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Well-trained bodies - July


Laura Corin
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Yesterday was a rest day - just a lunchtime walk with a friend. I developed a calf cramp at yoga, and I'm stretching and massaging it out.

Today - 9.5-mile hike in sunny, breezy weather. The blurry photo is of a wildflower meadow. Tomorrow we are driving to Yorkshire. 

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Edited by Laura Corin
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July!!! A month to focus on whole life health. No schoolwork allowed, and preferably not even thinking about school. Time to focus on physical, mental, and relationship health. Healthy eating, work on summer goals of doing some hikes, doing some reading, and getting some home and craft projects done.

I returned last night from a work conference down in Anaheim. I got lots of steps in (Thursday was highest with an afternoon/evening trip to Disneyland added in--26,000+ steps). But eating was way off--missing meals, eating expensive restaurant meals close to our venue, not enough produce, etc. Anyway, I returned home to find my weight past the alarm stage, so I'm going to my get-things-back-in-control strategy of using My Fitness Pal for awhile to track eating and focus on my goals of 5 or more servings of fruits/vegetables per day, salad every day, 25+ gm fiber, 58gm protein, <12gm sat fat, all in 1500-1600 calories. And keep up with my 30 min daily exercise plus some bonus walks/hikes.

ETA: 30 min yoga this morning.

Edited by Ali in OR
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I'm on a quick mini-vacation with dd to watch whales in Tadoussac, Quebec. Never heard of this place? Me neither, until a tennis buddy mentioned he was going. It's simply gorgeous here, and we saw humpback whales and grey seals today on our boat tour. It was so emotional and beautiful, I was almost in tears. No photos of the seal life, as they disappear really fast, but I found some beautiful wild flowers.

 

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Edited by wintermom
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Spent half the day driving, and the other half walking the ancient streets of Old Quebec. I just saw the house where the man who wrote "O Canada" lived. Pretty cool, but there is a ton of cool stuff to see. Unfortunately, also a ton of people walking, stopping and taking photos every 2 seconds. I think this may have been the inspiration for this place, the Cochon Dingue or "crazy pig." He could be crying, "Get me off these streets!" 😉 

 

 

 

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Edited by wintermom
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My schedule has been so sporadic I haven't participated in the threads in a while. I'm going to try to get on track more this month. Today the only exercise I did was bowling. I'm very sore on one side. Maybe a glute muscle. When I bowl I bend down low and stretch one side more.

Praying I land a job near my gym lol. I have a job interview Monday afternoon. 

 

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We are in Yorkshire. I  took a hike this morning  - only 6 miles but steep. My planned route didn't work out because I  wasn't keen to take a path that went through a field with cows, calves and a bull, but I found another track up onto the moors. Moorland picture with heather.

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We were camping last week. I did a little hiking but not nearly as much as I normally do on this trip. We were with friends and my focus was far more on connection with them than on exercise. I had many blissful hours staring at the lake, too. I didn't sleep well on this trip, unfortunately, which likely contributed to my lack of eagerness for long hikes.

Now that we're back, yesterday I took a short walk. Today's plan is to ride the recumbent bike and to do some painting (which is always a challenge for my hands/wrists).

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8 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

We were camping last week. I did a little hiking but not nearly as much as I normally do on this trip. We were with friends and my focus was far more on connection with them than on exercise. I had many blissful hours staring at the lake, too. I didn't sleep well on this trip, unfortunately, which likely contributed to my lack of eagerness for long hikes.

Now that we're back, yesterday I took a short walk. Today's plan is to ride the recumbent bike and to do some painting (which is always a challenge for my hands/wrists).

Quoting myself to say I did ride the bike and I did paint. I am regretting the painting--my hands and wrists are killing me, and my neck is sore. Dh will have to soldier on without me. At this season in my life, my energies will have to go elsewhere.

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Did my bodyweight circuit x2 and 15 min Sunrise yoga today. Dh and I are heading to the coast with friends for the day--hoping to get a walk or hike in there. We're escaping heat in the 90's for 65 degree high today. So I imagine lots of other people have the same plan.

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We had a wonderful day at the coast yesterday, including a nice 4-mile beach walk.

30 min on the treadmill this morning. I'm hoping to get my wheelchair kid on an off-roading kind of walk today. I'm remembering a field trip she went on in elementary school to a wildlife refuge, and her wheelchair then could handle the trail so I'm hoping that's still the case. Then it's finally time to get started on some home projects.

