Tag: health & wellness

Posted on

Flabdominals

Flabdominals (noun): flabby abdominals, particularly the kind that jiggle when participating in high-impact exercises and/or solicit congratulations on a person’s non-existent pregnancy. Also, a word that Cynthia made up.

I have lovingly referred to my tummy region as my flabdominals for several years now.  I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point, my daily abdominal exercise habit evaporated and the era of flabdominals began.  Up to that point, I had been used to having a toned middle; it was not one of my problem areas that I needed to dress around.  Quickly, I had to learn to dress around the fluff that had invaded my middle.

Currently, I am feeling that I may be at a point with my fitness that I can conquer the flabdominals and reclaim an at-least moderately toned middle region.

And so, I am going to issue a challenge to myself to do 10 minutes of abdominal exercises everyday (in addition to anything that happens in any workout class at the gym) for 30 days.  I don’t want to turn it into a big thing that is going to become another block of time to schedule; I think that I can fit 10 minutes in either in the morning when I get back from the gym or as part of my bedtime routine.  I know that I will see some difference, I’m interested to see how much.  Also, I’m curious to know if it will stick, if I can get my daily ab exercise habit back.

One of my barriers to re-forming a daily ab habit (cough *lame excuse* cough, cough) was deciding what exercises to do.  So, this time, I’m going to set a series that will be my daily go-to.  Afterall, I do like to eliminate that whole having to think business whenever possible.

I think I’m going to go back to good old-fashioned Pilates mat series.  These are the exercises that I kept up for years after college.  Yes, I took Pilates as a class in college, that’s what dance majors do.  It was two units, we had a text book and tests and everything (of course I got an “A”).  The full series takes more than 10 minutes, I’m going to start with just a few.

The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning by Friedman and Eisen
Pilates text book from college

10 (ish) Minute Ab Series

  • Heel lowers (10 reps)
  • Pilates 100s
  • Roll Up (3-5 reps)
  • Roll Over (3-5 reps)
  • The Vacation Special (10 of each):
    • Single Leg Stretch
    • Grand Battement
    • Double Leg Stretch
    • Cross Over (Bicycles)
    • Leg Lowers

Do you already have a daily ab habit?  What are some of your go-to ab exercises?  The one you love and/or the one you hate so much but you know it works.

If you don’t have a daily ab habit, do you want to play flabdominal boot camp with me this month?  We can do a check-in at the end of the month (no measurements!) just to see how we did with doing the work, if we noticed any difference, if we are going to keep doing/do more/do better/do less.

Let me know if you want to play along at home!

Posted on

Try Castor Oil

I know what you are thinking.  I would be thinking the same thing.  But trust me, Castor Oil is good for all sorts of things and you don’t have to ingest it.  So, no need to panic.

I have a very dear friend who is my homeopathic guru.  I solicit and trust her advice about ANY health/personal care type things.  Several years ago, we were talking about this lipoma (a non-cancerous, fatty tumor) that I had which I was hesitant to have removed surgically.  Since it was fat and since she knew that Castor Oil dissolves xanthelasma (those little yellow cholesterol deposits that some people get under their eyes) she suggested that I could try Castor Oil on it.  She didn’t promise that it would get rid of the lipoma, but she knew that it wouldn’t hurt anything to try.

It did not shrink or dissolve my lipoma, but it did make the area feel better, so I kept using it for that for a while.  I also started using it for other things (since I had it out anyway):

  1. It helps strengthen and grow hair (I use it on my eyelashes and eyebrows).
  2. I like to use it as an under-eye night cream.  It is very thick and emollient, and I think it helps with fine lines and puffiness.
  3. It can be used topically on your tummy to get the same results that you would by ingesting it.  Rub it onto your tummy clockwise (down on the left, up on the right, end on a downward stroke) before bedtime for results by morning.

