Everyday Active #32 - Golf Day

I haven't posted in a few days, because summer fun has finally arrived!  The last few days have been filled with end of school year field trip to the horse stables, sports day, track meet, and a trip to the beach.  So not much exercise other than biking to and from the school.

Today though was our ministries Charity Golf Tournament and I was once again reminded of how much hard work it is to golf 18 holes!  I am wiped out!  It's no cardio, that's for sure, but I know my arms and shoulders used muscles today that aren't used to being stretched.

Next week I've got to revisit some good ol' cardio though.

Everyday #30 - Keeper!

My husband has just come out the other side of an incredibly busy season of work.  Today was he first day off in quite a while and he slept in AND had an afternoon nap.  He was wiped.  At the end of our evening of supper, chores, homework, & bedtime wrangling for the kids we were both feeling weary and more in the mood to flop on the couch and watch a DVD.  But I knew I really should enjoy the nice, non-rainy evening and get some exercise, so my wonderful husband said he'd go for a walk with me.  He's such a keeper!  Admittedly, my "power walk" is faster on my own, but the time together is a fair trade.

 

Happy Trails!

P.S.  I haven't weighed or taken my measurements, but honestly, today was the first day that I could "feel" the benefits of my increased exercise.  I guess my clothes are just starting to fit a little differently....slow and steady will give results eventually!

Everyday Active #28 & 29 - RAIN DAY...again

My mom is in town visiting so we've been spending a lot of time thrift store shopping, drinking tea, watching "Little House on the Prairie" episodes and "puttering around the house".  So I haven't been as faithful at posting everyday, but I have still been trying to get in my Everyday Actives.  Thank goodness for the Wii!  With all the heavy rain we've had lately I have been making a lot of use out of my EA Active workout.  Yesterday I did a 40 minute hard level workout ....and my hip flexor on one side is killing me today.  I guess I lunged a bit too hard in my lunges!

Today I went for a half hour walk in the pouring rain after dropping my little one at preschool....I wish I had known that it would finally clear up later on in the evening.  I guess I could go out again now....but then again, watching another episode of Little House with my mom sounds pretty nice too.  She grew up on a farm in rural Alberta, and remembers many things about her grandma's cabin that is just like the pioneer days!

P.S.  No pics this time, as my husband has taken my camera to work these past couple days.

Everyday Active #25- Orthodontic Express

It was such a sunny, summery day that I was kinda bummed that I would have to drive to Vancouver to take my daughter to the orthodontist.  To help save money (we're talking $800 as opposed to $5,000!) she has her braces done at the Dentistry School at the University of BC.  It's about a 3 hour round trip and anywhere from a one to two hour appointment.  My husband had to work, so I would have to bring my four year old along as well.  Sigh.  It was going to be a long day for Taxi Mom.  But then right before I left, I had a flash of inspiration and tossed the jogging stroller into the back of the van.  UBC is such a beautiful campus that I knew I could take go for a power walk with Ellie and enjoy the sights and fit in my Everyday Active.

I really think UBC has to be one of the most beautiful campuses in Canada.  It's situated right on a peninsula on the Pacific Ocean surrounded by forest and ocean.  Plus the architecture is amazing.  I would have taken more pictures if I had more time, but I had to hoof it to get back to the Dentist office.  But here's a few from this gorgeous spring day!

 Little wood sprite...

 View from the end of the Main Mall

 Don't you love ivy covered buildings?

P.S.  I actually managed to get out again this evening, biking up to the library with the girls to pick up a book one of them had on hold.  And you know, that hill doesn't seem quite as steep anymore!

Everyday Active #20 - Thank Goodness

In hindsight, it's a really good thing I decided to do this Everday Active Challenge.  This time of year I normally count on being able to go for lots of bike rides and power walks.  Exercising indoors isn't my favourite, so I really need the challenge to keep me motivated during this long, rainy season.

Yep....pouring rain again today.

Thank goodness for free Zumba videos on the internet.  I did the same beginner workout that I did yesterday, and I found I was starting to get the hang of some of the steps.  If I didn't need the steps broken down in half tempo I just did them full tempo during the tutorial.  But most of them I still needed to start out slow.

I made it even more humbling by propping a full length mirror against the fireplace so I could make my form was correct.  How zumba instructors keep a straight face in front of their students is beyond me!

