workouts – Page 3

Stepping Back: Thinking Out Loud #51

June 30, 2016 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Happy Thursday everyone!! Do you ever have those days where you just want to eat and eat and eat, maybe craving something but can’t figure it out, so you just eat? or…maybe that’s just me. Well that was me yesterday anyway, but that’s not my topic for the day.

So life lately…or rather workouts lately. I have taken a bit of a step back with more rest days than normal. I usually have 1-2 rest days a week, but even my rest days are pretty active with walking. I needed to take a further step back. Back in mid May, on a Tuesday, I was walking to work and my right foot had a lot of pain in the arch and ball of the foot. So much so that I could not walk on the inner side of my foot. I rely on my feet A LOT as I walk to the train and to my work building, exercise nearly daily and also fit in lunch time walks when I can. I think, in life, we take a lot for-granted and especially our feet. I mean, I try to stretch to warm up/cool down (but should stretch more), but I focus on my hamstrings, quads and other parts of my body, not as much on my feet, which when you think about it, they work really hard for us.

Anyway back to the pain in my foot, I didn’t really know what caused it, but I had been doing a lot more workouts and new routines at the gym. I was doing more yoga which felt pretty good, but it is possible I was pushing a bit too far at times.

I took rest days, I took salt baths and I worked on stretching my feet with my Yoga Tune up balls. Using them on the arches of my feet is like that painful in a good way feeling. It gets deeper than the foam roller and it’s great.

After doing that for a while and resting, my arch felt better but the ball of my foot still bothered me from time to time. Finally I made an appointment with a foot doctor and went last week. Of course I feel like as soon as I made that appointment my foot started to feel better, like it was scared of the doctor and saying I’m OK, I’m OK. But I still wanted to get it checked out because 1) it’s my foot and it’s important! 2) I have heard from friends and read online how you might have a slight pain and could be a stress fracture and 3) I didn’t want to make it worse if I should be staying off of it more.

Well an x-ray of my foot and some poking and prodding, there is one tender area around my big toe, but otherwise, no stress fracture on the x-ray and the doctor said rest the foot, no zumba for 3 weeks and it is probably a bit of tendonitis.

This is also why I have been swimming a bit more, knowing it is fine for my foot and I also warm up with the bike instead of the treadmill at the gym now. Great news is that I don’t feel so out of breath on the bike as I used to and Angry Beavers is on at 5am on Nickelodeon in case anyone is up at that hour like me. My foot felt fine as I danced for a couple hours at the wedding I was at on the weekend. I resumed my 5am workouts this Tuesday and it honestly felt a little sore after the whole day on Tuesday though I partially blame my work shoes. My foot feels fine barefoot and most of the time it’s OK in my sneakers, but my work shoes which are just black flats basically, it struggles. Luckily I don’t wear them too much. I am sitting most of the day anyway and keep my shoes off while switching yoga positions in my office chair. I am so glad my office is pretty casual as I talk to someone while having one foot up on my chair and one dangling by the floor or sitting cross legged. Anyone else sit in weird positions? I just can’t sit normally or I slouch too much and I get antsy.

Anyway for now I am slowly easing into the workouts and my arms and abs are getting more attention than my legs. I am staying away from lunges at the moment except when I teach yoga and no zumba or too much jumping either. I am hoping since it has been feeling better with rest that if I continue to ease into things and also stretch more that it will be better. Just another thing to keep an eye on and I’m only 26, but hopefully because I am young, it will heal well as long as I continue to listen to my body, which maybe I wasn’t doing too well with all my double workout and intense workout days in May.

A reminder how important rest days are and how important it is to know when to push and when to step back.

Meanwhile, as I continue to not turn on the TV during the week (minus Angry Beavers while I bike at the gym), I do watch a few short Youtube clips while I eat or something. I remember when I saw the link going around Facebook about the Rainbow Highlighter and there is currently a 10 month pre-order. 10 MONTHS!! I somehow stumbled from food/recipe videos to watching DIY Rainbow Highlighters on Youtube. Though a bit time consuming, it doesn’t look too hard and could be a fun project. I really liked this one and how she showed a more practical option too.

