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Fitness Friday

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Good Morning! Happy Friday! This morning the Hubz and I scrambled out of bed this morning to make it to the 6am Flow Yoga class at the Y. It was our first yoga class since joining the Y and honestly we were a little skeptical. We are used to doing classes at a studio which has a different feeling and flow to it. At the Y the class is held in an old gym with a loud air conditioner running and our mats set up in a circle. We went with it though.

Today’s class was particularly hard for me because I’ve been doing so much running and gardening and not nearly enough stretching. At first I was cursing all of the downward dogs in my head because my body was so tight and I eventually had to drop down to childs pose but as the class went on my body became looser, the fan became more soothing than a distraction and I really began to enjoy the experience. After class the Hubz and I had Friday breakfast at the Co-op and discussed the class; both of us agreed we’d like to make it part of our Friday routine.

In other fitness news the Hubz and I have joined the Y and we are loving the ability to run, swim, use other cardio equipment and all of the other great features that the Y has. It isn’t your fancy gym but it works and our needs are met. I also was fitted for new running shoes this week and they are working out great. I highly recommend going to a shop where the staff is knowledgeable and can get you fitted to the right shoe for your feet and body.

Here is the weekly wrap up of my workouts:

  • Friday: 2.5 mile run in 30 minutes
  • Saturday: 500 yard swim (30 minutes), 2 mile walk (40 minutes), Hardcore Gardening (90 minutes), Vigorous Gardening (180 minutes)
  • Sunday: off- so sore!
  • Monday: C25k- 30min; walk 40min
  • Tuesday: walk 30 min
  • Wednesday: C25k 30 min; lap swimming 20 min
  • Thursday: Stair Master and Cybex 35 min
  • Friday: Flow Yoga Class; 60 min

Days: 11/25 Days  12 hours & 15 minutes/15.5 Hours (it’s crazy I’m almost to my goal for hours and it’s not even half way through the month- WIN!!)

Q: Do you have a gym membership? Do you find that it makes you more motivated to workout?  If not what does motivate you?


 

Giggles & Goggles

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Good Morning!! The Hubz and I had a busy night and I didn’t get to blog after we finished our shopping trip. So lets rewind to yesterdays lunch which was leftover spicy swiss chard & lentils over quinoa which I ate about half of and an apple which I forgot to take a picture of however I’m sure you all know what an apple looks like and if you don’t google “gala apple”.

After work I headed out to pick up a mothers day gift which I am not going to reveal here because my mom reads the blog- Hey Mom! I also picked up a few plants for our balcony garden and an Honest Tea.

After shopping I picked up the Hubz from work and we headed home for the early bird special (dinner at 4:30pm) before we spent the night running around doing errands and shopping. For dinner I whipped up soba noodles with sundried tomatoes, fennel, mushrooms & garlic with a tahini sauce.

Once we fueled up we did a marathon shopping trip; first stop Fleet Feet to shop for new running shoes for the Hubz.

It was pretty interesting to watch how the guy measured your foot to figure out the right pair of shoes. He brought our two pairs of shoes for the Hubz to try and then he watched him run in them to evaluate how they worked for him. It just happened that the first pair he recommended where the ones that worked the best too; pretty talented shoe fitter. It made me realize that I should probably get fitted for my own pair of shoes since mine just feel a little off and the fact that I have had them for over a year.

We went from shoe shopping to bathing suit and goggle shopping. Since the Hubz and I are going to get a membership at the YMCA we decided that we needed goggles for the pool and were in need of swimming suits rather than sitting by the pool, I may go in to get wet bathing suits. We had a great time trying on all of the different goggles at Dick’s and both found a pair that we liked. However we did not find new swim suits, they were all awful. I did end up finding one at Kohl’s and on sale- WIN!

After goggles came …compost? Yes we headed to pick up compost and potting soil for our garden plot and balcony gardens. After that we ran a few more errands and then came home for a late second dinner of sushi and beer (yes we let ourselves have the night off from the cleanse- more on this in up coming posts).

and we watched a movie (the Hubz picked).

It was really good however we still need to finish the movie because the old man the Hubz was falling asleep.

Now we are heading out to the Y and then the market and then breakfast and then our community garden work day. AHHH! Busy day!

What’s the most recent movie you have seen? How was it?

Staying Active: April Update and a GIVEAWAY!

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We are a week into April and things have been going great, both the Hubz and I are keeping on top of working out and we even started Couch to 5k again! I have also been using Daily Mile to keep track of my activities and it is really great to connect with other people and find support, motivation and inspiration. So here is the break down of April 1-7:

– Friday Community Class at Evolution Yoga 1 hr 15 min

– Saturday 30 minute walk around Middlebury

-Sunday C25K Day 1 Week 1 plus walking – total 3 miles in 40 minutes

– Monday Rodney Yee AM Yoga and Yoga for Abs 40 minutes

– Tuesday walked on the bike path with the Hubz 1.5 miles 30 minutes

-Wednesday C25K Day 2 Week 1 plus walking- total 2.9 miles in 35 minutes

-Thursday- OFF

Totals: 6/24 days and 4hrs 10minutes/15hours

 

 

OISELLE REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Now that we have discussed the updates lets get down to the good stuff- the giveaway.  I think that this giveaway is perfect for this post, my new love like of running and because I know that many of you are runners or are active in other ways.  Oiselle just sent me one of their Recycled Poly Tech Tops to try. The Recycled Poly Tech Top was designed to be so light, “you might forget you have it on. The wing motion graphic across the chest mimics the lightness of your feet’s flight. And because it’s made of 50% recycled polyester it’s light impact on the planet too. A running top so light it’s practically gravity defying.”