Anyway, this is a fun, hip shaking cardio.  Just don't take yourself too seriously!  ;-)

Everyday Active #24 - Biking for a Cause

Sunny, summery weather two days in a row!  It was a perfect night for BBQing now that my grilling husband has come home.  We also were having a guest over for dinner so I needed to head to the grocery store to pick up a few items.  On busy days it's so tempting just to resort to dashing here and there in the mini-van, but I was determined to bike everywhere.  So, after biking to pick up my youngest from preschool we headed over to the elementary school to serve at "hot lunch" day.  From there we headed up the hill to the local grocery store.  I've been pushing myself to set my bike at a higher gear just to feel the burn a little bit more.  Having my little taskmaster sitting in the child seat behind me helps as well....she reminds me when I need to pick up the pace!

I felt very Parisian biking home from the store with a baguette sticking out of the grocery bag.  Too bad I don't have a wicker basket....

Anyway, finding ways to fit exercise into the regular errands of the day is really the best way for me to make it happen.  And it's so much prettier going to the grocery store on a bike when you get scenes like this!

 My neighborhood has the most amazing network of greenspaces and trails.  And look what was overhead!

Everyday Active #23 - Working for Supper

Single parenthood is tough.  My husband has been away for 10 days, and as all you single moms out there know, it's pretty difficult to keep all your balls juggling in the air at once.  You might feel for a while that you can keep it all going (taking care of the family, making sure the house doesn't implode, keeping everyone fed on something other than frozen pizza and perogies, appointments, taxi-mom, mowing the lawn, refereeing, volunteering at the school, yardwork, having fun with the kids, and then trying to squeeze in daily exercise on top of it all?)  Eventually, something's gotta go and guess what got tossed first?  Exercise.

But after an early bedtime for me last night and a day free of appointments and getting mostly caught up on laundry I felt more energized.  Since kids eat free on Tuesdays at Denny's I decided to celebrate surviving our time without Daddy and took them out for dinner.  But instead of hopping in the car and driving, we took advantage of the sunny day and rode our bikes there instead.  It's about a half hour bike ride mostly uphill on the way there, and then a much faster return home downhill!

So, no 15 km bike ride today, but it was better than the last 3 days!

We also stopped by a new playground on the way home.  Don't you just love the longer days of spring and summer?

P.S.  Dinner for the four of us was only $15 - sweeeet!

Everyday Active #22 - 15 KM

I'm beat!  After spending most of the day pulling weeds and mowing the lawn I wanted to make the most of the nice weather and bike with our girls to a nearby town for Gelato.  My kids were dubious...."That's far Mommy!" but I cajoled them into taking on the challenge.  The way there didn't seem too far, but to avoid the steep uphill on the way home we took a flatter, longer route along the river.  It seemed to take forever!  But the girls persevered (my four year old got to ride on my bike) and we made it home just as it was getting dark.

Plus, the Gelato was great!

Freaky kid on a cone....but the place was packed so I don't think it scares too many customers away...

And the bike trail along the river offers one of my favourite views in the area...

Anyway, it's a good thing tomorrow is a Saturday - I think my kids will be sleeping in!

Everyday Active #21 - Blogger Down

Yesterday the blog site was down so I wasn't able to post, but I did manage to get out and enjoy the non-pouring rain weather with my 10 year old last night.  We went for a bike ride in search of bunnies along some of our favourite paths and trails.

No bunnies were seen (probably because of the large number of people out walking their dogs), but it was a great little 30 minute bike ride at the end of a busy day.

PETAL POWER!

Today the weather is fabulous so the little and I have been enjoying pulling weeds.  Well, she's been enjoying digging in the dirt while I do the pulling!  I anticipate a longer, more epic bike ride tonight with all my girls. 

Everyday Active #19 - Do You Zumba?

My sister who lives in Jasper was the first person to tell me about Zumba last year.  She took a class and said it was a blast...but then again this is the sister who took a belly dancing course, so I thought it was one of her granola crunching kicks.  After she mentioned it to me suddenly I noticed signs advertising it everyone, and tons of people talking about what a sweat inducing, calorie burning workout it is.  I figured if something is tons of fun and burns calories like crazy then I'd better give it a shot.

Today I managed to find a free beginner video on the interwebs.  I'm giving you the link here, but as with all video uploads, who knows how long it will be on there!  If that doesn't work for you, simply search zumba under google videos, more than 20 minutes in length.  After the kids were all in bed, I started the workout.  (I'm not a fan of 9:00 pm workouts....but the rest of the day was full so it was then or never...)

