How I Overcame Lazy This Week: I Got Away From It All



Not the roughest trail, but tough enough for me!



I have taken my bicycle off-roading twice now.  It is a new obsession for me.  I love it!  I blogged recently about the value of stepping out of the box and trying new things as I did with Zumba and now trail biking.  Well, while I’m not exactly a Zumba convert, I’m certainly a new trail biking aficionado.  I definitely plan on incorporating this into my fitness repertoire!

In the past, I’ve been too intimidated by the difficulty of mountain biking to try it.  Well, that and I didn’t have a bike until a year ago.  Plus, frankly, I’m a total scardey-cat: crashes, lack of control, SPEED!  Yikes! 

Yes, for me, it is tough.  It is scary.  But the exhilaration of it all far outweighs any of that, making it addictively invigorating!

When K and I stopped for water breaks on this last outing, I would gaze back at the suburban neighborhood we’d just biked away from and I enjoyed watching the houses get smaller and smaller with each subsequent stop.  We also had a good, albeit distant, view of the Las Vegas Strip and it struck me how nice it was to be away from civilization. 



Yes, that's the Strip behind me...
Far, far away.



While I enjoy working out with others, I also cherish the opportunity to be able to separate myself and revel in the solitude of my own thoughts and feelings.  As I get away from it all, sure – I mull over some of the current stressors in my life, but I find my thoughts quickly shifting to reflect on my blessings and how good life really is.  It’s hard to be anything but positive while doing invigorating activities in such vitalizing surroundings.  I also find my thoughts becoming more ambitious as I invent and then resolve to incorporate new methods to make life even better!  I usually return from these outings ready to take the world ON!

We recently took the girls on a “staycation” to the Golden Nugget here in town for a night so we could play in their pool and swim with the sharks.  As we drove through the garish, neon-flooded downtown area toward the hotel, R – my 5 year old - asked, “Are we still in Las Vegas?”

We laughed as we answered her, “Most people would consider this the heart of Las Vegas.” 

But we know better.

Get away from it all occasionally.  Exercise isn’t always something you have to sweatily slog through as you ceaselessly watch the clock.  Look forward to it as your “me” time and see if you can solve a few world problems while you’re at it!

Random Act of Fitness #3 - Quality Bosu Time



Me and Big Blue.  We love each other.



This is my glorious Bosu.  It’s been sitting in the middle of my kitchen or living room (depending on where I’m doing the ol’ housewifey chores) all day long.  I have been hopping, stepping, and bouncing on it in brief spurts throughout the day just whenever I get the chance. 

This morning I was drying the dishes in conjunction with some Bosu step-ups.    During a phone conversation with a friend, I was marching and squatting on the blue beauty.  As the girls and I picked up toy clutter, we took turns hopping on and off the bouncy wonder.



See - you can use both sides!

Because I kept it in view and in the way (I only stubbed my toe on it twice), I was compelled to use it often just because it was there staring me in the face and heckling me whenever I walked by.

Z's early days with the Bosu.
They've been friends since the beginning!

It probably won’t work for me to do this every day but the Bosu is portable and compact enough that I think I’ll put it in my regular RAF rotation!



The Bosu got cropped out of this pic, but it's just a sample
of how crazy /awesome R is with the thing.



For those that are unfamiliar with this delightful piece of fitness equipment, I add the following description:  The name Bosu is an acronym standing for “both sides up” meaning you can use this thing for a million different exercises with either side up.  It’s the love child of a step and an exercise ball and is extremely versatile for cardio, strength and balance exercises… even stretching!  I love this thing and it’s one of the best additions I’ve made to my home gym arsenal.







Random Act of Fitness #2 Supertramp! (-oline, that is!)

I love my mini trampoline!  I use it in my workouts all the time.  I usually use it in combination with some strength moves and other cardio drills for circuit and interval-style workouts. 

It's also perfect for hopping on any time throughout the day for a RAF!  I was in the back yard with the girls for a few minutes the other day while they were playing in the kiddie pool.  The mini tramp was right there, so I started doing a few drills and ended up staying on there for a good 20 minutes!  The girls kept me cool by splashing me regularly with water and it was a great burst of activity before dinner.

Later when I had more time, I did my regular workout in the garage.

Great, active day!

Random Act of Fitness #1 - Dr. Seuss Style

Okay, new thing:  I'm going to be regularly throwing out ways I've managed to incorporate small (but NOT insignificant) moments of fitness into my life.  These aren't workouts, per se.  These will just be additional events that help me maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, have fun and... Overcome Lazy!

