<p>All of those exercise videos that promise to “get the burn on” are too fast paced for me. Basically just cardio. Short rest and quick tempo is fine. But, moving from exercise to exercise with no rest makes it impossible to get much out of the exercises…at least for me. About the fastest pace I can handle is 30 seconds of exercise, 30 seconds of rest and an extra minute of rest every five minutes. Even then, that’s more of a cardio/conditioning workout that one where I can maximize each exercise.</p>
<p>Oh no, I am not a stair climbing champion, CJane, I have never done a stair climbing competition before. I just looked at the times from last year and thought I could place well, especially since my husband said one could get those times going backwards (yeah right)! It is probably a function of overconfidence and being in an old lady category. But I think I have an advantage because our house has serious stairs, that we are up and down constantly. Don’t be scared of Mailbox at all. If you can do Si, you can do Mailbox, especially if you don’t wear much of a pack.</p>
<p>The jm workout really did seem fast paced, idad. I’m just trying to figure out where to put my arms and legs, and how to do things right without falling on my face, and they’re on to the next exercise. Maybe when I learn the motions it will be easier, but for now I’m going to join sabaray with a glass of wine. Sure, that will help.</p>
<p>I just watched one of her shred workouts on YouTube. 30 seconds of push ups alternating back and forth with 60 seconds of squat presses - with no rest in between. I don’t know how you do that. I can’t even do squat presses for 60 seconds with any kind of weight. And 30 seconds of pushups – I’m guessing 10 to 12 good pushups – is pretty challenging when you try to do them back to back.</p>
<p>I’m just an ol’ (formerly) fat guy, but I would be really surprised if many people watching those workouts in the real world can actually do them – or if they can, it would be with very small weights and pretty poor form. Squat presses send my heart rate through the roof.</p>
<p>I thought maybe my brain was just working slow, watching her jump from exercise to exercise. Well, maybe I can try doing it at half speed, that is, if I can get through the warmup. Just seems like the first video would go a little bit slower, so you can learn what you’re doing, instead of being instantly discouraged. Will try it again tomorrow with more caffeine. My problem isn’t getting my heart rate up, it stays pretty low, but working hard enough to make it increase enough to do some good.</p>
<p>So in my imagination, I’m going to sit on the beach and watch plant mom run her awesome final leg of c2k while sabaray and I drink red wine, eat chocolate, and hex her employer.</p>
<p>Then I will wakeup from my revere and put on my snowshoes because by god, yes, there’s snow again…is the universe that worried that ill fall off the wagon if it gives me SPRING?</p>
<p>(the answer would appear to be YES)</p>
<p>But don’t or ray folks, spring will come just as soon as I pick up my Air Dyne ;)</p>
<p>Bus driver, the trainer’s ignorance about bioidenticals is unsurprising (big pharma works hard to scare folks about same) but her fat comments would floor me. It would make me wonder a bit about her knowledge on other modern approaches and physiological aspects of training. Is she a certified strength trainer, for example? Not that that’s any guarantee…Good luck on finding the right fit. The accountability alone probably helps!</p>
<p>Somewhere around 1,500 calories yesterday with carbs higher than I like. I’m a bit sore this morning from shoveling and cleaning. The snow messed up my cleaning schedule this week - so finish the bedrooms tonight and get started on the living room. I am so in the mood to throw things out this year. I’ve cleaned every year for a long time and know the stuff that hasn’t been touched in many years. We just got so busy raising the kids and running a family that all of this clutter piled up and clutter requires maintenance. I think that lack of clutter contributes to wellness and this year is the big push to declutter.</p>
<p>I received a notification from one of the companies that I own and found that they just made a loan to a company that is buying a Puerto Rican company that’s a big dialysis player there. Apparently the company that is getting the loan wants to become a big player in the North American dialysis market. I guess that these are some of the costs of sugar in our country.</p>
<p>On another note:</p>
<p>CVS wants workers’ weight, body fat and glucose levels</p>
