Walking, Jogging and Running Interval Workout and Lower Body Workout

Good morning! This morning I decided to do something a little different, and did a few workouts I found on Youtube. The first was a short interval workout that was 10 intervals of walking, jogging and running - each interval consisted of 30 seconds of walking, 20 seconds of jogging, and 10 seconds of running.  It was a pretty good workout - if you're interested in checking it out you can do so here:



The second workout I did was a lower body workout from Fitness Blender, which was also pretty intense. You can check that workout out here:

Those are the two workouts I did this morning - hope everyone has a great day!

Core Synergistics and Finished Tox-Sick

Good morning! This morning's workout was Core Synergistics - I love that workout because of all the variety in it. Tomorrow's workout is supposed to be Interval X Plus, but I'm thinking of substituting a running/walking interval workout I found on YouTube - I want to start including more indoor walking and running workouts in my routine, so I can get myself more used to running.

I also finished Tox-Sick this morning - there wasn't much at the end, Suzanne just summed up everything that she'd talked about in the previous chapters, and then at the very end she provides a very comprehensive list of additional sources you can contact for more information on the different topics she covers in the book. If you've been affected by sickness because of environmental toxins, or you know someone who has, or even if you've been affected by sickness and you're not sure what's causing it, I highly recommend this book - I'll do a more comprehensive review of it in another post.

Lessons I've Learned from Some of the Books I've Been Reading

Good morning! For those of you who don't know, I've been reading some rather interesting books lately that have to do with either improving health, improving the environment, living with less stuff, or a little bit of all of the above.

One book that I've read that actually talks a little bit about all of the above topics, is All You Need is Less, by Madeleine Somerville. In this book, Madeleine talks about ways that you can reduce the amount of toxic waste in your home by making a lot of the things that you would normally buy. These include things like:

• laundry detergent
• finding other alternatives for dryer sheets
• all purpose cleaner
• tub scrub
• eye make-up remover
• moisturizer
• whipped body oil
• body scrubs
• shampoo and conditioner
• toothpaste
• deodorant
• toner
• meringue mask
• shaving cream
• depilatory cream
• hair removal wax

These are just some of the things she talks about - she also offers suggestions for more environmentally-friendly ways to take care of your babies (for example, by using cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers, making your own baby wipes, baby wipe solution, and diaper rash cream, etc), your pets, and how to make your own wrapping paper for holidays (my crafty friends will like this one), among other things. I will be starting to try to incorporate some of her suggestions as I run out of some of the things I have, and as I do I'll let you know how the more environmentally friendly do-it-yourself alternatives work.

Another book I've been reading, which kind of relates to some of the things Madeleine Somerville talks about, is Tox-Sick by Suzanne Somers. In this book, Suzanne talks about how environmental toxins made her and her family sick, and what kind of things they had to do in order to heal. A lot of the things she talks about involve getting back to eating more organically-grown food and less processed food, and also using cleaners and other products that have fewer chemicals in them (this is where the recipes and suggestions in "All You Need is Less" can come handy), as well as using fewer things that have plastic in them, and protecting yourself from EMFs (electromagnetic fields) and cell phone radiation.

Overall, these two books are very interesting and provide a lot of valuable information on how to live a greener lifestyle and eliminate or reduce the amount of toxins you take in. 

My Stress Echo And My Workout Schedule for this Week

Good morning! Today was my rest day, except for the short workout I got when I went to have my stress echocardiogram done this morning. For those of you who have never had a stress echocardiogram, it's a test where ultrasound pictures are taken of your heart before and after you've done some kind of cardiovascular exercise, like riding a stationary bike or walking on a treadmill - in my case it was walking on a treadmill. When you first come in, they hook electrodes up to your chest so they can measure your heart rate during the stress test, and then they put this kind of slimy stuff on you so they can take the ultrasound pictures - anyone reading this who has ever had a baby knows what that's like. When they technician was taking ultrasound pictures of my heart before I walked on the treadmill, they showed me the different valves and arteries from different angles - I got to see my mitral valve and my aorta, as well as some of the different heart chambers, and I got to see how the blood flows through my heart. After he took the first set of ultrasound pictures of my heart, I walked on the treadmill for a few minutes - I started out at a slow walk, then they sped up the treadmill a little bit and raised the incline and I was at a faster walk, then they sped up the treadmill a little bit more again and raised the incline a little bit more, and I was at a run. That's about as far as I got - I'm not sure how many beats per minute I got my heart up to, but if my memory is correct, when I had this test done about 7 years ago, I don't remember getting up to a run, so I think I did pretty good this time. Of course back then, I wasn't in as good of shape as I am now - this was before I did P90x or any of the Beachbody workouts.

After I ran on the treadmill for a few minutes, I got back on the table and the technician took a few more ultrasound pictures of my heart - I could tell it was beating a lot faster after being on the treadmill.  Overall, the technician said that he thought everything looked good, but I'll meet with the cardiologist in two weeks to find out for sure. I'll be sure to post an update after that appointment.

Almost forgot to post my workout schedule for this week! This week is going to be a recovery week, so my workout schedule will be as follows:

Tuesday - Core Synergistics
Wednesday - Interval X Plus
Thursday - Yoga X (will probably substitute X Stretch, or look for a shorter yoga workout)
Friday - Abs/Core Plus
Saturday - Cardio X (may substitute Kenpo Caridio Plus)
Sunday - Core Synergistics

Legs and Back, Pilates for Abs and Glutes, and My Measurements

Good morning! This morning I did the P90x workout  for Legs and Back, but instead of doing the Ab Ripper X workout, I decided to do a pilates ball workout for abs and glutes - that was a nice change. This morning I also took my measurements, and this is what I ended up with for results:

Date	4/12/16	5/13/16	6/12/16
Chest	30	30	31.5
Waist	29	28.5	27.5
Hips	35.25	35	34.5
Upper Arm (right)	10	10.5	11
Thigh (right)	20.5	20.5	22.5
Calf (right)	13	13	12.75

Not sure how accurate that is, but it looks like overall I'm gaining inches - maybe because I went up in weight. 

Tomorrow I have my stress test - will be interested to see what that shows. Hope everyone has a great day! 

X Stretch, Weight Loss and Plans for the Weekend

Good morning! I'm pleased to say I got on the scale this morning and had a two pound loss - down to 122.5. Hoping I can keep it going down now. This morning's workout was X Stretch, which felt great after the strength training and aerobics I've been doing this week. Not sure what I'll be doing this weekend, but I hope everyone has a good one!

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Pilates Workout for Abs

Good morning! This morning I did Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, and instead of doing Ab Ripper X, I did a Pilates mat and weight workout for abs, because I was running short on time. As usual, I got a good workout from both. I'm hoping that my day goes well at work today - yesterday was just the way I like it - steady but not so busy I couldn't keep up with it, which meant I ended up with a good day and ended the pay period well. Hope everyone has a great day!