May 2020 well-trained bodies

[Laura Corin]

All are welcome to post about fitness and exercise.

[Laura Corin]

@wintermom

'Definite move dates would be great, wouldn't they! We don't have that yet, either. I've been looking at some beautiful homes on-line, but I can't go any further than that right now. Hope you can get your house sale nailed down soon.

What is 'clap for carers?' 

Enjoy your days off work! Hope the weather is nice and you can get in some nice walks in the country.'

Window shopping for houses is pretty exciting. We did that a lot before we moved to Scotland.

Here is Clap for Carers: https://clapforourcarers.co.uk/

Lovely walk in the sunshine today, getting home just before it poured with rain. The bluebells are out in the woods.

[Soror]

Very pretty Laura. Can't believe I forgot it was May, I've really been on the ball.

Strength work done this am, just had a snack of 2 clemtines and some pistachios and trying to motivate to go outside and do some gardening before we start in on painting.

[wintermom]

@Laura Corin  Beautiful photo! Thanks for sharing. I saw some daffodils in bloom here. Not much else, though. 

@soror  All the best with finishing off the painting! So exciting. Will you share a photo? 

I managed to squeeze out my 50 push-ups, though it was a struggle. This will be a good amount to work with for the next little while. I'm heading out for a long walk after lunch. I hope it doesn't rain in the middle! 😉

[IvyInFlorida]

What gorgeous flowers!

Just wanted to report that I ate some salsa today and am totally counting that as a vegetable!

Also that the blood test results are in as well as my complete OB panel and everything is normal.  My anemia markers are on the lower side of normal, but seems like nothing the prenatal vitamin levels of iron supplementation won't continue to improve.  Sounds like the anemia was situational because of the huge blood loss.

[Laura Corin]

24 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

What gorgeous flowers!

Just wanted to report that I ate some salsa today and am totally counting that as a vegetable!

Also that the blood test results are in as well as my complete OB panel and everything is normal.  My anemia markers are on the lower side of normal, but seems like nothing the prenatal vitamin levels of iron supplementation won't continue to improve.  Sounds like the anemia was situational because of the huge blood loss.

That's good news.

[wintermom]

@IvyInFlorida  Wonderful news! Also glad you were able to enjoy salsa!! 

During my walk, we saw a Blanding turtle. So now you can play, "Spot the turtle" in this poor quality photo. 😉  Don't confuse it with the rock. The rock is bigger than the turtle. 😄

 

[Laura Corin]

@wintermom is the turtle just to the left of the rock? I'm on my phone so I might be completely awry.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Hi everyone!  Happy May!  I wasn't on much the last two weeks.  had some really crappy runs, even turned around and just walked home a couple times.  I added Magnesium, and that (or I assume it's that) has made a huge difference!  This week I've been running well.  

 

[Soror]

Just have a few minutes before I start teaching.

Dh is already working on the house here at nearly 6 am. I'll start at 8 when I finish teaching. We were working last night until 9:30 with flash lights and still didn't get done all we hoped. Today will be a long day, cross your fingers we get it done b/c we've got rain coming tomorrow.

If I can manage the time I'll do some stretches today.

I did not eat a treat yesterday b/c they didn't make anything I wanted, probably didn't need it anyway 🙂

Weight was annoyingly up even more and I ate less, although I did have brats and homemade fries last night (lots of salt).

bfast plan:

steelcut oats w/ banana & pb; toast; greek yogurt

lunch:

whatever I can find quick?? 

dinner:

chili

[barnwife]

I've never posted in these threads, but here I go!
This week I did an exercise video. It's one I remember doing about a year ago when I really first started exercising regularly. Then, I thought "boy, that was rough." This time I got to the end, thought "that's it?!", and did the video again! And I am about to start my day today by doing the same thing.

Did I mention I am 20ish weeks pregnant? So even though sometimes progress is hard to see, clearly I am improving my fitness level. 

[wintermom]

4 hours ago, barnwife said:

I've never posted in these threads, but here I go!
This week I did an exercise video. It's one I remember doing about a year ago when I really first started exercising regularly. Then, I thought "boy, that was rough." This time I got to the end, thought "that's it?!", and did the video again! And I am about to start my day today by doing the same thing.

Did I mention I am 20ish weeks pregnant? So even though sometimes progress is hard to see, clearly I am improving my fitness level. 

Welcome and congratulations on the pregnancy!! Hope it's going well - must be if you're able to finish the exercise video twice through in one go. Great job! 

[wintermom]

10 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

@wintermom is the turtle just to the left of the rock? I'm on my phone so I might be completely awry.

So sorry. The photo is so blurry. The turtle is directly above the big rock, right in the middle of the photo. It's slightly smaller than the rock. I need a new phone! 😉

[wintermom]

I just returned from a 2 hr bike ride with a friend. It was fabulous! Great weather and really nice trails. It's also my ds's 18th birthday today. We'll be playing some volleyball and tennis later on. I also got in my 50 push-ups. I'll make sure to get in my stretching soon. 

[IvyInFlorida]

Happy Sunday everybody! 

10 weeks along today--the 2nd trimester is in sight!  @barnwife you give me hope that in a few weeks I might regain enough strength and energy to do something active again!

Food aversions, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue continue to be pretty tough...apparently I'm right at the peak of crappiness when it comes to hormones according to what I've read.  My goal for this week is to stay hydrated.  Simple and hopefully attainable!

Funny thing--I keep craving and dreaming about fruit, especially strawberries, pineapple, and watermelon really cold and straight from the fridge.  Literally I will wake up in the night from extremely vivid dreams about eating icy cold strawberries, lol.  I've been eating a big bowl of fruit every day, so that's something!  I finally scored a fresh pineapple from the store and it's ready to cut up today, woo hoo!