Announcement: be sure to check back here tomorrow as I am launching a new series to the blog tomorrow. Hint, it involves Yoga, so I hope you will come back and check it out.

If you have experience with any foot tendonitis, I would love any suggestions you might have.

Swim, Sun, Meal Prep, and Yoga: MIMM#67

April 18, 2016 by Alicia 4 Comments

I’m sure you can gather what I did this weekend from the title of this post, but here’s a more detailed recap. Also I want to say good luck to everyone running the Boston Marathon today!! It looks like it will be good weather. Warmer here in Philadelphia today, maybe 80 degrees!! I’m so happy it is finally warming up and the sun coming into the living room has been so nice to enjoy in the afternoons.

Friday at work in the afternoon I was antsy to leave and enjoy the weekend. This was my first weekend that I wasn’t traveling somewhere in 3 weeks!! I was happy to get back to my usual weekend routine at home. I had a nice and relaxing Friday evening. I actually got into a Youtube loop of different videos and I created a simple Chair Yoga video for my friend to use for a project. I am not very good in the video field. My camera only allows me to record 10 minutes before it stops and I don’t have any editing software. I am clueless to how to edit videos on a windows computer. I’m thinking next year I might invest in a Mac and work on doing videos, whether it be vlogs or yoga videos.

Saturday morning I slept until 6:30, which I guess is sleeping in since my body is getting used to waking up around 5am during the week. I had a quick breakfast and headed to Wegmans. Once I got back from the store, I had a Quest bar for a snack and headed to the gym to swim. I think it has been about 6 weeks since I last swam. The pool was on the warm side which made it much harder to keep swimming. I pushed through 40 laps where it usually gets easier, but it was still hard. I made it to 50, then did a set of 20 and got my mile in. I was hoping to get to 2 miles, but I ended at just over 1.5 miles, total 60 minutes of swimming. By my last kicking lap, I had my head on the board closing my eyes, the warm water makes me so relaxed like a hot bath…yeah it was too warm.

Once I got home, I was just exhausted, like I didn’t want to do anything. I was also quite hungry. One of the Youtube videos I came across was Sarah Fit’s latest protein smoothie. I actually bought dates at the store and gave it a try after my swim. I added some chocolate chips too, because chocolate! It was delicious!!

Since I was still hungry, I then made myself one of the perfect portioned steaks I got from Wegmans. I love getting them as they are thin so they cook quickly and like the name, they are the perfect portion size.

Eventually the steak kicked in and I wasn’t as hungry. I decided to sit on the couch and read for a bit. I’ma kid at heart and was reading book 9 of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I discovered these books when babysitting years ago and love them for a quick funny read. I fell behind, actually still need to read book 8 and then I also have book 10 to read. Book 11 is being released in November 2016.

Eventually by 4pm, I got moving. I went on a cleaning spree of the apartment from the kitchen to the bathroom. I then made some cauliflower fried “rice” with tofu for dinner.

After dinner, I headed outside to do some yoga as I also had to think of my routine to teach on Sunday. I love how it’s still sunny at 6:30pm so I can be lazy in the afternoon and still get outside later. Funny story though, when I first opened my patio doors and was about to bring my tripod out, suddenly a bee flew into my apartment, so I screamed (usual reaction) then stayed silent and just watched it as it flew around the couch area and eventually it found it’s way back outside, thank goodness…I did close the screen and waited a bit before going out though.

I then relaxed on the couch watching tv until I went to bed.

I slept an amazing over 9hrs Saturday night. I don’t know what had me so exhausted, but it was nice to sleep in until almost 8am. I made some protein pancakes for breakfast, because that is what Sundays are for, pancakes!

I then headed over to the gym to do workout 4 from the Booty Bootcamp I am following. That was a sweaty one, so I had to hop in the shower after getting home even though I was teaching yoga a couple hours later. I started on some meal prep and then headed to Target, the gym to teach and then stopped at Panera on my way home. I am loving the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and I had to get my free birthday treat.

