Whoop there it is

This morning was DVD wednesday. I found workout 1 of Jillian's 30 day shred on BeFit's youtube channel (Really liking this channel for workout options) the other day and decided I would try that. I was a bit nervous, but I must say - I LOVED it. A challenge in some spots, but I did it - all of it. :)
Boom.
It was the exact kind of workout I like - doing sets of compound exercises through for 30 seconds or 1 minute each movement and alternating with cardio chunks between sets of exercises. Nothing tough for the knees either -bonus...and I felt awesome after. I needed to use my inhaler midway through after the cardio, but I was able to keep going through it all with my 5Lb weights and feel really good after. Makes me want to pick up the entire DVD to see what some of the other workouts are like. I work harder when there is someone telling me what to do :)

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For breakfast I made my new favourite smoothie. I tossed a handful of frozen blueberries, a handful of frozen cranberries, a handful of frozen kale, half a banana and ~1/4c of cottage cheese and greek yogurt in my blender with 1t of matcha green tea powder and stevia and enough milk to hold it together. YUM. Cranberries and green tea are one of my favourite flavour combinations...it was a tasty breakfast to sip while walking to work listening to a Quirks and Quarks podcast. :) It's finally warm enough to wear my runners for walking to work and I can really feel the difference between them and winter shoes or dress shoes for walking that long (~2Km). I plan to get a new pair of runners this month since these ones are a few years old.
Now it's off to sciencetown.
Later taters!

No hard core weightlifting for me

Today I tried to do some lower body work without stressing my knee. I had a cardiology appointment this morning so I didn't walk to work (and got to sleep in a bit muahahah), but I did get the following done:
3 sets of:
15 reverse lunges
20 deadlifts (20 Lb)
15 squats
20 butt raises and hold/pulses (from Josie's workout)
20 kickbacks on my hands and knees (birddogs??)
20 firehydrant side leg raises on my hands and knees

I also did 20 ball passses and 20 ab dumbell rows in between the sets and stretched out afterwards. Good stuff.

My cardiologist gave me the all clear for whatever cardio I wish to do and was quite happy I was exercising again. Sadly, the only thing I was told specifically not to do is (sigh) no heavy weight lifting...so my plans to do more of that later at the gym are not allowed, but I can still work with dumb bells and body weight so I should still be able to do solid workouts. Kinda sucky, but I'm sure I'll be able to set up solid workouts without them. It's always good to hear that you're in good health. I know my home scale is accurate too which is a bonus. Not that I use it much, but it's goot to know it's not totally out to lunch...

At any rate, I have to go be Macguyver and fix a lab instrument so I'm gonna head outta here. Then I get an evening hanging out with my big brudder. Should be a nice evening.
Have a great day :)

What's the big deal about anchovies?

Had a really nice weekend. The northern lights were incredibly bright on friday night. J and I had a date night and after we went for a late walk and watched them streak across the sky. The pizza at the italian place was amazing...I had artichoke, peppers and olive with goat cheese one with a lemon cocktail. I even tried an anchovie (bleh). I just don't get the appeal. They aren't awful...they are just so overpowering...not what I want on a pizza.
Saturday I spent the day with Heather and we had a great day - brunch at Cora's and an afternoon of shopping and then an evening with her family sewing baby stuff and hanging out. I found a dress to wear to my summer weddings :) Sunday I did some painting and prepped some food for the week for my lunches and after some homemade curry and chapatis we settled in to watch the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special in 3D. Nifty. Nice way to end it all...
Now it's back to work.
Today I did my upper body exercises, some abwork and walked to work. I made a tasty blackberry banana and kale smoothie for breakfast with some cottage cheese. Yum. Today I have a lunch meeting at a place with a ginormous salad bar so I'm looking forward to that. >;)
Tonight I plan to go and get a new paint roller so I can get more painting done. The one I have is so old that the roller keeps coming off...I have never sworn so much while trying to prime a shelf in my life. Argh! I got primer everywhere and was coated in primer before I was done the unit I primed last night....what a gong show. Hopefully once I get a new one things will go faster. There are 6 units with all the shelf pieces to go with them so it'll take a while...then I have to paint them! Sheesh...
Well I must dash. It's coffee break and I have a muffin calling my name.
Have a great day!

