Indoor Cycling: Does Size Matter?

Hello-hello, my fit crowd! How are you doing today? Ready for some more cycling instructor ramblings? 🙂 Let’s talk sizes, shall we?

indoor cycling

No, that’s not what you thought 🙂 I’m talking the size of the class!

I’ve had a pretty busy week as far as teaching cycling goes! What’s interesting is how this past week’s teaching experience was all about class attendance/number of students in a class – class size.

Let’s see what happened in the past week.

Last Wednesday I taught a lunchtime cycling class (I was subbing for one of my fellow instructors).

I got there 15 minutes before the class, prepped the room, got ready, set up all my devices and “commenced waiting” 🙂

At 2 minutes to 12 when there was still no one in the room but me, I decided I would leave if no one shows up by 12:15 PM.

At 1 minute to 12 my only student showed up.

I was about to teach a class to ONE person.

It was a very interesting experience – don’t get me wrong – she was a nice lady. But she just did her own thing kind of – and that was nerve-racking.

Imagine this: you’re starting to go through the stretching off the bike routine after the class, and the only student in your class is kinda watching you do it while wiping their bike off.

Do you stop stretching? Do you keep stretching and just shut up since you don’t really have to cue yourself on stretching out loud, and your student doesn’t care about stretching at all?

Anyway. It was difficult. In case you’re wondering – I shut up and kept stretching.

I did my Movie Ride again that Wednesday since I knew the crowd (haha) was going to be different from that at my Monday class, and I thought it would be a nice and engaging ride to the music most people know. And my only student enjoyed it – she really liked the idea and enjoyed guessing the movies the songs on the playlist were from.

I guess, overall the class wasn’t bad. Just felt a little weird at times.

indoor cycling

On Saturday morning, bright and early I had to do it again. 🙂

Saturday 8:00 AM class is very popular right now. People like coming in early to get their workout out of the way and enjoy a full day of summer activities with no interruptions.

I had 10 people signed up for the class. When they showed up, I realized I was going to be teaching a class to seasoned riders (both indoor and outdoor riders) – two of them were indoor cycling instructors with popular classes of their own.

I was nervous. I think I was more nervous than I was on my audition ride for the job. I blame those two instructors 🙂

They are great people, but they made me nervous that morning. I guess it’s that feeling of being “checked out” and evaluated if you will. Being put to the test. Yeah, kinda just like what I do to other instructors. The difference is – when I go to check them out they don’t know I’m certified 🙂 I do understand though that all that evaluation nonsense might be just in my head, but that was how I felt (might be through no fault of those two instructors).

There was also a lot of chatting going on in the class which was very distracting and hard for my vocal cords. The chatting was going on for a while…and then they stopped. All I could hear was heavy breathing 🙂 Of course they started chatting again on the next recovery song, but that doesn’t matter.

What does matter is the experience of teaching in an environment far from perfect – not all the students look for your every word, they chat, some of them came there not just for the workout, but to socialize as well. Fine by me.

Also, what did matter was that when I started playing Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, my class started clapping to the beat. I know, I know…good form, not safe… But it was just for a few seconds and it just gave me such a boost of energy and confidence to see them enjoying the music and the ride so much!

Another thing that mattered the most was when one of my students came over to me after the class and said he LOVED my music choices. He was amazed to not hear the kind of music he expected based on my age (rap and stuff). I told him I was born at the wrong time 🙂 Should have been born in the 60’s. Old time rock and roll, you know 🙂

So. Did the size of the class matter on Saturday?

Yes and no.

Yes – there were more people there than what I’m used to – more people you are trying to please with your routine, etc.. More musical tastes to satisfy. More fitness levels and age groups to consider.

No – because what made ME nervous had more to do with WHO was in my class rather than HOW MANY people were there.

indoor cycling

Here’s the playlist from the Saturday class:

On Monday I had my regular crowd (3-5 people) that I am now used to and comfortable with teaching as far as the number of students goes.

indoor cycling

Did size matter? Yes and no again 🙂

Yes – this size group gives you a chance to look at people closer and pay more attention to each student. For example, I noticed that one of my regulars is a big Elvis fan. I don’t think I would have noticed his reaction to the Elvis’s song I played if I had more people in the class as he usually rides in the back of the room.