[barnwife]

@IvyInFloridaI have been pretty darn good about exercising regularly for just about a year (a little more?)...until I got pregnant. I fully admit that I basically skipped all exercising (other than going for walks with the kids) from about weeks 7-12. So, you know, all of first trimester! 

But after my 12 week appt., I decided I needed to get back into it. Plus, my exercise time is part of my daily "me time." My kids have mostly figured out that once I start exercising I will ignore them unless there's blood, bones, or fire. (I try to exercise before they get up, but sometimes they are up early!) Weeks 12-16 were rough. I could totally tell I'd taken a break. 

But now I am less nauseous and (slightly) less tired. And I am back at it and feel good about it.

RE: fruit. Cold fruit, straight from the fridge, is one of the only things I was able to tolerate during 1st tri. this time. That, crackers, and string cheese kept me from starvation. I *might* have growled at another person (lots) more than once when said person kept taking the fruit out of the fridge and leaving it on the counter! Leave my apples and oranges where they are, darn it all!
 

[wintermom]

I went for a wonderful hike into the little beaver pond again. It rained this week, and the forest floor had burst into colour. Lots of tiny green plants and delicate little wild flowers poking out among the dead leaves. Some of the flowers grew up right through a dead leaf and the leave became a little 'cardigan' around the young plant. I borrowed my dh's phone to try and get better photos. I think I am the problem. 😋  Here's the beaver lodge and some wild flowers. 

 

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, wintermom said:

I went for a wonderful hike into the little beaver pond again. It rained this week, and the forest floor had burst into colour. Lots of tiny green plants and delicate little wild flowers poking out among the dead leaves. Some of the flowers grew up right through a dead leaf and the leave became a little 'cardigan' around the young plant. I borrowed my dh's phone to try and get better photos. I think I am the problem. 😋  Here's the beaver lodge and some wild flowers. 

 

Lovely pictures. Sounds like a great hike.

@IvyInFlorida hang in there!

Easy going day. Forty minutes of yoga and a one-hour stroll. No-news-reading day.

[Soror]

Hello ladies! Happy to see everyone.

Ivy, hope that you are near the worst of it too. Levels can be just out of range and you still feel horrible. Ranges for deficiency aren't optimal states, I hope the prenatal does the trick and second trimester make a big difference for you.

Barnwife- Welcome! Sounds like you've made a lot of fitness progress over the year. Congrats on the pregnancy.

Wintermom- happy bday to your son and thanks for the pics.

_______________________

My weekend felt like a whole week. We worked Sat night until 9:30 and then I helped dh do homework as it was due by midnight, he submitted his last assignment right before 12 and we crawled into bed. Yesterday we got up at 5:30 and straight out the door to finish up the painting as the rain was supposed to be coming in the morning. Finished that at 9:30 ate breakfast and crawled back in bed for a nap. I got up at 12 cooked lunch and we'd just finished when we had a horrible storm, looks like we got the edge of a little tornado. In a half mile strip we had 6 trees on the road uprooted and a whole circle pulled up in the woods, these were not small trees but huge old oaks. That took out our power for 7 hrs until a little after usual bedtime. I cooked dinner on the camp stove and we ended up in bed a bit before 9. My sleep is so wonky from 2 really late nights and so much work, a nap is def on the plan for today. I woke up at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. I've had too much adrenaline pumping to keep me going. 

I did get in some walking yesterday surveying the damage, that's it, we were just too busy. 

Today's plan: RECOVER- no outside work, catch up on laundry and watch tv. Strength training and some light yoga.

bfast: steelcut oats w/ banana & pb; almond milk w/ protein powder

lunch: TBD (I've not prepped anything yet need to survey the frig and see what I feel like making)

dinner: chicken quesadillas - w/ homemade guac and pico I'll have mine baked w/ gluten free tortilla

Edited May 4, 2020 by soror

[IvyInFlorida]

Wow, soror, you have had a ton going on!  Enjoy your well-earned rest today!

 

Yesterday was such a much better day for me.  I made it through my grocery shopping trip with only 1 really bad nausea episode (shopping is horrendous for me while morning sick), then felt good enough by lunchtime that I was able to eat a sandwich and a bowl of fruit.  Nausea continued pretty low level all day and I ate soup and a bread roll for supper.  This morning it's a little stronger than yesterday, but still much improved from what it has been.  I'm going to attempt a half hour walk shortly.  Maybe I have turned a corner!!

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, soror said:

Hello ladies! Happy to see everyone.

Ivy, hope that you are near the worst of it too. Levels can be just out of range and you still feel horrible. Ranges for deficiency aren't optimal states, I hope the prenatal does the trick and second trimester make a big difference for you.

Barnwife- Welcome! Sounds like you've made a lot of fitness progress over the year. Congrats on the pregnancy.

Wintermom- happy bday to your son and thanks for the pics.

_______________________

My weekend felt like a whole week. We worked Sat night until 9:30 and then I helped dh do homework as it was due by midnight, he submitted his last assignment right before 12 and we crawled into bed. Yesterday we got up at 5:30 and straight out the door to finish up the painting as the rain was supposed to be coming in the morning. Finished that at 9:30 ate breakfast and crawled back in bed for a nap. I got up at 12 cooked lunch and we'd just finished when we had a horrible storm, looks like we got the edge of a little tornado. In a half mile strip we had 6 trees on the road uprooted and a whole circle pulled up in the woods, these were not small trees but huge old oaks. That took out our power for 7 hrs until a little after usual bedtime. I cooked dinner on the camp stove and we ended up in bed a bit before 9. My sleep is so wonky from 2 really late nights and so much work, a nap is def on the plan for today. I woke up at 4 and couldn't go back to sleep. I've had too much adrenaline pumping to keep me going. 

