Well-trained bodies - June

[Laura Corin]

All welcome.

[Ali in OR]

I love how you can always keep track of what month it is! Shouldn't be that hard, and yet...

Welcome June! 2 weeks and 2 days left in the school year. Really looking forward to a break. This weekend dh is in CA helping college kid get a used car so she can get to her summer internship. So I'm taking care of the fur kids and seizure girl--she hasn't had any seizures since Wednesday, so here's hoping for a good weekend. I thought it would be a warm, sunny one--looks ok right now. But the watch says back in the 60's for high temps and rain tomorrow and Monday. A weekend of the usual house chores, a goodly pile of school stuff to do, and doing all of dd's care. But also some downtime.

[Laura Corin]

Rest day today.

[wintermom]

Went for a dog walk in the woods early this morning, then bought a bunch of plants for the yard. I spent about an hour repoting and planting the new plants. It felt so good to do the fun part of gardening again, instead of just weeding and cleaning up dog doodoo! 

Dd and I took the dogs to agility for 30min, but it got really hot (28 C), so they didn't last long. I'm playing some singles tennis this evening, and that should pretty much do me in for the day. 😉 

I'm guessing that tomorrow will be my rest day.

[Eos]

20 minute cardio HIIT video, no outside time boo.

[Laura Corin]

Sunday - a walk up the den, then an afternoon weeding and planting in the garden. 

[Ali in OR]

Forgot to mention yesterday that I did the usual yoga. Today was a dog walk in the rain. Tomorrow morning will probably be the same (dh still out of town until tomorrow night).

[Harriet Vane]

Just a gentle walk on the lane today. 

I've been wearing an Oura ring and have realized to my surprise and chagrin that I am actually quite sedentary?! I haven't thought of myself as sedentary since having children 27 years ago. (And I cannot quite believe my oldest is 27 either...) With young kids I always was moving in some way in addition to regular exercise in the form of walking and biking. After my serious illness several years ago, I became dedicated to more hard-core exercise--I spent a few years combining strength training with martial arts, then I dropped the martial arts and currently do gyrotonics and strength training. I've struggled over the last year (and especially in the months since our foster teen moved in) to exercise properly on days I am not scheduled to meet at friend at the gym or the gyro studio, but I do still try to fit in walks and such. And yet, the ring records all and I see a dizzying number of hours that are physically still. It makes perfect sense--my job is a desk job and I'm not as active as when I had small kids. Yet I have never shaken the feeling that I am an active person...even though the reality is that I am not nearly as active throughout the day as I once was. So now I am pondering options for integrating more movement and action in my days. Tough with the amount of supervision the teen needs--when teen is doing schoolwork, I am sitting at the table immediately behind teen where I can see the screen. 

Anyone want to share a similar shift in life season? How did you handle that? 

How do you work in movement throughout the day?

[Eos]

7 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Anyone want to share a similar shift in life season? How did you handle that? 

I'm sorry this was hard to learn. This is me when I visit my mother, life beams down to a short walk a day and it feels bad. Something like this for the teen supervising? https://www.tousains.com/pages/mini-elliptical-machine-office?

[Laura Corin]

8 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Just a gentle walk on the lane today. 

I've been wearing an Oura ring and have realized to my surprise and chagrin that I am actually quite sedentary?! I haven't thought of myself as sedentary since having children 27 years ago. (And I cannot quite believe my oldest is 27 either...) With young kids I always was moving in some way in addition to regular exercise in the form of walking and biking. After my serious illness several years ago, I became dedicated to more hard-core exercise--I spent a few years combining strength training with martial arts, then I dropped the martial arts and currently do gyrotonics and strength training. I've struggled over the last year (and especially in the months since our foster teen moved in) to exercise properly on days I am not scheduled to meet at friend at the gym or the gyro studio, but I do still try to fit in walks and such. And yet, the ring records all and I see a dizzying number of hours that are physically still. It makes perfect sense--my job is a desk job and I'm not as active as when I had small kids. Yet I have never shaken the feeling that I am an active person...even though the reality is that I am not nearly as active throughout the day as I once was. So now I am pondering options for integrating more movement and action in my days. Tough with the amount of supervision the teen needs--when teen is doing schoolwork, I am sitting at the table immediately behind teen where I can see the screen. 