I looked around on the internet to see what other people have to say about Castor Oil and I found some other uses for it. The most interesting to me was that Castor Oil has anti-inflammatory effects and can be applied topically reduces inflammation and relieve pain.   This is probably the benefit that I was getting when I would apply it to the area of my lipoma; when I would wake up in the morning, I would notice that the area always felt noticeably less achy.

One very popular internet application for Castor Oil is for promoting hair growth.  I’ve tried it on my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I think that it maybe, sort-of works.  I mean, you’re not going to look like Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street.  What I noticed is that, for example my eyebrows seemed smoother and fuller, not as wiry as before.  It could just be that the hair follicles are plumper and smoother because they are moisturized.

Because it is so thick, it can be messy, you really have to take your time to rub it in.  It has a sort-of nutty smell; it’s not delicious smelling like coconut oil, but it also isn’t offensive.  A 6-ounce bottle of food-grade Castor Oil at the drug store is under $5.  I think that it is great for specific applications.

Posted on

Strength Training Works

I’ve been spending my Mondays with Adam doing glutes, guns and guts for a few months now.  I am still the wimpiest gal in class, but I have a workout buddy who I partner up with every week and she helps keep me motivated.  The workout still makes me sweat my brains out and feel like I’m going to die but I’ve learned to keep a towel tucked into the back of my pants like a little tail so that I always have it handy as we move through the circuit.

Here’s the thing that I want to tell you: strength training works.

Ok, so that isn’t a shocking revelation.  I’m just saying that with the rest of my weekly activity staying pretty much the same, I’ve lost three inches from my waist and hips since I added this into my week. 

Every week is a mash-up of a bunch of various exercises using dumbbells, barbells, TRX, steps, Bosu, and any other random stuff Adam finds laying around the gym. When I started out, I would always pick the lightest weight so that I could do more reps and not take breaks (who knew that one minute could be so long?).  I remember Adam telling me that he would rather see me doing less reps with a heavier weight and thinking he was crazy. 

As the weeks went along, I would pick at least one exercise on the circuit to try a heavier-than-I-wanted weight.  Sometimes I would surprise myself with being able to manage it.  Sometimes I would notice that the exercise felt more effective because other muscles were being recruited to provide stability.  I’ve learned that using heavier dumbbells (20lbs) for exercised like walking lunges forces you to engage your core and helps you keep your balance more than a lighter weight will. Sometimes I would just have to stop after a couple of reps and find a lighter weight.  C’est la vie!  

My favorite development over the past few months is the improvement in my posture and my shoulder strength.  I really took for granted having a strong upper back from all those years of ballet training.  Sitting at a desk, staring at a computer all day has that sneaky way of building that permanent hunched forward posture that is neither attractive or comfortable.  Eventually, I hope to get everything evened out; it’s nice to see and feel the progress so far.  It made me really happy when I could see the line of my shoulders more closely matching the line of the barbell when we were doing back squats last week. I am not a fan of the over-developed trapezius look.

So even though I suck at it and it hurts, I keep showing up and trying my best.  I’m never going to be the ripped girl in the belly shirt, but I am optimistic that if I keep it up, eventually I will be able to do a proper push-up (and maybe even crush some 10lb dumbbells for bicep curls).

Posted on

2019 Suggestions

New Year, New Suggestions

Here we are again.  Facing a new year that is so full of potential and opportunities.  We are going to jump up and be everything that we have wanted to be, right?  Ok, probably not. But we are going to make an effort to do something new, aren’t we?

After I told you about my 2018 Suggestions list, I felt a lot of pressure to come up with a good list for my 2019 Suggestions.  There were probably 20 things at least.  I didn’t write them down.  I’ve decided to take a different tack this year.  I’m going to start the year with six suggestions for myself that fall into one of four categories:

  • Keep doing
  • Do more
  • Do better
  • Do less/Don’t do

I give myself permission to revisit my list at any point during this year and revise as I see fit.  Maybe I’ll nail it on all these suggestions and will add some other things.  Maybe I am going to need to reframe something to try to get a better handle on it.  We’ll see how it goes.