I did get in some walking yesterday surveying the damage, that's it, we were just too busy. 

Today's plan: RECOVER- no outside work, catch up on laundry and watch tv. Strength training and some light yoga.

bfast: steelcut oats w/ banana & pb; almond milk w/ protein powder

lunch: TBD (I've not prepped anything yet need to survey the frig and see what I feel like making)

dinner: chicken quesadillas - w/ homemade guac and pico I'll have mine baked w/ gluten free tortilla

Yay for getting all the painting and dh's assignment completed!!! That's huge! So sorry to hear about the storm/tornado and losing power. Did any of the trees block the road? Will you have to do a lot of clean up of downed trees and branches?  

Hope you have a good recovery and rest day.

6 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Yesterday was such a much better day for me.  I made it through my grocery shopping trip with only 1 really bad nausea episode (shopping is horrendous for me while morning sick), then felt good enough by lunchtime that I was able to eat a sandwich and a bowl of fruit.  Nausea continued pretty low level all day and I ate soup and a bread roll for supper.  This morning it's a little stronger than yesterday, but still much improved from what it has been.  I'm going to attempt a half hour walk shortly.  Maybe I have turned a corner!!

That's wonderful you are feeling better! It's so miserable feeling nauseous for long periods of time. It's so hard to stay positive and keep on functioning. Big hugs to you and hope it disappears really soon.

[wintermom]

I'm going to focus on walking today and let my right arm and shoulder rest and recover. I can still do push-ups, though. It's the over-head movements in tennis and volleyball that I have to be more careful with. So cut out the smashing and spiking, ol' gal, and leave that to the youngsters for now! 😋

[Soror]

9 minutes ago, IvyInFlorida said:

Wow, soror, you have had a ton going on!  Enjoy your well-earned rest today!

 

Yesterday was such a much better day for me.  I made it through my grocery shopping trip with only 1 really bad nausea episode (shopping is horrendous for me while morning sick), then felt good enough by lunchtime that I was able to eat a sandwich and a bowl of fruit.  Nausea continued pretty low level all day and I ate soup and a bread roll for supper.  This morning it's a little stronger than yesterday, but still much improved from what it has been.  I'm going to attempt a half hour walk shortly.  Maybe I have turned a corner!!

So happy to hear you are feeling better, fingers crossed you have turned that corner!!!!

4 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Yay for getting all the painting and dh's assignment completed!!! That's huge! So sorry to hear about the storm/tornado and losing power. Did any of the trees block the road? Will you have to do a lot of clean up of downed trees and branches?  

Hope you have a good recovery and rest day.

That's wonderful you are feeling better! It's so miserable feeling nauseous for long periods of time. It's so hard to stay positive and keep on functioning. Big hugs to you and hope it disappears really soon.

Thank you! The 6 trees down were just the ones that fell on the road, there were many more down in the woods. The road was entirely blocked one direction but the other way there was only 1 tree down over half of the road. Several local men came with chainsaws and dh brought the tractor, they cut them apart and he pushed them off the road.

[wintermom]

30 minutes ago, soror said:

Thank you! The 6 trees down were just the ones that fell on the road, there were many more down in the woods. The road was entirely blocked one direction but the other way there was only 1 tree down over half of the road. Several local men came with chainsaws and dh brought the tractor, they cut them apart and he pushed them off the road.

Cool! You have a tractor! Glad there were others that could help with the work. Trees are so big, and there is way more wood than I always expect.

[Soror]

9 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Cool! You have a tractor! Glad there were others that could help with the work. Trees are so big, and there is way more wood than I always expect.

Yes, they were so huge. My fil had a tractor so we've inherited it after he passed, it really comes in handy.

43 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I'm going to focus on walking today and let my right arm and shoulder rest and recover. I can still do push-ups, though. It's the over-head movements in tennis and volleyball that I have to be more careful with. So cut out the smashing and spiking, ol' gal, and leave that to the youngsters for now! 😋

LOL, sounds like you overdid it, huh ? It is easy to do when you are having fun. 

______________________

Strength work done. Felt good today, worked fast and got my HR up some. 

I went outside and remembered we have a ton of branches to pick up again, sigh, that might wait until tomorrow.

[wintermom]

40 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

 

@wintermom I've only seen pictures of beaver dams in national geographic or documentaries, never "seen" anyone I 'know" take a picture. Pardon me for sounding a bit in awe. Belated happy birthday to your son.

Our weekend was good. We were successful in picking up the shoes, curbside pickup. I really appreciate having these small businesses we patronized a long time go. Sat outside and ate facing the neighbors again. Still brainstorming ways to have safe contact and ways to have play safely. But we did play together as a family, that was more exercise than really spending time on something. I am learning to let go of how to exercise, even the concept of exercise is changing for me. My new goal is move and vigorously. We've played more than exercised so my whole thinking is changing. But if I have any doubts play is exercise, mine and DH muscles do say that loud and clear.  Have a good day ladies. 

 

I grew up and have lived in a big city all my life, so seeing beavers up close is very exciting for me! I've seen see nature videos and photos galore, especially being Canadian with the beaver being our national animal, but I rarely see beavers or signs of beavers. I'm in awe myself that I actually got to see beavers swim and do the tail slap. 😄

Glad you are having fun with physical activity. 'Playing' with physical activity is my way of life. I love the outdoors as well, so getting outside to be active comes very easy to me. I am a big kid when it comes to fitness. 😉 Even when I was running a lot and training for marathons, I incorporated 'play' in the form of fartlek training, which literally means 'speed play' in Norwegian.  

