Belly, Butt, Thighs

Today, I did the Belly, Butt, and Thighs routines from Crunch Pilates. I realized I've been focused so much on my arms and legs, that my core area hasn't had much exercise. It felt good!

Packing Up and Going Home

Well, this morning, I woke up and finished cleaning and organizing the storage room! It only took 3 more hours to finish and pack up my dad's pickup with items to take to a second-hand store.

Before leaving for Saint Paul, I even made time to do the 35-minute Pilates for Dummies routine, and Power 90 Abs!

Pilates

This morning, I was about to do some Pilates when I received a call from my Fargo chiropractor, stating she could squeeze me in that morning. Excellent! So, I went to Fargo, ran some errands, and then came back and finally did all 35 minutes of Pilates for Dummies DVD and 40 minutes of Crunch: Pick your Spot. A total of 75 minutes of Pilates!

Red in the Face

I felt really gross this morning when I woke up. Just super sweaty...I know you all want to know that. So, I took a shower rather than diving into exercise. I knew this would mean I would most likely put exercising off until later in the day, but I worked out rather late yesterday too, so, as long as I get all my time in, it's good.

Well, I started exercising at 8:00pm! My mom realized that she consumed more calories than she intended to and so she was going to bike them off. As I returned a friend's bike just yesterday, I wasn't able to bike with her, so I decided to run with her! That's right. I haven't run in about 8 months, but I decided to give it a go. For those of you who may not realize. I may be in good weight shape, but I'm not in good running shape. Regardless, I did pretty good! I ran just over 3 miles without stopping or walking and averaged a 10-minute mile. Excellent, if you ask me!

My mom got really concerned halfway through the run because my face was really red. My face is always red when I run; in or out of running shape. So, that didn't concern me. I did feel like puking when I finished, but I was never in danger of passing out. The picture above was taken after I finished my run, to demonstrate my red face. I know I have crazy, semi-crossed eyes...that may have been from the run too :)

When I returned from my run, I gave myself a few minutes to recover, then performed the stretching pilates DVD with Trudie Styler. This way, I didn't have to consciously stretch after my run! I hate going through the motions of stretching before and after a run, so this was a fun way to do that.

After that, I did the "Hip Hop Abs" DVD to offset my deficit of exercise on Tuesday. Now, I just have 15 more minutes to make up for that lost day...

Pilates

Today, I was pretty uninspired, so I woke up and did the "Crunch" pilates, "Pilates for Dummies" mat routine, and "Power 90" abs. A total of 60 minutes of exercise.

Luke and I are having our kitchen remodeled. They are coming to install our new kitchen island and raised table next week! To prepare, I decided to take one of Luke's family's heirlooms, our kitchen table and chairs, to his parents' house so that his sister can use them when she moves into her new apartment this summer. I moved the table and chairs by myself to Luke's parents' house! This was a workout in itself!

Walking Tall

As all of the crops are now planted, my parents are in the Twin Cities for a few days. So, as workout partners, my mother and I took the opportunity to do "Core Strength Pilates" with Trudie Styler. (I always feel so much more relaxed, and taller, when I do this routine!) And then we went on a 40-minute walk. What a gorgeous day for it!

Scapulas and Spatulas

Well, this morning I attended a wedding shower for my sister-in-law. I volunteered to bring blueberry muffins, and there is nothing like freshly baked blueberry muffins. So rather than bake them last night, I decided to wake up early to make them this morning. I needed to leave my house by 9:00am, so between wanting to exercise before the shower, and making muffins, I woke up at 6:30am.

I started on the muffins right away. While the first batch was baking, I did the first 10-minute "Total Body" workout routine from "Crunch Pilates." While the second batch baked, I did the "Belly" and "Butt" zone workouts from the same DVD. Then I needed to hop in the shower. With all of the muffins baked and cooled, and half of my exercises complete, I headed out to the shower!

After the shower, Luke was out with a friend for lunch, so I decided to take the opportunity to finish my exercising. I completed the last zone workout from "Crunch": "Thighs," then the mat pilates routine from "Pilates for Dummies," and finally, "Abs 100" from "Power 90."

By the way, the blueberry muffin recipe I used is super healthy. And I received a number of compliments for them at the shower. I definitely recommend them!

Pilates Marathon

Today wasn't a heavy work day, and I still had some leftover motivation from yesterday to do try a pilates marathon.