Anyone want to share a similar shift in life season? How did you handle that? 

How do you work in movement throughout the day?

Is a standing desk an option?  Even when I am standing 'still', I am still moving a lot more - shifting from foot to foot, etc. - than if I were seated.

[Harriet Vane]

1 hour ago, Laura Corin said:

Is a standing desk an option?  Even when I am standing 'still', I am still moving a lot more - shifting from foot to foot, etc. - than if I were seated.

With my arthritic knees, not so much. But I have been wondering if I need to consider a bike-desk combo or something like that.

[Laura Corin]

Swimming first thing: the pool was incredibly full - six swimmers in each lane.  Everyone was polite though and I felt the need to swim each length faster rather than varying speed, so that was probably good for a change.

Apart from that, just brisk walks to and from meetings.

[Ali in OR]

Neighborhood walk with doggo instead of her usual run with dh. It's good for me to get out, walk our small hills for a little elevation change. And it didn't rain on us (though we're still getting rain later today).

[Soror]

On 6/1/2024 at 10:34 AM, Ali in OR said:

I love how you can always keep track of what month it is! Shouldn't be that hard, and yet...

Welcome June! 2 weeks and 2 days left in the school year. Really looking forward to a break. This weekend dh is in CA helping college kid get a used car so she can get to her summer internship. So I'm taking care of the fur kids and seizure girl--she hasn't had any seizures since Wednesday, so here's hoping for a good weekend. I thought it would be a warm, sunny one--looks ok right now. But the watch says back in the 60's for high temps and rain tomorrow and Monday. A weekend of the usual house chores, a goodly pile of school stuff to do, and doing all of dd's care. But also some downtime.

Wow, you have a long school year! When do you start?

On 6/1/2024 at 2:49 PM, Eos said:

20 minute cardio HIIT video, no outside time boo.

I agree boo!

17 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Sunday - a walk up the den, then an afternoon weeding and planting in the garden. 

We had a similar weekend. I have more weeding to do still but it isn't quite as bad.

11 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Just a gentle walk on the lane today. 

I've been wearing an Oura ring and have realized to my surprise and chagrin that I am actually quite sedentary?! I haven't thought of myself as sedentary since having children 27 years ago. (And I cannot quite believe my oldest is 27 either...) With young kids I always was moving in some way in addition to regular exercise in the form of walking and biking. After my serious illness several years ago, I became dedicated to more hard-core exercise--I spent a few years combining strength training with martial arts, then I dropped the martial arts and currently do gyrotonics and strength training. I've struggled over the last year (and especially in the months since our foster teen moved in) to exercise properly on days I am not scheduled to meet at friend at the gym or the gyro studio, but I do still try to fit in walks and such. And yet, the ring records all and I see a dizzying number of hours that are physically still. It makes perfect sense--my job is a desk job and I'm not as active as when I had small kids. Yet I have never shaken the feeling that I am an active person...even though the reality is that I am not nearly as active throughout the day as I once was. So now I am pondering options for integrating more movement and action in my days. Tough with the amount of supervision the teen needs--when teen is doing schoolwork, I am sitting at the table immediately behind teen where I can see the screen. 

Anyone want to share a similar shift in life season? How did you handle that? 

How do you work in movement throughout the day?

I know I'm not as active as when the kids were younger. I don't have any great tips I try to pin movement on different parts of the day- I find it easier to focus on what can I get done in the morning before the day starts, getting another spurt at lunch, and then another in the evening.

I try to stand and move around at transition times the rest of the day but tbh am not where I'd like right now, it's a WIP.

[Soror]

I just worked around the house this weekend. I didn't get nearly as many steps as I should but was reasonably busy. We were outside working yesterday nearly 6 hours but lots of it was movement in a small space. 

Today- 10 min low impact HIIT with dh- planning 15 min kb workout with dd2

Dh is down 20 lbs from his highest (not sure if I mentioned that). He's trying hard.

When I made the menu for this month I picked out several new recipes to try. I was looking at some old health journals and feel a bit disappointed with where I am now compared to where I was, especially with all the fitness I've lost in the past year. Onwards and upwards! We've had a boatload of stress.