Spring is here :)

Spring is here. New beginnings. I saw a crocus the other day on the walk home. That's my official sign of spring...so now it's for real :)

This morning I got up and did my lower body exercises. I picked up a book to log things, so when I get time this weekend I'm gonna start from this monday and log my workouts form now on. I also took some measurements initially last weekend just to be able to see my progress (if any) as I go. I only step on the scale about once a month (it makes me crazy otherwise...and when you're trying to build muscle it can be deceiving). I want to be able to measure how I do by how I feel and how my clothes feel. I want functional strength - to be able to hike where I want to go and do what I need to do in my daily life without strains. Already my pants have lost their uncomfortable feeling they were getting from me over indulging pretty much daily and drinking beer and wine often instead of occasionally. Moderation is the key. After a week of eating well I've lost the wierd sugar cravings I was having which is nice...I no longer feel the need to eat a whole bag of skittles at one go. I have a  Lindt chocolate bunny to enjoy this weekend and it will be glorious :)

I also noticed my knee give a few twinges as I walked to work this morning. Yup *that* knee. The one that would periodically act up in the past. I think I may need to dial back a little bit on my knees . I'm so excited to be able to do full workouts again and it feels so good...I'm perhaps being a tad too enthusiastic about things...and that's how you can hurt yourself. So, before I do anything dumb I will scale it back a bit. I have a weekend of rest, but also I will try some other strengthening exercises next week and see how that helps. I don't need to DO ALL THE EXERCISES just because I can now. I may divide my lower body exercises into 2 separate groups and then do them on separate days instead of all of them twice a week. That sounds more reasonable to me...After all, it's all in the process. I want to enjoy every minute of it :)

J and I are gonna go out tonight for a dinner date out and maybe a film or something. There is a new italian place that opened near our house so we're going to check out what delicious things their wood fire oven can make us...our cheat meal for the week...we deserve it. We've become so used to me not really being up to going out or being trapped by the winter ridiculousness that we're trying to reset our minds and find more things to do out together that aren't too expensive...even just going for a walk or preparing a new recipe...catching a movie or a live band. Things to do together not involving Netflix! Cuz he's my favorite person to be with...:) I also get to spend saturday with my bestie who I haven't seen in nearly a month...I am so very much looking forward to this weekend. It's going to get up to +16C. Glorious!
I was thinking on my walk to work today how lucky I am to have this reboot. How I have been able to step back into my life and I am so very grateful for being able to be here. I have gone from bald, achey and unable to climb a whole set of stairs to walking 4K a day and doing a full weighted workout again. Feeling your body move and respond is a wonderful thing...I never want to take it for granted.

Madness

“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways.”
-Yann Martel (Life of Pi)

“No one can tell what goes on in between the person you were and the person you become. No one can chart that blue and lonely section of hell. There are no maps of the change. You just come out the other side. Or you don't.”
-Stephen King (The Stand)

Sun sun sun here it comes

It's warming up! The last few mornings it's been sunny and around 0 with little wind so I've had some lovely walks to work in the morning. The weather during the day is getting up to 9 or 10 C which is glorious. All the snow we got is gone again. It's supposed to continue this nice weather for the next while, so I'm looking forward to more time outside in the near future.

Yesterday on my DVD humpday I tried out Jillian Michael's Yoga meltdown workout (having youtube on my TV is pretty sweet I must say). I enjoyed it a lot. It was still yoga, but with a bit more speed and reps. It felt like a very nice workout. I will definitely do it again. I have learned I cannot do camel pose...but I am hoping in time I will be able to. My back just does not like to bend that way...yet. I also dug out all my old stack of workout DVDs last night so I have a few things to try out on my random wednesdays. Should keep it interesting. :) This morning I did upper body weight work like earlier in the week, with some chest flies added in for good measure and a bit of ab work along with my tabata bike sprints again. It was a very nice workout and I feel amazing after a nice sunny stroll to work in the sunshine.

We've been trying to eat healthy this month and last night I made greek chicken taco wraps for supper and they were amazing. Spiced grilled chicken with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and lettuce with some homemade sour cream tzatziki. Mmm. I had hope to have enough for my lunch today, but we ated them all. Nom. I have some leftover banana pancakes for lunch instead...and I am OK with that :)

Anyways... I must dash. Lots of lab stuff to catch up on today.  Have a good one :)

Snow again

It's snowing again. Spring is being elusive. There was no walk to work today because the weather is a bit miserable - windy and snowy and I'm not in the mood to walk along a riverbank with no wind cover. Hopefully it'll be nicer by the end of the day for a walk home. This morning I was up and did my tabatas on the bike and then my lower leg workout, with a few ab exercises thrown in for good measure. A nice solid workout. I cooked up some oatmeal with banana and blueberries for breakfast and have a ham sammich for lunch with lots of veg on some fresh baked buns I made on the weekend. Yum.