The four categories idea came out of something I was reading on the internet somewhere.  The gist was, “rather than resolving to do more things, resolve not to do some things…” something like that.  I thought that was a good point.  Why try to pile on a bunch of new stuff without looking at what you’re already dragging around with you and thinking about what you can let go?

my 2019 suggestions
improve handwriting didn’t make the list

Here are my 2019 Suggestions for myself:

  • One thing that I want to keep doing is getting to the gym 5+ times a week.
  • Another keep doing is working on my writing (tada!).
  • Something that I want to do more is getting my steps in.  Santa very kindly brought me a Fitbit Versa so now I have my activity tracker strapped to my wrist and I can’t use the excuse of, “well, I didn’t have my phone with me, I don’t know what I did,” to justify not achieving my activity goals.
  • Another thing that I want to do more is call people.  Like actually picking up the phone (quaint, I know!) not sending a text. A friend of mine called the other day out of the blue and it was such a treat to just chat for a few minutes. I felt so appreciated that I immediately resolved to add it to my suggestions.
  • One thing that I want to do better is use my time more effectively. This is going to be a big one.   I have some ideas about tactics that I want to try. Ultimately, I would like to feel that I’m getting the most out of each day.  The trick is going to be being realistic about how much time that I need to devote to any one thing because everything seems to take longer than I want it to.
  • My do less/don’t do is waiting to find a buddy to do things with. It is always fun to get to share an experience with someone, but sometimes a girl just has to go for it.

What are you thinking about suggesting for yourself for 2019?  Anything to keep doing, do more, do better, or stop doing?

Posted on

2018 Suggestions

As we approach the new year it seemed like a good opportunity to look back at my 2018.  This has been a fairly significant year for me, there have been so many milestones and changes. My friend who is in to numerology would tell me that it is because I am in a whatever number year (I can never remember the formula to figure out what # year you are in).  Whatever number year this was, a lot has happened.

I was flipping through a notebook that I’ve been using this year for various notes and lists and I found a list that I had made for myself in January.  I’m not a big “new year’s resolutions” girl, but I remember wanting to give myself some things to focus on for the year.  I called it “2018 Suggestions”.

I had forgotten that I had written these things down (the way that most of us forget about our new year’s resolutions) and it made me smile to read it with fresh eyes. Even if my handwriting makes me cringe. 

Nine suggestions for 2018

I recently participated in a webinar about goal setting.  The presenter said that there are three levels of increasing effectiveness. The first is to think it. The second is to write it down and share it. 

A few of the items that I had written down penetrated my subconscious and have gathered some steam over the year, specifically:

  • Wear less black
  • Walk more
  • Less shopping
  • Write some things down (tada!)

Some rattled around in my brain but didn’t really gain much traction:

  • Be pulled together (my cheat for this is wearing lipstick)
  • Send birthday cards (it’s hit-and-miss)
  • I need a better reminder to make more cream puffs!

“Spend some time on abs” didn’t get off the ground although Mondays with Adam has been helping that whole issue. This will be a topic for another day. 

That I was able to get four of my nine suggestions to stick makes me happy.  The good thing about good habits is that they become easier to maintain which frees up some mental energy to add new ones.   I think that I’ll try giving myself some suggestions again for 2019.  I’m going to replay a few, think about what else I might want to add and see what I can get to stick (hopefully cream puffs and birthday cards at least).

The third effectiveness boost for accomplishing goals is to report your status regularly.  It doesn’t matter who you are reporting to.  Just the fact that there is someone who you are going to tell how (or what) you are doing to make progress on your goals makes you more likely to take some action.

So, I was thinking that I will share my 2019 suggestions here with you in January.  And if you have something that you want to suggest for yourself, you can put it in the comments.  Then every so often, we can have a check-in and share what/how we are doing.  What do you think?  Do you want to play?   