No – it didn’t matter if it was 4, 5 or 6 of them.

Here’s the Monday night playlist:

So, does the size matter?

I guess it does to me when it comes to bigger groups. At this point in my career I still get nervous, which can potentially influence the quality of my teaching.

It also matters if it is a one person class as it is harder – you have that one person to establish connection with and your failure to do so is much more obvious that it would have been with one person out of a group of 10. You beat yourself pretty hard afterwards…

Anything between 1 and 10 I am comfortable with 🙂

And that’s the way it is right now in my world of teaching indoor cycling.

Question of the day: do you like indoor cycling classes in big groups or small groups? Why?

Take care, fit friends, and ride on!

Lean Lena

Foods and Moves – Last Week’s Recap

Hello friends! Happy hump day! I hope you’re having a great week so far! And while you are, I thought I’d share my last week’s exercise recap with you with some food highlights here and there to (maybe, just maybe) inspire you 🙂

Here we go!Continue Reading

Five on Friday: Home and Fitness Finds

Hey guys! Thank GOODNESS it’s Friday! What a week!

So glad it is almost over now and I can enjoy my well-deserved weekend with family that finally got all together again.

Traditionally, I am talking about my Five on Friday today – five things I’m loving, admiring, desiring, etc. etc.

So here we go! Five on Friday 🙂

{ONE} Power Up Yoga: Rodney Yee for Gaiam

As you know, I love yoga 🙂 I also have a couple rest days a week when I just do yoga at home. I needed some guidance for that, and I got it from Rodney Yee 🙂

untitled
Buy on Amazon
With hubby gone on a business trip on Tuesday, I set off in front of my TV prepared to be toned, powered up and whatnot, all the while looking beautiful and graceful.

Well that practice kicked my butt! Forget graceful! I was miserable 🙂 This guy is a BOMB! Usually I watch the DVD’s like that before I start the practice, but for some stupid reason this time a didn’t 🙂 My body still hurts, but I am very determined to master all the 3 sessions that this DVD has.

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{TWO} Punch/Party Drink Dispensers

I am obsessing about them lately. They look soooo awesome! Would love to get one when we move to a bigger house where I will actually have room to store all the crap I am obsessing about 🙂 But just look at these:

Source: www.potterybarn.com

Source: www.potterybarn.com

Or how about this one:

trio-beverage-dispenser-067315343

Source

Obsessed!

{THREE} Gaiam Rattan Meditation Chair

Expensive taste I have… But hey, this is just a wishful thinking post, ok? 🙂

Rattan-Meditation-Chair

Buy here.

{FOUR} Wine Glass Ledge

I am a sucker when it comes to these guys….That’s what I have in the house:

Glasses

I know. It’s a shame with wine being such an important part of our lives 🙂 🙂 🙂

Here’s what I want it to look like:

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You can buy it at a Pottery Barn if you have one nearby.

{FIVE} Oskri Bars

I’ve been eyeing those at TJ Maxx for a while before I bought a pack. LOVED them.

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Here’s where to buy. They are pricey, so I will go back to TJ Maxx for more I think 🙂

Do share: what are the things you’re loving lately?

Stay fit, friends, and have a great weekend!

Lena

A Hectic Week Recap – Eats and Exercises

Hey guys! Happy Hump Pump Day! 🙂

I’ve had a very hectic couple of weeks as you probably noticed by the lack of my “What’s on my plate” Wednesday and Motivation Monday posts this and last week… Well, guess what? I am making it all up to you today by combining the two 🙂

Not much was going on on the exercise front last week – between the sharp right shoulder/arm pain and busy schedule I managed to squeeze in just a few workouts/classes last week.

{MONDAY} Cycling and Chicken

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

Cycling class with Jim on Monday

I don’t like Mondays most of the time. I am excited about Monday being a new beginning and all, but by the end of the day I am beat. It is usually the busiest day of the week for me – at work, exercising after work, etc. etc.. What do I make for dinner when I am busy? That’s right – crockpot anything 🙂

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Last Monday it was chicken! I used to put it in the crockpot in the morning, set on Low and turn it off when I get home at 5 PM. It made the chicken a little overcooked to my liking…So what I’ve been doing lately is I would come home for lunch, and throw the chicken into the crock pot (Low) for 4-5 hours. That’s plenty of time to cook it and it comes out just perfectly juicy.