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I played 2 hrs of doubles tennis yesterday morning after a break from tennis for 2 weeks. It was a little rough to start with, but I did improve. I'm playing again this evening for 2 hrs.

Otherwise I'm not doing too much activity other than gardening and dog walking. It's pretty hot and humid, and takes a while to get used to this lovely warm weather again. 

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So dd and I did her old field trip trail on Wednesday and that little 1.2 mile loop was my hardest hike yet! There was a lot of uphill that you would classify as pretty gentle if you weren't pushing a wheelchair. And it was already 86 degrees at 11:00am. I had it stuck in my brain that it was 1.6 miles--my watch was keeping track of how far I had gone and my body was aching, I was breathing hard, it was hot, etc, etc, and I thought I had another half mile to go. Then we hit a little gravel section that seemed kind of familiar, I saw the entry signpost, and there was my car. I've never been so happy to see my car!

Yesterday dd had to get an early morning blood draw (before meds) which messed up exercise for me a bit, but I did get a 30 min walk with my dog late in the day. Today, 30 min on the treadmill this morning.

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Edited by Ali in OR
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Tennis went ok last night. I was cranky from a lack of sleep, had a sore wrist after warm-up, and got irritated by my partner (my beloved dh). I'll chalk it up to a 'could have been better' tennis session. 😅

Had a really nice dog walk at the off-leash park this morning, and I hope to do some more exercise today. Shopping for new paint for my kitchen, plus new drapes for the living room is also on my to-do list. I'm changing from creamy white in the kitchen to a light avocado green. I've already painted a portion using a tester jar, and I really like it! 

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We are back from Yorkshire.  Lovely walking, plus visits to historic sites. I couldn't find a space I wanted to use for yoga, so I'll get lots of that done in the coming week,  before I go back to work.  The fireweed/bomb weed is in full flower, and I also found some pretty blue chicory. 

We had a lovely dinner one night with a view of this gorgeous ruined abbey.

More photos here: https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/728428-dorothy-l-sayers-fans-clouds-of-witness-location/?do=findComment&comment=9452888

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Edited by Laura Corin
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Blueberry picking replaced my usual Saturday morning yoga. When our favorite variety opens for picking at our favorite farm, we prioritize that over everything else. And yes, we have our dd on weekends so we dragged her along with us. We picked about 39 pounds--17 quart bags went to the freezer and we add them to our oatmeal all year (I will pick more before the season is over).

So for exercise, we did a family neighborhood walk Saturday night, I did yoga last night, and then 30 min on the treadmill this morning. I'm logging all of my food on MFP and getting eating back on track and thankfully the extra pounds are dropping off. I'm back to about where I usually am--now trying to decide if I want to keep this up and see if it's possible to go lower.

 

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I played mixed doubles tennis yesterday morning, then went for a kayak paddle, did some painting in the kitchen and weeded a scary part of the backyard. I ended up with itchy bumps all over my forearms and lower legs where the weeds attacked me. 🤪

I've been for a dog walk already, and I'm going kayaking with friends this afternoon. My arms are getting stronger after all this paddling, though my hamstring pain is getting worse. I have to remember to get to the dr so I can get a referral for PT.

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Yesterday I worked in the garden for around four hours, did half an hour of yoga, then took a short old-dog walk.

Today - two old-dog walks, 80 minutes of Ashtanga yoga and a 3-mile walk up the den. I used this yoga video - it had a couple of advert breaks, but I liked the teacher. I want to work on Ashtanga while my teacher is on summer break. Today's flower photos - wild geranium, scabious and ox-eye daisy.

 

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@Laura Corin Love the flowers! Just lookint at the first image on the yoga video makes my knee hurt (among other things). 😅

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Paddling with friends yesterday was so much fun! I took the canoe for a change, and it was much nicer on my hamstrings. I haven't done anything other than work yet today, but I'll take the dogs for a walk later on, and maybe even a bike ride.

ETA: Ds 17 and I got out for a bike ride before dinner, and also before the rain and thunderstorm. Sadly, the dog walk is postponed until the rain stops.

Edited by wintermom
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Hello, I'm back.

I started HRT a few weeks ago and things have been wacky.  I've been doing a little bit of yoga, some walking but had my last week of work until August as well so not much consistency.    

I found a couple workout journals with exercises on Amazon, from ads on Facebook.  The Bodyweight Home Workout Journal and the Dumbell Home Workout Journal.  I loved the idea of the exercise plan being laid out right there but I'm trying to keep all my planner/journal/tracking stuff in one place.  Turns out the journals are available on kindle unlimited so I looked at them there and copied the first few basic workouts into my planner.   

