A Day of Rest

This morning was day 3 of the 30 days of yoga challenge. It was my favorite so far. One I know I will come back to again. I find myself staying on the floor and resting or rolling or stretching for a while after the video is over. It reminds me of being a kid. I used to do that a lot. I was a master of head stands. And yesterday I saw a picture of an advanced yoga pose and it looked familiar. So I tried it. I was able to hold it for 5 full breaths. A good friend told me it is called Crow Pose. I used to do this too when I was little. I don't  know why. I just liked moving.

After yoga I realized that I felt tired and emotional. Not sleep tired. Be still and quiet tired. So I decided not to do my workout or other challenges today. To just rest. I didn't  feel even a little guilt.

My husband and I took our little dog for a walk this evening, but it was a stroll. Not exercise. I managed to hit my daily goal of 6k steps and 60 minutes of moving. But not a single push up or crunch. I will get back to work tomorrow morning. I have to fit my workout in before 9am due to a road trip to get a vehicle. I'm  certainly not going to want to work out when we get home at 10pm or so.

I still ate clean and healthy. Drank lots of water.

Yoga Challenge Starts Today

How many 30 day challenges can one person do in a month? So far I'm up to seven. I didn't start them all on the same day either, so there is a little work in keeping track of where I am on each one every day. I have been tempted to start them all over with day one. Just to be all together. In all I'm doing:

I also use the C25K running app about three times a week. And this morning I started a 30 day yoga challenge with a group of women on line. I have been interested I yoga for a long time but haven't  found a video that I liked.  This one I like!

I also use free weights, pull ups and such. Today I did a Latin dance workout just to switch things up.  I don't  yet see a huge difference in my body. But it hasn't been that long. And I know that we're I not doing this I would have started to put some of the weight I lost hiking back on. I have actually lost another couple of pounds. So cool.

Food wise I have had my yogurt, fruit and oatmeal after yoga. Then I did some lifting then I had 2 eggs fried with evoo, 2 slices of whole grain toast (no butter), a carrot and a small piece of cheese. Early dinner was quinoa salad and some dried fruit.

Muscles, I'm not sorry

Everything hurts today. Not injury hurt. That hurt that tells you you pushed hard, worked hard. I do enjoy it. My arms especially. I don't know the names of the moves I did with my free weights but they were good. I'll  have to look the up so I know their proper names.
I slept great last night. Unusual for me. Amazing. Those of you who sleep great 8 hours every night, nice work. I am a fan.

So far this morning I have had 2 cups of coffee (with cream and sugar) and breakfast.

This is a container of Simply 100 Chiobani blueberry Greek yogurt, a handful of uncooked Irish Oatmeal, half a tsp chia seeds and some fruit I dehydrated on the side. Mango, banana, apple, nectarine plums.
I don't  think I drank enough water yesterday so I'm  going to be aware of it today and drink at least 64 ounces.

Lungs are Important

I took a few days off from working out. My lungs were hurting. I stupidly picked up smoking again when we were out hiking. While I was hiking it didn't  seem to bother me much. But once we got home my lungs and chest hurt all the time. I woke up coughing, I had no energy. It was terrible. And I was sure I had lung cancer because I worry like that.
A trip to the doc and a chest xray later I am glad to report I do not have lung cancer. But that my lungs are pissed  off and tired of my bullshit.
So about a week ago I quit. Again. And I now carry an inhaler with me. But there are no restrictions on my activities. In fact, it's  better for my lungs to keep using them! So now that my energy level is back up I am back to working out daily.
Today I did:
65 sit-ups
85 crunches
42 leg lifts
55s plank

12 woodchoppers
15 pulse side planks
30 side ankle touches
24 Russian twists w/ 15lb weight

80 squats
80 hip thrusts
Some lifting with my 15lb hand weights.

And some yoga poses.

For breakfast I had 2 scrambled eggs, half a slice of wheat toast, half a cup of oatmeal with fruit and chia seeds.
Lunch was about a cup of quinoa salad with tons of colorful veggies

Post workout I had a Greek Yogurt with about 1/4 cup raw oatmeal in it and some fruit I dehydrated myself. Oh and a small slice of sharp cheese.

I started over at week 1 day 1 on C25K. I did have to use my inhaler once. But overall it felt good. I tried to focus on deep, slow, rhythmic breathing. I'm  sure my form is a mess. I'll  work on the next.

Tomorrow  I take the boy to apply for his permit test. I see some stress eating in my future :)

No Cardio

Ab Challenge:
45 sit ups
30 crunches
30 leg lifts
35 second plank

Arm Challenge:
5 push ups
45s plank
10 chair dips
Repeat

Squat Challenge :
20 Sumo squats
20 reaching Squats

35s Pulsing Side Plank (each side)
20 Lunges
2 pull ups

I had my usual half a container of blueberry  Greek yogurt with some sliced almonds for breakfast.

Bagle with peanut butter snack

Quinoa salad: diced cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, broccoli, feta. I dressed it with lots of lime juice, lemon juice, and olive oil.

I've had at least 60 Oz of water

my skin care routine

Turning 40 made me really put thought into what I put on my face. It has started to get... soft. I don't  have wrinkles yet. But I'm  losing  firmness. After reading way too many articles and studies and reviews, plus talking to other women and even a couple of estheticians, this is what I am rocking on my face.
Morning:
I start out by washing my hands. I don't want whatever is on my hands smeared on my face.

