Tag: exercise

6, YES 6, 30-day challenges: Day 6

Today started entirely too early.  Waking up at 2:30 am for no reason is never fun.  Giving up on the idea of going back to sleep became a reality.  I have been up and functioning since functioning since 3:30 am.  I could understand it if I had small children at home.  But my kids are adults, 2 are happily married with children and their own mortgage.  The youngest of the 3 lives at home but he is 20 and fully capable of functioning on his own.  So, I have no idea why I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Today’s exercises seemed to be a bit more challenging than previous days.  Hopefully tomorrow morning will be better.  Today’s challenges included the following exercises:

ABS:  30 sit ups, 12 crunches, 12 leg raises, and 20 second plank.

Squat:  60 regular squats.

Arms:  15 wall push ups, 15 opposite arm and leg raises, and 15 box push ups.

Butt:  15 sumo squats, 15 donkey kicks, and 15 side lunges.

Thighs:  15 clock lunges, 15 lunge jumps, and 15 sumo squats.

Cardio:  1 minute Pylo jacks, 1 minute high kicks, and 1 minute running in place.

My legs and lower back are still hurting so tomorrow when I go to the store, I might be purchasing something like a pain patch that I can put on my back and will just continue to take Tylenol for the pain in my legs.  Unless anyone that read this has any other suggestions.

I did notice at the end of my work day (I work from home), my lower left leg was hurting a lot and my left ankle is a tad bit swollen.  But I will carry on with these challenges.

Today’s meals and beverages include:

3:30 1 cup of coffee with sugar and creamer

8:30 scrambled eggs with sausage, onion, jalapenos, topped with homemade pico de gallo.  Water to drink

12:30 salad consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, cheese, and ranch dressing.  Water to drink.

3:30 6 Ritz crackers with peanut butter (put together to make 3 cracker sandwiches?)

7:00 what can only be described as taco fries!  Air fried fries, taco meat, pico de gallo, onions, cheese, and sour cream.

It should be noted that I drank water (plain) during the day but I did not drink as much as I do when I add lemon to it.  So tomorrow, I will be adding lemon to my water!!!

Also, around 5pm I made a half pot of coffee but only drank just under 2 cups.

 

So that is how my day has been.  It was busy before work with a couple of errands one of which was taking my yorkie in for her summer buzz cut.  Now she is happy and isn’t panting like she hasn’t had water in years.  She tends to be a bit of a drama queen!!

I will be back tomorrow with day 7.  Please come back!!!

 

6, YES 6, 30-day challenges. Chapter 1: I can do this! The first 5 days.

For some reason, I felt it would be a great idea for me to start a 30-day challenge and seriously watch what I eat on a daily basis.  I am seriously pushing 60 and I have COPD and some dietary restrictions so my ability to actually complete this is questionable at best.  But I am going to give it my best shot!

I have tried a modified version of Keto three separate times and although I did lose weight, the diet also contributed to some gastric issues.  So Keto is out, especially a strict Keto.  Another issue for me with diets in general is inability to tolerate any and all artificial sweeteners and also the “natural” sweeteners that are currently on the market.  My body just does not tolerate them in any way, shape, or form so I’m 100% sugar.  With that being said, I plan on limiting my sugar intake and also watch my carbs but not omit either.  As of May 1st, I have omitted all soft drinks and my beloved sweet iced tea.  I have replaced it with water and lemon.  I have never been a fan of water so that has been a real adjustment for me.  But I have made it work for me so far!!!

6, YES 6, 30-day challenges when I started my serious planning for our upcoming cruise.  I wanted to start exercising and eating so I can make sure the clothes I purchased for our last cruise will still fit for our upcoming cruise.  I have seen a lot of 30-day challenges on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram but I felt I would have a better benefit from an app.  So I started searching for FREE apps for 30-day challenges.  I looked at one that said it was free, but when I downloaded it and started the initial assessment stuff, I found out that this free app was not free.  In fact, they wanted approximately $5.00 per week!!!  This $5.00 per week would give you a personal workout plan and meal plan.  Thanks, but no thanks.

I finally the 30DayFitness app.  I am so glad I stumbled onto this.  The app has 8 different challenges (Abs, push-up, squat, arms, butt, plank, thighs, and cardio) and each challenge has two beginner levels, two intermediate levels, and to advanced levels.  Considering my age, health, and level of exercise (or lack thereof), I decided on the beginner level 1 in SIX different challenges, Abs, squats, arms, butt, thighs, and cardio.  I decided if I am going to do this, I might as well get the best benefit for all areas.

As of today, I have done 90 situps, 35 crunches, 34 leg raises, 72 seconds of planks, 215 regular squats, 36 arm circles, 10 wall push-ups, 47 floor tricep dips, 11 opposite arm and leg raises, 37 box push-ups, 50 side lunges, 55 sumo squats, 55 donkey kicks, 37 goblet squats, 36 forward lunges, 24 clock lunges, 37 lunge jumps, 85 seconds of running in place, 55 seconds of high knees, 85 seconds of bear crawls, 15 Pylo jacks, and 60 butt kicks.

My legs are sore.

My thighs are sore.

My lower back hurts real bad.

NO PAIN, NO GAIN!  I’m going to conquer these challenges.

A lot of these exercises I have never heard of, but luckily the app has diagrams of each exercise.  Any exercise I struggle with, I try to modify it ever so slightly until I am in better shape.  I am looking at these challenges as an adventure.  I have not woken up in the morning dreading to do exercises.  But I do enjoy a nice long hot bath immediately afterward!

I hope to blog about this one a daily basis and will include information and maybe pictures of what I eat each day.

So please follow along on my 6, YES 6, 30-day challenges!