I hope you can continue to find more and more activities that are fun and that provide the physical work-outs you desire.

Edited May 4, 2020 by wintermom

[Laura Corin]

@soror, I'm glad you and your family are safe.

@wintermom beavers are being reintroduced to some areas of the UK, with the hope that they will slow water flow and reduce flooding downstream.

Very vigorous yoga today - a local teacher who has put a class online. I went to one of her classes a couple of years ago and didn't stay the course. This time, luckily, I received an important phone call half way through, which gave me time to regroup and finish. Not my favourite style - too fast - but a good challenge. One of my shoulders is a bit sore though so maybe I overdid it.

Later, Husband and I went on a lovely short walk in the spring sunshine.

[wintermom]

2 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

I do not like rats at all, find them gross. But I love squirrels and beavers so people always tell me they are just rats that look cute 😄. I've just found the concept of the beaver dam such a wonderful thing, that they can create engineering marvels. So thank you for sharing pictures and hope you have more beaver adventures. 

Seeing a beaver up close, I'd say that they are more like big ground hogs or porcupines. They are quite large and they move really slow on land. Their engineering marvels are very effective, if not exactly 'beautiful.' The dams and lodges look like random piles of branches and mud. 😄 

Edited May 4, 2020 by wintermom

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

@soror, I'm glad you and your family are safe.

@wintermom beavers are being reintroduced to some areas of the UK, with the hope that they will slow water flow and reduce flooding downstream.

Very vigorous yoga today - a local teacher who has put a class online. I went to one of her classes a couple of years ago and didn't stay the course. This time, luckily, I received an important phone call half way through, which gave me time to regroup and finish. Not my favourite style - too fast - but a good challenge. One of my shoulders is a bit sore though so maybe I overdid it.

Later, Husband and I went on a lovely short walk in the spring sunshine.

That's really interesting. I hope the beavers help with the flooding problems. 

Hope you recover from the yoga session. I don't like fast-paced yoga, either. However the opposite is annoying as well. One instructor liked to hold some stretches for 3 - 5 minutes. I would get really stiff trying to do that, but stopping sooner and moving onto something else didn't look great in a group setting.

Glad you and your dh enjoyed a nice walk! Did the dog join you?

[Laura Corin]

49 minutes ago, wintermom said:

 

Glad you and your dh enjoyed a nice walk! Did the dog join you?

Yes, Blondie came too. By chance we met a good friend with her pregnant daughter, sil and dog; it was nice to have a (distanced) chat in person, rather than virtually.

https://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/about-the-trial/

Edited May 4, 2020 by Laura Corin

[KathyBC]

Snow finally left us, got to try out my new trail runners April 16. (DH insisted I purchase in late December/early January to have something to look forward to re: the winterblues. I thought he was crazy, but am so thankful now when shopping is A Really Big Deal.) I'm working through the same couch to 5K plan as last year but with cancelled Grad plans for DD and no way to visit my aging parents or aging in-laws, I have completed the first 6 runs much faster than I otherwise would have. It feels great.
Also started a 30-day Yoga with Kassandra challenge on YouTube, 10 minutes per day, so far up to day 19. She sets intentions, some of which are so ridiculous to me that I get a good belly laugh, another positive. Can't believe what a difference even such a short practice but done a bit more frequently, about 4x week, makes.

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

Yes, Blondie came too. By chance we met a good friend with her pregnant daughter, sil and dog; it was nice to have a (distanced) chat in person, rather than virtually.

https://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/about-the-trial/

Great video link. Thanks for sharing. The beaver dams and lodges are exactly like the ones in the various ponds of my favourite conservation area hike location. Some of the dams are bigger than others. They are fascinating to look at, as they are so effective at holding back tonnes of water mass with simply sticks and mud. 

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, KathyBC said:

Snow finally left us, got to try out my new trail runners April 16. (DH insisted I purchase in late December/early January to have something to look forward to re: the winterblues. I thought he was crazy, but am so thankful now when shopping is A Really Big Deal.) I'm working through the same couch to 5K plan as last year but with cancelled Grad plans for DD and no way to visit my aging parents or aging in-laws, I have completed the first 6 runs much faster than I otherwise would have. It feels great.
Also started a 30-day Yoga with Kassandra challenge on YouTube, 10 minutes per day, so far up to day 19. She sets intentions, some of which are so ridiculous to me that I get a good belly laugh, another positive. Can't believe what a difference even such a short practice but done a bit more frequently, about 4x week, makes.

Great to see you again! Hope you were about to get out and enjoy the snow during the winter. Your running and yoga sound wonderful!  

[Soror]

13 hours ago, KathyBC said:

Snow finally left us, got to try out my new trail runners April 16. (DH insisted I purchase in late December/early January to have something to look forward to re: the winterblues. I thought he was crazy, but am so thankful now when shopping is A Really Big Deal.) I'm working through the same couch to 5K plan as last year but with cancelled Grad plans for DD and no way to visit my aging parents or aging in-laws, I have completed the first 6 runs much faster than I otherwise would have. It feels great.
Also started a 30-day Yoga with Kassandra challenge on YouTube, 10 minutes per day, so far up to day 19. She sets intentions, some of which are so ridiculous to me that I get a good belly laugh, another positive. Can't believe what a difference even such a short practice but done a bit more frequently, about 4x week, makes.

