Silver Linings Playbook

Today for my 43 I did some squat and lunge work because yesterday I caught a glimpse of my backside and realized that I have lost a lot of butt toning the past few weeks (TMI??) and swimsuit season is here!!! Yikes!!

So today, I did a 4-step move to try and start back in the right direction (ie – not saggy!!!). I held 12 pound dumbbells during this move to add some extra intensity and weight!

I started with a side-lunge to the right –

Then I stepped my foot back to the center for a squat with feet together –

A side-lunge to the left –

lunge to the left (don't mind the fact that I'm not going super low - wraps get in the way!) — lunge to the left (don’t mind the fact that I’m not going super low – wraps get in the way!)

And finally, another center squat to finish the rep –

One thing I love about doing lower body work like this, I can get my heart rate up while toning!! By the time I finished all 43 reps, I was breathing hard for sure!!

I’m giving myself another recovery day because between being an idiot last week, the storms last night, and being awake from 2-4 this morning while waiting for Jordan and the rest of the band kids to get back, I think it will be the best idea for the day!!

A couple of weeks ago I read the book The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick and loved it!! It is pretty intense but the concept is awesome (I’m not going to do a book review here because you might want to read it yourself!!). The other day, Chris and I watched the movie!!! Awesome movie – great story (and enough humor that Chris even enjoyed it!!).

A lot of times, I don’t like to read a book then watch the movie – it drives me crazy when they don’t match up. However, in this case, I didn’t mind the differences between the 2 (and there were plenty!!). I enjoyed the movie more – it wasn’t as intense (plus, hello, Bradley Cooper!!).

One thing I noticed, though, the concept of Silver Linings is brought out a lot more in the book. Pat (Bradley Cooper), is convinced that he will have a silver lining after all of the hardships he has gone through. I tend to agree with this idea most of the time. I think the times that we need the silver lining the most are sometimes the times it is hardest to really remain positive and believe that every bad situation has some good aspect to it. I think we all have different ways of “looking for the silver linings”. Some of us run! Some of us pray. Some of us turn to friends and/or family. I think the main thing is to keep looking for that Silver Lining because it’s there!!Without the trying times in our lives, we would never fully appreciate the happy times!!