Sometimes I need a real kick in the butt to get motivated to stay active, and the best motivation I’ve found is working out with supportive friends. Knowing that someone else is counting on you to get to the gym or walk the dogs to the park together, makes it easier to get up and go.
One of my favorite active Fall activities to do with family and friends is hiking in the woods. The trees are gorgeous, the air is crisp and there are fewer bugs. If the trail permits it, I like to take Whiskey and encourage friends to bring along their dogs too. This picture is from a hike my sister and I did with the dogs last Thanksgiving. It was cold, hence the very puffy vest, gloves and hot tea in hand. We were outside for over 2 hours hiking along and catching up. Our minds were focused on the conversation at hand, but our bodies were still getting a good workout.
This week, I wanted to try a yoga class at a new studio that opened up in my area. I gave my friend Coutney a shout to see if she’d like to come along. It was nice to try out the new studio and class with someone else, making it less intimidating and a little more fun too. The class turned out to be great and we both liked it, so now if either of us feelings like going, we always have a workout buddy on hand to go.
I went looking for a picture of Coutney and I for this post and when I found this one from August it made me realize two things: 1) I have already lost this tan from the summer and am approaching albino-white again and 2) I iss my hair being this long. This always happens. When its long, I want it shorter. When its shorter I miss the length. I can be so indecisive sometimes.
But back to the issue at hand, here is the Exercise Log for the week. I put in a few good bikes rides (2 indoors and 1 outdoors), 2 new yoga classes and a few bedtime yoga sessions this week. I did not do any days of rest, deciding to switch to “active days of rest”, meaning I still did something, even if it was just taking Whiskey for a long walk and then doing bedtime yoga before I hit the hay. I also increased my girlie pushups up to 10 (still can’t believe this) and I’m going to strive to add more real pushups into it this week.
Exercise Log:
Wed, Oct 20: Bedtime Yoga + 2 pushups and 6 girlie pushups
Thurs, Oct 21: Indoor Bike doing Intervals (5 min warm up + 30 min of 30 sec high intensity and 1 min medium intensity)
Fri, Oct 22: Bedtime Yoga + 10 girlie pushups.
Sat, Oct 23: Yoga Class + 30 min Bike Ride (15 min there and 15 min back)
Sun, Oct 24: Yoga Class
Mon, Oct 25: Abbreviated Bedtime Yoga + 10 girlie pushups
Tues, Oct 26: Indoor Bike Ride 9.06 miles + Arm Intervals (5 min warm up 1.29m, 10 min 3.33m, arms interval, 10 min 3.30m, arms intervals and 5 min cool down 1.14m)
The past two weeks I’ve been gaining weight, but my pants are fitting a bit better and I feel alot stronger. Sure enough, when I did my stats, I’m gaining more muscle by the week. I went back to look at a fitness log I did at the beginning of the year and since last January I’ve added almost 8 lbs of muscle. I looked even further back to when I did a fitness assessment a gym two years ago this month and I have gained 15 lbs of muscle. I’m not trying to become a muscly person by any means, but its a great feeling to know that you are getting stronger and that soon I’ll be able to change some of the fat I’m still harbouring into more lean muscle. Feeling stronger is a great feeling.
Stats
Body Mass Index: 24.3
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.44
Percent Body Fat: 26.9
Lean Body Mass: 115 lb
So, this week’s question is:
Bike rides? Ultimate Frisbee League? Swimming? Walking the Dogs?