Hubby made wok veggies on Monday night – and we got a perfect dinner right there!

{TUESDAY} No Exercise and Lamb

Took a rest day on Tuesday night.

Foodie’s highlight of the day was lamb for dinner – grilled to perfection by my husband.

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and this fruit and veggie platter I had at work for my snack throughout the afternoon:

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{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and Pork Chops

I did make it to yoga on Wednesday but didn’t take any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one 🙂

And then I got home and made rosemary pork chops and a salad for my tired husband.

Mmmmmm....

Mmmmmm….

{THURSDAY} Rest Day and Orange Salsa

Yeah, that was the day my shoulder and arm started acting up. It was that kind of muscle paralyzing pain that makes it hard to lift even a cup of coffee.

That did not prevent me from making an awesome orange salsa to go with tilapia and rice for dinner on Thursday evening, though 🙂

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{FRIDAY} Another rest day and Beet Root Salad

On Friday my shoulder/arm was hurting so much it would wake me up at night. So…another rest day for the Lena 🙁

The food highlights of the day included the beet root salad I made for lunch on Sunday during my meal prep.

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

Canned beet roots, lettuce, feta, roasted pepitas and purple onions

{SATURDAY} Yoga and Big Family Breakfast

By Saturday I felt good enough to go get some gentle stretching done in a yoga class.

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Yoga was followed by a breakfast fest made by my husband!

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I also had a super-delicious lunch – leftover pasta with scallops from eating out the night before:

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YUM!!!

{SUNDAY} Food Prep

Well, that decision to go to yoga the day before was a little pre-mature. My shoulder and arm were not ready for any Sunday workout.

They were good for Sunday meal prep, so I went wild 🙂 I actually started on Saturday with this:

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

Apple-Cinnamon infused water, sweet potatoes and quinoa

and then continued on Sunday by making lunches and snacks for the week days:

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No working out on Sunday either 🙁 Some nice kitchen time though 🙂 🙂 🙂

And that was my week of eating and non-exercising at a glance 🙂

Do share: How did you do last week? Anything fun? Anything delicious cooking?

Take care, friends, and stay fit!

Lena

Five on Friday – Fitness Geek and a Little More Bling

Hey, guys! Happy Friday!

I hope you had a great week!

Traditionally, Friday post is about five things I am loving lately, want to own, already own and adore, etc. etc. – Five on Friday.

So, here we go.

{ONE} More Swatch Watches

Did I mention I am addicted to them? No? I am addicted to them.

Here is another one from my collection.

Swatch-3

There is an interesting story behind this one – I got it in China in 2007, at the Beijing International Airport duty free. I didn’t have enough money with me to get it at that time, so I had to borrow some from my travel companion. 🙂 Ever since – where ever I go wearing this watch – I always get a compliment.

I have never seen one like that anywhere else.

In fact, I was having trouble finding a picture on the internet until I got on Swatch Official Website and used their search function.

So, for those of you who want one, the model name is Swatch Affecting SFK292G.

{TWO} This awesome T

il_570xN_393991096_1thv

I think I am going to buy it as a present for one of my fellow “inmates” 🙂

Buy on Etsy.

{THREE} Stability Ball – Gold’s Gym 

I’ve been eyeing those for a while wanting to get one to exercise at home, and I finally did. I got mine at Walmart. If you ever go out to get one, pay attention to the sizes they come in – the ball diameter you need depends on your height, so read what’s on the box before you grab it – otherwise you will have to go back and deal with the people of Walmart trying to exchange it 🙂

diy-gym-stability-ball-l

Can also get it on Amazon:

What I like about this particular one is that it comes with an air pump and an exercise chart! This Wednesday I did some ball exercises every commercial break while I watched Criminal Minds on TV 🙂

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{FOUR} Yoga Props – Blocks

You guys know that I have a couple of rest days a week… Well, what’s a rest day without some home yoga practice in it, right? 🙂 So. I’ve been getting some props for my yoga practice at home. It is amazing how much you need when you try to “do it at home”!