I wash with Soap Shine Soap Company activated charcoal soap. It's  creamy and gentle and if you had to you could eat it. It's hand made and natural. I lather it all up on my hands and wash my face, neck and chest.

After a rinse with lukewarm water I pat gently with a clean towel.
Next I massage vitamin c serum onto my face, neck and chest. Yes, I treat my neck and chest exactly as I do my face.

The vitamin c serum I mix up myself every few days. Vitamin c doesn't  stay stable when exposed to light and air, so rather than spend cash on a premade serum I bought powdered vitamin c and vegetable glycerin so I can mix it in small batches. I keep it in a taped bottle to keep out light.
I let the serum sit on my face for about 20 minutes  to absorb in and dry. Then I put on eye cream.

The jury is out on how important or effective eye cream is. They often contain the same ingredients as your moisturizer  or night cream, but lack sunscreen. I have some eye cream, so I use it. I may or may not buy more when I'm  out.

Then I  put on my moisturizer with spf 30. NEVER leave the house without spf 30 on my face.
If I plan to be outside for an extended period of time I put on additional  sunscreen specifically  for face. When I hiked the AT this summer I wore SPF 70 every day on my face, neck and chest.

That's  it. Wash. Serum. Moisturize.

At night I start out with the gentle wash again, but instead of vitamin C serum I got to a night cream with retinol.

Eye cream. Done.
A few times a week I exfoliate.

One a month a give myself a glycolic acid peel.

I drink lots of water and I never wear make up other than the occasional  lip gloss and mascara.

I'm sick

What have I been up to for exercise? I am doing three different 30 day challenges. Abs, squats and arms. So here's  what today looked like:

15 push ups, 30 second plank, 8 chair dips. I did this twice.
15 sumo squats, 15 reaching squats.
40 sit ups, 20 crunches, 20 leg lifts, 30 second plank.

After that I went for a 1 mile run.
It turns out the coughing and flew means I am actually sick. Running was hard. My chest hurts. I won't be doing any other workout today.

I had my usual yogurt and fruit with almonds for breakfast.

Lunch was delicious grilled fish, quonia, and steamed biggies in garlic and lemon. 

I plan to spend the rest of the day on the couch with tea and water. 

I'm  craving chocolate cake pretty hard. Being sick makes me want comfort food.

No Perfect Food Day

I don't think I ever have a "perfect" food day. There is always at least one thing I eat and know I could have done without it. It's fine though. I'm not going for rock hard bodybuilder. But for the most part I try to eat healthy.
This morning I had t run my son to the bus station first thing, so I didn't have time for a proper breakfast. I grabbed a banana and a bottle of lemon water on my way out the door.
When I got home I made my typical breakfast of Greek yogurt and fresh fruit. Today it was banana, nectarine, black berries in half a container Blueberry Greek yogurt. Oh, and half of a protein shake.

Driving gives me anxiety. I avoid it when I can. But since today I couldn't, I opted for a nap to chill out. Naps are a good thing!

I just had lunch, even though it's 4:00. I am focusing on protein an vegetables. So I made an omelet.

Yellow peppers, portabella mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, spinach, summer squash, broccoli, tomatoes and garlic. I sprinkled on some feta for good measure.

I'm 40, and apparently protein becomes even more important since my body is breaking down my muscles in preparation for being old and feeble. So I have to up my protein to stay on top of that, and build new muscles. I usually get my protein from vegetable sources (Quinoa anyone? Spinach?) but with a tough workout scheduled for later today I went old school.

My workout today consisted of the three 30 day challenges I'm doing this month. Arms, Abs and squats. Then I went for a 1 mile run, and I did some extra push ups. For an after workout snack I had half a container of blueberry Greek yogurt and half of a banana.

My husband took me out to Panara for dinner. I had Lemon Chicken Orzo soup, and I only ate half of the bread that came with it. So half of what is is the picture. I couldn't finish all of the soup. I also had the Turkey Avocado BLT. I ate all of that. I saved the apple for later.

Tonight I am having a Belgian White beer. Never a perfect food day :)

And I'm back

I took a long break from blogging. Maybe to long. My last entry was almost a year and a half ago. But I have kept busy and have even done some working out.

In April my husband and I started what was to be a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. I wasn't happy with my overall fitness and I really wanted to hike some of it away. Our hike was cut short after 800+ miles. I ate such crap processes, sugar filled food. I lost about 12 pounds and went from about a size 10 to about a size 4. Hiking is amazing. Everyone should do it.
Now that I'm home I am working on keeping this new figure and firming it up. I am what is typically referred to as "skinny fat". I got smaller, but I did not get firmer, build muscle. And firm is good. So I am back here to keep track of myself. I'm going to try to log what I eat, what I d for exercise and how I'm feeling about it. I like having something to reference later.
I am not an expert and am not trying to offer advice or suggest what I  is the right or best way. If you are a healthy fitness expert, please feel free to chime in. Knowledge is power!

I took before and after pictures from my AT hike. I'm not ready to post those yet. Maybe someday.

V