Same Hobby, Different Focus

Remember how I said I need a new hobby now, now that I'm done with the weight loss project?* Well, I've really come to enjoy exercise, how it makes me feel, and how much more it enables my body to do, so I've been taking my fitness to the next level since reaching my weight loss goal on March 20.

That week I upped my heaviest dumbells to 15 lbs (up from 12 lbs) for my 12 WHFN workout DVDs, making me pretty sore all over again for the first 2 weeks. I also started to challenge my stability and balance by doing all the stick-assisted segments without the stick and standing on one leg for upper-body dumbell work. These workouts are still great after 6 months and are still moderately challenging, but I figured it was time to mix in some new, harder ones to shake things up a bit.

After much research, I ordered four new DVDs from Tracie Long Training that have an emphasis on functional fitness and core strength. They just came this week. I've done two so far, and they are butt-kickers! Quite a bit more challenging and I'm sore in all kinds of weird places. (Only medium-sore, not run-over-by-a-truck sore, but then I'm working light because I don't know the choreography yet.)

Paul pulled out his library of yoga tapes for me to try on off days, as there isn't as much stretching (which I desperately need) on these new workouts. My flexibility is approaching average, but everything on the back of my body is still super tight so there's lots of room for improvement.

I still walk to work at Case every day, but Case will be over on May 1. I know I won't be so likely to do it without the motivation of saving gas, getting from Point A to Point B, etc. so my plan is to walk to my job at the Cleveland School of Dance (7.6 mile round trip) twice a week. I walked 7.5 miles one day last week when I was getting maintenance done on my car--it was energizing and didn't make me sore or tired at all.

So here's my plan:

Monday: 7.6 mile walk
Tuesday: DVD workout
Wednesday: 7.6 mile walk
Thursday: Yoga or Pilates DVD workout
Friday: DVD workout ( hard one)
Saturday: rest
Sunday: DVD workout+ short yoga tape


*By the way, maintenance rocks! While still watching my portions most of the time, I am enjoying eating more, including candy, and not having to be so anal. I take my measurements once a week and am happy to report that all have either stayed the same or gone down slightly.

Spring Has Sprung

Our "spring foliage" season, like the fall foliage season, is really short--about 6 weeks. Well, maybe eight. Last year, I did a spring photo project to capture the beauty of the flowers that grow along my walk to work and in our neighborhood. It helped me feel like I didn't blink and miss it, like I usually did in the past. I haven't taken a lot of pictures lately, but on Friday I took a few of flowers that I missed last time.

Today, Easter, was one of those rare occasions when Paul & I both are off work during the daytime. This won't happen again until Memorial Day (not the weekend, the actual day). It's like a harmonic convergence. We always savor this kind of time because it's so rare.

I played for church this morning. Even though Easter at the Unitarian Universalist Society is just another Sunday, I still felt the urge to wear something springy and dressy with no black in it, so we were a little extra dressed up. I'm glad I kept one of my old skirts that I love and couldn't bear to give away even though now it's 3 sizes too big for me. I have a new coral pink shell (that fits) that I wore over it, not tucked in of course, and just gathered the skirt's waistline together with a paperclip because I couldn't find a safety pin. I like how I feel in this pretty outfit and it helped make the day feel special.

After church, a group of us decided to go out for lunch on Coventry. All the restaurants were closed for Easter, so we ended up carpooling for a short drive to the diner on Lee Road. I'd never been before, and it was great! We had turkey burgers and sweet potato fries (delicious!) and, as always with this group, thoughtful and fun conversation.

Then Paul and I stopped at the Lakeview Cemetery on our way home to take the Flower Tour. It's daffodil season here and the flowers are in their prime. There's one hill there that reputedly has 10,000 daffodils growing on it:

Here's one of both of us in our Easter finery:

We went to the Garfield Memorial and took in the view from the observation balcony. You can see Case Western Reserve University with downtown and the lake in the background.

When we got home, we enjoyed a nap, followed by a little egg decorating and enjoyment of Dove dark chocolate foil-wrapped Easter eggs (highly recommended) and listening to some chamber music we'd like to learn this summer. All in all, a very enjoyable day!