So, I recently read this article by Christine and it inspired me to order yoga blocks.

Yoga block

If you’re into yoga – check out Christine’s blog. She has a great series of posts titled “Ask a Yogini” where you can ask her any question about your yoga practice!

{FIVE} Homemade Granola

Been addicted to it lately. I made a whole batch last weekend, and I have to tell you – put some yogurt on top and you got a perfect filling snack that will keep you going until lunch! That’s pretty good if you’re trying to limit your snacking.

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You can find a recipe for it here.

Do share: what’s your latest favorite finds/likes/addictions?

Have a great weekend, guys, and I will see you on Monday 🙂

Motivation Monday: FitFluential March Miles and last week’s exercise round up

Hey guys! Happy Monday!

As always, I am sharing my last week’s exercise recap with you today! I can finally do that as I am back in the game – no more skipping, slacking, etc. etc. Last week was as close to my normal exercise routine as possible – that was my goal and I have accomplished what I’d planned! Here’s how it was:

{MONDAY} Cycling class with Jim.

I am still working on my resistance loading – it is amazing how hard it is psychologically to put more resistance on the wheel and push yourself, as opposed to pushing yourself to go faster with a lighter wheel. I only went for 9.2 miles this time, but oh did I sweat for those nine point damn two miles!
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Totally rocked my Spinning® bandana! Those things are great for blocking sweat. I have no idea why I’ve never worn one before!
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I am also doing a 100 mile March challenge by FitFluential! So I walked 2.80 miles on Monday, too to get my #ffmarchmiles in 🙂
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I am loving this challenge! It is amazing how it makes you realize that despite all the workouts you do during the week, you don’t spend all that much time walking at all…
Note the good use I am putting my Reebok pedometer to 🙂


{TUESDAY} Rest Day

Had a rest day from exercise, but did some walking for the March miles!

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{WEDNESDAY} Yoga and more

Wednesday night is yoga night! Oh it felt soooo good to stretch!
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I also hit the gym for a quick walk/run on a treadmill and some weights before yoga.
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And of course I had to log some FF March miles, too!
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{THURSDAY} Treadmill + Weights

I initially planned a rest day on Thursday, but that didn’t happen 🙂 I did go to the gym – walked/ran on a treadmill and did some weights after work!
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I am feeling very good about my latest treadmill “adventures”. It is hard to get back into running when you have never actually been a runner in the first place, and when you decided to start being one – you got injured. I am smarter this time. I take it slow. I am being careful. I take it one minute at a time. And it feels great 🙂
Here’s what Thursday #ffmarchmiles looked like:
march mile March 6
{FRIDAY} Yoga

Friday night is yoga night too, you know. I kind of figured it counts as a rest day 🙂
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Friday FitFluential March Miles:
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{SATURDAY} Cycling + Yoga

I did my double – indoor cycling and yoga:

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{SUNDAY} Rest Day

Well, so called “Rest Day”…My husband is working on our kitchen, so there were a lot of miles done around the house – cleaning, cleaning and cleaning some more:

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And that’s all she wrote 🙂

Do share: what fun workouts did you do last week? Which one was your favorite?

Stay fit, my friends!

Lena

Five on Friday: MNB Challenge, Week 1 Recap – Move

Hey guys!

Happy Friday!

As you probably noticed from the social media, I am participating in the Move, Nourish, Believe Challenge hosted by Fit Approach and Lorna Jane Activewear.

In this post I am going to tell you what the 5 days of the challenge were all about this past week in the format of Five on Friday! (hey, I’ve been on fire with this lately, haven’t I?) 🙂

{MONDAY} Sweat-it-Out!

On Monday the challenge participants had to show their favorite way to sweat. Well, that was a no brainer for me – Spinning of course!

My fav way to sweat-1

and, of course, I had to sweat in my favorite way that night:

Monday night spinning class with MJ

Monday night spinning class with MJ

{TUESDAY} Change it up!

On Tuesday, we were supposed to try a new way to sweat – select a workout from the challenge website and show the post-sweat selfie. I chose two workouts from the website: the 10 minute core challenge and Work it out with this Wednesday workout – with dumbbells.

