Some Workout Inspiration

Well, today I am feeling SORE! During my workout yesterday I did a few new weight training exercises, but didn’t expect them to make me so achy. It’s funny how that happens sometimes. I also changed things up yesterday by hopping on the treadmill for the first time in a long time. Recently, I haven’t been running at all and the nagging calf injury I’ve mentioned in previous posts has ceased to exist. It took 2 1/2 years to feel completely back to normal, but it’s been feeling so good lately that I stopped wearing my calf compression band during workouts. It’s pretty awesome!

Since I determined that running is the only thing that brings my calf soreness to a head, for the time being I’ve decided to just not run. After all, it’s one type of cardio I actually loathe, and there are so many other forms of exercise that I enjoy. However, since I frequently hike outdoors without an issue, I have no problem with treadmill incline walking workouts. I brought one back into the mix with this half hour routine:

I also wanted to share some motivational [workout] sayings I’ve come across recently:

And with that, I’m off to get ready for a weeknight date with my hubby! We’re seeing Gavin DeGraw and Colbie Caillat in concert at a venue called Humphreys by the Bay. The tickets were one of my birthday gifts from him. 🙂

I hope she sings this:

And he sings this:

“I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately. All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind. I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I’ve got to do or who I’m supposed to be. I don’t want to be anything other than me.”

Apple Pie Oatmeal Bowl

Random tidbit of the day: According to a study in the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, exercising for at least 2 hours a week makes you 70-85% less likely to be depressed, anxious, or experience burn out. Add that to the laundry list of reasons to workout! That’s just a minimum of about 17 minutes a day, so what’s your excuse?

Speaking of exercise, when I was talking about mountain biking in yesterday’s post, I neglected to mention the fact that I always have some sort of injury after biking. This time it’s a nice ugly bruise on my calf:

Nice right? Totally worth it though!

Moving onto eats, my day was full of getting work done and being busy with the usual shenanigans, and I didn’t devote a lot of time to prepping my meals. But contrary to what some may think, eating healthy doesn’t equate to slaving away in the kitchen for hours on end. While my dinner was a little boring — a veggie burger with tomato and avocado, with edamame on the side — my lunch was a new combo that I loved:

An apple pie oatmeal bowl!

I haven’t eaten oatmeal in awhile, but I brought it back today after smelling the sweet apple scent of it last night when my hubby snacked on a bowl of oats. So when lunchtime hit this afternoon, oatmeal was on my brain.

Here’s what I used:

• 1 packet of Quaker Oats apples & cinnamon oatmeal
• 1/2 chopped apple
• 2 TBSP slivered toasted almonds
• 1 mini box of raisins
• 1/4 c Kashi Go Lean Cinnamon Crunch cereal
• Sprinkled cinnamon

I microwaved the apple in with the oats to make them hot and soft, apple pie style. The other ingredients were added in after the oats cooked. Yum!

I’ll leave you with some food for thought: “The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved than it will be.” – Marcel Pagnol

Finding the Motivation to Workout

Last night I celebrated the 4th of July in San Diego’s Gaslamp District with my brother Danny and his girlfriend Desiree, who as I previously mentioned, are in town for the week:

The combination of booze + little sleep left me feeling sluggish and sleepy today. Going to bed at 4 am when you need to get up the next morning and get work done isn’t ideal (well, duh), but it was worth it!

I have to admit, I’m pretty good with being diligent about my workouts, as I make it a top priority to get a sweat session in most days. Even though I wasn’t feeling like it, I wanted to get a workout in today. There are several things I do to get myself more in the exercise zone when my motivation is lagging.  Although the majority of the time I like exercising, there are days like today when I’m not into it. Here are the things I did to get myself more into the workout groove:

• Pump it up:  While I was changing into my exercise gear, I blasted a few of my gym playlist tracks that always make me feel like moving. This immediately ups my energy levels.
• Just get moving: Harley needed her daily dose of exercise, so I first took her for a long walk. After working at my desk all day, it felt good to move my body and be outside, and it definitely made me feel more alert and awake. Sometimes a bit before I want to workout, I’ll stand up while I’m finishing up with work and just kind of move around. It’s good to get the blood flowing and it’s sort of a warm-up to my actual warm-up.
• Quotes, quotes, quotes: I read a few of the inspirational quotes hanging around my place to put myself in a positive state of mind.
• Set a small goal: Today I told myself that I’d exercise for at least 30 minutes. At that point, I could decide if I wanted to stop or keep working out. I think that setting a smaller goal than what you’d usually do (my workouts are typically 60-90 minutes) makes it seem more doable. As it turns out, I got to 30 minutes and decided to do 30 minutes more. Sometimes that happens; sometimes I get to that small goal and have had enough. I think the important thing to remember is that doing something, even if it’s just 10 minutes of exercise, is always better than doing nothing.
• Reward yourself:  “If you exercise, you can take a short nap afterwards.” This was what I told myself today. Giving yourself permission to be rewarded after a workout will help push you to just do it. In the end, I felt more energized after my sweat session and didn’t even wind up taking a nap, but promising myself the option to do so helped me just suck it up and workout.

You know what they say — you never regret a workout!

It’s going to be an early night for me, good night!