This is a great video teaching the basic moves step by step.  But don't think you won't get a workout!  I was dying.  All in all, I did pretty well...WHEN THEY WERE SHOWING THE STEPS HALF TEMPO!!!  Now I know why it's such an intense cardio....you really have to move it!

I'm glad I found this video...I don't have a lot of opportunity to get out to a class, and I'm not sure I would want to show up to a class without first trying it in my own home.  I'm so white, it's not even funny.  Well, I'm sure it would be funny if someone had a chance to watch me attempt the salsa moves.

Anyway, in case you missed the video link the first time, here it is again.

Do you Zumba?  Any other great beginner videos out there?

Everyday Active #17 - Taxi Mom

I'm sure many of you relate to the years of being "Taxi Mom".  We are fully into that time of life where our older girls enjoy all sorts of social/extra-curricular activities, and therefore your life largely involves shuttling them from one event to the next.  That was largely my day.

But my four year old got to stick by Mommy's side today and she faithfully reminded me, "When are you doing your EA Active?"  Wow.  Nothing like having your preschooler keep you accountable.  And it was pouring rain most of the day, so thank goodness I've got an indoor workout plan.

Remember when I said yesterday that you get what you put into your Wii workout?  Well today I got SORE glutes!  Holy cow.  Sitting down was entertaining.  Therefore, today I let my lower body rest and just did an upper body workout.  Summer is hopefully one day coming and it's time to tone triceps!

See you tomorrow!  No excuses!

Everyday Active #16 - Can You "Cheat" on the Wii?

I wanted to avoid falling into the late evening "too tired to work out" trap so I made sure to do my Everyday Active right after I dropped my little one off at preschool.  The piles of laundry and mess in the kitchen would have to wait!  Since the rain was coming down pretty hard it meant another Wii Workout.  (Yes, I live on the West Coast & rain is expected....and no it usually doesn't continue like this into MAY.....Spring....where ARE YOU?)

Things I like about EA Active is that it has a lot of options and a lot of their exercises help work your thigh muscles.  My knees have felt kinda achy lately (damp weather?  old age? inheriting my mother & grandmother's arthritis?), so I need to be strengthening my quads. I chose the Sports Drill Hard level, 'cause it's more fun to pretend you're playing volleyball, tennis, or basketball when really they are sneakily making you do squats, jumps, and lunges.

A friend mentioned to me one time that you don't even need to get off the couch to use the Wii...that it's all in the "flick of the wrist".  So that leads to the question....can you cheat on your Wii Workout?  I guess the answer would be yes, but really....why would you?  If you don't want the results that exercise gives you, then wouldn't it be more enjoyable to lie on the couch with a book and a bowl of ice cream?

So if you're working out with EA Active like I am...you get what you put into it.  Focus on your form, feel the burn, and push harder!  The workout predicted about 182 calories would be burned and I made it over 200!

On another note, a friend of mine said she tried Wii Zumba...I'm thinking of checking it out...anyone else tried it?

Or maybe I should just check out some of the DVDs.

Everyday Active #15 - Find a Buddy

After a busy week attending two back to back conferences it was high time for me to get back to my exercise plan.  But I was significantly lacking in motivation this evening.  Thank goodness for my husband!  I'm sure he would have much rather sat down and watched Mythbusters, but he offered to go for a 30 minute power walk with me instead!  I tried to whine my way out of it, but I knew that I would feel better once I got out.

And the rain that had pretty much fallen all day had actually stopped, leaving the evening air smelling fresh and feeling almost springlike.

And of course the chance for a heart to heart with my beloved always makes everything better.

Best way to motivate yourself out of workout apathy?  Find a buddy!

Everyday Active # 14 - Bike to DQ

Hmmmm.....my track record hasn't been so great lately....I'm skipping out almost as often as I'm working out! Today in spite of the fact that I was at a seminar with Ellie all day for hearing loss resources/advocacy (she has mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears and wears hearing aides. I was feeling pretty wiped out mentally & physically I was determined to get some oxygen to my brain.

I convinced my 13 year old to bike up to the Dairy Queen....no, not to indulge in a Peanut Buster Parfait, but to pick out an ice cream cake for her upcoming birthday party. Biking uphill into the wind to get there definitely got rid of the cobwebs!

We also popped by the grocery store to pick up a few British items for our Royal Wedding Watching. My big girls and I are going to TRY to wake up at 3:00 AM to watch along with all the other 2 Billion people on the planet. It'll be a memory!