It was fun! I normally don’t workout at home (too many distractions), but the weather was crappy so it was nice for a change. I really liked it! I should do it more often, and now I have just the resource for great quick workouts at home. A lot of them don’t require any equipment at all!

And here comes the selfie 🙂

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{WEDNESDAY} Let’s get planking!

The goal was to plank for at least five minutes – either in one setting or splitting up.

On Wednesday we were snowed in and I worked from home – so I had time to get into my planking! Got it done in two sets – 2.50 minutes each. Whew!

Lets Plank

{THURSDAY} Buddy up!

Thursday was a “workout with a Friend” day! I buddied up with my husband for an awesome lifting session!

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{FRIDAY} Fave Friday!

This day is about sharing our Five Fitness Favorites. So here we go!

Five Fitness Favorites

You all know of course, that mine are – spinning, yoga, lifting, planking (Oh look at that 5 min plank! It is my Personal Record so far of continuous planking on straight arms) and Polar FT40!

This challenge has been so much fun! I am meeting a lot of new and interesting people and sharing a ton of fun with them!

Next week is the “Nourish” part of the challenge – all about good food! Stay tuned, guys 🙂

Now, your turn! What are your Five on Friday or just things you’re loving lately? Link it up below or just tell me in comments to this post.

Have a great weekend!

Lena

Weekly Exercise Recap

Hi guys! How are you this fine Monday morning?

I feel like I didn’t sleep at all last night…still not awake! I blame the weather…

Anyway, I wanted to share my weekly exercise recap with you – with ups and downs of the last week. Here we go!

{{MONDAY}} Spinning

As always on Mondays, I took a spin class with Jim last week – 12.5 sweaty miles and pure joy of great music and company.

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{{TUESDAY}} Weights and Strength Training

Usual weekly meeting with Jim at the gym 🙂 Awesome as always! I am starting to feel more confident in the weights room on my own. I think I can have the sessions with Jim once in 2 weeks now instead of weekly, and keep going by the usual schedule (twice a week) on my own.

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{{WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY}} – Unplanned Rest Days

I don’t know what happened. I had a crazy week at work and a couple of commitments in the evenings, but generally – I was just not feeling it. I could not motivate myself to workout. I was sleepy all the time, very sluggish and lazy – all those 3 days. Felt terribly guilty for not working out, but still could not bring myself off the couch in the evenings.

{{SATURDAY}} Walk and Weights

On Saturday morning I finally started feeling guilty enough and feeling like I owe myself a workout 🙂 So I got up bright and early and headed over to the YMCA.

Normally I do my Saturday double – spinning+yoga, but this time I felt like changing things around and bringing some variety to my workouts.

So I walked a mile on a treadmill:

Saturday Walk

And then did some weights!

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All that made me feel just GREAT, which immediately resulted in this happy “selfie” in the car 🙂

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After the awesome workout and all the “selfies” were done, I headed home and made myself a super energizing power smoothie.

1/2 cup (firmly packed) kale, 1 frozen banana, 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp. Vega protein powder, 6-8 whole roasted almonds

1/2 cup (firmly packed) kale, 1 frozen banana, 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp. Vega protein powder, 6-8 whole roasted almonds

{{SUNDAY}} Yoga Practice and Home

A while ago I got a free gift from Yoga Journal – a DVD (first in a series) with home yoga practice. I didn’t subscribe for the rest of the series since I rarely get a chance to workout at home, but got to keep the first DVD they had sent me. Yesterday, while hubby was taking a nap, I decided to give it a try! I have to say – I regretted not subscribing to the series! It was a great flow with just enough challenges for my home practice.

Sunday Yoga

I absolutely loved practicing yoga at home – I dimmed the lights, turned on my candle warmer, fought off the kitty who was extremely interested in my yoga matt, and just spent an hour doing something for myself. Who doesn’t love that? I should definitely do it more often!

And that concludes my weekly exercise recap!

What was your favorite workout last week?

Lena

Motivation Monday – Last Week’s Exercise Recap

Hey-hey, my fitness gang! How are you this wonderful Monday? Ready to face the week?

