Building Confidence

Monday means back to Double Light after weekend rest! It was nice to be off work and to be able to do the workout during the day instead of the evening after work.  I think I prefer my trainer didn't take these pictures, but since he did, here they are. Most of the exercises incorporated body weight...ooohh, I can't wait until I have a smaller body. My trainer made a makeshift step from a huge book and a towel. (It worked okay, but I think we will be ordering a real one if he keeps scheduling step-up type exercises.) In the first picture, I am essentially marching and pumping my arms as I step up on one side (then I turned around to step up with the other side). In the second picture, wall push ups (another modification for this not ready for "real" push-ups girl). Finally, the third picture is "box jumps". My "box" is probably only 3.5 inches tall, but when you are jumping up a whole body like mine it seems much taller and takes some concentrated effort. Box jumps are very much a mental challenge as well the physical challenge. Most of the time I had to have my trainer stand right next to me...I was convinced I would fall (I didn't.) I felt pretty good about this workout and I do feel like I am pushing myself in a way I wouldn't do if I were working out alone.

Lunch was my lettuce wraps. This time I used the leftover cold salmon. It was very tasty. I always love looking at my plate when I have lettuce wraps - the colors make me smile.

Monday afternoon I spent a little time in my very neglected garden. I don't know why, but I just haven't gotten into gardening this spring like normal. My planting is very minimal. I moved my tomatoes to the raised beds. I have been super disappointed in my tomatoes the last couple years and felt I need to try something different. So far they are growing very well.

These random tomatillo plants grew up by themselves from last year's plants. I was quite surprised. Last year my tomatillo plants looked great - tons of flowers, but minimal fruit. Hopefully, I will be in the salsa verde business this summer :)  I pulled all my radishes, spinach and lettuce. I replanted a couple rows of lettuce, but I want to get some different spinach seed.

My herbs are all over the place this year. I have a bumper crop of cilantro. I wish there were a good way to preserve it, but dried cilantro just doesn't have good flavor. My cilantro is always ready before my tomatoes, so this year I am going to try to do a second planting and hopefully it will coincide with ripe tomatoes. We do love our pico de gallo!

These dill plants were volunteers from last year too. It was a nice surprise. There was also quite a bit of dill growing in the yard, I picked and used some of it between mowings. I bought some other herbs to plant in this bed...and then I waited two long and most of them died :(  I was able to salvage a thyme plant and some basil - sorry tarragon, thai basil and someone else I can't remember.

I wanted to have some herbs closer to the house. Sometimes when I am cooking, I am a bit too lazy to go all they way out to the garden. I planted some in a pot on the deck by the grill - rosemary, basil and a lime basil. The lime basil died already, but the others are doing well. I've used it several times which indicates the convenience factor is working. My mother-in-law gave me this flamingo solar light. Sometimes it still freaks me out when I take the dogs out at night. I do a double take when I see pink light out of the corner of my eye.

I have been taking my lunch to work faithfully the last couple of weeks. I have only eaten out when invited by someone else (a former co-worker, my boss and my niece). Yesterday's lunch was a bit of mish mash - not well planned. I definitely got my fruits and veggies in!!

I saved the almonds and strawberries for a late afternoon snack. Those berries look amazing, but man, were they tart!   The snack did keep me from gnawing off my arm before dinner, so that is a win. For the record, I chose to eat my prepared (nutritious) snack over the chips that were calling me, so double win.

I confess I did NOT want to do my workout last night. I had been moving and cleaning stuff at work most of the day and was already tired and sore. Office Purge 2017 - Just a tip of the binder iceberg. There has to be a couple hundred and I still have may more to empty and move. I hope someone will want to reuse some of them.

I was also pretty hungry (possibly hangry) by the time I got home. I quickly prepared my potatoes for the oven so they could roast while I snuck in my workout. On the agenda last night....Bumps and Jumps, "Jr."  I think the name is borrowed from my husband's program, but heavily modified for me, hence the "jr.". The planned workout was 5 burpees followed by 7 box jumps to be completed in two minutes and then repeated for a total of three circuits. Any time not used to complete a task became rest time.

The burpees were pretty much a fail. I tried the first one and had a sharp pain in my upper left leg near the hip. I was super frustrated because although I didn't want to do them I was determined to do my best and not be a baby. My trainer ended up subbing 7 push-ups for the burpees. I tried to do one regular push-up, but couldn't quite get it, so we switched to modified knee push-ups. I can tell I am getting a bit better already. On the last circuit I surprised my trainer by trying the burpees again. (I know, who is this girl??)  I managed 4 super ugly burpees, but at least I have a baseline to improve upon. And yes, I am hoping they don't show up again on my schedule any time soon. I didn't have the pain when I tried the burpees later so maybe I just need to do other things before I attempt them to be loosened up.

One thing I have noticed in the last week is my confidence is increasing. A couple of times I have found myself trying to move things I previously would have called in someone else's muscles to do. For example, my husband put our hammock up on the deck while he mowed. (It is on a large metal frame). He was gone when I wanted to use it. Instead of waiting for him to get home, I moved it myself.

Yesterday at work, I moved some heavy desktops by myself. Neither of those tasks were easy but I tried and I succeeded. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to turn in my "Princess Delicate Flower" title and do all my own work, but it is nice to know I can in a pinch :)

Happy Wednesday!!