Today I did a push-up variation for my 44. I used my yoga blocks –
clearly they don’t get much use for Yoga
I just put my hands on the blocks for the push-ups so it was a very slight change from a standard push-up.
readydown
And, I sort of cheated because I counted these 44 push-ups as part of my 50 for the core challenge. (I did the 90 second plank first and then did 50 instead of 44 push-ups.)
Today was the first time in months that I did a Turbo Fire workout and it was so much fun!! I did Fire 55EZ – don’t let the EZ fool you – this is 55 minutes of high intensity, non-stop moving.
During the cool down, Chalean made a comment that has me curious. She said that people tend to work harder in group settings because someone is watching them.
This statement really got me thinking because I rarely workout with a group – usually I’m in my basement alone either with a DVD or on the treadmill – however, I feel like I put in just as much effort as I would if I were at the gym.
The way I see it, I get up at 5:00 am for a reason!!!
I don’t want to waste that time putting in a half-hearted effort during my workouts whether I’m running, lifting, cross-training -whatever I’m doing.
I think that this is something I will really focus on for the next few days and make sure that I feel like I’m working as hard as I would if I were surrounded by other people doing the same thing – definitely something to think about!!!
What about you? Do you work harder when you are in a group setting?
Today’s 44 took one of my favorite moves (burpees) and added in one of my least favorite (jumping lunges) for a great challenge!!!
The move – a burpee (don’t forget he push-up!) jump up and immediately do 2 lunge jumps.
(FYI – the burpees in the demo actually make # 45, 46 & 47!)
Last night Hunter was trying to give me some more ideas for my 44s and he suggested a burpee with a tuck jump. I told him I did those this summer on the beach in Florida!!! He didn’t believe me so I had to find the video to prove it!!!
While we were looking at YouTube, we came across this video –
44 (must be fate!) of the best burpee exercises ever!!! I can’t wait to try more of these!!!
I decided that this bitterly cold and snowy Sunday would be the perfect day to share some sunshine!!!!
I know there are supposed to be rules to these things but I pretty much suck at following them!! I decided to start by answering Mona’s questions and then go from there.
1. If the internet suddenly disappeared and you couldn’t blog anymore, what would you choose as a “release” for your writing and creativity?
Well, I don’t know that I am super creative in my writing anyway – I would probably just spend the extra time on my treadmill!!!
2. What’s a perfect Saturday morning to you? I would say it is a day that I sleep in but that doesn’t really happen. I do like the mornings when I don’t have to set an alarm and jump out of bed first thing. I would take my time getting up, do my workout, have Chris and both boys home and not have to spend the day running all over the place or doing any errands – in other words LAZY!!
3. Where do you see yourself and your blog in 3 years from now? I will be 47 so I guess if I can stick with it that long, I will be doing daily 47s!!! As for blogging, I hope to have met in person some of the incredible people that I have met online!!!
4. Is your family supportive of your blogging? Yes, they are 100% supportive. Chris reads my post every single day (and usually texts me after to make a comment of some sort so I know he read it). The boys don’t seem to mind being part of my blog on many occasions and are more than willing to help me out with pictures/videos!!
5. What’s you fav quick, easy and delicious dinner recipe? (this one made me laugh – if you haven’t read Mona’s blog, you really should check it out!!!)
My favorite easy meal is going to involve the crock-pot for sure!!! Hard to pick just one! I’m going to go with French Dip because it is so easy!!!
Put a frozen roast in the crock pot. Mix 2 c water, 1/2 c soy sauce (we use low-sodium), a bay leaf, some garlic powder, a few peppercorns, rosemary & thyme (just sprinkle some in). Cook on low all day. Shred. Serve on Kaiser rolls with swiss cheese and use the juice to dip.
6. Where is your favorite place to write? This could read where is your favorite place to ___________? No matter what is in the blank, my answer is the same!!! THE BEACH!!!
7. If you had to start your blog all over, what changes would you make?
I think that I would have started commenting on other blogs sooner. I was a complete newbie in the blog world and didn’t have a clue what I was doing for months!!!
What would you keep? This one is easy – I would keep all of the bloggy friends I have made because they (y’all) are the best part of blogging!!
8. Vacation…with or without kids? With!! When the boys were younger I liked it when Chris and I could get away by ourselves. Now, the boys are fun to have on vacation and that is part of the experience. I’m hoping that even when they leave the nest they will still take vacations with us and one day that their spouses and kids will come, too!!
9. What’s your best advice for overcoming writer’s block? Since I’m not really a writer, I don’t truly deal with this!!! I just make up some random stuff and move on!
And, like I said at the beginning – I’m not good at these the traditional way. So I’m not making up 9 or 10 or 12 new questions and tag people – I can’t tag people because I think it supposed to be just a few and I would want to tag at least 100 people!!!
Instead – I will make up one question.
How do you spread sunshine? What is the temperature where you are?
So I lied and asked 2 questions!!! We are actually at 10 degrees with about 4-5 inches of snow so I guess I can’t complain (but I will!) compared to all y’all even further north!