When I woke up, I did 55 minutes of mat pilates. At about 2:00pm, I concentrated on abs with Yoga Booty Ballet: Hip Hop Abs, followed by standing pilates, followed by Power 90 5-minute "Ab Ripper 100."

At 8:30pm, I ended the day with some stretching yoga: Core Strength Pilates with Trudie Styler.

That's a total of 3 hours of pilates! I feel great!

Limited Time in Travel

Well, after a long day yesterday of being on the bus and burning the midnight oil out with Luke and friends, I still set my alarm for an early 6:00am wake-up time, because I wasn't sure how much exercise I would get in later in the afternoon. Our day was going to be packed with family events. Unfortunately, I kept hitting snooze...so, it wasn't until 6:30 that I finally rolled out of bed. And then, I was so tired that it took awhile to get changed, queue up my "Pilates for Dummies" DVD on Luke's laptop, and find a pilates mat. It was already 7:30, and I had only done 35 minutes of exercise, but I had to stop and get ready for the day.

Knowing that I may not even come back home before having to go back to the bus station, I packed my overnight bag back up, and threw a pair of tennis shoes in our car, so that I would have them handy in case time for a walk presented itself later in the day. ...It never did.

Regardless, I was able to stick to my healthy diet. For lunch, the entire family ate "Aidells chicken sausages." They come in a variety of flavors, ranging in calories from 160 to 200 per 3 ounces. Props to Ken for finding this healthy brat alternative!

Crunch!...those Abs, Butt, and Thighs!

I weighed in this morning at 124.6 pounds! In the past week, I have lost 2.3 pounds, which means I have lost a total of 7.4 pounds since starting this exercise and diet program.

What a gorgeous morning! No way was I going to miss out on a walk outside with Baxter today. We walked our 3-mile circuit, and I stopped to snap a picture (at left), which is in about the same spot that the picture in the "Nor Rain...Nor Gloom" post was taken. Huge difference, right?!

As you will notice, I am on the left side of the road, where walkers are supposed to walk. Luke and I got into a small dispute about this on Sunday, but he's half Australian, so it's understandable why he'd be confused ;)

Later in the day, after my mother returned home, we did a 55-minute pilates routine that I cut and pasted together for her to take on her trip to Texas. It's a combination of all 4 routines from "Crunch: Pick Your Spot Pilates" with Ellen Barrett, and the mat work from my "Pilates for Dummies" DVD. My mom really likes the Crunch DVD, so much so, she was resistant to continue on with the "Pilates for Dummies" DVD. She had apparently been resisting the "Pilates for Dummies" DVD throughout her entire Texas trip; she assumed the duration was as long as the "Crunch" portion (40-45 minutes), but in fact, it's only about another 10 minutes. Next time, we will have to start with the "Pilates for Dummies" DVD and end with the "Crunch" DVD.

Two Down

This morning I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck! I didn't have full range of motion when turning my head to the right, or tilting toward my right shoulder. My back also hurt. Thanks Power 90! I think I may have overdone my Power 90 "Sculpt" workout, as well as go to bed too soon after completing the workout. My body was still really tense from strength training when I went to bed. I went to the chiropractor this afternoon for an adjustment. Not yet 100%, but feeling much better! Thanks, Stephanie!

My mother's right foot also was in a lot more pain this morning. I had her ice it last night before bed, but it didn't do much good. She went to a local clinic; they determined that it was NOT a stress fracture (which is what we thought it could be), but something to do with her tendons. They gave her extra-strength prescription anti-inflammatory medication and a big boot to wear on her foot for the next couple of weeks. Yep, a couple of weeks.

But are we going to let these injuries slow us down?! No!.... Ok, maybe a little, but only literally slow us down, we are still going to exercise every single day.

This evening, my mother and I did my 55-minute DVD: "Core Strength Pilates" with Trudie Styler. I had been planning to do this exercise program today, day 7, anyway, as it is mostly stretching and very relaxing; a nice, low-impact workout. Both my mother and I were feeling great afterward.

Tomorrow, my mother leaves on a one-week trip to Texas to visit her siblings. I had the lovely challenge of designing a workout schedule for her that works around the limitations of her ankle and large boot! I developed a rotation of: swimming, good ol' Power 90, 60-minutes of mat Pilates, and some elliptical near the end of the week.

Stretch!

