This is why I love Pilate's, one exercise works your entire body. This exercise is called - "Single Leg Stretch". After 8-10 reps, your abs will be screaming and your heart rate will rise.
How to do this exercise:
Laying on your back (Supine), move your pelvis into imprint ( gentle pelvis tilt bring lower back to mat) then bring one foot at a time off the floor to table top position (knees up, legs bent at 90 degrees). Nod chin to chest and flex forward bringing shoulders off the floor. Hands rest against outside of the leg, scapulae are stabilized.
Exercise:
Inhale to prepare
Exhale - extend one leg out on a diagonal, moving outside hand to ankle and inside hand to knee of flexed leg.
Inhale begin to switch legs and hands
Exhale - fully extend other leg, changing hands to flex leg
Inhale switch legs
Focus:
- ensure transverse abdominis is engaged throughout to keep abs flat
- use vasti muscle to pull patella (knee cap) up as knee extends and toe reaches away
- extend leg only as low as pelvic stability can be maintained -if you feel this in your low back -you are not maintaining pelvic stability
- stabilize scapulae to avoid neck tension
- avoid gripping hip flexors
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| RIP Biggy |
This post does not have anything to do with my healthy journey - but it is related to my life. Isabel lost her first pet today, our 2 1/2 year old fish Biggy. Biggy was a gift from our oldest daughter Kayla to our youngest daughter Isabel. He received his name because he had huge bulging eyes. For a fish, he had a lot of personality. Biggy would beg for food when you walked by him, suck up and spit out the rocks on the bottom of his bowl and loved to show off when he knew you were watching. Over the last few months we had a few scares. He kept getting stuck in the decorative castle. He would lay on the bottom not moving, looking lethargic, Then you'd feed him or clean the tank and he'd come back to life.
Isabel is hart broken. We all had tears in our eyes at her reaction this morning. After 2 years I think we are past the flushing option, so we will have to plan a proper burial this evening. So hard to see your child in so much pain. Unfortunately there is no way around it when you have pets and we have 3 more, 2 cats and 1 dog that are all around the same age. I hope that this experience will help her deal with future loss.
I am happy to report that my measurements are headed in the right direction!
Start 8 Weeks
Arm 14.5 14
Chest 37 3/4 36 7/8
Waist 38.5 38.5
Hips 45 2/8 45 1/8
Thigh 26 5/8 26
Calf 14 9/16 14 7/8
Weight is the same - but I have definitely gained muscle so I am ok with that.
What is contributing to these results?
Nutrition
- cut out gingerale and sugary drinks
- eating what my body needs, with guidance from Krista Dolbear, a holistic nutritionist
- eating more throughout the day
- starting the day with the proper nutrition - for me it is a Vega shake every morning
Exercise
- Pilate's 3x per week at Create Balance
- Private sessions - averaging 1 a week. When I could not get in for a private I did an extra class
- The occasional walk - started running 1x per week 2 weeks a go.
Life Balance
As a result of everything I've been doing for the past 8 weeks, I am noticing a big change in my energy which is improving my quality of life. I am feeling stronger, looking forward to exercising and wanting to do more at night because I feel good. I have a ways to go before I reach my weight loss goals, however the hardest part is done... getting started!
Thank you again to those who have been helping and encouraging me!!
I truly believe that your attitude effects how others see you. If you feel good about yourself, comfortable in your own skin, then others will sense that and react to it. I saw a video the other day on my sister Paula's Facebook wall of a beautiful young lady who is a blogger and was criticized for being over weight. Follow this link to see it: www.upworthy.com/internet-calls-fat-girl-fat-and-her-response-is-perfect. Her response was perfect! You've got to be happy with you - it does not matter what other people think. I wish there was a universal remote that could mute those insecure, negative people.
It got me to thinking about women of all shapes and sizes. In my opinion no one is safe. I have friends of all shapes and sizes and every woman I know has their own insecurities. Things about themselves they wish they could change, weight struggles either up or down, but you would not guess that by looking at them, each one is beautiful and confident. I don't understand why people feel the need to point out other people's uniqueness. What does it accomplish??
Imagine if we all took the time to compliment one another. Point out a positive rather than a negative. Just the thought of it brings a smile to my face. I'm going to try this and I invite you to join me. Have you complimented anyone today?
It has been 8 weeks since I started tracking my food and increased my exercise plan. Time has flown by. I am feeling pretty good, which is a huge win already. I have energy at night when I get home from work, I don't need a nap on the weekends and I look forward to exercising! This plan is really working.