The afternoon included more meal prep, more yoga planning (as I am subbing today and teach tomorrow) and some sun time!!

jump for joy — self timer jumping shot success 🙂

Did you have nice weather this weekend?

Have you ever made cauliflower fried rice?

Flywheel: Thoughts After my First Spin Class

October 22, 2015 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Last Friday after work, I challenged myself to my first ever spin class. Let me just say I was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I arrived about 30 minutes early so I could get the feel of the place. The two people working the desk showed me around to the changing room, lockers and spin shoes I needed to put on.

As a class was just wrapping up, I changed and put on my shoes. Then it was time to wait for the room to be ready.

I grabbed a towel (so happy they provide towels!) and waited to head in. Once we were allowed in, I asked one of the assistants to help me set up my bike and show me what to do because I really was clueless to this spinning thing.

Once my shoes were locked in and the seat was set, I was ready to go or at least my bike was ready for me. I saw some people warming up so I started to pedal a bit. I really liked the spin shoes and being attached to the pedals so that my feet wouldn’t come up for better control.

Before I knew it, it was time for class to begin and we pedaled or spun (is that a better word?), getting warmed up. Then we went into the different positions with standing. Umm I didn’t know what third versus second was supposed to be like, but I tried.

The first time I stood, I didn’t have enough torque so I learned throughout that standing I needed to add more torque. I can now see why some runners like spinning, lower impact on the knees, certainly a plus, but the standing and cycling definitely felt hard for me as does running. Basically I have worked up to 4.5 minutes straight of a good pace running, after that, forget it, so I had no idea how I was supposed to survive 45 minutes of spinning. Obviously I took it at my own pace for my first time, sometimes I stood, sometimes I would sit for a bit, sometimes torque went up but mostly torque was low or around 20 for me since I am new.

All I can say is I was happy this class was only 45 minutes, I can’t imagine spinning for 60. The class went by fairly quickly towards the end. I liked how the instructor told us when we were 2/3rds done and then when we had 5 minutes. By then I knew I could get through.

I really can’t remember the last time I sweated so much. I sweat when I work out, but I was dripping sweat and so thankful for that towel. I made sure to drink tons of water afterwards and ate a protein bar once I got to the train station to go home. I felt kind of bad for people on the train that might be near me, but luckily being a later train, I had 3 seats to myself and drinking tons of water afterward cooled me down.

After thoughts?

My butt was sooo sore the next day. Spin bike seats are hard, how do people manage? My legs were definitely pretty dead afterwards, but the walk to the train station helped to shake them out and I was ready for bed shortly after getting home. A shower though was a must and my clothes were so sweaty I immediately put them in the laundry pile (confession: I usually wear my leggings a few times before washing them).

I also really felt I needed a good stretching session afterwards, but I was too lazy Friday night and was more focused on showering so that my hair was wet from washing and not sweat (eww). Any suggestions on good stretches post spinning? I probably should have done more but instead the next day I swam 2 miles…killed my legs more, man I was dead Saturday afternoon.

So maybe you are wondering, will I go back?

Well it certainly was a good workout. I am glad that I have been slowly building my endurance. If I had done this class a year ago, I don’t know what that would have been like. The first class was free and after that I know it’s $25 a class, so I probably won’t be going often but every once in a while just to change things up perhaps. It is fun to try new workouts and get your butt kicked, even if it takes some time for your butt (really, those seats hurt) to recover.

For any first timers, my recommendation is drink tons and tons of water. You want to be hydrated really well since you will sweat a lot and then afterwards make sure you drink even more. Also the instructor says this, but take it at your own pace. You can definitely still challenge yourself, but you don’t have to be the fastest in the class.

Hope you enjoyed my thoughts! If you have any spinning suggestions for me, let me know, especially some stretching ideas.

Car Inspection, Swim and Relaxed Weekend: MIMM #41

October 19, 2015 by Alicia 2 Comments

Happy Monday! My weekend wasn’t too busy but I sure worked out a lot! At least I balanced the workouts with a good amount of sleep too 🙂

Friday after work I headed to my first spin class at Flywheel. I will recap my thoughts on that on Thursday, but I can say I survived (barely).

