[wintermom]

@soror  Sounds like your painting is coming along great! It is so much grunt work. I've been avoiding my next painting project; the stairs. It's more fun to play outside. 😉 

@Dreamergal  So glad you had a great work-out and bath! 

@Laura Corin  Your list-writing idea sounds wonderful! Seems really vital during these times to keep reminding one's self about all the good things we're accomplishing. It's so easy to lose that focus with all the uncertainty.

@lynn  Way to go!!! Your work-outs sound pretty intense. Are they a mix of strength, stretching and high intensity intervals? 

 

Great job everyone! I've had a couple great days of tennis and volleyball. My body is certainly trying hard to adjust to the new stresses this exercise offers. 😉  I'm going to try and balance my activities a little better so I don't get so exhausted with one thing. The dog misses his walks!

[Laura Corin]

17 minutes ago, wintermom said:

 

@Laura Corin  Your list-writing idea sounds wonderful! Seems really vital during these times to keep reminding one's self about all the good things we're accomplishing. It's so easy to lose that focus with all the uncertainty.

-----

Great job everyone! I've had a couple great days of tennis and volleyball. My body is certainly trying hard to adjust to the new stresses this exercise offers. 😉  I'm going to try and balance my activities a little better so I don't get so exhausted with one thing. The dog misses his walks!

I'm glad you have worked out how to get the tennis started again.  Yes, balance is good!

The list seems to have worked.  I think I've achieved more, or maybe I've just noticed the things I have achieved.

I worked on Eagle, Headstand and Side Crow at lunchtime.  I also did two sets of sun salutations over the course of the morning.  After work I'll take a walk through the woods with the dog.

[wintermom]

19 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

Had a good game of volleyball yesterday. Thanks @wintermom for the idea. My arms hurt a bit after a time of not using enough but it was good to get moving again.

Glad you were able to play some volleyball! My arms have been sore from the new activity, too. It is so much fun, though! 

[Laura Corin]

I broke through some procrastination at work: stress always leads to procrastination with me. The task sits there on my desk like a big toad and I just can't bear to pick it up.

Nice slow walk with Husband at lunchtime; I plan some hard yoga in a few minutes. Husband is cooking smoked haddock for supper and then Hobbes and I are going to sit down to watch Twelfth Night before it is removed from the site:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aig5ObghHS4

 

[wintermom]

It's a beautiful, sunny day! Just finished playing volleyball with my boys for nearly an hour. I must be getting in shape for this game. Or maybe I won't be able to move in a little bit. 😂 It's my birthday, so we are taking a little break from school to play outside. We tried out some badminton, and next is tennis.