<p>“A new policy by CVS requires workers who get their health insurance from the company to report their weight, body fat and glucose levels to the insurer or pay a $600 penalty. CVS Caremark, which has 200,000 employees, told all workers who use the company insurance plan to have a doctor determine their weight, height, body fat, blood pressure and glucose and fasting lipid levels by May 1, the Boston Herald reported.”</p>
<p>BC, kudos to you for clearing out the clutter. One good thing about moving, ugh – such a pain, is that you usually end up going through a lot of stuff and tossing. For this reason, even though we still have more that could go, sigh, I think we probably have less detritus than a lot of people.</p>
<p>BC, my husband’s employer did something similar. They were interested in blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels though and the penalty was far less. They are also a big fan of coaching from a nurse to get credits on your insurance costs. I wish H would do this for a myriad of reasons. </p>
<p>Beautiful day here for the first day of spring; we are supposed to get more snow this weekend so best enjoy it while I can. Big walk this morning on some of sabadog’s favorite hills; it had been some time since we hit that route (mainly because of weather) but I did notice I had a much easier time of things on the uphill journey. I think that’s a sign of improving fitness. </p>
<p>KMC, thanks for the moral support. I’ll think of you next time I’m enjoying my virtual chocolate and wine! </p>
<p>Moving would certainly do the job - but we clean the whole house once a year which forces us to at least look at things which could go. I’ve taken the lead on this because the clutter was affecting my efficiency in getting things done.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think that there may be a demand for decluttering services, especially around paper.</p>
<p>It’s raining, it’s pouring, and rather than kayaking, the college kids are snoring. The skies should clear today, eventually, and I’m hoping we won’t get a batch of newly hatched mosquitoes. I wish I could send you all a bit of the beach warmth to counter the unusually snowy winter up north, or instantly transport you all here. Turnabout: in a matter of months I’ll envy you your northern locales while I’m panting and melting away in the relentless heat. </p>
<p>I brought the New Rules OLFA with me. Did the planks, lunges, pushups, squats, pushups, and modified dips yesterday. I’m planning an easy day today.</p>
<p>I’m visiting relatives in Arizona, and our hotel has lots of young spring training baseball players hanging around. I did a 3.5 mile run along a canal and it was completely flat. That’s a bit of a treat for me! It’s sunny and in the 80’s, just perfect weather. Today I’ll do my weights before heading out for more family induced over eating.</p>
<p>Congrats on all the cleaning. The ValSlides arrived yesterday. They are a little frightening! What’s the easiest thing to do with them? Ran the proposed 5K course (proposed by me in my new role as corporate counsel/race committed) for our company wellness week 5K run/walk. Did that after work yesterday with a mile add-on afterwards. It is about as flat as we can get around here, but still has some roll, which won’t please eveyone. This morning was 31 degrees and sunny for the first day of spring. Ugh. 3 miles in the bag.</p>
<p>I am excited about all your activities- stairclimbing, c2K, snowshoeing, airdyne, planks, shoveling… We are an active group here!</p>
<p>I haven’t lost weight very fast this week. I’ve been much better about the sweets and evening snacks (and alcohol), but yesterday I had to order lunch in for a webinar that I had to watch and a giant sub arrived. I planned to eat only half- well, you can imagine how that went…</p>
<p>On ValSlides, I tried the Abs Dolly Plus yesterday and felt a bit of stress in the middle of my upper chest. I assume that’s a fulcrum for the arm levers. That was the regular Abs Dolly Plus exercise. I really didn’t want to try it with extended legs after that. Basically I need to do them a bit more regularly.</p>
<p>Yes abasket, full time in the steamiest central part. Currently, I’m visiting family for a few days on a southern(ish) Gulf coast island. I am happy for the rain–it’s been unusually dry since the start of the year–but feel bad for S and GF visiting from MN. They’re catching up on their sleep, at least, and taming a bit of yesterday’s sunburn.</p>
<p>I’m also impressed with the activity of this group. Instant motivation, even for the housecleaning chores!</p>