As soon as I made it home Friday, I showered and went to bed. Such an exciting life..

Saturday morning I slept until 7:30 or so and had a quick bowl of cereal before heading to the grocery store. Then I had a second breakfast/early lunch of cheese, ham and crackers and some Spark because I was yawning way too much. I got in my pre workout by carrying all my winter tires to my car and then headed to drop off my car for its state inspection, winter tires and oil change. I figured it was easier to get everything done at once so I won’t have to worry about giving up another Saturday for a bit. So even though I made an appointment, the guy said it might take 4-5 hours for my car…so I downloaded the Uber app in case I wanted to go home and not spend forever at the mall next store.

My gym is actually next to the car place so I walked over there and decided to go for a swim. A long swim! With the power of Spark and thinking “I can do this” and counting my laps, I made it to 2 miles (140 laps) plus an additional 10 laps kicking. I really don’t know how I did that after killing my legs in spinning Friday evening, but I did. I was sooo happy. I haven’t swam 2 miles in one session since my last year in college (2012). Usually I run out of time or I get a cramp or something else stops me, but Saturday I made it through. Almost an hour and a half of swimming and I was tired, obviously.

After I got dressed, I noticed a miss call on my phone from the car place and I was slightly freaking out worried my car didn’t pass inspection or something was wrong with my tires. As I drank tons of water and munched on a protein bar, I found out they were just having trouble finding my insurance card. I forgot to put the new one in the red envelope I got last year. Whoops. So I walked back over there and by the time I got there, they had found it and about 15 minutes after that my car was ready. So it thankfully only took them about 2.5 hours and I was swimming for most of the time, so the timing worked out perfect which I was happy about. They even said my car looks great and I am taking great care of it. Always nice to hear that!

I headed home, found some food to eat, drank lots and lots and lots of water (really I couldn’t get enough) and parked it on the couch for the afternoon. I was tired and debated a nap, but I don’t take naps and after eating and drinking lots I was doing better. A few hours on the couch then some stretching time and before I knew it, dinner.

I also whipped up a quick batch of cookies after dinner.

To end the evening, I watched a movie and then read for a while on the couch. My legs needed the rest and I was happy to relax quite a bit.

I finally got nearly 10 hours of sleep on Saturday night which was wonderful. Sunday morning called for pancakes, so I whipped up some Flapjacked carrot spice pancakes with bacon. Loading up the protein!

Then I headed to the gym. I really wanted to get my squats in. I had to wait and bit and tried my best to do lunges while I waited, but my balance was totally off Sunday morning. I got through it though and finally got to use the cage for squats. I still get bothered by how messy the weight area is. One guy next to me was lifting and then suddenly he walked out not even putting his weights back. That just bothers me and that’s why you can’t find any weights around the area.

Mid morning I headed to Kohls since I had a coupon to use. I figured I would get a gift for a friend and then I found some candles for myself. Since my current apple one is almost gone, I needed a replacement and this pine one just smells like a Christmas tree. I can’t have a real tree in my apartment as it is not allowed, but this year I really am planning to get a little tree, burning this candle will be nice for my favorite scent of Christmas though.

While I was out and it was approaching lunch time, I decided to head to Panera because that sounded better than making something at home. I got the Power Kale Chicken Caesar salad to go, so good. I love the Parmesan crisps on the top, really where can I buy those?

Sunday afternoon I got some stuff in order, trying to clean up and maybe list a few things on Ebay soon. Then spent some time reading and meal prepping. I also dug out some Halloween movies like Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus seeing as we are on the 13 nights until Halloween countdown now.

However I did have to toss my pumpkin outside and it was getting moldy inside. Oh well, out there for the squirrels and got some good pictures of it last weekend.

What’s your favorite candle scent?

Are you getting ready for Halloween?

If you belong to a gym or weightlift, does it bother you when others don’t put their weights back?

« Previous Page