I Don’t Know Who You Think You Are, But Before This Night is Through
Thursday was an exciting day around these parts!
John won a pro bono achievement award at this job - achievement meaning he won the case. :D Eleven other colleagues also won an award for their pro bono wins. They had a ceremony and got a neat plaque and time piece.
John’s modest but I’m not - it was an asylum case and he saved the lives of the woman and her unborn child by winning it for her. I hope he gets more chances to work pro-bono cases like this one - everyone deserves good advocacy.
He also looked sezy in his work clothes. My Mad Man. ;D
After my delish lunch, I didn’t get to eat for another seven hours so I was FAMISHED and made this yummy dinner. Since I was going to a super late hot yoga class, I kept it light with roasted veggies: zucchini, red onion, cherry tomatoes, one small turnip, cremini mushrooms with sea salt and cayenne pepper.
I would have licked this plate if Nigel didn’t beat me to it.
I wanted to see John when he finally got home and because today Thursday was a run day an early morning or evening class didn’t happen - I ended up at an 8:45pm (!) C2 hot yoga class with my favorite teacher.
She doesn’t pull punches and I am able to do about 25% of the full poses in her class. It’s humbling and so good for my practice because so many of the gains I’ve made have been because of her.
I’ve been delinquent in posting these but the IOnlyWearDresses 365 Abs Fitness Streak continues! Between the increasing mileage and five to six hours of hot yoga, I’m doing baby routines but hopefully I’ll be kicking it up next week!
Hope you are having a fabulous Friday!
Tough Mudder Inspired Abs + Eat All the Healthy Things!
Prettiest smoothie ever! My breakfast was a raspberry and blackberry smoothie with unsweetened almond milk, a container of Chobani plain Greek 0%, and half a banana.
I made a picnic lunch to go with a sliced pear, a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and blackberry preserves and a low-fat pepper jack cheese stick!
Workouts
I ran a three miler today with some good numbers - two miles at a 9:43 pace exact, a half mile at a 9:26, and the last half mile at a 9:10 pace. Three miles in 29:30. No knee pain beeches!
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Yesterday’s ab workout was a repeat of Routine 30 but today’s workout is a standout. One of my goals for February is to commit to the weights and commit to a focused abs routine that I can build on.
We have plans to do a Tough Mudder race this year but we haven’t finalized which one - but I remembered their awesome training plan available here!
You can find descriptions for all the moves here - they are intense for me and I had to skip using weights for some of them. I’m looking forward to seeing where I will be with the entire Tough Mudder workout by the end of the month!
Working it Out, Playing Catch-Up!
Monday’s workout was a simple C1 Hot Yoga class - I was silly and forgot my towel! It was a nice relaxing class and I need to do more of these to get my body used to the volume of yoga I’m demanding from it.
I’m also playing catch-up with posting our fitness streak workouts! Our routines are all over the place and I am very impressed we have been able to keep our streak up. In February though, I would like to focus these workouts and have each day build on the previous one!
Popeye Power
Tonight was perfect. We were home in the early evening, I got to fix our living areas before John came home, put the fire on to warm up the house, and prep the kitchen to cook after our workouts. Let’s rewind shall we?
Lunch was a bowl of cello spinach dressed with balsamic vinegar, black pepper, oregano, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Popeye power people.
My main “entree” was two Morning Star “sausage patties” and a whole wheat roti.
My afternoon snack was a banana and a tablespoon of peanut butter.
This is what I came home to - do you see that tongue? Now I notice all the time that some puppies sleep with the tongues out!
Tongue-hance! Seriously, that smoosh face kills me every time.
Today’s Workouts:
My first workout was a 60 minute Hot Yoga Sculpt class in the morning with my p.r. in crow.
After John came home, we went for a 5K run - completed in 30 minutes with no knee pain! I have been able to run three days in a row for a total of seven miles with no knee pain! Weekend long run and four runs a week, here I come!
And because my abs are screaming at me - we did a yoga inspired abs workout to stretch out the core which felt wonderful!
Off to make dinner!
Yeah Look At That Puppy
Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle, Yeah!
Today’s first workout was a C2 hot yoga class at Core Power. I love the class and it’s nice to challenge myself with more advanced moves like side hurdler.
Since I’m nowhere close to doing it (apart from sliding my arm under my hammies), it’s a humbling experience.