– Light, silky fabric
– Flattering fit
– Silk screen graphic
– 50% recycled polyester/50% polyester
– machine washable

I have been wearing it for running and other activities.  I honestly thought the shirt wasn’t too cute in the photo and was like oh well I don’t need to look cute to run I just need to have something that is light and is great for running.  To my surprise (and delight) the shirt came and it was actually super cute on and it fit perfectly.  I immediately put it on and went for a run and fell in love.  The shirt is really great because not only is the fabric light on your skin it breathes really well and even though I got sweaty I didn’t feel drenched and weighed down.

Now that I have this top the stripey tank has caught my eye and would be perfect for summer. Oh and if you are a bride-to-be and a runner you will love this.

Now that you have fallen in love with this top (you have right?) I should mention that they sent me two and since it isn’t in my size one lucky person will have the chance to win this top.  Now the top is the one you see to the left (same color) and is in a size medium, however depending on how you like your clothes to fit it could easily fit someone who wears a small.  Now here is how you enter, oh and this is open to US and Canadian residence and you can enter until April 10th at midnight.

The Winner is:


Mandatory:

1. Visit the Oiselle website and tell me something you learned. (leave a comment below)

Additional Chances to Win (you must leave a separate comment for each)

  • Follow Oiselle on Twitter
  • Follow me on Twitter
  • Follow my health counseling on Twitter
  • Tweet “I want to win the @Oiselle giveaway on @cookveganlover http://wp.me/pFVWo-1Lw”
  • “Like” Oiselle Running on Facebook
  • “Like” Cook.Vegan.Lover on Facebook
  • Leave a Facebook Comment on Oiselle saying that you want to win and include http://wp.me/pFVWo-1Lw

How Do You Stay Active?

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The Hubz and I have been feeling a little bit of the winter blues and bored with our current workout routines as well as a lack of motivation.  With summer around the corner we are getting excited for  hiking and gardening but until then we need to get ourselves in tip-top shape so 15 mile hikes don’t make us feel like we were hit by a truck the next day. In addition to changing up our routine we are also working on an incentives program to help motivate us to stay on track.

For our incentives program each month we have a set of goals to help us stay on top of being active as well as to track our workout progress.The incentive part of it is that  at the start of each month we will each be eligible for $50* of fun money, to be paid out on the last day of the month IF we accomplish our goal.   The goal:

  1. Work out 80% of the days in the month  OR 70% of the days in the month and 1 hour for everyday missed from the 80% (example: March 80% plus Hours goal–>Must workout 25 days and Total of 15.5  hours OR 70% plus Hours goal–>Must workout 22 days and 15.5 hours PLUS 3 hours for the 3 missed from the 80% days so total of 18.5 hours)

AND

2. Work out an average of 30 minutes per days in the month (October-May) and work out an average of 60 minutes per days in the month (June-September)**

March 2011 Goals

  • Must workout 25 days
  • Total of 15.5  hours

OR

  • Must workout 22 days
  • Total of 18.5 hours

So far this month I am on track with the 80% however since I only have 1 off day left I may be turning to the 70% plan this month…..we’ll see. This is where I am at as of yesterday:Today:

  • Days: 10/25 11/25
  • Hours: 6 hours 7 minutes/15.5 hours 7 hours 12 minutes/15.5 hours

Currently my workouts include yoga, walking, elliptical, weight training and most recently Insanity- have you tried this with Shaun T? What did you think?  As soon as the sidewalks and bike path clear out I am determined to start the Couch to 5k again as well. What do you do to keep active? How do you stay motivated?

Lastly I’ll leave you with my current workout playlist (it’s a work in progress):

What are your workout tunes?

*In case you are wondering why cash? Well Neil and I have a tendency to not spend money on ourselves even when we need to.  This money that we earn will be $50 we can use guilt free towards whatever we want.  Originally we were going to set a specific item/service as our goal but then decided that for us it just din’t make sense.  It works better for us to make a decision when the time comes based on what we need then. Additionally the money allows us to save up for more expensive items such as Lululemon clothes or hiking gear.

** June-September is the time of the year that we do hiking, biking, gardening and (hopefully) running so there are days that we may be active as many as 8-10 hours on a hiking trip that is why there is the increase of total hour goals.

 

* Update (Sunday 3/20/11):

  • Days: 14/25
  • Hours:  8 hours 42 minutes/15.5 hours
    • Thursday: Yoga
    • Friday: Day 4 Insanity
    • Saturday: walked with Hubz
    • Sunday: Off