So far each day this week (yeah, I know it's only Wednesday), I've done about 20 minutes yoga/Tai Chi, 30 minutes on our under desk elliptical, and one day of dumbell workouts from the journal.     This seems like a routine that I can easily do each day from home or work (except the elliptical).  Unfortunately walking outside has been out.  We are getting either torrential rains or high heat and humidity with air quality warnings, that mean I can't breathe outside thanks to asthma.   I plan to build up the time for yoga to at least 30 minutes and probably 45-1 hour, the elliptical to 45 minutes to an hour, and build in reps for the strength workouts.  

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Today was a quiet day - a few hours of gentle gardening then a trip to the cinema this evening.  I stood up from my seat after the film with a shoulder so painful I couldn't fully draw breath. During the afternoon I had been putting stones into the pond to build a better frog exit point, and I think there was some kind of bad twist on my shoulder that I didn't recognise at the time. I have done some gentle stretches and taken some ibuprofen,  so I hope it's better tomorrow. 

Our weather this week is more like the mountain weather I remember from Colorado  - dry and warm in the morning, then thundery downpours in the afternoon. 

Edited by Laura Corin
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@Laura Corin Hope your shoulder feels better really soon! How is the pond looking now? I'd love to see photos. My bog has really flurished this season. So many more flowers and plants have bloomed and taken shape.

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We've got a tornado warning today, and it's currently raining really hard. I pulling inside some more fragile plants. Hopefully we won't get directly hit with strong winds.

I did get in a quick bike ride this morning, fortunately. I'm going to get back to my daily full-body stretching. I moved the paper copy of all the movements, and then forgot to do anything. Oops!! 🤪

Edited by wintermom
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13 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

@Laura Corin I hope your shoulder settles down. 

Thank you. I could still feel it a bit this morning, so I decided that a ten mile hike without a backpack would be good to loosen it. My walk over the hill to the sea seems to have helped a lot. 

Two thistle photos   - one is the iconic Scottish thistle.  I'm not sure about the second, nor the third flower. The fourth is Ragged Robin, I  think. This is a very pink time of year - presumably attractive to pollinators? 

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5 minutes ago, wintermom said:

@Laura Corin Hope your shoulder feels better really soon! How is the pond looking now? I'd love to see photos. My bog has really flurished this season. So many more flowers and plants have bloomed and taken shape.

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We've got a tornado warning today, and it's currently raining really hard. I pulling inside some more fragile plants. Hopefully we won't get directly hit with strong winds.

I did get in a quick bike ride this morning, fortunately. I'm going to get back to my daily full-body stretching. I moved the paper copy of all the movements, and then forgot to do anything. Oops!! 🤪

I hope you are safe from the tornados. Today has been dry all day here - very lucky for my walk. 

The pond planting is young yet, but it's on its way.

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3 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

I hope you are safe from the tornados. Today has been dry all day here - very lucky for my walk. 

The pond planting is young yet, but it's on its way.

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Gorgeous! What a beautiful feature for your backyard! So cool that you've got visitors like frogs and such! I especially love the stone wall. I wish the concrete wall in my backyard looked that that. 

Edited by wintermom
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3 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Gorgeous! What a beautiful feature for your backyard! So cool that you've got visitors like frogs and such! I especially love the stone wall. I wish the concrete wall in my backyard looked that that. 

No frogs yet - the pond wasn't ready in time for spawn this year. Just hoping.

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6 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

No frogs yet - the pond wasn't ready in time for spawn this year. Just hoping.

I don't have frogs in my bog, either. I've seen birds, bunnies, chipmunks and dogs visit my bog. Not sure if any racoons, ground hogs, foxes or skunks visit at night. I'm tempted to invest in a night cam to check out the backyard activities. 

Edited by wintermom
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16 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I'm tempted to invest in a night cam to check out the backyard activities. 

That would be cool!

Lousy sleep last night. The cat hurled the contents of his stomach--much of it a hairball--at 1:43am in our bedroom. My brain turned on and I was awake for hours after that. Finally fell asleep sometime after 4:30 and then the cat was eating my hair at 5:30 trying to get me up to feed him. Dh took care of him and I didn't get out of bed until 8:00. So just finished a 20 min dumbbell workout. Maybe I'll try to get a walk in later if I don't get enough activity to close the exercise ring.