I also can’t shake the feeling that I dislike the teacher. I like to think because of this I have a lot more to learn from her but do you just have a teacher who talks too much while she leads? It was still a great class but I just couldn’t “settle” into it.
My second workout was a simple 1 mile run completed in 9:51. ”Sorry so slow!” said my body! :D My main goal is to keep building to a four run week so I low-balled it today with the hope that I can long-ball it tomorrow. Yes, I just made up the phrase long-ball.
I fueled my workout with a Chocolate Cherry clif shot because I would like to get my tummy used to a high level of caffeine races over ten miles. Chocolate flavors seem to be my enemy though!
We started to realize that our abs were probably constantly sore because we keep doing planks every day (on top of what I do in hot yoga class) - and then I chanced upon this little routine, the Ab Ripper from P90X. (Check it out, there are little pictures!)
Hope you all had a good day! I’m off to bed!
365 Days of Abs Routines: Routine 19 of 365
Whew! We almost went to bed missing our streak but we remembered! Today’s abs workout was a yoga inspired. The eagle crunches are my favorite!
10 Eagle Arm Crunches
10 Eagle Leg Crunches
12 Full Eagle Crunches
Plank with knee twists - as many as possible in one minute:
Assume plank position and bring knee to opposing elbow!
Wide Arm push-ups (as many as possible in one minute:
Forearm plank, hold for one minute.
Half Moon, L+R
Sit-Ups: 50! I can finally do fifty straight sit-ups but it takes some effort!
Death by Plank and Kicking Our Asanas on Date Night!
Breakfast was a hot coffee with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and a teaspoon of Splenda! Fuel for my first hot yoga class of the day, a C2! It was a toughie doing it two days in a row and my left knee acted up a bit - but no stabbing pain!
Lunch was a veggie falafel footling from Subway which I ate as two meals - I get my bread pulled out and all the veggies.
We had two great abs routines. On Thursday, John picked the following:
Routine 12 of 365:
Sit-Ups, 50 (I can do 40 straight, John does 50)
Bicycle Crunches 25 each
Plank 30 seconds
Toe Touches 20
Sit-up pulses, 1 minute
Sit-up pulses, 1 minute
Bicycle Crunches, 25 each!
Sit-Ups, 50
Routine 13 of 36: This was my routine and it was Death by Plank!!!
Plank 45 seconds
Bicycle Crunches, 25 each.
Plank 1 Minute!
Butterfly Sit-Ups, 25 reps.
Plank 1 minute!
Parallel Shins sit-ups, 25 reps.
Plank 1 minute!
Side Plank - each side, three breaths!
The highlight of today was the arrival of my new super yoga mat - the Manduka Black Mat Pro! I was silly and bought it from my studio but it’s much cheaper on Amazon. The mat lives up to the hype, it’s amazingly thick without being plush and feels really solid underfoot.
Our date night tonight was a hot yoga class with John - he let me enjoy the mat while he used a regular one, but a surprise Valentine’s Gift might be arriving early for someone!
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{John looked like this - except male, six feet tall, and wearing a t-shirt from a recent race!}
I met John at the studio and I was so excited because I’ve been wanting to have a hot yoga date and I haven’t had a two-in-one class day in a long time!
We took a C1 which was perfect after my challenging C2. I love watching John in hot yoga - he is so strong that his chatarungas are perfect and he can kick ass on the arm balances. Me, I still do sexy push-ups! :D
Today, John held crow pose three times: 20, 25, and 30 seconds each!
I was able to hold one for ten whole breaths! Holla yogis!
Now we’re off to an Indian meal feast for our marathon dinner! Happy Friday!
The Rules + Pre-Race Jitters + Day 5 of 365 Abs Routines
Following My Rules for Carb Loading for a Marathon, I eat a veggie pizza (spinach, red peppers, onions, mushroom, garlic slivers, a dusting of vegetarian feta, and banana peppers for John) two days before my race. After this, I just switch to bagels and Larabars to prevent any tummy upsets.
I have a serious case of pre-Goofy Challenge jitters.
My goals for the race are to have fun and to take a picture with Princess Jasmine and Chip and Dale because it was a pretty cold race last year and Princess Jasmine and Ariel weren’t out and about - and the one Princess Jasmine I saw had a floor length coat - WTW?
