PiYo - Week 4 recap

So this week started out with an upheaval in my planned schedule and I managed to get the Wednesday workout in at a weird time but by the time I got home Thursday night exercise wasn’t going to happen. Normally, I’d skip the one day and be fine with it but I made it up the next day and did Thursday and Friday workouts back to back on Friday. It actually wasn’t too bad and I can say I did it.  I was kind of dreading the Drench workout (probably because it’s the longest) but it turned out to be not bad. I did sweat a lot and I was stiff that night and when I got up the next morning.

I’m done with the first month. I didn’t measure myself again; I’m going to wait until the end for that. My clothes don’t feel all that loose although I have been able to wear my jean skirt again. It’s still a bit tight but not terribly so. I did weigh myself and I’ve lost 2.5 lbs since starting PiYo (I’ll take it because I really had a few bad eating days) and I’ve lost 5.5 lbs since I started exercising again in July. Thinking about it, that’s not too bad.

I’ve discovered I probably exercise 60% of the time in the evening and 40% in the morning, which goes to show that it’s not that I don’t have the time after work, I just don’t want to do it. I still would rather be a morning exerciser but at this point, I’ll take what I can get.

PiYo - Week 3 Recap & PHR

This week was a little more difficult and my motivation started to lag.  I did all my workouts including some extra walking and aerobics but my eating was mediocre at best, especially through the weekend.  I’m just trying to remind myself that I’m feeling better and sleeping better (except that some mornings I wake up so stiff and that part really sucks) and that this will all pay off if I keep up with it. Three weeks isn’t long enough to really see a lot of changes and I have to concentrate on how I feel.   I like the Buns and Strength Intervals workouts that got added this week.  The muscles in my legs are definitely stronger than my arms so I feel like I can push myself more there.

In other parts of my life, I finished my PHR recertification process and got the certificate in the mail yesterday. I’m now set through February of 2019. And as a plus my recertification cycle doesn’t actually begin until next March so I can take a break from the classes and seminars I’ve been attending. I don’t mind them, but sometimes I really hate the drive to Salt Lake in the morning. I started this blog when I was supposed to be studying for the PHR test and I’m kind of surprised I’m still going. It’s really just my online journal but sometimes it’s nice to look back and see some of the things I’ve been doing.

PiYo - Week 2 Recap

I actually went and bought a sweatband. It was a cheap one from Walmart but I was tired of all the sweat dripping from my face. I haven’t even got to the workout called Drench yet. It helps a little bit but it’s disgusting when I’m done.  At this rate I’m going to need more exercise clothes just because of all the sweating I’m doing.

I’m getting used to more of the moves and I got to add the Core workout. I’ve decided I really like the Define: Lower Body workout. It feels more like traditional yoga and I had forgotten how good pigeon pose feels.  My wrists are feeling stronger and I’m doing all of the pushups (on my knees, but I’m doing them).  I even did a few of the real burpees and not the modification. I’ve added some walking also and I walked/hiked 5 miles on Saturday in addition to the scheduled workout.

I might add that I didn’t buy Shakeology. I don’t eat/drink that kind of thing in general. I do like the clean eating plan that comes with the DVDs. It’s basically a list of foods that you should be eating and helps you figure out in what portions. Many of the foods on the list are things I will eat anyway so I don’t feel like I’m changing my diet. I’m not following it exactly, but in the 2 weeks I’ve been doing this, I’ve cut back on other foods (like chips, pop) that I was eating way too much of. I’ve been planning a menu and freezing and eating leftovers for lunch for a few years now so I’m always on the lookout for new recipes that are tasty but still made from real, healthy ingredients.  And my mom keeps giving me fresh vegetables from her garden so that always helps.

So after the second week, I’m feeling better about the workouts and I’m motivated to keep going.

PiYo - Week 1 Recap

I finished the first week of the PiYo workouts. Walking (and a bit of hiking) is the only exercise I've done for a while now so I have a lot of muscles that haven't been used in the ways that PiYo is using them. Or in other words: I'm sore. But it's a good sore.


So what do I think? I'm overweight so it's been a bit hard for me. I have to do almost every modification.


I'll start with the not so good:


I found very quickly that I need more of a warm up for my body, especially if I’m doing the workout in the morning after just getting out of bed. I’ve started warming myself up by getting on my treadmill or bike and just getting myself to the point where I am comfortable for PiYo. It’s not a problem because the pre-workout is good for me too.

It moves really fast. Maybe if I was an athlete or in great shape to start, I wouldn’t have a problem with the pace. Also, I’m very uncoordinated in general and learning even basic aerobic moves is usually a challenge for me. So I’m slow to do the moves which means I don’t get all the reps in, and there aren’t a lot of reps to start.

I have done yoga before, including live classes. I never kept up with it to get much above a beginner level but I think without some of that live instruction (or even DVD instruction), some of the yoga positions would be hard to do correctly. The Align DVD did show some stuff, but it was also at a much slower pace. If I were going into this cold, I would probably be doing it all wrong. As it is, I’m sure I’m doing some of it wrong just because of the pace.

The good:

I can feel my muscles working and that feels great.

My wrists are already getting stronger after one week. She says they will so I wasn’t too worried about it and have just been trying not to overdo it and injure myself. But I can already see improvement there.

With the extra walking and stuff I’ve been doing, I feel like I’m getting some good workouts in.