I discovered this AM that my chest strap for my Polar watch needs replacing. J is worried I may be doing too much with the tabatas so I said I'd wear my chest strap to keep an eye on my heart...but it doens't work right now. You can apparently pry them open and replace the battery which I think I'll try to do tonight. It just has a big watch battery in it and I feel better about reusing it and just sealing it up with some tape instead of buying a new one and throwing the old one out. It seems so wasteful. I figure I'll give it a go- I meant the worst thing that could happen is I break it and have to get a new one anyways...no biggie. I just have to seal it back up again after so I don't sweat all over inside the thing with some tape or silicone. I was curious if it would stay in place with only one breast but it doesn't seem to matter at all. When I get all Macguyver (swoon) on it this week I'll take some pics and post them in case you all want to know how to too.

I can't wait until the snow is done. Mostly because a lot of the grad students wear UGGs in the winter...I think they're ugly (but I'm old so what do I know), but the thing that drives me crazy about them is they aren't tight at all on your ankles so I get a gillion people walking around shuffling their feet on the floor. Loudly. All. The. Time. Yes -it's one of my top peevey peeves next to chewing with your mouth open (which also seems to be a thing for some foreign grad students...sigh). I had hoped UGG season was done, but it must remain for a few more days it seems. Thankfully this time of year the snow doesn't stay and it's supposed to be up to +10 again by the weekend so I'll bide my time and think warm thoughts until then.
Have a great day! I should go science up some things.

Nice weekend really

Friday was a nice day off. I worked out (leg and ab stuff as before and then I hopped on the bike for 25 minutes). Then I had the weekend off to relax. I got some sewing done (and managed to mangle my finger with the sewing machine...don't ask). I went in with J to co-host his radio show on community radio. We took an extra shift like we do every good friday and had fun playing music and being weird on the air together. Saturday J worked all day so I managed to sew some more and nearly finish the baby sewing I am trying to finish for my friend Heather's upcoming baby. Then we went out to see 2 of our friend's bands play on saturday night. It was nice to be out and see and hear my talented friends and enjoy some live music. Sunday J was sick with something miserable so I had a solo easter meal at my brother's place. We played games and ate good food. Yup it was a good weekend. I hope your weekend was great too.
This morning I got up and did my upper body workout (with some plank weighted arm raises added in for fun) together with 25 minutes on the bike because the weather is freezing cold and now it's time for work. I have to go be all adult and stuff and interview someone for a job. Little do they know :)


And so I leave you with a song by my friend Dylan playing on his step...he was in one of the bands we saw play saturday night.
Happy monday :)

Mmm. Eggy oats.

Did my bike tabatas again this AM with the same upper body workout as earlier in the week. They seemed slightly less evil this time. Somehow knowing they are short-lived makes them easier to deal with.
Since the weather is crappy (snow, sleet and strong wind) I didn't walk to work this AM had some extra time for a  hot breakfast. I made some oatmeal up with an egg stirred in at the end for some protein with some blueberries and a splodge of milk and honey. Dang. So good. I also made some peach bran muffins last night...I have one staring at me right now waiting for me to get to my coffee break and eat it.
I have a more relaxing weekend coming up than I thought. My Dad was going to stop in for a few days on his way home from his month in Arizona but he has a bad cold so he's just heading on through home. A bit less stress...but I'm still making myself clean up the house even tho it's not really needed :) Then I can sit around all weekend and not look at things I need to do...
Anyways. My muffin is calling me. Just wanted to log today and say hi.

Happy Easter. I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend :)

Yoga again

This morning I got up a bit earlier and did my entire yoga DVD before I walked to work. It was nice....but I can't get used to the slow pace of yoga. I'm wondering if that means I just need to do more yoga. It seems so sloooooow. I feel good after though.  I'm hoping I'll get more flexible. I'm tempted to try a yoga hybrid workout as well, like the one by Jillian Michaels yoga meltdown which is more of a regular workout based on some yoga poses...less mellow, but maybe more my style...what do you all think about yoga? Maybe I need to learn to relax more? I'm just not all that namaste kind of a person...

I had to fast for a blood test I had this AM and I am now happily eating my chia overnight oats and an apple. I must get back to the lab tho - Just wanted to log this in.