Today’s 44 was nearly a fail!!! Not long ago I did push-ups using my foam roller for the 44 of the day. The wonderful and super fit Jody suggested trying the same move but with my feet on a stability ball. Well – I’m always up for a new way to challenge myself so today I tried it!
the set-up
I could not even hold the pose with my toes on the ball so I just went with the tops of my feet and still struggled!!!
down
This move was beyond HARD!!! I struggled and by the end my push-ups were barely going down – I’m going to have to work on this move for sure!!!
My neighbor’s daughter (she is a few years younger than me!) is still in town and she came over to workout again this morning – so much fun!! Today we did Cathe XTrain – Tabatacise!!! This is definitely a great workout. After we were done Erin asked about a challenge move (since we did the plank hold last time) so we did 10 Manmakers.
(This video clearly wasn’t today since I had blond hair!)
Yesterday we hosted our first annual Governor’s Row House Christmas Day Open House.
snacks
We had no idea if any one would come or if it would be just the 4 of us hanging out over there.
It turned out to be a really fun day. Some great friends came and hung out most of the day!
kid’s playing HeadBandzhanging out
The boys (Chris, Jordan and Hunter) played trumpet and cello tunes for us! Plenty of food (lunch and dinner!) and fun!!!
posing on the stairs to nowhere
Last week I put fliers in our 3 tenants mail boxes and 2 of them came down for awhile (the 3rd, a young couple, had gone home to Chicago!).
Kelvin lives on the 3rd floor by himself (he is going to be 65 next month) and called me around 5 to see if we were still there. He came down, brought Champagne to share (nice!), ate and visited until we started packing up around 8.
He had been by himself (other than his cat) all day and would have spent the entire day that way if he hadn’t joined us. After a couple of hours he said he felt like he had an adopted family!! That comment made my day because all along, my whole goal had been to help make someone’s Christmas better than it might have been otherwise. When he got ready to go back up to his apartment he hugged me and said it had turned into a wonderful Christmas for him!
And, the best part – on the way home Jordan rode with me (I had gone earlier to clean since we had an event Christmas Eve, too) and he talked about how glad he was that we had done the Open House!!! This is big because when I first mentioned it to Jordan he did not want any part in it.
After seeing how much it meant to Kelvin, he realized that sometimes taking the time to be available to someone is the best gift you can give. (Plus he had a good time all day!!)
Push-ups!!! It’s been a long week of very little activity and avoiding movements that make me move my head but today I did a variation of one of my favorite moves for the 44!!!
I used a foam roller –
to do push-ups. (not sure why it looks like I have a huge bald circle???)
ready go
This was a bit rough today but 44 push-ups always makes me feel semi-strong!!!
Looking around, there are so many people who struggle during this time of year. Society “tells you” that you should be Merry and Bright but sometimes that is hard for a number of reasons.
There are so many people who are hurting right now for a variety of reasons. I think that one of the main reasons that people struggle through the holiday season is loneliness!
Even with all of the commotion going on everywhere you turn right now, there are many people who feel completely isolated.
For some, it is just because they are separated from family by distance and due to work, time, finances or numerous other factors they can’t be with the ones they are closest to.There are also many people that don’t really have family to be with during the holidays. Even though they may have great friends, sometimes it is awkward to join someone else’s family on a holiday.
Since Chris and I have been married, we have spent many Christmases without any family. Many years it is just the 4 of us – sometimes we have friends over and other times we hang out together.
This year we decided to start a new tradition and hopefully reach out to some of those who are lonely and feeling left out during this time of year.
I know that we can’t make things perfect for people but I hope that we can at least help a few people who might not have anyone to celebrate with spend a few hours enjoying themselves!
I hope that this becomes a new yearly tradition and a way to spend time with friends both old and new!!!
Today’s 44 was another push-up variation. I used my agility ladder and did wide push-ups with my fingers pointed out to the side (amazing how that hand position changes the whole move!).
the set-updown
These are hard but I can tell that I am getting stronger because I only had to take 2 quick stretch breaks to complete all 44.
Power Legs was my workout today (Insanity the Asylum vol. 2) and it is a challenge!!! 55 minutes of lower body work – plenty of cardio + strength work!! One of the moves really tested my mental coordination this morning – I struggled to get the arms and legs right especially when we had to move backwards!!!
Based on all of my blog reading lately and my own experiences – I think lots of us are a little/lot stressed right now!!! So, I thought it would be fun to do some riddles again! (I will share the answers tomorrow.)
1. Some use me better than others, even though everyone gets the same. If you lose me, it might be stressful, for I can’t be found or reclaimed. What am I?
2. When I am filled, I can point the way.
When I am empty, nothing moves me.
What am I?
3. Why are 2007 pennies worth more than 2006 pennies?
4. What happened in 1961 and will not happen again until 6009?
5. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
6. How can you use the letters in NEW DOOR to make one word?
Bonus: Use all 26 letters of the English alphabet to complete the following 13 words, but use each letter only once.
b a _ _ a i n
l _ _ g e r
d y _ _ s t y
_ _ g o t e
s a _ _ a t i o n
d i _ _ p a n
p u m _ _ i n
d e _ _ a y
b o _ _ a r
d i _ _ i t
s u n _ _ r n
o b l _ _ u e
l i _ _ o f f
Do you like riddles?
How many did you solve today?
