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THESE BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE IN YOUR WORKOUT ROUTINE

I love having a series of things to do without equipment.

For a whole variety of reasons, people get hung up on having the ‘right’ equipment and if they don’t have it, they can’t exercise. Your body has weight, use it. As long as you are doing things with the proper form,

  • do stuff at home,
  • on your own time and
  • in your own space.

The best reason is that YOU ARE FREE. Why spend money on ‘things’ that may be too expensive, be overly complicated, take up precious space, or get boring.

These helpful exercises are truly useful for travel or just at home in your own time and space. No excuses.

bodyweight­exercises­to­add­to­your­workout­routine

It’s Time to Have an Attitude of Gratitude

So, on Sunday our pastor was talking about “those” people. He was referring to runners. I had a little giggle.

I have become one of them. He obviously is not one of ‘us’. He was talking about how crazy it was to be a runner and eat kale, yuck. It was not that long ago and I was right there with him. ‘Those’ people are crazy. What can possibly drive people to run like that?

I then started thinking, why do I like to run? It’s not the feeling. The pavement hurts my knees. Sometimes if I’m on a road, the car fumes actually make me cough. I can tell how many kilometers I have run by what hurts. My knees always hurt for the first few km. By the 3km stretch, my lungs have stopped burning, but now I need to regulate my breathing. By 7km, my hips are so sore my stride changes. And yet, I would rather do this than a lot of other cardio. Why?

Well, for me it’s the alone time inside my own head. I solve the world’s problems. I rehash old arguments. I make list upon list of stuff that I need to do when I get home. I think of friends that I need to reach out to. And then I come around a corner and look at the view, smell something good, see something cute, look up at the sun and clouds and I am so grateful.

Just grateful that;

  • I am running.
  • I can hear that duck.
  • I see the sunset.
  • I am moving on my own steam.
  • I have a family whom I love to the ends of the earth and that loves me.
  • I am at my happiest.

We tend to wallow in all the negative in our surroundings. It is so easy. There is so much stress. So much sickness. So many people struggling. It would be so easy to put my jammies on and climb back to bed and decide “ I am not going to ADULT today” (love this new little saying, it makes me smile). We don’t do that though, instead most of us grumble our way to work and share the grumbling. The old saying “ misery love company” is just too easy.

We need to, on a regular basis, learn to be grateful. Some days it’s easy, some, not so much and those are the days we need to do it most. So make a list and repeat it on a regular basis. Then proceed to add to it. Be basic, not unrealistic, just real.

If you are a person of faith, as I am, I talk to God. If you are not, talk to whomever or whatever you best relate to. It’s not all about who you talk to, it’s about your attitude. Just be grateful.

Here is my basic list;

  • I am grateful for my husband and kids, soon to be grandbaby.
  • I am grateful for my parents and sisters.
  • I am grateful for where I live. I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
  • I am grateful I have found blogging and that I love it and can do it.
  • I am grateful for my good health.
  • I am grateful for the opportunity to work.
  • I am grateful for the challenges that have me stronger than I thought possible.

Make your own list. Make it short if this is new or tough. Make it change as your world changes. Be grateful even through the tough stuff because one day you will look back and it will be hard to remember how you made it through, yet you did. We usually seem to, but we forget how hard it was until the next time. There will be a next tough time. That is human nature, but always be grateful. You don’t have to look to far to see someone who is in a
worse state than you are.

The more you are grateful for what you have, the easier it will be to find contentment. More contentment means less stress, less stress means more happiness and we all need more happiness in our lives.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.­ – Albert Schweitzer

The Best Time to Exercise to Lose Weight

We are recent converts to the ‘wearable’ trend.

We have recently decided to use Fitbit Charge HR . So far, we are fans. I will post a review once we have been wearing them for just a little longer. In the meantime, their blog site is full of useful posts. Here is the first one that I chose to share with you. We have been doing some fasted cardio ourselves which is what drew me to this article. Again, as I have said before, you do need to do what works for you.

Read the Fitbit blog post below.

the­best­time­to­exercise­to­lose­weight

Let’s Celebrate

OK, so it’s been a pretty mild winter here on the coast.

No measurable snow. Lots of predictable rain, but no real records set or broken. Uneventful in that regard, but on the home front, it is a different story. Let’s just say that I am so grateful for a surprise burst of summer in the middle of April. The sun is warm, the flowers are amazing, people are happy and it makes my heart sing. On the home front, things are changing again. Some things for the good, some, not so much, but the best thing is that we are about to be grandparents. So exciting. It is hard to explain the feeling, but we are at that time in our lives where new life is the chance to look at new beginnings.

We are planning new gardens, opening doors and windows blowing out the winter dust bunnies, putting away the heavy sweaters and pulling out the summer sleeveless tops and planning baby showers. Did I mention I was just a little excited?

So with the planning of the new, I am starting a new eating routine. I’m tired of the plateau that my body seems to be way too comfortable at, so I am going to shake things up a little. Burst through that barrier. But wait, what do I do about the upcoming celebrations and parties with the new baby? Yeah, I am well aware that it is not me having this baby, but I plan on being as helpful as I can and that means my routine will be upset too. I will be visiting their house lots, I will try to help with their meals, they will be coming to our place, and then there will be entertaining people that want to visit babe and mom and how do I make my new eating routine a priority and how do I allow myself the opportunity to celebrate?

With most things, planning ahead is the best thing you can do. If there are meals prepared, you don’t go hungry. If it is truly that important to you, you will make it work. But, I was thinking about the whole celebrating thing. I know in our family, celebrating usually comes with cake, pies, snacks, wine, beer, and the whole party aspect. But can we celebrate our successes without food? Sure, if you want to. We need to remember how important celebrating is to the human condition.

Ecclesiastes 3:1­8, A Time for Everything

“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under
heaven

2 A time to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is
planted.

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to tear down, and a time to build up.

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time
to shun embracing.

6 A time to search, and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep, and a time to throw
away.

7 A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; A time to be silent, and a time to
speak.

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace.

 

So, let’s think about ways to celebrate that are not necessarily about food.

  • Buy yourself something.    It doesn’t have to cost a fortune, but it does need to be something that you will remember why you bought it and it should make you smile. It could be a new purse, piece of clothing, especially if it is a new size, coffee mug, anything really, anything.
  • Spend some time doing something just for you.    What do you never take the time to do? That’s what you should do. Sit on the beach, walk in the park, go to the art gallery, get fully absorbed in a new or very old album that you love.
  • Share your achievement.    For most of us, that means putting it on Facebook or other social media, (even our facebook page would be a great place) and that is great. People truly love to hear of other people’s successes, as a matter of fact, we need more of them instead of all the hate online. But, if that is not for you, share with a friend. Your happiness is contagious and you really should share the love.
  • Splurge on a food item.    I don’t mean eat a whole tub of ice cream, as good as that sounds, I mean, pay a little more for that tea you don’t normally buy, get that fancy coffee, go somewhere special and order just a dessert, or that glass of scotch your friends don’t appreciate.
  • Throw yourself a little ‘happy party’.    Why wait for someone else’s occasion. Hooray, it’s Thursday works. Put up balloons, turn the music up a little louder, put on some party clothes and JUST BE HAPPY.

You deserve to celebrate, so do it.

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. – Oprah Winfrey