Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yoga. Show all posts

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Days 5 and 6: Xray Vision [WARNING: EXPLICIT IMAGES (of unPCP food)]

TODAY'S BODY
jumprope:  I love doing this outside! My sets are still not consistent, so I'm wondering how tomorrow will fare! 
Arnaud really didn't like the light rope I ordered from Amazon so he bought a heavier one. I'm wondering whether it makes a difference. I think I need to find a new surface... going to look into a padded astroturf mat- maybe an oversized doormat, as per the astroturf suggestion from Ricky.
lunges and push ups:  Not sure whether it's recommended from a yogic or fitness standpoint, but I start with a yoga warm up inside (spinal flex series, frog pose, sat kriya) step outside for the jumprope, then come back inside and do the lunges and push ups to upbeat yoga music on the yoga mat. I've started a PCP Playlist on iTunes, which has been great to warm up and work out to. For the rest intervals between lunges, I go into a wide legged forward bend, and child pose between the intervals between push ups. Then from there, I resume my usual yoga routine. 
For some reason, I find that I'm a lot more energized than I am after my usual yoga routine when I combine the yoga with the PCP week one drill. I've often been surprised because I come into contact with poses or sequences in yoga class which I'd always thought were warm up stretches or fitness routines.... so I figured combining the two would not really be a problem. I was surprised, for example, to find the leg lifts in yoga class! I guess what really works is universal and can go from one context to another. I guess I should ask Patrick about this, just to make sure, though.
eating:   Everything went so well until the weekend!!! During Days 1-4,  I was eating half of what were small meals, but the 5 and 6 were all about eating half of either quite large, dense,  or decadent meals. 

Day 5  / Breakfast: The last run of egg yolk for a while,  probably... with a side of steamed salmon, broccoli flowers,
 90% rye bread. Other (larger) half  of everything: on Arnaud's plate.

Day 6  / Decadance: The aftermath of an authentic Italian ciocolatta from a fountain, made from real gianduja. 
This too, a last for a long time to come. Shared with Arnaud, but this time I had the bigger half.
 I'm getting full just looking at this now.  A spoonful really would have sufficed.


The weekend also brought half glasses of wine, which I thought were going to feel like teaspoons of wine, but I actually got kind of drunk! Even though I stuck to eating half meals, I found myself in food comas, looking and feeling puffier than usual this weekend, which I really hated. I should remember the ugh factor I'm feeling now....
other: Had sudden and sharp back pain... going to acupuncture tomorrow, if I can get a booking. But this is unrelated to the exercises, it always happens to me comes when I don't get enough sleep.
help, please!!: If anyone could direct me to a link or give info on where to buy resistance bands (as well as the name of the make) I would really appreciate it! Paul, I read your post and went directly to Donki, but unfortunately couldn't find anything with handles... Part of me says, it was probably way high, past my field of vision!!!! (I'm short.) I'll try Tokyu Hands tomorrow.

TODAY'S MIND
Being off alcohol, refined sugar and going easy on the salt, I've been looking in the mirror in the mornings and thinking, "Wow! You look great! Cheekbones!" That’s of course an exaggeration and an AM solo pep talk. It's so infinitesimal that only I can notice the difference, but I actually think my skin was looking a millishade brighter and less puffy from retaining less water thanks to the new diet and the exercise (..until I did the large, dense, and decadent half meals).  
... and even if it IS an exaggeration, anything to make me think I'm starting to see results, is fine with me!!!  I actually think I am starting to see past the first layer with a kind of PCP Xray vision- seeing myself the way I want to be in the final week photo. 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Day 4 - The Fine Print






TODAY'S BODY
jumprope:  In my sleepy state yesterday, and the light background, I didn't realize it was 60 x 5, until I started reading some of your posts. oops. Did the 60 x 5 today, and an extra set to assuage the guilt. I sail through some of the sets and in the others, it was every 5-8 jumps where I felt like a clumsy meatball tangled in some spaghetti.
lunges:   This too, I was looking at the pdf, and asked myself, "Why is Patrick standing in the first picture?" Oooooh. You're supposed to come back to the standing position after the lunge. No wonder everyone is sore! For a couple of days, I had this false sense of, "wow, I must be in better shape than I thought!" My thighs and gluts are gonna be sore tomorrow.
push ups:  Tried with the push up handles. Question: Which is better, doing a deeper push up with knees down, or shallow ones with knees off the floor? Feel like better form and better workout with the knees down...  
eating:   So far so good... except water and herbal teas. Do we halve these too?
other: Took a hot bath with some aromatherapy oils (i used rosemary, geranium, frankincense) after the not so baby went down. Stretched in the tub a little,  and soaked while I read. ahhhhhh.
TODAY'S MIND
I'm disappointed with myself today. With Arnaud away this morning and an unusually early am appointment (booked it forgetting he would not be able to do the morning school run), I went into panic mode and became unnecessarily curt with my daughter this morning. I'm finding it very challenging to balance my own priorities, quality time with my husband, work commitments, and the terrible twos...
I chose yoga as my special activity, since it's supposed to teach us to breathe through difficult moments (it does) but... I'd forgotten about all of that struggling to get my daughter dressed and out the door!!! Even without having threatened with any consequences, counting to three usually sends my daughter in a straight beeline towards whatever she's being asked to do, but I guess I should actually use that time to take three deep inhalations for myself. aaaargh... Well, hopefully, putting this thought down in writing will make it more concrete and help me to remember next time!
I figure that since the body will be undergoing so many different changes (physical, chemical, and probably hormonal too!), I'd better do something that'll help me deal with the shift and discomfort, too.



REMINDER TO SELF:
Read the pdf's more carefully. If I miss something, don't sweat it. Just breathe.






Have a great weekend, you guys!