It's a new month, that's always a time for a fresh start. No need to start catastrophizing. I could be doing much worse.

 

 

 

[wintermom]

@Harriet Vane I added a post in your thread about getting active. As you know from my posts here, I'm very much on-and-off in my execution of my goals of being active!! I do try, however. 😉 

Sunday was a good rest day, though I did get in two nice walks - one with dd and the dogs, the other walking home from mil after Sunday dinner. 

I have already completed a dog walk and some gardening this morning before work. I also have some doubles tennis scheduled for tonight. The weather continues to be gorgeous here, which makes it lovely for outdoor activities. I'm getting a grip on my garden, and have wrestled the hops plants on to support twine as much as I could. I didn't notice earlier, but they wrapped themselves around my tomato cages I placed near them in the winter so effectively that I'll have to go out and buy new ones. I'm feeling a little like I've created the plant from "Little Shop of Horrors." 😂

Edited June 3 by wintermom

[Eos]

Walked for a total of three hours today, once early and longer late. The second walk was a true bushwhack throughmossy forest with my hiking bestie, I was so happy.

[Ali in OR]

10 hours ago, Soror said:

Wow, you have a long school year! When do you start?

We don't start until after Labor Day. I have friends in CA who start about a month before we do and are done by Memorial Day. And we had 3 weeks 2 days .left after Memorial Day.  When we homeschooled we always started in August, usually adding in another subject or two each week to ramp up. We were always done by Memorial Day.

[Harriet Vane]

I started the day off in the gym. It was a doozy. Then I slipped down the lane two other times (once down and back is a quarter of a mile). 

[Soror]

9 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

We don't start until after Labor Day. I have friends in CA who start about a month before we do and are done by Memorial Day. And we had 3 weeks 2 days .left after Memorial Day.  When we homeschooled we always started in August, usually adding in another subject or two each week to ramp up. We were always done by Memorial Day.

Aha, school starts here in August. In our homeschool, we start in July because it is blazing hot by then and we like to be done in the spring when the weather is nice.

I did the kettlebell workout again yesterday with dd2. Today's plan is upper body and some gardening if the rain holds off. We've had a very wet and stormy year. We have a chance for rain and thunderstorms nearly all week so I hope to get outside when it's not too crazy.

[wintermom]

Doubles tennis was really fun last night, and a great run around. The mostiquoes were insane, though, and I'm scratching a bunch of new bites today. Also got up early and took the dogs for a run in the woods before the big heat comes. It's so hard to believe that this is early June as the temps are what we typically get in late July and August. The 'dog days' of summer have arrived really early.

I need to fit in some stretch and strength today, as I've been really bad at doing it lately. My body will also need it after the tennis. 

[Ali in OR]

I did my bodyweight circuit x2 and a 10 min yoga stretch. I tried a new one for me--yoga with bird. I liked that it was just stretching--my body craves stretching now.

I think our schools refuse to start before Labor Day mostly due to the local college that is quarter system and starts in the second half of September. But people also point out that our weather is nicer in September than June. Another rainy/cloudy day in the low 60's today, but then we'll get back to 70's and 80's by the end of the week.

[Laura Corin]

Rest day. Just ran some errands on foot at lunchtime. 

[Soror]

17 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

I did my bodyweight circuit x2 and a 10 min yoga stretch. I tried a new one for me--yoga with bird. I liked that it was just stretching--my body craves stretching now.

I think our schools refuse to start before Labor Day mostly due to the local college that is quarter system and starts in the second half of September. But people also point out that our weather is nicer in September than June. Another rainy/cloudy day in the low 60's today, but then we'll get back to 70's and 80's by the end of the week.

It's funny how things are done so differently across the US. It's nice that districts can make changes based on what's best for that area.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday we did a short upper body and I walked in the morning. In the afternoon I worked outside cleaning up the shop. Now, I'm up in the night I guess because of hormones. The last several nights my sleep has been better so I'm hoping that this isn't a regular thing again.

[Eos]

Work plus a hike. My blood pressure was 100/70 last night and I am so pleased!

[Ali in OR]

Fitbymik cardio this morning. It was short, so it would be nice to also get a walk in or something tonight. But still in the very-busy-creating-all-of-the-last-lessons phase. And I need to do some grading too. But it's a nicer day today so I should get out there.