Welcome back! I bet you were very glad to have new shoes, that was good planning. I don't think I've tried Yoga with Kassandra, I'll have to check it out.

14 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Yes, Blondie came too. By chance we met a good friend with her pregnant daughter, sil and dog; it was nice to have a (distanced) chat in person, rather than virtually.

https://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/about-the-trial/

That is wonderful you got to visit with friends.

15 hours ago, wintermom said:

Seeing a beaver up close, I'd say that they are more like big ground hogs or porcupines. They are quite large and they move really slow on land. Their engineering marvels are very effective, if not exactly 'beautiful.' The dams and lodges look like random piles of branches and mud. 😄 

I've only seen beavers a couple of times but have seen their evidence many times at the creek up the road. 

16 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

@soror, I'm glad you and your family are safe.

@wintermom beavers are being reintroduced to some areas of the UK, with the hope that they will slow water flow and reduce flooding downstream.

Very vigorous yoga today - a local teacher who has put a class online. I went to one of her classes a couple of years ago and didn't stay the course. This time, luckily, I received an important phone call half way through, which gave me time to regroup and finish. Not my favourite style - too fast - but a good challenge. One of my shoulders is a bit sore though so maybe I overdid it.

Later, Husband and I went on a lovely short walk in the spring sunshine.

I find it easy to overdo the shoulder with the more fast paced yoga, especially with chaturangas it is easy to slip out of alignment when going quickly, hopefully it is just a little sore and is fine today.

______________________

I got in my nap yesterday, cleaned the kitchen, and did laundry. It was a pretty lazy day. 

20 min of yoga done this am- 13 min Yoga w/ Cassandra and some on my own, planning a walk later. 

Food: 

bfast: egg w/ veggie omlette, whole grain gf toast, 1 slice bacon green tea 1/2 grapefruit

lunch: gf chicken wrap w/ homemade guac, ff greek yogurt (works great as sour cream sub), mesclun, tomatoes, and salsa verde

dinner: coriander, ginger, chile chicken w/ roasted cauliflower and rice

snacks: 1T dark choc and pb; smoothie w/ beet and raspberries

[wintermom]

@soror  That's neat you have beavers just down the road. Are they considered a benefit or a pest for flooding areas that people may not want covered in water? Glad you had a good recovery day yesterday!

I don't have any big plans for today. I'd like to go for a bike ride. I'll probably play a little volleyball with the boys as they've been asking me to be their 4th player. The games don't last long before someone hits the ball over the fence, so I should be fine. 😉  

I made the IKEA meatballs yesterday for supper. They were pretty good. I liked them better than the frozen ones from the store. The recipe was posted in this forum, if you want to try it out. It's very easy, which is good as I'm not a skilled chef. 

[Soror]

22 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

 

Our weekend was good. We were successful in picking up the shoes, curbside pickup. I really appreciate having these small businesses we patronized a long time go. Sat outside and ate facing the neighbors again. Still brainstorming ways to have safe contact and ways to have play safely. But we did play together as a family, that was more exercise than really spending time on something. I am learning to let go of how to exercise, even the concept of exercise is changing for me. My new goal is move and vigorously. We've played more than exercised so my whole thinking is changing. But if I have any doubts play is exercise, mine and DH muscles do say that loud and clear.  Have a good day ladies. 

 

Love to hear this! Yes! The goal is to move, doesn't have to be "exercise" but moving our bodies. Play is wonderful.

[Laura Corin]

2 hours ago, soror said:

Welcome back! I bet you were very glad to have new shoes, that was good planning. I don't think I've tried Yoga with Kassandra, I'll have to check it out.

That is wonderful you got to visit with friends.

I've only seen beavers a couple of times but have seen their evidence many times at the creek up the road. 

I find it easy to overdo the shoulder with the more fast paced yoga, especially with chaturangas it is easy to slip out of alignment when going quickly, hopefully it is just a little sore and is fine today.

______________________

I got in my nap yesterday, cleaned the kitchen, and did laundry. It was a pretty lazy day. 

20 min of yoga done this am- 13 min Yoga w/ Cassandra and some on my own, planning a walk later. 

Food: 

bfast: egg w/ veggie omlette, whole grain gf toast, 1 slice bacon green tea 1/2 grapefruit

lunch: gf chicken wrap w/ homemade guac, ff greek yogurt (works great as sour cream sub), mesclun, tomatoes, and salsa verde

dinner: coriander, ginger, chile chicken w/ roasted cauliflower and rice

snacks: 1T dark choc and pb; smoothie w/ beet and raspberries

My shoulder is a lot better today - I can still feel it a bit, but not much.  I'll do some one-handed yoga today, and aim for a five-mile walk. 

Breakfast: porridge with oat milk; fat-free Greek yoghurt; mixed berries

Snack: raw peppers and carrot with low-fat cheese spread.

Lunch: avocado; veg soup with tofu; savoury oatcakes with Marmite and pumpkin-seed butter

Supper: burgers and roast courgette

[Matryoshka]

Haven't checked in in a while - still just trying to get some kind of reasonably vigorous activity going 5x/week.  OT's (Orangetheory) "theory" part is to get your heart rate up to 84% + of your max heart rate for at least 12 min a workout session - so that's what I'm counting as 'vigorous'.  Okay, I've cheated a few times and if I do something a bit less intense (like gardening or taking a socially distant walk with one of my college kids) that my fitbit auto-records as exercise, I've sometimes counted that as one of the days.