I have to admit though, I am a bit nervous to do my measurements. I haven't weighed myself since the balance incident and I'm not noticing a huge difference in my waist line. What ever the result - I will keep the big picture in mind. This is not a quick fix, especially when you consider it has taken me 6 years to gain this weight. All in good time!
Feeling pretty good about myself today. Last night I went for a run with Megan, did a reformer class right after and another this morning. I am feeling so strong right now! On the run we followed the learn to run a 5k method. Walk for 2 minutes, run for 3 minutes. We made it 2.5 km and I have to say the first 3 minutes of running was very hard. I believe I was cursing quiet a bit and questioning myself... why are you putting yourself through this??? With Megan's encouragement I pushed through and I am glad that I did. The buddy system definitely works!! Doing cardio with someone else really helps keep you motivated - you will give up on yourself before you give up on a friend.
I do not plan to become a marathon runner or a die hard that runs no matter the weather. My plan is to start running during the summer to help get my cardio endurance up, so that in the cooler, bad weather months I will want to jump on our Elliptical. Cardio for me is to help me slim down, burn off that pesky fat and more importantly help keep my heart healthy!
With summer comes party's, BBQ's and temptations! I have had 2 weekends now of party's and with both came unhealthy choices - but I tried to make the healthiest choice of the unhealthy. Lite beer, vodka and soda ... more salad and less chips... and during the week, balance will come. Back to eating right and exercising. As one of my Create Balance supporters pointed out to me last week - you still have to enjoy life if this is a long term change, you can't expect that you will restrain from goodies all the time.
At Create Balance we have introduced a new class. It is a "learn to run a 5k and matwork combo" class. I was supposed to attend on Saturday morning, but Isabel was not feeling well, so I chose to miss the class and snuggle with my girl. I've managed to recruit Megan Orser, (also a fellow blogger) to run with me Tuesday before my Reformer class at Create Balance so I will still get my run in. I'm also booked into 3 other classes this week, so I am getting my workouts!
I am also going to try to cut out bread this week. Years ago I did the Atkins diet. The first 2 weeks I ate only proteins and veggies (very hard and went thru crazy withdrawal!). Then after that I added fruit back to my diet, but stayed heavier on the protein than anything else. My body really responded to this diet. I was down to a size 6 and not even exercising. Not sure how that worked, but it does not seem to healthy. I was eating bacon, full fat beef... no fish. So I am going to try a modification and just remove bread from the equation for a couple of weeks. I will keep you posted on how it works for me.
It has been over a week since my last post, my apologies to my faithful readers but I was busy relaxing! I've been off work since last Friday and it was wonderful. Troy took his first flying lesson Friday morning, Kayla had her birthday party with her friends Friday night, Saturday was recovering, Pilate's and chores, Sunday we celebrated Canada Day with our great group of friends and Monday we headed to Grand Bend to celebrate Kayla's actual birthday with dinner on the beach. Sounds like a lot, but in between we did nothing. I finished a book "The Secret Daughter" and laid by the pool. Our biggest accomplishment during our time off - we cleaned the basement! 3 trips to goodwill, and a dumpster bag full of junk later and we are all feeling better having purged and organized.
We did a lot over the past 6 days, however I would not have classified us as being busy - rather enjoying life...living. Troy sent me this great New York Times article; The 'Busy' Trap. It is a great article about how we use the term busy as a badge of honour, a way to let others know how full our life is. I love how author Tim Kreider refers to what regrets he will have on his death bed, will it be that he did not work harder or that he could have had more time with his friends and loved ones. We work hard to one day be able to enjoy life - how backwards is that. This brings me back to my last post - Who does own your happiness?? We should be putting as much time and energy into enjoying life. Recognize that we are in charge our quality of life, being busy is our choice.
I've had many people at Create Balance over the last few days asking about my progress - am I reaching my goals? I would say YES! I am starting to notice a difference in my body - not huge, no change in pant size yet, but my face looks leaner and my clothes are fitting better (I can enjoy dinner without worrying about cutting off my circulation). The big difference is in my energy! Tuesday night I did Collette's reformer class at 6:30, then when I got home Troy and I went for a walk. That would have been unheard of before. It feels so good to have energy. I am looking forward to exercising and I think that is one of the biggest challenges for me. I was not happy with my body, my shape. I wanted to loose weight, but I got into a rut, exercise was another chore I had to do, it felt like work. Now that I have pushed past that - it feels great!!! Thanks again for your continued support!!