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1 minute ago, Ali in OR said:

That would be cool!

Lousy sleep last night. The cat hurled the contents of his stomach--much of it a hairball--at 1:43am in our bedroom. My brain turned on and I was awake for hours after that. Finally fell asleep sometime after 4:30 and then the cat was eating my hair at 5:30 trying to get me up to feed him. Dh took care of him and I didn't get out of bed until 8:00. So just finished a 20 min dumbbell workout. Maybe I'll try to get a walk in later if I don't get enough activity to close the exercise ring.

I've just looked at the night cam cost - could be a fun gift for someone in the family. I wonder if dd would go for it?

Sorry about your disrupted sleep. It's great that kitty passed the hairball, as they can be dangerous if they block intestines.

Hope you're able to get a nice walk in!

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Thursday I definitely over scheduled. I hit the gym right after class. Solid weights and core workout. My little buddy was there again with her dad, and I sincerely pray he always brings her. Whatever he does, she does with little one-pound weights. And she says such encouraging things to her enormous father. 🥰 There were some high school runners there also—they were working on starting off blocks, blasting out running hard on a strip and then slowing through the open door of the gym. That really looked fun to the little girl and she ran out, too. Her father barked out STOP and the whole gym stopped but she kept running. 😂

I don’t normally do gyrotonics the same day as the gym but that’s just how it worked out this time. Really great time there, too. 

Then I stopped by a friend’s house and she wanted to walk, so we took a short walk together. 

Today I am going with a friend and her kids to a local park where they’ve set up activities for kids today. That’ll be exhausting in this heat so I won’t try to add anything on to that. 

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Good Morning.  Yesterday was good.  I took the kids to a local museum so we did lots of walking.   Didn't have time to do yoga or strength though.

This morning I was woken up by a text from my mother asking what the equal angles measure on a triangle made from a square.   Geometry first thing in the morning isn't exactly my idea of fun, even super easy geometry.  

After my lovely wakeup call I was taking something out of the microwave that sits above the stove and my back popped.   I regularly pull the muscle just to one side of my spine but haven't done it in a while.  Probably started the process carrying around a purse all day yesterday and the awkward reach just pushed it over the edge.  So probably just yoga today once the advil and heat kick in.

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3 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Thursday I definitely over scheduled. I hit the gym right after class. Solid weights and core workout. My little buddy was there again with her dad, and I sincerely pray he always brings her. Whatever he does, she does with little one-pound weights. And she says such encouraging things to her enormous father. 🥰 There were some high school runners there also—they were working on starting off blocks, blasting out running hard on a strip and then slowing through the open door of the gym. That really looked fun to the little girl and she ran out, too. Her father barked out STOP and the whole gym stopped but she kept running. 😂

That would motivate me to come to a gym - if I knew I'd see a cutie pie little girl working out with a parent. So funny that she's "normal" in not listening to her parent. 😅 

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Dh and I walked the dogs this morning, and we stopped a lot to let the dogs play with other dogs. It was a busy morning at the dog park! 

I'm also playing singles tennis this evening - actually just hitting balls with a friend who's coming off a broken wrist injury. I'm supposed to hit to her forehand. We'll see how I do, as aim is not my strength in tennis. 🤣

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30 min on the treadmill this morning. I'm doing little house chores at a nice slow pace. Folded the laundry. Dusted the living room (which happens so rarely that it was on my summer projects list). Vacuumed. We have a little heat advisory here (in the 90's--other places would laugh at that), so I plan to stay indoors a lot today and tomorrow.

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I had a bit of a frustrating morning trying to work out how to provide all the documentation to be accepted as Hobbes' guarantor for his new flat. By the time that was finished, the rain was threatening,  but it was warm so I kept working in the garden in the mizzle. I worked out my irritation on a lot of weeding - mostly self-sown poppies that I had allowed to flower but that needed to be removed before the seed-pods ripened.

Apart from that, a very slow dog walk - I think we need to ask the vet if Blondie needs pain killers, as she's much slower in the morning when she may be stiff - and a wander up the den in the rain.

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The rain held off for long enough this morning for a leisurely 5-mile walk. I stopped for a coffee at a National Trust stately home on the way and met two friends by chance. A lovely start to the day.

The first photo is a deep lane between old stone walls that I often walk down. The ford that I  cross by the old foot bridge has a good amount of water after the rain.

Just trying to motivate myself to do some housework before I'm back to work next week. 

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