Around 4:00, my stomach started to seriously grumble. It wasn’t quite dinnertime yet, but I couldn’t wait another minute to eat, so I made myself a little snack: Stonyfield yogurt mixed with canned pumpkin, walnuts, and cinnamon Puffins. The walnuts were a surprisingly awesome addition to this snack– they went great (both flavor- and texture-wise) with the cinnamon Puffins and the smooth yogurt-pumpkin combo. So delish!
Here’s my snack with a touch of Spring and a mug of hot white tea (ginger peach flavor) with a squirt of agave nectar…
Recommitting to Strength Training
So, let me start off my saying that I am very comfortable with my weight and the shape of my body. However, I know that I was in better shape last summer— I was much stronger and had some serious muscles! When I had big, scary muscles, I used to say: I could knock you out with one punch! 😉 And now, I’m not as “impressed” with my strength. Anyway, I am recommitting myself to strength training. My goal is to increase my strength training to 3 days a week: upper body, lower body, and full body workouts.
Being under the weather today, I didn’t want to push myself with a strenuous workout. Instead, I did Real Simple’s 20-Minute Workout (below), which took me about 20-25 minutes to complete 2 sets, 15 reps of each exercise. I used 10 lb. dumbbells for the weighted exercises, but select weight based on your own fitness level. (Click on the image below to make it bigger.)
Exercises:
- Chair Dip: Works triceps. Be sure to move through a full range of motion.
- One-Leg Squat: Works glutes. As you lower your body, your weight is focused on the standing leg’s glute muscles. Be sure to squeeze your buns! Advanced option: Nix the chair and work on your balance, too.
- Concentration Curl: Works biceps. This exercise isolates the biceps muscle; squeeze muscle when you reach the top of each rep.
- Squat and Side Lift: Works legs. This exercise engages the enter lower body, including glutes, quads, hamstrings and outer thighs. Again, be sure to squeeze your buns after each rep.
- Modified Push-Up: Works chest. Targets all muscles in the chest area. Advanced option: Do the push-ups on your toes!
- Super-Crunch: Works abs. Keeping your legs in the air challenges your entire core.
Yoga Challange: Day 20
I finished today’s workout with 20 minutes of YogaDownload’s Power Yoga #2. The session had a nice mix of gentle stretching and breathing as well as more intense, physically-demanding poses. I felt more in control of the balancing poses than I have in the past. It felt great to hold a pose and not need to reposition and catch my balance. Once again, just 20 minutes left me wanting more yoga!
After finishing Power Yoga, I decided to check out Exercise TV from On-Demand. I found quite the gem of a yoga session: Yoga On Edge Sunset (28 minutes), which I enjoyed a lot. The video is shot at sunset on a long dock; a women’s dark silhouette guides the yoga practice. The postures start out slow and controlled, but eventually become a faster flow of movements, which energized me and left me feeling strong, stretched, and relaxed. This yoga video was a good one! 😀
Where have you seen improvements in your yoga practice?
Mal just called to tell me that he is bringing Chinese food home for dinner! I have a feeling greasy Chinese food will help me feel a lot better! 😉 Enjoy your Friday night! The weekend is finally here!