Last month OT gave us a 'marathon challenge' to add up to 26+ miles of running over the month.  I totally punted that.  This month they have a 12-minute challenge, just run, walk, or whatever for 12 minutes and try to improve distance in that time over the month.  That, for some unknown reason, seems much more doable to me, so I'm going to try that.  And hopefully the weather won't be so cold and rainy this month - I'm ready for May flowers!  Now I just need to figure out what app on my phone will accurately track miles with GPS.  Seems I bought a fitbit that doesn't have that feature (why wouldn't it be tied to the app, which has my phone's GPS available, rather than be in the wrist thingy??).  I think the default health app that comes with the phone might do it...?

Yesterday the OT workout was a 'fit test' where we had to do reps till failure (with no rests) or hold for a certain amount of time up to 5 min, and we're supposed to redo it at the end of the month to compare.  I'm just trying not to backslide at the moment!  It was a wall-sit (managed 1:52), push-ups (27, not knee ones, full plank), sit-ups (88 by the time the 5 min were up - could have kept going), and run or walk for a mile.  I did a run/walk mix and got 11:35, so that kind of gives me a benchmark for the 12-minute challenge.  Although the mile was just approximated on Google maps ahead of time; I still couldn't figure out how to accurately measure using an app.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Matryoshka

[lmrich]

Haven't posted in here in a bit - digital teaching has thrown off my routine. But I have had more time and need to exercise. I walk several times a day just to clear the frustration away!

But my big hooray for today -- I ran/jogged for 28 minutes before breakfast and after I finished a leg workout! This is a big accomplishment for me with my weak ankle which has given me a weak leg. 

Love the motivation this thread provides. One more week of school, then I can join back for more accountability. 

[Matryoshka]

5 hours ago, soror said:

I've only seen beavers a couple of times but have seen their evidence many times at the creek up the road. 

I've never seen a live beaver in the wild, but one can see lodges and beaver-chewed trees all over the place here.  I don't think they were around when I was a kid, so I think like turkeys they may have been reintroduced a while back.  Turkeys I know were completely gone, but now they're everywhere.  Looked it up, apparently they were reintroduced to the more rural part of the state in the 70's.  Now they're even in urban areas.

[wintermom]

2 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Haven't checked in in a while - still just trying to get some kind of reasonably vigorous activity going 5x/week.  OT's (Orangetheory) "theory" part is to get your heart rate up to 84% + of your max heart rate for at least 12 min a workout session - so that's what I'm counting as 'vigorous'.  Okay, I've cheated a few times and if I do something a bit less intense (like gardening or taking a socially distant walk with one of my college kids) that it auto-records as exercise, I've sometimes counted that as one of the days.

Last month OT gave us a 'marathon challenge' to add up to 26+ miles of running over the month.  I totally punted that.  This month they have a 12-minute challenge, just run, walk, or whatever for 12 minutes and try to improve distance in that time over the month.  That, for some unknown reason, seems much more doable to me, so I'm going to try that.  And hopefully the weather won't be so cold and rainy this month - I'm ready for May flowers!  Now I just need to figure out what app on my phone will accurately track miles with GPS.  Seems I bought a fitbit that doesn't have that feature (why wouldn't it be tied to the app, which has my phone's GPS available, rather than be in the wrist thingy??).  I think the default health app that comes with the phone might do it...?

Yesterday the OT workout was a 'fit test' where we had to do reps till failure (with no rests) or hold for a certain amount of time up to 5 min, and we're supposed to redo it at the end of the month to compare.  I'm just trying not to backslide at the moment!  It was a wall-sit (managed 1:52), push-ups (27, not knee ones, full plank), sit-ups (88 by the time the 5 min were up - could have kept going), and run or walk for a mile.  I did a run/walk mix and got 11:35, so that kind of gives me a benchmark for the 12-minute challenge.  Although the mile was just approximated on Google maps ahead of time; I still couldn't figure out how to accurately measure using an app.

Those challenges sound really good! The 12-minute challenge in particular sounds really motivating. Thanks for sharing the details. The fit test sounds interesting, too. Will you have another one in a few weeks, so you can compare results and measure your progress?

[Matryoshka]

Just now, wintermom said:

Those challenges sound really good! The 12-minute challenge in particular sounds really motivating. Thanks for sharing the details. The fit test sounds interesting, too. Will you have another one in a few weeks, so you can compare results and measure your progress?

Yes!  The fit test will repeat at the end of the month.   There are OT workouts for free now on the corporate site.  They're not always the same as the ones we're getting from our local club - for example, the fit test is not up there.  My local club is doing two live workouts a day, one on the local OT FB group and one on instagram; I think the instagram ones are often the ones from the corporate site (but re-done with our local coaches).  Anyway, if anyone wants to try an OT-style workout, sans rowers and treadmills, the home workouts from corporate are here.   You don't have to pay or even make an account.

If I'm not feeling the workout the local coach runs on FB, I often go over to the corporate site for a different one (I don't have instagram!).  You can get past days' workouts.  In fact, today I'm planning on doing the corporate workout from 5/3 (upper body & core) because I like it better than today's local one, or today's corporate one, for that matter!  I did another corporate one a while ago that attempted to simulate a run/row but without a tread or rowing machine...  the corporate site also sometimes highlight 'local' coaches from different OT branches - today's workout is coaches from New Zealand!

[Matryoshka]

13 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I was wondering where you were. Glad to see you back ! So nice to see that you have been working out.I love that you said you are trying not to backslide at the moment. You and the people in this thread are among the only people in my life who understand why DH and I are constantly looking at ways to exercise, move and keep healthy. Play with our children so intensely "at our ages" 🙄. I have been accused of being a diva because I am constantly looking at ways to exercise, apparently I should take it easy, not think too much about how I look. 