Posted on

Pinnacle Peak

Remember how I’ve been working on my walking?  Not walking, but getting my steps in.  Well, it’s a good thing! I was just in Arizona to visit my beautiful and talented friend K who recently relocated there.  Among the many fun shenanigans that we got up to, she took me for a hike at Pinnacle Peak Park in Scottsdale.  Since I’m barely a walker, you can imagine that I’m not much of a hiker at all.

Of course, K happens to be an elite marathoner, so walking (even up and down hills on a rocky trail) is a piece of cake for her.  Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that she is so kind and sweet-hearted because I was certainly not anywhere near being able to keep up with her natural pace.  My accomplishment was that I didn’t hold her back too much for at least part of the trek.

It was an incredible experience.  Shortly after we began our hike, we saw a couple of Blue Angels fly overhead.  Since it was a cool day the beauty of the dessert landscape was easier for me to appreciate.  The trail had great signage identifying the different plants along it.  We took a break to admire this in-between things tree.  It was certainly thriving in the gaps.

There were also fantastic views of gigantic Scottsdale golf course homes.  This one has a bridge to the guest home!  A guest home that is probably at least twice, probably three times the size of my little bungalow.

Once I got home, I looked up Pinnacle Peak Park. I was guessing that we hiked around three miles.  The trail is 1 ¾ miles one way (so 3 ½ miles round trip) which is a do-able walk.  It was all of the up and down hills that got me, especially the last third of the trail (where the “strenuous past this point” sign was) which became a long, steep uphill coming back.  Turns out that the 1,300 feet of elevation change is something that I don’t get in my ambles around town.

It was such a fun excursion.  Even though it was strenuous and pretty challenging for me, I can’t wait to try it again.  We’re already planning my next visit and that will give me a training goal to make sure that at a minimum, I’m getting my steps in every day.

Are you a hiker?  Where do you like to go?

Posted on

100 Cycle Classes with Rachel in 2018

On Saturday, November 17, I completed my 100th cycle class with my instructor, Rachel.  Not only that, I was the first person to complete the challenge that she set out for us in January.  I don’t know how that happened, but I am basking in a sense of accomplishment over it.

I had only become a Rachel groupie a few months earlier.  There is just something about when she is yelling, “yes, you can!” at you that makes you believe it.

Rachel teaches twice a week, Wednesdays at 5:45am and Saturdays at 8am.  No one goes to spin class at those hours for just for kicks, those are serious, get the grrrr out people. But 100 classes is still a formidable challenge.  I love getting activity credit, checking things off, and discrete goals so I signed up right away.

At first blush, it seemed nearly impossible: Rachel teaches twice a week and there are 52 weeks in a year, so you can only miss four.  All year. Yikes. If she was subbing for another instructor, that would count; also, you could count up to ten classes with other instructors toward your 100 (so really you only need to take 90 Rachel classes). If someone was subbing for her, that counted toward your ten.  Ok, still challenging, but potentially moderately do-able.

I wound up using nine of my ten freebies, so I’ve decided to dedicate the rest of the year to making those up.  My new-improved goal is to have 100% Rachel classes before Christmas.  I’m not a perfectionist, but I do like to go back and fine-tune things when time allows.

Did I mention that there were prizes?  How fun is that?

At 25 classes, you got a certificate.  To me, this is a prized possession.  For so many years a big part of my job was creating and producing recognition certificates and awards but this was the first one that I had received since I was in school.  It makes me so happy to see it on my refrigerator every day.

Best certificate ever

At 50 classes, you got a granola bar.  I somehow neglected photographic evidence of this award, but let me tell you, it was delicious.

At 75 classes, you got a water bottle. A fancy, Lulu Lemon squeezy-style water bottle.  It says, “Your GOALS are showing.”  This treasure spent a few weeks on my desk (aka dinning table) as a trophy before I deigned to put it into action.

