Overview: So the biggest takeaway from week 4?
I’m stronger. So much stronger than I thought I’d be at this stage. I still have a long way to go but because of this week I’m excited about that.
One of the biggest issues I had was my core, it was basically a mess. Just standing for a small amount of time or walking short distances caused a lot of pain or discomfort. This was the first week in months and months that I didn’t have that.
Now, the danger for me here is I’ll think I’m great and try to do too much too soon. Look at Monday and Tuesday. I got past that though and took it easy on myself for the rest of the week (well I did kind of torture myself on Saturday but that was for smugness reasons) and I’m just feeling good. Moving a lot better, a little bit more toned and just feeling good in my body and mind.
Monday (January 25th) – So, the 8fit 3 week New Year Program is finished BUT they have a 4 week program dropping next week so I’ve decided why the hell not!
I’m not sure what is happening to me. Here I am on week 4 and I’m still in the mood to keep going.
So, I’ve decided to do a bit of a mix and match this week.
Starting off with an 8fit class. Full-Body Boxing with Emily. The app said 30 minutes but it lied to me and made me do 40 minutes of full on cardio. Honestly? I think I blacked out a little bit doing this because I can’t remember it all. 😀
It was lots and lots of cardio and it was a massive challenge, but as always with cardio, I felt incredible after. There were side planks again and I just did modified push ups at that point. I’m getting good at a push up.
One of the things I like about the 8fit app is that even while you are doing it the trainers are telling you this isn’t about numbers and calories burned, it’s about getting strong and doing the best you can. This is really nice to hear when you just want to give up, especially because my number 1 reason for doing this is to get stronger. I mean if I tone up and lose a bit of weight I’m not going to be upset about it! 😀
Followed the workout up with a 10 minute stretch. Pigeon stretch was key here I think. It seems that I need to open up my hips as much as possible after working out.
Also got in a small 2.5 km walk after work today. Not my favourite time to do it but because of that I flew around so might be something to that!
Tuesday (January 26th) – I slept like a log!! On a Monday night!! Crazy!
Couldn’t get up to walk as I was just too tired so I slept in and as soon as I got up was back to Emily and 8Fit Day 1 of the New Year’s Program. ‘Heart-pumping cardio workout’. I first did this on January 4th and had to add a lot of modifications. This time I only had to add one. I could only do baby jump tucks. I did start off with doing them full out but it felt like there was too much impact on my lower back so I made them small and did okay. I’m after ordering a super spongy mat so this might help with impact when doing moves like this.
Doing this workout and finding I could push myself more than when I first did it has really fired me up!
Went on a super quick walk and finished it off with 8Fit Day 2 of their New Year’s Program was ‘Yoga for spine mobility’. This helped loosen up everything after the mornings workout.
Wednesday (January 27th) – Had a sleepless night because of hip pain. Not sciatica but it was definitely coming from my lower back and travelling into my left hip in particular. That’s the hip I have the most trouble with. Is this because I pushed myself too hard and too soon on Monday and Tuesday? I’m going to guess most likely.
Will I learn from this? Probably not!
My plan for today was a HIIT full-body workout class. I vetoed that at 3am when I couldn’t find a spot to sleep in that didn’t hurt.
So first thing this morning I was up and doing the Hip Yoga I like and it felt sooooooooo gooooooood! Like moan in relief in certain positions good! My left hip was completely stiff and closed and it took about half of the 45 minute session to come right. I love this particular Yoga workout even though it is rather long. It never feels that long and it’s definitely the right amount of time to slowly open the hips up but sometimes the idea of finding 45 minutes is more challenging than the actual doing of a thing. I’ll find 45 minutes to read a book no problem though! 😀
I can also now do a bow pose. When I started doing this I couldn’t even touch my ankles.
It sure didn’t look as pretty as that and my chest didn’t come that far off the ground but I managed this without hurting myself and I feel some of the other moves that I’ve struggled with are within reach.
I’m not new to Yoga or Pilates but the sessions I’ve done them haven’t been right for me. It’s often hard to get instructors to listen to me, I think they are often of the opinion that I’m just not pushing myself hard enough. I did do a few one on one Yoga classes years ago with a fabulous instructor who took the time to look into my condition and she designed a series of moves that worked really well. Unfortunately (or for her fortunately I guess) she left the country to travel. Anyone else from then just assumed they knew my body better than I did and I often ended up hurt and never went back.
I shied away from even the online classes in the app because of that but obviously I can just not do something or take my time with it so I’m really enjoying it now.
Thursday (January 28th) – Decided to go a little bit easy today so I did a quick 10 minute abs blast and let me tell you, I felt that blast. Some of the moves were like Pilates moves so the very small move that burns. Tough but it really feels like you are doing something. Followed that with long 20 minute stretch/yoga. My hamstrings were super tight so needed to work that out.
Went on a late 2.5 km walk but made it speedy. The log stretch definitely helped me pick up speed.
Did a lovely sleep meditation that had me out like a light. This mediation stuff is really blowing my mind! 😀
Friday (January 29th) – Friday’s are the busy days so an early start.
Managed to work in Pilates (8Fit Day 5 of their New Year’s Program) and housework in between a busy day of meetings.
This Pilates workout is really beneficial while also being challenging. There are still a few moves I can’t fully do but I was able to do a lot more this round compared to the first time I did it. Like the Yoga for hips I’ll definitely be working this into my weekly routines.
So, as I said, Friday is always busy because I try to finish early. A 4pm finish today and we did our weekly Prosecco in the Library followed by our first takeaway of 2020. We got one of our favourite. A place in town that only does burgers and fries but those them WELL. They do a really good gluten free bun which is very hard to come by. It was magnificent and well worth the long January wait.
Saturday (January 30th) – Rain!!!
So.
Much.
Rain.
But I got up and went on my 12 km walk in ALL THE RAIN.
I had to go on my own as someone was afraid he’d melt.
There was all the rain and also a really cold north easterly wind that felt like it was going to cut me in two. I was really close to turning around and going home but I wanted to be smug and feel good for the rest of the weekend so I kept going.
I got so wet my phone had a mini heart-attack and rebooted itself and wouldn’t connect to network. Luckily I have downloaded podcasts as back up. I may need a new phone tbh.
The plus side to going on my own is that when I came home my steak sandwich lunch was almost done. All I had to do was jump in the shower. I did have to stay in the shower for about 20 minutes to try warm up though. It didn’t exactly work. Queue the velour sweatpants I said I’d never wear! The steak sandwich and a gluten free beer warmed me up the rest of the way and then I took a nap. Because I can.
The rest of Saturday was spent watching movies and drinking wine. It was a good day.
Also, important to note, I did indeed feel smug. 😀
Sunday (January 31st) – Meal prep day.
This one was busier than normal as I tried a new recipe.
Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Chickpeas by Panning the Globe. I made a few modifications. Used 12 chicken thighs and I slow roasted my garlic first. Slow roasted garlic is my favourite and I like to roast up a bunch of it and freeze it and then I just added it to whatever I’m making. It was fresh out of the oven today though.
Because today was a busy meal prep day I popped on an audiobook and managed to listen to the entire thing and because it was a second book in series I had to jump right into number three so spent the rest of the evening reading that. It was a nice way to spend the day.
The books, in case anyone is interested were, Wild Highway (audio) and Quarter Miles by Devney Perry. These are book two and three in the Runaway Series. Super speedy and easy reads but they are also lovely. Perfect for meal prep and I really should have hung onto Quarter Miles but I don’t regret it! 😀
mindforbooks.ie 