Not happening. I've worked too long, too hard and worked through so much fear to swim and build up habits for exercise. I am not willing to lose that to a pandemic. It is not about a body that I can be proud of or looking good in a bikini. It always has been possibly the only way I can keep diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease as long as I can away. I know it is coming someday, I've even reconciled myself to it. But I will do whatever I can to keep it away the longest. The reason I work so hard to find ways to be fit in a pandemic and not just family walks is, to model fitness as a way of life for my children in any stage. Instead of lecturing them about playing when they are on screens, if DH and I model playing even outside when we feel tired and find ways to do that, nothing can explain that to our children more than all the lectures I can give them and I excel in lecturing people especially my kids.  🤣

So much the bolded.  I backslid once, when the kids were in high school and all I was doing was driving them places - no time for me.  Gained back the 30 lbs I had lost and it took me years to finally get back with regular exercise and then also had to tweak my diet again to actually lose weight. I was finally in a good place, and it was so.darn.hard. getting there.  As you say, not losing that to a pandemic!  Speaking of diet, lower carb really does help ward off diabetes.  I had PCOS and insulin resistance.  I have never done super-low keto-inducing carb or high fat as is now all the rage, but in order to lose weight I have to limit carbs.  I haven't eaten white rice in years now, and even brown rice is hardly ever.  I've gotten quite accustomed to cauliflower rice, sweet potatoes and turnips instead of white potatoes...  whole grains when I have grains - but I can't eat a grains-based diet. Added sugar is pretty much right out - stevia is my friend.  I eat a lot of legumes which have carbs but don't spike blood sugar the same way.

Edited May 5, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Matryoshka]

13 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

I tried the low carb thing, but rice really has to be a component of what both DH and I need to eat, I guess it is more of a want but we did try the cauliflower rice thing, the brown rice thing, even the meat and vegetables no rice thing. We had to go back to rice, specifically white rice. So we are doing what we can based on that. The type of rice we eat is called Lower. G. I rice. India has a lot of diabetics so it has a lot of resources for that diet. We eat one cup a day, not always in a week. We load up with lots of vegetables. Portion control, carb counting, exercising, have a nutritionist in India tailor Indian recipes that are healthier. So we do lots of things to get around it, even less frequently a week. But that cup of rice several times a week is like comfort food and culture on a plate. I really don't know how to cook or eat around that. 

I have totally weaned myself off rice and am completely happy with the cauliflower variety even in curries (I do love Indian food!), but I do not have the cultural comfort ties you do to it.  Now that I'm at my weight goal, I have added back in whole grain sourdough bread (I'd prefer rye, but can't find a good one).  My cultural background is mostly German, and good German bread (or an approximation) hits that comfort spot.  I've also become quite fond of zoodles (zucchini noodles) and spaghetti squash in place of a lot of pasta, and I never thought I'd say that, ever.  One of the reasons it took me so long to get back down in weight is that I can't seem to cut the carbs enough to go negative without a 2-week really strict regimen to cut the cravings, and for the longest time I couldn't work up the willpower to be that strict for that long.  After that I can let up a bit, and once I'm at target I can even have a bit of white bread or sugar as long as it's an occasional treat not a daily thing.  Or sushi, which does have white rice, but as long as I have not too much not too often it's okay now. Dark chocolate gets me through - that's a treat I can have every day...  

Edited May 5, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Matryoshka]

1 minute ago, Dreamergal said:

I knew it !!  I You are my kind of person. Anyone who loves sushi, finds a way to eat pasta, bread "healthy", exercises vigorously in a pandemic and loves dark chocolate is certainly my kind of person. 😀

LOL, I eat far too much dark chocolate!  Trader Joe's 70% dark (which I'm 99% sure is Swiss Villars brand under TJ label), and then I discovered Lily's stevia-sweetened dark, which is essentially sugar-free - I love the 70% dark salted almond.  I alternate between those...  I may have quite the stash because what would I do if I ran out now???? *panic*

Apparently dark chocolate is full of polyphenols and magnesium, and I think other minerals too.  So totally a health food!!  😂

[KathyBC]

8 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Haven't checked in in a while - still just trying to get some kind of reasonably vigorous activity going 5x/week.  OT's (Orangetheory) "theory" part is to get your heart rate up to 84% + of your max heart rate for at least 12 min a workout session - so that's what I'm counting as 'vigorous'.  Okay, I've cheated a few times and if I do something a bit less intense (like gardening or taking a socially distant walk with one of my college kids) that my fitbit auto-records as exercise, I've sometimes counted that as one of the days.

Last month OT gave us a 'marathon challenge' to add up to 26+ miles of running over the month.  I totally punted that.  This month they have a 12-minute challenge, just run, walk, or whatever for 12 minutes and try to improve distance in that time over the month.  That, for some unknown reason, seems much more doable to me, so I'm going to try that.  And hopefully the weather won't be so cold and rainy this month - I'm ready for May flowers!  Now I just need to figure out what app on my phone will accurately track miles with GPS.  Seems I bought a fitbit that doesn't have that feature (why wouldn't it be tied to the app, which has my phone's GPS available, rather than be in the wrist thingy??).  I think the default health app that comes with the phone might do it...?

Yesterday the OT workout was a 'fit test' where we had to do reps till failure (with no rests) or hold for a certain amount of time up to 5 min, and we're supposed to redo it at the end of the month to compare.  I'm just trying not to backslide at the moment!  It was a wall-sit (managed 1:52), push-ups (27, not knee ones, full plank), sit-ups (88 by the time the 5 min were up - could have kept going), and run or walk for a mile.  I did a run/walk mix and got 11:35, so that kind of gives me a benchmark for the 12-minute challenge.  Although the mile was just approximated on Google maps ahead of time; I still couldn't figure out how to accurately measure using an app.

