She Moves

I had a nice solid return to the gym this week.

Tuesday: Strength Boxing
Wednesday: Cardio Barre and Yogalates
Thursday: Strength Boxing

I am so glad that my gym has added another strength boxing class. Cardio Kickboxing is like dancing. Sometimes you can fight through killer combinations if you lose yourself in the steps and repetition. Sometimes I'll distract myself from my burning muscles by repeating in my head kick-hook-upper cut-tap. It works for me.

Cardio Barre was a new class for me. They've installed heavy ballet type barres in one room and the class is a series of exercises utilizing the barre. Not quite the same as the Bar Method which is ballet based, but there are a few ballet type strengthening moves involved. Instead, we did resistance/strengthening moves like sitting on the floor and using the barre for pull ups and squatting in front of the barre and pulling ourselves up into a pike jump. It was tough, y'all! I've been doing strength boxing for a while now, but these moves used totally different arm muscles.

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I've realized recently how badly I need to be doing more stretches on my own. I used to be pretty darn flexible when I was younger and now my leg muscles are totally tight. Flexibility training is equally important to your workouts as strength training, and I felt my lack of limberness during yogalates. There is no reason I can't start doing a few stretches as home while I am watching TV.

Are you a stretcher? What are your favorites?

Busy Bee

Here is what my days have been like lately:
6:45-7am Snooze Button
7-8am Dog, Breakfast, Get Dressed, Pack Up
8-8:45am Commute to Work
8:45am-4:45pm Dayjobland (non stop task list, no breathing room)
4:45-5:30pm Commute Home (and if I haven't left in time, then it takes even longer)
5:30-6:30pm Take a shower, shave legs (I am barefoot and bare legged in a dress in the show), groom, dry hair, eat a mini meal, get dressed, pack up
6:30-7pm Travel to the theater
7-11pm Work trouble spots, make-up, hair, warm ups, preview performance, notes
11-11:15pm Travel home
11:15-am-12am Have a snack, say hello to Mr. BB30, watch a DVRd show
12am Go to bed too late

Thus, my shameful lack of posts.

The past two weeks have been really tough with final rehearsals and previews for my new show. It’s going well, and I’m enjoying the experience of course. It just simply needs to be my full time job. It’s what I am born to do. The only way to get it? Keep on tryin’!

With lack of time for exercise, I have been keeping an eye on overeating and making sure to get plenty of water and tea. About two weeks ago, in the middle of a tech weekend, I woke up really nauseous. Two days of redecorating the porcelain in my bathroom followed. It was ugly. I ruined my wedding anniversary. Bummed. We'll make up for it. Mr. BB30 was such a champion nurse and caregiver.

We open on Sunday night, and Tuesday I will be back in the gym and boxing away! I am really looking forward to getting back on track. Two weeks is the longest I’ve gone in a couple of years without getting in a solid workout. I can’t wait to throw some upper cuts and reclaim my arm muscles!

Some nice positives have come out this busy time. Today I got a little reminder of how my hard work on habits is paying off. After so many days of little sleep and a packed schedule, I am really feeling it. There was a meeting I helped with in Dayjobland that included a Mexican spread for lunch. I thought, "I'll totally indulge in a vat of guacamole and an obscene amount of chips. I'm tired. I need it." I filled half my plate with salad, scooped out some rice and grilled veggies, and a big spoonful of guac with some tortilla chips. I couldn't finish. It was really salty, I felt satiated, my body told me that we were done, and I listened. Portion control? Listening to my belly? Look at me! Consider this horn tooted!