[Harriet Vane]

Started off in the gym. I did some balance focus—I am discouraged that my balance is as wobbly as it is but trying to focus on the fact that it’s definitely better than if I weren’t strength training consistently.

[wintermom]

9 hours ago, Soror said:

It's funny how things are done so differently across the US. It's nice that districts can make changes based on what's best for that area.

Within my area there is a habitual week different in start times between the French-language school boards and the English-language ones (we have 2 boards for each language because one is Public and the other is Catholic). It's pretty amusing as an observer, but I image that families involved in both language boards are annoyed. 

[Laura Corin]

I walked along the beach in a chilly wind before work.  After work I did my yoga/pilates/weights combo for about 30 minutes.

[knitgrl]

I have been slacking off on exercise so much lately. It's been a combination of doctor's appointments, random things that throw my schedule off, and sometimes just being plain tired. Today, I got to TKD class. I'm about 7 classes behind for belt testing that happens at the tail end of the month. I have just about enough classes to make it up as long as I don't skip any, though the head of the dojo says she'll let it slide if I don't quite make them all. I know my pattern well enough, though she says I'm still stiff because I'm thinking so hard about what I'm supposed to do.

[Harriet Vane]

7 minutes ago, knitgrl said:

I have been slacking off on exercise so much lately. It's been a combination of doctor's appointments, random things that throw my schedule off, and sometimes just being plain tired. Today, I got to TKD class. I'm about 7 classes behind for belt testing that happens at the tail end of the month. I have just about enough classes to make it up as long as I don't skip any, though the head of the dojo says she'll let it slide if I don't quite make them all. I know my pattern well enough, though she says I'm still stiff because I'm thinking so hard about what I'm supposed to do.

There’s always an ebb and flow in what we’re able to do. 

[Soror]

8 hours ago, knitgrl said:

I have been slacking off on exercise so much lately. It's been a combination of doctor's appointments, random things that throw my schedule off, and sometimes just being plain tired. Today, I got to TKD class. I'm about 7 classes behind for belt testing that happens at the tail end of the month. I have just about enough classes to make it up as long as I don't skip any, though the head of the dojo says she'll let it slide if I don't quite make them all. I know my pattern well enough, though she says I'm still stiff because I'm thinking so hard about what I'm supposed to do.

 

7 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

There’s always an ebb and flow in what we’re able to do. 

What Harriet said---- some seasons are harder than others, especially as mothers. You are dealing with health issues on top of this.

[Eos]

Just some gardening and a tiny walk yesterday.

[Ali in OR]

Fitbymik standing dumbbell workout this morning. I think this summer I should work on increasing weight sometimes. Not for a fly move away from the body, but this workout that she was doing with 2 10-pound weights didn't have much of that away from the body stuff. I probably should have used 2 8 lb weights (I use an 8 lb weight for any single weight exercise except for a fly). I was using 5's.

[wintermom]

Got in an early morning dog walk, along with millions (it seemed) mosquitoes! It was comical to see the young pup trying to shake off all the annoying bugs. I wish I had a tail to help me out, but waving a hat around my head is fairly effective. 😉 

I've been sort of good about doing stretches, but horrible about strength work. Need to grab the weights and do something with them!! 

More singles tennis is on the schedule for tomorrow and Sat. Can't wait! They will be really good opportunities to run around and get the heart rate up.

[Laura Corin]

Swimming before work and then a walk with a friend at lunchtime. 

[knitgrl]

6 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Fitbymik standing dumbbell workout this morning. I think this summer I should work on increasing weight sometimes. Not for a fly move away from the body, but this workout that she was doing with 2 10-pound weights didn't have much of that away from the body stuff. I probably should have used 2 8 lb weights (I use an 8 lb weight for any single weight exercise except for a fly). I was using 5's.

There's always next time.

[Harriet Vane]

Gyrotonics today. 