Anabel practicing her trophy pose

I had to show up to class number 101 to claim my final prize.  It is  starting to feel like winter in So Cal and as I walked out to my car at 5:30am that morning, I remember thinking that I really should spring for one of those cozy Lulu Lemon snappy scarf things.  Long story short, that was my prize!

Manifesting dreams

Sally and Anabel thought that my accomplishment was great and sure, that was a nice gift, but they really thought that the gift bag was the real prize.

Kitten priorities

I am very grateful to Rachel for all the time and energy and resources that she put into this challenge because she loves her spin tribe.  And I am so honored to have found and been granted membership into this group.

Posted on

Stretching Helps

Here’s the thing, flexibility is relative.  People are just put together differently, and some people are just more flexible than others.  And some of it has nothing to do with muscles.  Tendons and ligaments impact joints’ range of motion.  And some joints, like hips, have a lesser or greater range of motion because of the actual skeletal structure of the joint.

But everyone can benefit from stretching.  Think about it like stretching allows the muscles to support a joint’s optimal range of motion rather than restricting it.  Think about it like everyone can stretch to their optimal capacity but your optimal capacity and mine are not necessarily the same.

For better AND worse, I am naturally very flexible (worse because hypermobility can strain joints).  Being flexible does help make stretching more enjoyable for me.  It’s something that I can feel like I’m “good” at even though it has nothing to do with my goodness.  That being said, I am no where near as flexible as I once was, and some stretches that used to be pleasant are uncomfortable these days.

Back in the day, stretching was an integral part of my day.  Not just the stretching before/during/after dance class, but something that happened during hanging around the house time (while watching TV and especially before going to sleep).  I remember one time either during or just after college when I was visiting my family.  My brother and I were hanging out having a conversation about something and I decided that it was a good time to stretch my back.  Apparently, it is unusual to carry on a conversation with someone while contorted in that way and J was a little surprised.  Well I tell you, if you don’t use it you lose it!  The last time I tried to do that stretch, I couldn’t get close.

While I would love to think that I’ll get back to being able to fold myself in half again, I don’t know that I am up for putting the kind of time in to get there.  And I feel like that is ok for where I am in my life right now.  But I am going to try to start making a point of getting up and getting a quick stretch in here and there throughout my day.  I’ll start with some easy forward folds and see if I can’t work back up to something more interesting.

Remember when instead of saying “forward fold” we would say “touch your toes”?  I’m a fan of this evolution of the nomenclature.  Because “forward fold” allows for so much more variation in the position.

I tend to like to move through a few different styles when I’m doing this stretch.  My favorite variation these days is with bent legs and resting your chest on your thighs.  Then it’s not about hamstrings, but more about your back, neck, and shoulders.  I’ve even gotten Mr. Man to do this sometimes when his back is bothering him.  Because it helps!

Posted on

Good Morning Habits

I sure hate this whole changing the clocks thing.  I really, really wish that we didn’t do it at all.  But if we’re going to have to “fall back,” I’m going to encourage you to take advantage of this week to put that time to work for you.  If you don’t have an early morning habit and want to start one, this is the week.  Now’s your chance!

Caveat: you will probably wind up wanting to go to bed an hour earlier (aka, your usual bed time before the time change) too.

If you want to try to get up an hour earlier to work out, here is my advice: KEEP IT SIMPLE.  Trust me, you can get out of bed, but you don’t want to have to do a lot of thinking after you do.

First tip: set out your gym clothes before you go to sleep.  Just make a little pile (don’t forget your socks and sneakers) somewhere near your bed.  If you put on your gym clothes as soon as you get out of bed, it’s a deterrent to climbing back into bed.  Also, have your gym bag ready to go – water bottle, headphones, cycling shoes, yoga mat, grippy socks, whatever – you don’t want to be looking for/collecting these things when you’re just waking up.

Next: get out quick.  Brush your teeth, grab your gym bag and get out the door.

