30 Day Shred – Pilates Day 2

Today I decided that I wanted to go easy on myself.  I still have a niggling sore throat and I want to get better and give my body some rest.  I still wanted to work out as I’ve been seeing some results as of late and don’t want to get burned out doing the Shred everyday, so I chose to do my Denise Austin Pilates for Everybody DVD.  I noticed that while I’m stronger in my core I get a real workout in my obliques and my butt as well as a little workout on the back of my arms (<–the need all the help they can get).  I know I’ll be feeling it tomorrow, working those muscles I haven’t used since…well, the last time I did my Pilates.  lol

I was up at 7-ish this morning and before 9 I had laundry washed and hung on the line outside to dry and a crockpot of homemade spaghetti sauce cooking.    I’m looking forward to a big plate of spaghetti tonight for dinner, so I’ve been careful of my food choices today.  I had a couple slices of cinnamon raisin bread, toasted with butter and my usual cup of tea for breakfast and since pickin’s is pretty slim around here today I cracked open the box of Chocolatey Delight Special K that I had in the pantry.  I can honestly say, I’m not a huge fan.  The flakes were big and too crispy for me and slightly bland and I was less than impressed with the chocolate pieces…they left my mouth feeling like I chewed on piece of wax.  I’m sure I’ll be hungry again in a couple hours as 3/4 of a cup is not a whole lot.  I like the strawberry version, but I think the chocolate is not my cup of tea.  I don’t think I could do the Speical K challenge living on this cereal for 2 meals a day for 2 weeks.

I think I’ll probably be back to level 3 tomorrow…I’m debating as I really like the workout on my core that I get from the Pilates, even though it doesn’t get my heart rate pumping.  Guess I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow!

30 Day Shred – Pilates Instead

I woke up this morning with a dull throbbing in the side of my knee and decided to give myself a break from the shred as I didn’t want to injure it further.  I still wanted to work out (like I told Nikkie who commented on a prior post, I feel guilty when I don’t, even though I don’t miss the workout if I skip it) but didn’t want the high impact of the cardio jumping with Jillian.  I’ve had a Denise Austin Pilates for Everybody DVD for many years now and knew it would be lower impact than the shred.  I bought it when Darling Hubby and I were living in our apartment, back when I was on my pilates kick (it didn’t last very long, however.)

I enjoyed the workout and felt very relaxed and stretched out afterward.  I’m sure I didn’t burn a lot of calories as I didn’t get my heart rate up, but I could feel the workout in my abs and my legs, toning and strengthening.  I think I might add this dvd to my workout routine.  I really would like to be able to fully use my abs for the pilates floor moves (the roll-ups, etc).  Right now, my abs are pretty weak and I have trouble rolling back up without using my arms to give me a boost.  It takes time, I know…I just want to see results.

I also wanted to get out for a walk today, but Bug didn’t want to go when I wanted to go and now it’s getting dreary and dark out.  I think it might rain…I’ll check the weather and maybe we can go out to play in the yard rather than a walk.  I don’t want to get caught out in the rain away from the house.  I could lug the umbrella, but it’s a golf umbrella and is rather large…

Plus, I have to straighten up my house and come up with something for dinner.  It’s our game night tonight so the gang is coming over…we didn’t decide to do dinner as a group, so we are fending for ourselves for food.  Maybe I’ll make Hamburger Helper or something fast.

Oh, and speaking of game night, I got a package in the mail from Barbara over at Knittin & Kittens.  She sent me an awesome d20 keychain!  Maybe it will be my lucky charm at the table tonight!  It’s a clear die with purplish sparkles inside.  Oddly enough, I have the same set in my collection!   Depending how they roll in my pre-game ritual (yes, I’m slightly superstitious with my dice) maybe I’ll be using that set.  Thanks Barbara!  It was an awesome little surprise in the mail today!

Off to clean…