[Soror]

I made egg roll in a bowl tonight. Everyone at home enjoyed it, even my youngest and dh who are not the biggest fans of vegetables. I used lean ground chicken and low-sodium soy sauce (instead of coconut aminos- they are a soy sauce substitute). I used a bag of shredded broccoli slaw and a bag of "superfood mix" that had shredded brussel sprouts and different varieties of cabbage. I don't usually buy prechopped veggies but my food processor is currently not working and I wasn't up to that much work by hand with the grater! I think the fact that the veggies were chopped so small was good for my non-veggie lovers. It came together very quickly. I did serve mine with rice but it would be fine without it (I was afraid it wouldn't be enough and mine wouldn't want to eat it on its own). It would work well with any ground meat (or faux meat) IMO. Next time I might scramble an egg or two and add it. I served it with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds. There are several recipes out there for this. Of the ones that I looked at this was the most veggie heavy and I'm looking to get as many vegetables I can into our diets.

Yesterday exercise--

30 min morning walk/30ish min- core/kettlebell full-body/stretching/ 1ish hour playing in the pool

Today's plan is a morning walk and some stretching with dd and short HIIT workout

 

[wintermom]

Got a nice dog walk in this morning. It was a solo walk, and my pace was pretty quick - though not as fast as the dogs. 😉  Those two run so fast together! We're thrilled we took the plunge and brought a second border collie into the family. They are a joy to have around! 

Sadly, tennis was cancelled due to the courts flooding. We had a few huge downpours yesterday and the clay courts couldn't absorb it all. Hopefully I can play on Sat still. 

[Laura Corin]

I was planning a long walk but slept poorly and decided against.  Instead - lots of essential personal admin, a 4-mile walk and some weights.

[Laura Corin]

I did a couple of hours of weeding in the morning and then hiked for nine miles in the afternoon. 

[wintermom]

Tennis was cancelled again due to rain.  I did get in two good walks, and dd and I took the dogs to agility where we all ran around a bit. I'm going to try to play tennis tomorrow. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain again! 

[Harriet Vane]

Long walk today with dh through a very pleasant park full of blooms. 

[Soror]

Saturday- worked on school prep in the morning and then nearly 5 hours of working outside in the evening more climbing around working on our building

Sunday- a bit of yard work when the rain slowed, more school prep+ cleaning, 30ish minute workout in the morning- full body kettlebell- 15min+ 10 min HIIT+ stretching

Lots of storming and rain here. I think it has finally cleared up and there was no big damage with these latest storms.

[wintermom]

We got a lot more rain here, too. My tennis was rained out again. Hopefully I'll be able to play tomorrow!

I did a wee bit of gardening - just planting a few new perrenials I picked up. The I went for a dog walk. I also watched the men's finals of the French Open tennis. Great match!

[bookbard]

I have Covid for the second time, and it's been very different. I went for a short walk yesterday in the backyard and my heart rate was crazy. Today was better, but still far more tired and without any strength. I will be only walking slowly for quite a bit, I think. 

[Eos]

Cleaning and short walks is all I've been doing. I have a fitness goal for the end of this month when I go volunteer at a two day race my oldest does each year. I need to be able to feel fit and fast and carry a bunch of stuff uphill for two miles. 

 

[wintermom]

4 hours ago, bookbard said:

I have Covid for the second time, and it's been very different. I went for a short walk yesterday in the backyard and my heart rate was crazy. Today was better, but still far more tired and without any strength. I will be only walking slowly for quite a bit, I think. 

Oh no! I hope you recovery really soon. Not to distress you, but there are some meds that have been shown to reduce the occurrance of long-COVID. Apparently the sooner you take the meds the better the effectiveness. I don't remember if the exact med is listed, but you can ask on this thread. There is a thread here that I started:  

 

[wintermom]

My dh and I met up with a work friend of my dh's yesterday. This man is our age (mid-50s) and has gotten heavily into road cycling. We met him at the finish of a 2-day training ride of 6 hours each day. He's preparing for a charity ride from Toronto to Montreal (approx. 600km). He cycled this route last year and is doing it again. I was really impressed with his accomplishments and it reminded me of my marathon training. It's completely grueling, but also really rewarding. I'm not sure that long-distance cycling is the exact thing for me, as my knee is on the cusp of having issues and this would likely tip it right over the edge. I would like to do something similar, though. I may have to look into something like a multi-day hike, perhaps over some challenging terrain. Has anyone done something like there?