So, rather than bore myself with the all-too-familiar run this morning, I decided to do some calm stretching. I got out my exercise DVDs and reached for my 10-minute "Get Balanced: Pilates Express" workout that I found in a box of Kashi cereal a few years ago.

To my surprise, after the 10 minute mark, the DVD kept going. I apparently grabbed the full version I purchased a few months ago since I liked the 10-minute sample version so much. The full version, "Trudie Styler's Core Strength Pilates," is 55 minutes long. My subconscious must have tricked me into a longer workout! I feel great now, so I suppose I shouldn't complain :)

My mom even joined me for the first 10 or 15 minutes! Way to go, Mom!

I find that it is important to only have a select few workout DVDs because you don't really get much of a workout while you are learning the routine. It's obviously hard to do a move when you are craning your neck to see how to do it. I'm still learning this full-version routine. I anticipate needing to do it at least another 5 times before I become comfortable with hearing and following the instruction (versus relying on a video demonstration).

Pilates

I have been getting a lot of headaches in the past few weeks. And on Monday, a migraine. So, this evening, I decided to do some low-impact exercising, because I've been wanting to exercise but due to the headaches, running wasn't appealing. So I did the 40-minute Pilates for Dummies routine. Some of my back muscles were stiff and sore during the exercise, but I felt better afterwards.

I'm thinking I might do some elliptical exercising tomorrow...

Pilates

This morning, I wanted to do the standing pilates routine on the Pilates for Dummies DVD, but I went to bed last night with a pretty bad headache and it wasn't completely gone this morning. So, I decided to keep with the low impact mat work on the Pilates for Dummies DVD and Gaiam DVD.

Pilates

This morning, I wanted to get a good stretch in, so I did the mat work on my "Pilates for Dummies" DVD, and then the 10-minute express pilates workout on my Gaiam, Trudie Styler DVD. My mom joined me for the Gaiam portion. A few days ago, I finally decided to order the full version of the Gaiam Pilates with Trudie Styler. I've had that Pilates for Dummies DVD for about a decade...it's about time to change things up...

Pilates

So, I didn't exercise at all last week. Early Monday morning, at around 4:00am, Luke wakes me up. He was having a pain in his abdomen before going to bed the night before, and he was concerned that the shooting pain that woke him up Monday morning was apendicitis. So, we went to the Emergency Room. Long story short, the testing results were inconclusive.

We got back home in time for me to start work (I had to start training a new employee). So, needless to say, I was pretty exhausted for the rest of the day...and the next day, and the next day. I honestly can't remember what my excuse was for the rest of the week...probably just the feeling of defeat.

Because of all of the stressors in my life...school, work, and my board responsibilities, Luke insisted on gifting me a massage at a nearby spa yesterday. It was amazing! Even though my muscles are looser, I'm also in quite a bit of pain from it though. So, instead of running this morning, I did Pilates. I'm feeling great!

Now...Luke is wanting to know if I'm up for a short run.

Pilates

I woke up this morning with very little pain in my neck, so I decided to do pilates again today to see if it would continue to help.

I asked Luke if he wanted to join me. I don't know if he accepted because he wants to become more flexible, or if it's because it's our anniversary and thought it would be a nice gesture, or who knows. Whatever the reason, it was fun exercising with someone for a change.

At right is a picture of Luke doing a twist exercise from the Pilates for Dummies DVD. My chiropractor says I should NOT twist at the waist, so I had the opportunity to snap this picture.

Pilates

Or as my aunt says, "Pilots."

Because I am still having some pain in my neck and shoulders, I decided to do some pilates today, instead of running or strength training, in order to help stretch out and loosen those tight muscles. It seemed to help.

At right is my go-to DVD for Pilates, and a picture of me doing one of the Pilates for Dummies moves. I also have some "express" Gaiam pilates DVD that was included in my cereal box once.

Luke watched me do the Gaiam DVD pilates routine, and said he was amazed at how flexible I am (which, I didn't think I was). He shared this when I did an exercise while lying on my back; one leg is outstretched straight on the floor, the other is outstretched straight above me and I'm holding that leg's calf in my hands; then I alternate my legs, grabbing the other leg's calf as I alternate. (Although it looks similar, the picture at right is not the exercise I just described.)

Luke was determined to show me how flexible I am compared to him, so he did the 10-minute Gaiam routine.
Ok...I'm convinced!