A Break for the Feet

In a little follow up from yesterday I am officially focusing on my food situation in the morning and during work hours. No more grabbing something on the go or picking up snacks for the office. For lunch, I slightly increased the portion of my lentil soup and I added some veggies (carrots) to fill me up a little more. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to give my feet a bit of a break. I needed to find something other than my normal walking. I settled on some ab, arm and leg work. I am going to say right from the get-go, this "workout" was a bit of a mess. It was a mishmash and I clearly need something more structured. I have to remember to have my husband hook up the DVD player in the living room so I can use a DVD next time.

Here goes...of course, I need a selfie or it doesn't count, right? And this is what you get when you try to take one while doing leg lifts.

I only hope I looked half as good as the ever wacky Millie, while I was down on the floor :)  Those are some pretty impressive abs!

The plan was to complete a full 30 minutes of exercise. I pulled up an episode of Barefoot Contessa I had recorded and let that be my timer (and my distraction.) This is the sort of workout I usually get bored with and quit early. The majority of what I did was arm work. However, I did a ton leg lifts. I found "back to basics" kind of ironic, since that is pretty much where I am with this process.

Millie supervised my workout, but wasn't very encouraging or motivating. She is no Richard Simmons!

I wasn't very confident about what do for this workout, so I had asked for suggestions from my awesome ladies group. Someone suggested boxing. Okay, I am not a boxer, but after taking a few jabs I could feel that boxing could be a strenuous workout. Probably not something I am quite ready to tackle, but I have filed in my brain. My husband actually has some equipment from his martial arts days and I am sure he would love to work with me.

Don't worry, Ina is okay. I didn't really punch her (or her friend) in the nose as the previous picture may have suggested.

Another suggestion was to use hand weights while doing the arm exercises. Great idea! I have some 2 pound weights I planned to use, but I couldn't find them (still struggling with organization since we moved everything a million times during the flooring project). So the back up plan was to use some canned veggies as weights. I will be honest, I don't think they really made an impact - I couldn't really feel the extra weight. Perhaps, my arms are just a wee bit stronger than I thought.

And I learned that I can't reach my toes :(  I would not have normally worn socks. However, I wanted to take a few pictures and not offend any of my readers with feet aversions, so socks it was.  You are welcome :)

Millie found my workout a bit boring and moved on to more interesting things in the neighborhood. She is not supposed to do that, but like any good parent would have, I took a quick picture and then told her to get down.

Overall, I think my workout was beneficial even though it needed structure and was, frankly, a bit boring. I like what I know strength training will do for my body, but it is a chore for me to get through. Hopefully, working with some DVDs or in a class will help me through it. In the meantime, I am looking forward to get back to walking today.

I would have already had my walk done for the day, but for the first time in forever we overslept. Now I am facing an after work/before dinner walk and a high of 90 degrees. Fall I know you are out there waiting for me....someday.