I wanted an easy-peasy abs routine tonight but somehow that didn’t happen. :D
John’s Routine, Routine 5
Set timer for 30 seconds. Assume sit-up position and lift up, pressing lower back into the floor, keeping elbows wide, and chin pointed towards the ceiling. Pulse until timer goes off. Repeat eight times, preferably with no rest breaks. Um…I needed rest breaks. :D
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We’re packed and I’m trying to fall asleep - we have a red-eye flight and I am waking up in five hours. I’m getting extra snuggles in with this guy - I’ll admit it, I wish my dog could come to races with me.
“Who’s Your Daddy?” Ab Workout + Morning Run
Nigel is a bit of a teenager in the mornings - he will refuse to get out of bed and go outside. When he was younger, I would carry him, so he has learned mommy is a softie.
Regardless of lazy bullies, I ran a ten minute mile this morning and walked another mile. The knee acted up a bit but it feels so good to run again! My heart practically shines! I am sticking to ten minute miles this week with my ultimate goal being a “long run” of five miles!
Knee pain, knee pain go away, don’t come back another day! :D
My late first meal was a mixed berry smoothie. In the mix: blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries with almond milk, Greek yogurt, and instant oatmeal.
I also completed my abs routine early this morning! Our new place has super-real hardwood floors but they are tough to workout on, especially when the temperatures drop because the wood feels harder. So we decided to pick up this super cute rug to complete our living room this weekend! I am lucky because John’s favorite colour is green and I love green accents!
Even with the rug, I use a super thick yoga mat (normally used in Pilates) to help create some more padding.
Holy Mother of Abs! This workout was tough - and I wasn’t even doing the most advanced versions of some of the moves like the jack knives! And yes, I did find the most confusing way to show you all the circuits! :D
It’s a nine circuit workout, not including a warm-up and cool-down, and I used a 3lb weight throughout the whole thing.
I inhaled this plate of homemade kale chips for lunch - salty and crispy! Hope your Monday is off to a terriific start!
Consistency + Mastery = Motivation
I’m reminded everyday that it’s not a tip, a recipe, another health blogger, a magazine subscription, a new product review, new lulu pants, or a new gadget that gets me up and gets my ass in gear. Yes, I love to see other people’s success but I don’t need another one of those things to actually do something.
I don’t wait till I’m ready, I have to start working even when I don’t want to and I get one step closer to my goals.
I’ve been DRAGGING on strength training because running and hot yoga are fun and I love them. I am remembering my advice to myself in moments like this: Consistency + Mastery = Motivation.
And this means, sometimes you have to start before something is fun.
I transferred yesterday’s abs workout to a note card and created a new one I want to do today (inspired by Tracy Anderson). And yes, I grew dorky stick figures to make sure I didn’t get lost. I’m not jumping the gun, I’m just going to make a new workout when I want one, but use these cards on a day to day basis to make sure I’m following my plan!
Consistency is Motivation
When I was younger, my dad used to say, “Mastery is motivation” - we are a family that likes alliteration! :D He would tell me this so I stuck it out with my dance classes or music lessons and he was right, once you got good at something, you started to enjoy it more, motivating you to keep with it. As I got older, I changed the equation for my life:
Consistency + Mastery = Motivation
It is human nature to wait to start when the time is right, when the conditions are right, when inspiration strikes, and when you feel motivated.
It is human nature to wait to start when the time is right, when the conditions are right, when inspiration strikes, and when you feel motivated. Since it’s impossible to know when the motivation fairy will strike, we all end up waiting a long time implement any change. I try to tell myself to start, start small, and then keep going. Sometimes I start, I start big, then keep going. Either way, my goal is to have a long streak of the behavior or change I want to see because only then can I claim it is a part of my arsenal.
Instead of asking myself “Why can’t I just be motivated and do X, Y, or Z?” I try to focus on creating a streak doing what I want to do. Whether it is for seven days or seventy days, something clicks and I find that the consistency breeds a little bit of mastery creating an avalanche of motivation (and metaphor fairies will bless your sentences). It’s tough, and there will be days I don’t want to do homework and I don’t want to workout. But you get up and do it because that’s the only way you can get awesome at it!
QUICK FIX
Start before it’s fun. Start before you want to start.
You won’t be good at it when you start (like an abs routine), but one day you will be great at it.
Consistency + Mastery = Motivation
Results don’t require another tip, they require action.