 How's that for a last minute - "Hey, let's pop over to the store to get something for the Royal Wedding!" idea!

Everyday Active # 13 - Bike Race

Whenever possible, I like to spend time with my kids while doing my "Everyday Active". My 13 year old wanted to drop something off at a friend's house and we also needed to return a library book, so off we biked. Uphill. Urrrrg! I was feeling the burn.

It's worth it to get out though when you get to pass by a lane of trees heavy with gorgeous blossoms.

Of course that means that the way home is downhill and so much fun! You can just fly! It finally levels out on our street so my daughter and I raced the final blocks home. I won....but just barely....

So if you're looking for a heart racing workout....challenge your spry teenager to a bike race - I guarantee it'll get your cardio in!

Everday Active # 12 - Double Duty

Wow - getting a workout in on a holiday is no easy task!  Especially when you're hosting an Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt for 13 people.  Thus, an Everyday Active did not happen yesterday.  I'm beginning to understand why people do that early morning thing....

I decided to double it up and do a one hour  "Hard Marathon" EA Active Workout today. Quite a different workout from that first Wii workout on the easy level!

378 calories burned baby!  My knees are feeling pretty achy now, but that could also be from the hour I spent kneeling in my shower scrubbing out mildew from the shower door tracks with a toothbrush.  Not sure which was more painful....

Everyday Active # 11 - We Don't "Stroll" Through Gardens

Yep, yesterday was another "skip" day for me...the morning got away from me, and after going to a Good Friday service in the afternoon, we spontaneously had a bunch of people over afterwards for pizza and games that went on till midnight.

So, lesson learned....get your workout in early!

Today was finally a lovely spring day. We went as a family to a fun Easter event and then spent a couple hours wandering around a huge garden in the city. You would think that strolling through the gardens isn't much of a workout...unless you're going with three kids who love to charge through the trails and dash through the hedge maze and climb on rocks and sculptures that you didn't realize had "DO NOT CLIMB" signs on them till afterwards....

 Hey kid!  Off those rocks!

At least we didn't get kicked out.

All in all, not a heart pumping cardio....but muscles were definitely stretched, especially when pushing the stroller uphill!  And there was so much beauty to behold...

Hope you were able to enjoy the day too!

Everyday Active - Skipping Out

We interrupt this evening to blog to you that I have officially skipped out today. No, I didn't get a good cardio workout with a jump rope either. After a seven hour day of appointments at BC Children's with my littlest one, and an hour and a half drive home through traffic (Easter weekend, NHL playoff game to blame!) - it was going to be a stretch to fit one in. Not that I didn't have good intentions...my husband suggested I could walk up to the video store to return an overdue movie. So after getting the kids going on baths & showers I was all set to do that....when my hubby realized at 8:06 PM that he was supposed to be in a meeting.....at 8:00 PM! Ooops! By the time I got all the kids tucked into bed my bed my jammies were just looking waaay to good to me. I just couldn't muster up the will for a Wii workout.

Peppermint tea and a chick flick it is....I'm officially skipping out!

Everyday Active #10 - Low Impact

I wasn't able to post this yesterday  because our internet service was down, but I did do this yesterday - honest!

I was battling a low grade headache all day, so I decided that a heart pounding, cardio workout wasn't a great idea.  Good thing the Wii EA Active has some great low impact options.  I chose a workout I had never done before called Upper Body Sculpt and Tone.

While it wasn't a huge calorie burning workout, I know it was worthwhile, because my triceps are achy today!  It makes great use of the resistance band - a great versatile workout tool since you can make the tension whatever you need.


I haven't done a workout today yet and the little one and I are off to a couple Dr's appointments, but I'll fit something in tonight!  Blogging sure keeps me motivated on days that I'd be more inclined to skip....

Everyday Active #9 - Go On a Mission

It really helps me to go for a power walk or some form of exercise knowing that my husband has my back.  After supper was done and chores were accomplished he put the little one to bed and got the big girls going on music practice and shooed me out the door.  He sent me on a mission to go to the bank and deposit money.  I always find that it's more motivating for me to walk SOMEWHERE on a mission, rather than just walking.  It was a 45 minute power walk there & back, and now my husband doesn't have to have "stop at bank" on his to do list.  Need to pick up some milk?  Return a book to the library?  Go to the video store?  Walk instead!  Get the exercise and save the gas...

It was an added bonus that it wasn't raining....the weather was schizophrenic today....sunny and warm one moment, black and pouring or hailing the next!