I feel ready and excited! Why? Because it is a new start. New beginning of everything – it is your chance to start the week off right by eating healthier, exercising more and being happier 🙂

So, let’s look at my last week from the exercise standpoint. Here’s what I did:

Monday: Spin Class – 12.5 sweaty miles!

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It was freezing cold outside that night and I left the sensor for my heart rate monitor in the car. I realized that after I got changed for my class and decided to ride “naked” rather than go back to the car in my capris and cycling shoes. So, “naked” ride it was! I have to say, it felt a little weird not to be able to see your heart rate, but it was definitely liberating not seeing the calories burnt. I think subconsciously as I approach my goal number of calories burnt during the class I stop working as hard as I should. So, I definitely enjoyed my “low-tech” ride on Monday!

Tuesday: Weight Lifting and Strength Training with Jim at the Gym

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I feel like I am still burning calories from that one. It even hurts to type, leave alone steer…

I have noticed that I got a little too comfortable with my routine with the weights… Those personal trainers, they can read minds, you know? Just as I thought that I wouldn’t mind increasing the weight/number of reps, he did just that!

Oh. My. God.

That step forward is always killing me the first time I take it. I just hope that next time will be better and I will enjoy it a little more, and maybe suffer a little less afterwards… 🙂

Wednesday: Always Yoga Day, I mean ALWAYS.

After my killer workout on Tuesday it was a very much welcome practice. Looooove that stretching.

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Thursday: a day of relaxation and not knowing what to do with myself

Rest Day

Is it just me or is there anyone else who feels like he/she is getting fatter by the minute on a rest day? 🙂

I do!

Anyway, it was nice to spend the evening “couch-potating” with hubby and catch up on the new Big Bang Theory.

Friday: Rest Day

Was originally supposed to be a yoga day, but I just wasn’t feeling it. So I listened to my lazy mind body and made it a rest day. 🙂

Saturday: Spinning+Yoga

Totally paid for my two rest days by making it a “Saturday Double”:

Another 12.4 sweaty miles!

Another 12.4 sweaty miles!

 

Followed by a relaxing yoga class

Followed by a relaxing yoga class

Sunday: Yoga

Was initially supposed to be a “pump day”, but I got caught up in the 49-ers game and only made it to yoga. Hey, it was totally worth it!

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And that is what I did last week!

Tell me: what was your best workout of the past week?

Resolutions Anyone?

Hey you, guys! And Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great time off with your loved ones, enjoyed the holidays and all back in the groove now.

New year is the time for resolutions, decisions, new goals and re-evaluation. It is to the point where it is borderline pure pressure and stress, isn’t it? Everyone is asking about your resolutions, sharing theirs, and looking for “resolution buddies”. Uuuurgh! Pressure. I hate pressure. Pressure has the reverse effect on me – the more I am pressured, the less I want to do it. For me, what does the trick is ME actually WANTING to do something. So. Let’s get the pressure off of you and have you relax for a couple minutes while you read this. This post is about me and my goals for 2014 as well as looking back at 2013. No pressure on you, navigate away if you like 🙂 Or…Keep reading 🙂Continue Reading

Motivation Monday – Last Week’s Exercise Recap

Hey, guys! Happy Monday to you!

Hope you had a great weekend.

I haven’t done a Motivation Monday post with weekly exercise recap in a while – simply because I haven’t been exercising nearly as much lately due to my bad cold and later – bronchitis.

All better now and pretty much back in the game! So here’s what has been happening on the fitness front in the past week.

Monday and Tuesday – rest days (good start to the week, right? 🙂 ) as I was still recovering from my cold/bronchitis.

Wednesday – had a wonderful yoga class with Jim at the Y. One of my co-workers joined me for the class and we had a great time!

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Thursday and Friday – rest days (told you I was taking it easy).

Saturday – did my usual double. Oh did that feel good!

11 sweaty miles!

11 sweaty miles!

Followed by a great yoga class!

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Sunday – in addition to running errands (lots of walking), cleaning the house (lots of walking), and meal prepping (lots of walking), hubby and I went to the gym to lift weights! I love working out with him!