Last tip (or actually, this probably should have been the first tip): know what you’re going to do when you get to the gym.  You already know that I’m a fan of group fitness classes.  More reasons why: 1) they happen at set times, so you know when you need to be there; and 2) someone is going to tell you what to do when you get there, so you only have to be awake enough to listen.  Also, you usually have to sign up ahead of time and there is usually some sort of penalty for no-showing, which can be motivating on those days when turning the alarm off and rolling over seems like the better option.

If you aren’t interested in starting an early morning work-out habit but you do want to start meditating or journaling or eating a healthy breakfast or one of the million other things “first thing in the morning” options that you haven’t tried to start doing yet, this is your week.  Pick one.  Try it.  Starting your day by doing something for yourself is a wonderful gift.  Maybe you decide that the best gift you can give yourself is that time in bed,  that’s ok too.

For me, I feel like my “first thing in the morning” list is long enough.  Sure, there are more things that I would like to do like meditate, or drink hot lemon water, or read the news (ok, well maybe this is a good one to keep not doing). But, going back to my main point, it’s better to: KEEP IT SIMPLE.  When something becomes important enough to me, I’ll find time in my day to make it happen.  In the meantime, I’m going to protect the small habit that I’ve established.

Do you already have an early morning routine?  What gets you out of bed?

Posted on

Step It Up

Ok, let’s face it, walking really is that good for you.  It’s easy, you don’t need any special equipment, and it is super effective.

Some of the benefits of walking (according to me):

  • Slimming for your thighs
  • Toning for your calves
  • Strengthening for your back/core
  • Good for your posture
  • Easy on your joints
  • Fat-burning cardio – moderately elevated heartrate
  • Fresh air is good for your mood
  • If you can find a walking buddy, it’s a great time to catch up

It’s a no brainer, right? But somehow, I manage to not get enough steps in anyway.  What is enough step and how do I know?  Well, I use an app on my phone of course!  My app tells me that my target should be 6,000 steps or 60 minutes per day.  That is way less than that 10k number that everyone tries to hit so it shouldn’t be that hard, right?  And yet, I still manage to not make my target most days.

Caveat: I don’t count my gym workouts as part of my step goal.

Plus-or-minus a few minutes depending on how fast/slow I’m going 6,000 steps is right around one hour of walking.  How hard would it be for me to just get up and go for a one-hour walk?  Just bang it all out at once and not have to worry about trying to count trips out back to the laundry room or whatever other puttering around the house I’m doing.  The answer is not very hard.  But somehow it can turn into a mental hurdle really easily.

I’ve tried breaking my walking up into quick 10-minute laps around the block.  I don’t bother with sneakers, I just head out in my flip flops. It becomes a little treat – finish one hour of writing and then I get a break. I can sometimes swing two or three mini walks.  This tactic is not going to get me to 6,000 steps on its own.

Some days I walk to the gym which is right around 20 minutes each way.  It’s a good warm-up for Mondays with Adam and the walk home helps everything from tightening up.  Even on those days I still can manage to not hit my target if I don’t pay attention.

Sure, I could invest in a Fitbit (the new Versa is pretty cute) or some other wearable that would track ALL my steps without my having to worry about carrying my phone around everywhere.  If I did that, I feel like I would have no excuse not to set a 10k target. Since I know that I’m not getting enough steps as it is, counting all the little bits of walking (back and forth from the couch to the refrigerator) doesn’t seem like a real solution.  I need to create some sort of gimmick for myself to make my step target a natural part of my day.  I’m not sure what that is…

Last week I managed to hit my step goal on four days (I missed one day by under 100 steps!).  This week I will shoot for five days and see if I can’t work my way up to seven days and maintain it until the end of the year.  Its probably do-able, don’t you think?

So, my questions for you are:

  • What is your daily step goal?
  • What tricks or tips do you use to help you get your steps in every day?