I’m not saying this is because of one week of PiYo, but my jeans do feel loose today. I’m sure it’s because I’ve already worn them once., but it’s a good enough feeling that I’m ready to get going with the second week.

I might add that I started on a different day than the calendar that came with it. I am following the workout schedule, I just planned it so that the rest day hits on Sunday, which is the day I'm taking off.

On to week 2...

August Already?

I eat when I’m stressed or when I’m bored. I know it and yet sometimes a lot of times have a really hard time stopping myself.

June of this year marked 1 year of being the RS president in my ward. In some ways it was a rough year. Just trying to figure out how to manage my time was a challenge. I think I’ve gotten the hang of a lot of stuff. Some things still give me stress, but probably always will because of my personality.

I sometimes eat mindlessly when I watch TV. To be perfectly honest, TV bores me but sometimes I just don’t want to do anything else anyway. But to just sit and stare at the screen is really not my favorite thing to do. I can handle a little bit and some TV shows I really like. I just can’t do a lot of it without eating at the same time. It’s a bad habit.

I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying that stress and boredom are my big eating problem areas and I haven’t dealt with them well this year so I gained back all the weight I lost getting ready for the Inca trail.  LOL – it’s not the first time and I know I’m not alone.  I haven’t mastered the trick of stopping the downward spiral before it gets too bad.

Anyway, I’ve been exercising regularly again and trying to make it a priority and I feel a lot better when I do. However, my trip to Asia will be coming up in a few months and I want to be able to wear my lightweight hiking pants. I’m not taking jeans. I’ve been to Asia before around the same time of year and the humidity is going to kill me even if I plan for it.

So I’ve done 2 things recently to help my problem areas and stop the spiral.

1. I bought an “adult coloring book”. How did I not know about these?!!  I think they are so cool! It’s a perfect thing for me because while I’m not very artistic and don’t want to create art of my own, coloring someone else’s design is fun. These books are actually marketed as stress relievers and I can see why.  It has the bonus of keeping my hands busy so I don’t eat while I’m sitting and I’m getting a stress release at the same time.  I actually have another one on my wish list at Amazon. I’m hoping this keeps me a little busy this winter when I want to hibernate. So far, I only have one picture colored but I’ve really liked doing it.

2. I bought the basic PiYo workout. I wanted something to motivate me that had a beginning and an end, if that makes sense. Not that I couldn’t have planned my own 60 days of workouts (ha ha, I have and didn’t keep with them) but just thought a program would help. And yeah, I get sucked into the hype and think this is going to “cure” my bad habits miraculously, when I know it just takes a lot of hard work and developing good habits. Anyway, it’s been on my radar for a while now and I bit the bullet. I don’t want to get a coach or join any groups or anything, but I think I will post a recap every week I finish just to help me keep going.

Life is good!

Saturday Morning

I've been making myself get up on Saturday mornings instead of sleeping in. I don't like to exercise when it's too hot outside so that means I have to get out of bed. As much as I love sleeping in, it's kind of worth it to be up. I left my house just before 7 this morning (which was actually later than I had planned) and walked along the river parkway and then kept going to Birdsong trail and then back home again. It was about 6.6 miles round trip.

 

It was a beautiful morning. Ok - no "kind of" about it. It was definitely worth getting up. And I was early enough that there weren't a lot of people out when I started.





 

 

The wind always comes out of the canyon in the morning. It was pretty strong walking against it. But once I got in the trees and out of the open areas, it didn't bother me.

I texted my sister and she ended up meeting me part way when she took her dog for a run. After I got home I took a really fast shower and put on some sunscreen and mascara and ran out the door again to meet part of my family at the Farmer's Market downtown. I got a pastry and a fresh squeezed mint lime-aid for breakfast.

My legs are a little stiff. It's been a while since I've walked that far. And I didn't stretch when I got home. I'm already thinking about where I want to go next Saturday. I really do live in a great place.

Lazy Days of Summer

I had a hard time falling asleep last night and I’m just feeling a little tired and slow today. These last few days have been wonderful. This is just the way I like summer. The temperature has been in the mid to high 80’s. It’s actually raining right now and it feels so good compared to the 100 degree weather we had in June. On Sunday, we had family dinner at my parents’ house and ended up putting the sprinkler under the trampoline. It felt great.

Last night after work I took a little hike on Birdsong Trail. It’s a pretty easy trail and only about 2 miles round trip. It felt good to get out. I haven’t had my hiking shoes on since last summer so it was about time I dusted them off and put them to use again. I think I’m going to try another trail later this week.

My sister and I are deep into planning a trip to SE Asia this fall. Nothing set in stone yet but we’ve got an idea of flights and will be purchasing soon. Now it’s just the hard and fun part of deciding where exactly we want to go and what to see. There are just so many possibilities. We have found that we always go with things planned (especially if needing advance tickets) and then end up being fairly flexible once we get there. Flexibility always helps when travel goes awry or you realize you planned way too many things to see.

I also recently booked a flight to Portland for later this year. My parents are renting a house on the Oregon coast for a week and I’m going to meet them there and stay a couple days. I’m excited about that and I got my airfare with my rewards miles. It’s not often I have enough to use but I love it when I do.  

Anyway, it’s been a good summer so far and I have lots of fun stuff to look forward to.