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I think it was a pretty good week for the condition I was in, and that I managed to stick to the rules:

Credit: indulgy.com

Credit: indulgy.com

It was a little hard to get back in the game after the 2 week break, though. The first week I didn’t know what to do with the free time I suddenly got on my hands due to not working out! But the second week (when I got a taste of doing nothing and having extra time), I felt like I am slipping back into my natural laziness! Couldn’t let that happen.

Credit: www.motivationblog.org

Credit: www.motivationblog.org

Credit: www.losgatosfitness.com

Credit: www.losgatosfitness.com

Because once you take that exit, you realize there is no turning back!

What did you do for your exercise this past week?

Junk Food: 2, Lena: 1

Hey guys!

I finally got to my blog – second time in this busy week, which sucked for the most part 🙂

Let’s see….It’s Friday (YAY!), I am back to PT for an uncertain period of time (boooo), and heading to NYC this weekend to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary!!!

The past week healthy eating was challenged by:

lunch out with my husband on Monday

lunch out with my husband on Monday

 

Birthday celebration cupcakes at work

Birthday celebration cupcakes at work

Photo source – Catherine’s Cupcakery

movie night at home with my family

movie night at home with my family

Junk/Processed/Not-so-good-for-you food – 2, Lena – 1.

There were some good/not-so-bad food choices and decisions this week, as well.

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast last Thursday

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast last Thursday

 

Home made crock pot chili

Home made crock pot chili

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Mashed potatoes and chili on top

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Home made crock pot split pea soup

Whole grain orzo salad

Whole grain orzo salad

All in all, it wasn’t the best week food-wise.

On top of that, I pulled my left calf on Wednesday night,  went to my scheduled physical therapy session on Thursday and was immediately treated for the new disaster. And that’s right when I was going to start making my way out of PT some time after next week. No such luck. The pulled calf hurt like hell last night, but seems to be a little better today.

What I am most upset about is the rest days I have to take that I was not planning on. This injury once again messes up my entire exercise routine and I can’t ignore it because it hurts to move.

Erm…remind me – isn’t exercise supposed to make you fell better? 🙂

Anywho, before my fitness life was interrupted by the pulled muscle, I managed to fit some fine exercise in last week:

12 ml ride in Monday's spin class

12 ml ride in Monday’s spin class

Weights and strength training with Jim on Wednesday

Weights and strength training with Jim on Wednesday

 

Yoga class with Jim on Wednesday

Yoga class with Jim on Wednesday

Blogging news:

Did you guys noticed the new banner? What do you think?

Also, the former “Healthy Recipe” page of the blog is now called “Recipes” (the sole reason for the name change is that what’s healthy for me can be unhealthy for somebody else, so let’s go with the neutral name) and is powered by ReciPage!

I am still in the process of transferring the recipes from one to the other, but very happy with the way the new page looks! I think it is a lot easier to brows recipes now. You can also search by key ingredients, cooking methods and alphabetically.

I hope you like it and I would appreciate any feedback!

I will see you guys next week with the NYC trip recap!

Have a great weekend and stay fit!

Last Week’s Exercise Recap as part of the Motivation Monday

Hey hey, my fitness friends 🙂

Happy (?) Monday to you! Are you ready for another week of work and fun? I feel pretty good today – I think it is going to be a very-very fun week…and – this weekend is our second wedding anniversary. It’s been very happy two years – with ups and downs like in any family in general and a step-family in particular.

But not for once did I ever regret that “I do” I said to the most wonderful guy in this world!

So we are keeping the tradition of going to NYC for our anniversary! I am so excited about another opportunity to discover more of this great city!!!

Anywho, back to our Monday. I am back here with my exercise recap of the past week.Continue Reading

Motivation Monday – Weekly Exercise Recap, WW Weigh In Results

Hey my dears! Happy Motivation Monday to you!

Let’s see what I did in the past week exercise-wise, shall we? 🙂

Continue Reading

Belated “What’s on my Plate Wednesday” and Weekly Exercise Recap

Hey hey, my fitness friends!

I bet you didn’t expect a “What’s on my Plate” Wednesday post from me on Thursday! Well, guess what? It is happening. And since I missed the exercise recap post this week, I am combining the two!

Here we go, eating highlights and exercise recap of the past week or so!Continue Reading