Fitness with Style » Life

Rainbow Illiteracy

sherzy — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:12:19 +0000

Today is (unofficially) rainbow illiteracy awareness day, because I am wearing this tee shirt:

Sad rainbow

Happy New Year

sherzy — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:56:38 +0000

I have always loved the “Back to School” time of year, and really feel that Fall should be the beginning of the new “year”. I think my primary focus for the new year is to “be real” – inspired by a post on Ordinary Courage, “Once you are real, you can’t be ugly“. The post quotes from the The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, I just have to re-post the quote here for my inspiration:

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real, you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. ”You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

Love it.

So far my day has been pretty good and productive – got the car washed, returned some things to Amazon and Athleta, and got some goodies from Aveda: Blue Oil, Peppy mint, and a new robe. Also returned a swim cap to Sports Authority.

I ordered the Merrell Barefoot Pace Glove yesterday, should get it today – yay. Excited to try out a minimalist/barefoot type show, although I know I need to take it slow – still sort for the Duathlon

Honey and Baking Soda Face Scrub

sherzy — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 15:23:52 +0000

Kate Somerville makes a face scrub that I absolutely love, ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment, but at $85 per 2 ounces its rather expensive. Granted it does last a long time, you need only a pea size amount to scrub your face, but since I have been looking for more budget friendly beauty items this caught my attention: Honey and Baking Soda face wash.

The basic idea – mix

1 tablespoon honey (raw recommended, but I dont know where I can find that)
1 teaspoon baking soda

Massage over face, rinse well – viola! Can’t wait to try it, and use up some of the baking soda sitting in my cabinet!

My Dog

sherzy — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:40:02 +0000

This is my silly dog Boo, making the most of the pillows and her bed

Sorry for the bad picture – it was early and I used my phone’s camera.

One of Those Days

sherzy — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:54:57 +0000

Yesterday was one of “those days” the ones best remedied by a nice cocktail and snacks while sitting in the sun with hubby.

Ahh...

Yoga in the Sun

abby — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:43:58 +0000

Went to the gym today over the lunch hour – was planning on doing some yoga. As I stepped outside the sun felt so warm and nice I decided I would do yoga outside. So I went into the gym, which was freezing of course, changed, then walked around behind the building where there is an empty patio area (the building that my gym is in is mostly empty) laid down my mat and did 30 minute Yoga for Runners. I started out in the sun, but moved to the shade about half-way through – it was about 85 degrees after all. I think I would do yoga again outside – either there or by my office, although I might opt to wear shades

Should I run or walk?

abby — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:03:21 +0000

A friend made the statement this past weekend that “you burn more calories power-walking than running”. I vaguely remembered having heard similar claims, but doubting the validity of them. So, I challenged that calories burned is a matter of moving mass over distance, so whether you “power-walk” or run that distance you will burn basically the same amount of calories. Of course I also pointed out the exact number of calories will vary widely person by person, and even by fitness level of a particular person. For example, 2 years ago before I started running regularly I likely burned more calories per mile than I do now simply because my body is much more efficient at running.

A bit of searching online basically supports my line of thinking, although it isn’t quite that simple (it never is!). Here is a nice write up of running vs. walking. And a bit more info at thatsfit.com.

So, the bottom line is – get out there (or on a treadmill if the weather is bad) and get moving! It will burn calories, condition your cardiovascular system, and boost your mood (and possibly absorb some Vitamin D if the sun is shining). Do what feels good to you, but challenge yourself as well, and you will reap the benefits

Fat today

abby — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:16:33 +0000

Feeling fat today, ugh. Wearing size 8 jeans and they are uncomfortable. This is not good. We are on 2^nd day of the diet – I know if I just stick with it I can lose the weight, but somehow my brain just isn’t cooperating, nor are my thighs. I have no idea how I got to this point, it is really frustrating.

Had a short run this morning: a bit over 2 miles in 21 minutes. Planning on doing yoga over lunch hour and a bit of lifting. Weight was 138.6 lbs. Breakfast – egg-white scramble (going to be lots of those for the next 2 weeks!)

Cross Training

abby — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:08:36 +0000

Got up later than I wanted to this morning (7:00 am) but the sun was shining and it wasn’t too warm yet so I decided to do some biking then maybe run. I rode 5.5 miles, then ran 1.8 miles (for a grand total of 400 calories burned, woohoo). Weighed in at 138.8lbs this morning.

I would like to try riding my bike to work a few days a week to help train for the Iron Girl. I was thinking of trying on Friday, but hubby wants to do “the diet” hard for 2 weeks – starting tomorrow, so probably not the best time to try biking to work.

Over lunch I did the 20 minute Yoga Sculpt from yogadownload.com – I don’t think I will do that one again, it was just too slow for me, and I only have 8+ lbs weights at work, they just don’t work for it. And the sound is really strange – I think it is primarily a video that they pulled the audio out of.

Just ate a Dilly bar treat from DQ – now I feel sick .Since we are starting the diet tomorrow I thought it would be nice to have a treat, and Dilly bars have always been one of my favorite ice-cream treats. But now my stomach is killing me, ugh, not good…

Big Workout day

abby — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:24:47 +0000

Great run this morning – sun was shining, temperature was just right, the trails weren’t too wet. Morning weight: 137.6lbs, not bad. Still feeling thin, and not quite as bloated. Had a late, non-traditional breakfast after my run (about 9:45am when I finally ate) 2 pork tacos – yum.

Looking forward to trying a new workout tonight – my gym is starting to offer Zumba classes, tonight’s is free! We’ll see how I do; I tend to be rather un-coordinated when it comes to choreographed dance. And I am just clumsy in general, for example: last week I was the gym and went to grab a 25lb plate off one of the squat racks. I turn around quickly and bam! I hit my face just below my eye against one of the barbells on the rack. I iced the spot right away – it turned a little red but fortunately no bruising, just my ego, lol.

And, to make my “big workout day” complete I did a full-body strength training session this afternoon (took a late lunch). Didn’t follow a particular program, just did a good warm up, some body weight work, then hit all the major muscles (and the smaller too). New move I am loving: dumbbell pull-overs – really works the abs.

Just ordered some PB2 online, I have heard so many (mostly) great things about it I can’t wait to try it. Its basically powdered peanut butter. You mix it with water, so it has less fat and calories than regular peanut butter. Will post my thoughts once I try some.