DS uses the free Strava app.

[Matryoshka]

11 hours ago, KathyBC said:

DS uses the free Strava app.

It seems the Samsung Health app that comes with my phone has this capability.  Yesterday I couldn't figureout how to get it to start w/ gps, but it did auto-record my run, now that I look back at it. I estimated I ran a mile, but it thought I did 1.29, I guess  based on stride? So it thinks I ran a mile way faster than I thought I did.  But then today I ran the exact same route and managed to figure out the GPS part, but then it started a default run program of 30 min, so to figure out when I'd run 12, I had to do math (it was counting down instead of up). So GPS measured it as 1.07, which because of bad math I thought I ran slower (12 min rather than 11:35), but when it turns out was actually 11:15, so faster. But it still says my pace was slower because it measured it differently yesterday without the GPS on. Argh. I'll figure this out eventually! 😂

Edited May 6, 2020 by Matryoshka

[Soror]

I eat dark chocolate nearly every day, no apologies 🙂

I was paleo for a decade and didn't have rice, noodles, or any other grains. In the last few years I've went back to a plain jane whole foods diet. I have thyroid disease and too low carb doesn't work well now. I am mindful of serving sizes when I have grains, 1/2 cup at a time or less and still aim to eat a lot of veggies. 

Weight is back down in range after an annoying bounce up last week. I'm going to keep planning my food for a bit to get habits back in line and get some more wiggle room.

bfast: homemade no sugar banana muffins; almond milk w/ protein powder; whole grain gf toast w/ almond butter and banana before workout

lunch: mesclun, tomato, red onion salad w/ ham; baked potato

dinner: dd2 is making homemade pizza- I'd like to figure out something else for me that is more filling but is minimal effort, hmm

snack: pineapple and cottage cheese; 1T choc and pb, fruit

Strength work today and work in the yard.

I ended up being really lazy yesterday, I guess I needed some more recovery time b/c I just felt exhausted all day. I'm feeling pretty good so far today, hoping I'm caught back up on sleep and rest.

Edited May 6, 2020 by soror

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

15 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

LOL, I eat far too much dark chocolate!  Trader Joe's 70% dark (which I'm 99% sure is Swiss Villars brand under TJ label), and then I discovered Lily's stevia-sweetened dark, which is essentially sugar-free - I love the 70% dark salted almond.  I alternate between those...  I may have quite the stash because what would I do if I ran out now???? *panic*

Apparently dark chocolate is full of polyphenols and magnesium, and I think other minerals too.  So totally a health food!!  😂

 

My TJ/Villars anecdote:

So, I'd been living in Switzerland for years and had just had my first kid when my best friend came to visit from the US.  We took her and her husband around to lots of touristy things, including visiting the Villars chocolate factory, which has a really nice tour, followed by a tasting room.  She then bought a ton of chocolate to take home as gifts.  Anyway, she gets back to the US and hands out all her chocolate to her friends and family.  On her next trip to Trader Joe's... she sees they have Villars chocolate on sale for CHEAPER than she could buy it in Switzerland from the factory.  🤣  Oh well...  Swiss prices are truly ridiculous.  

 

11 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

It seems the Samsung Health app that comes with my phone has this capability.  Yesterday I couldn't figureout how to get it to start w/ gps, but it did auto-record my run, now that I look back at it. I estimated I ran a mile, but it thought I did 1.29, I guess  based on stride? So it thinks I ran a mile way faster than I thought I did.  But then today I ran the exact same route and managed to figure out the GPS part, but then it started a default run program of 30 min, so to figure out when I'd run 12, I had to do math (it was counting down instead of up). So GPS measured it as 1.07, which because of bad math I thought I ran slower (12 min rather than 11:35), but when it turns out was actually 11:15, so faster. But it still says my pace was slower because it measured it differently yesterday without the GPS on. Argh. I'll figure this out eventually! 😂

 

The free Strava app is good, you can also use Map My Run or Nike Run Club.  They all have a more-than-adequate free version.  Phone based apps will be slightly less accurate than a GPS watch, because most phones actually use triangulation between cell towers, not satellites, but nothing that we amateur runners need to worry about!  Enjoy your challenge!

[wintermom]

2 hours ago, soror said:

I eat dark chocolate nearly every day, no apologies 🙂

I was paleo for a decade and didn't have rice, noodles, or any other grains. In the last few years I've went back to a plain jane whole foods diet. I have thyroid disease and too low carb doesn't work well now. I am mindful of serving sizes when I have grains, 1/2 cup at a time or less and still aim to eat a lot of veggies. 

Weight is back down in range after an annoying bounce up last week. I'm going to keep planning my food for a bit to get habits back in line and get some more wiggle room.

bfast: homemade no sugar banana muffins; almond milk w/ protein powder; whole grain gf toast w/ almond butter and banana before workout

lunch: mesclun, tomato, red onion salad w/ ham; baked potato

dinner: dd2 is making homemade pizza- I'd like to figure out something else for me that is more filling but is minimal effort, hmm

snack: pineapple and cottage cheese; 1T choc and pb, fruit

Strength work today and work in the yard.

I ended up being really lazy yesterday, I guess I needed some more recovery time b/c I just felt exhausted all day. I'm feeling pretty good so far today, hoping I'm caught back up on sleep and rest.

Dark chocolate is wonderful! Bring on the endorphins! Glad you are feeling rested and ready to take on the day. I'm in the same boat as you with weight. It's kind of annoying that it's so quick and easy to bump up in weight. 😋