Work It Out

Dang Wednesday got here fast. I am definitely not complaining though. Since I did a guest post over at Eating to Run, I figured I would do something a little different here today. How about I tell you a little about my workouts and a little about food?

I never really talk in detail about my workouts, but they are an important part of my health. I have had some people ask me about what I do, so I thought I would share what I like to do. Before I start, this is not about what you should or should not do. This is about me and what works for me. Oh and a few random pictures thrown it. I realized today that I am the only one that takes pictures here so these are a year old, but I haven't changed. For me, that is a good thing!

(Tony and I at my sister's wedding last year)

I grew up being physically active. I took dance when I was extremely little. Nothing hard core, just ballet at that time. Then I moved into taking tap. I always dreamed of having a ballerina physic, but no...not me. I was a tap dancer with a little bit of jazz mixed in, just for fun.

(My sister Whitney and I at her wedding)

I have always enjoyed exercising (jazzercising is what the illustrator calls it, even though that is NOT what I do). I can't run, so I don't. I love working out though. So, I have fun with it. I discovered workout videos when I was in 8th grade. That was a huge score for me because I felt like I was working out with someone. My favorites back then were Gilad, Ada (Gilad's sister), Jane Fonda, Cher and Denise Austin (but her chipper disposition really got on my nerves). Now I use FitTv with a little Exercise TV mixed in occasionally. I still like Gilad. I like his new stuff with the muscle toning workouts. Some other ones I like are Sharon Mann, Cathe and Core Fusion.

(We used to go caving when we first met. That is me in the front...I look like dopey from Snow White. Tony is on the left...this was about 16 years ago.  I miss caving with this group!)

My usual routine is to get up at 5:50am, wake up for about 10 minutes, then I do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training. I like to workout first thing in the morning because I know the craziness of the day can easily take away my chances later. I call the early morning workout "my time". The illustrator and I started walking this summer too. We do this for his cardio. He is an artist who sits all day and this is his way of getting the heart pumping. It is about 2 miles according to my free app on my phone and from what we guessed before hand (based on the park mile markers), that's about right. It has a few good size hills too so it's a pretty good 2 mile walk. I only work out 5 days a week. I typically do this Monday through Friday so I can sleep in on the weekends (you know 7am). I don't lift heavy weights. Long story short, for those who don't know, I had a tumor in my abdominal muscle that they, unfortunately, had to remove enough of my muscles to get clear margins. This left a hole the size of my hand all the way through to my abdominal cavity. After a massive hernia with the first mesh, I now have gore tex in there and things are pretty sturdy, but I still have limitations to how heavy I can lift. The funny part about all of that is that I am stronger now than I ever was before. I focus on my arms, legs and back. I only use 5lb. weights and while I am sure I could go higher, this works for me. A lot of it, for me, is the focus on the muscle group I am working on and making sure that I make the best of the exercise. I focus on a couple of muscle groups everyday so I can exhaust them and then give them a rest day or two. I have a love hate relationship with yoga. I love it, but I hate how long it takes to do it. I need to get back into it again because it really does make me feel better.

(Dinner last night...I had to put food in here!)

Exercise is addictive. I have found that I will only do what I enjoy. I love plyometrics, boot camps, kickboxing and intervals. I have to change it up or I get bored. Neither the illustrator nor I likes running, but he mentioned the other day that our walk was getting faster to the point where it is starting to feel like we should just start running. I was thinking the same thing too. We will see if it goes that far anytime soon.

(Soy free fried rice for dinner last night!)

(all dressed up with the rooster in my lettuce wrap)

So, what is your favorite work? If you do videos, what is your favorite? I need to add to my collection!

Have you ever been caving?  In that picture, I was wet all the way up to my armpits because I had to swim throw water that deep. I loved it!

I tried to find pictures of my dancing days, but I don't have any so I threw in the caving one instead. I am sure there are photos of fishnets and feathers somewhere...I will see what I can find.