My goal is to do at least 3 Random Acts of Fitness per week until the end of the year.  Hence the "#1" in the title:  I'm going to number them and tally 'em up.  With 23 weeks left in 2011, I will need 69 RAFs to reach my goal.  Piece o' cake (Mmmmm, cake), right?

Anyone want to join me?  You're welcome to try any of my RAFs (at your own risk, because I'm one risky gal!) or come up with any on your own.  I would love a blog comment, email, facebook comment, etc., from anyone sharing their RAF experiences.  I think I'm going to need some ideas, people, so share and share alike!

I know I don't have a huge following, so spread the word and let's get more people to Overcome Lazy!  Become one of my blog followers, sign up for my email alerts, friend me on facebook, start leaving comments.  I want to know I'm not alone in this war on laziness!

I can even envision free give-aways in the near future to loyal followers.  I'm not promising yet, I'm just sayin'...

So here's RAF #1...



Don't let the kids have all the fun!
Join in!

 

I ran across theee coolest game recently for young kids!  I actually contemplated composing a Seuss-like rhyme as an ode to this great new source of amusement but I’m not a poet, and I know it. 

Sorry.  Had to.

My girls are 5 and almost 3 and they loved this!

I saw it by chance at Toys R Us the other day while shopping for a birthday present and threw it in the cart.  It was under $8 so I thought, why not, it looks cute.

It turned out to be a great find and, what enthuses me the most, is that it’s a totally un-lazy game!

 

R crawling around a chair with the
fish on her head.
Steady... steeeeady!



It requires that you do a mixture of silly activities; and they’re so goofy that you don’t mind going through the effort of pulling them off … some of which are pretty tricky!

I have to admit I wasn’t thrilled when I picked the cards requiring me to crab walk to the bathroom sink while holding the “fish” under my chin.  But, by golly, I did it!

The girls, on the other hand, were tickled pink to be hopping, skipping and jumping to various parts of the house all while hanging on to that pesky fish the whole time!



Z taking giant steps to the front door
with the fish under her left arm.
Just look at that concentration!



Throw this into a stocking (yep, already thinking about Christmas), add it to a birthday gift, or just treat your young ‘uns (I think it’s ideal for the 10 and under set) to a new fun and active game!

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: I Showed Off My Beach Body... Ha!

It's been a few weeks since our family reunion at the Oregon Coast.

Jumping for joy!



Future surfer girl.



Pure bliss...
because she's in the pool and not near the ocean!



Not bad, eh.  He looks like a real "boarder"
even though it's his first time every trying it.

It was a wonderful vacation.  My family is so fun to hang out with and it was a beautiful place to visit.  But it was a bit chilly.  Okay, it was darn stinkin’ cold!  I wasn’t showing off my beach body (not that I have one!) I was bundling it up!



My favorite quote from Z during the vacation,
"I don't like the beach.  I want to go home."

Yes, we jumped some waves, went on some hikes, played a little tennis - just to name a few activities - but I think we honestly burned the most calories on the beach by shivering! 

Thankfully we had an awesome heated pool and hot tub that we practically lived in.  I’ve visited the Oregon Coast several times but I’ve never swam so much at the ocean before... because this is the first time I stayed somewhere with a pool!



Ahhh our favorite place to be...
Oh and I think that's the Pacific Ocean behind us.

One of the highlights of our week together was our family’s Golden Sneaker Beach Challenge. 

It was just a little something I organized in order to refresh everyone’s resolve to make this year much less lazy than last year and to remind us that it’s fun to be fit and healthy! 

It was an obstacle course/relay race type thing that turned out to be a blast!  I designed it to make sure everyone – young and old, fluffy or skinny – could participate in some way. 

 And we all did!  

And we all had fun.

And it actually warmed us up for a time.  Did I mention it was cold?  And windy.

Ahhhh, life is good (mostly!) and it feels great to overcome Lazy!

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: I Channeled My Inner Shakira"



Is this me or is it Shakira?
It's hard to tell the
difference!



Well, I tried to anyway.  I apparently don’t have an inner Shakira.  I do seem to have an inner Frankenstein, however.  Not exactly what I needed for my first Zumba class.

I have to say, however, that despite my lack of choreographic grace and finesse, I actually enjoyed the class!

First off, I’m proud of myself for going way outside my box and trying something new (good job, me!).  I’d been wanting to try Zumba for quite a while.  Not because it particularly interested me as a serious workout option (I am not skilled as a dancer nor do I even particularly enjoy dancing) but I wanted to be in the know.  It’s been such a workout phenomenon for the last coupla years that I’ve wanted to experience it firsthand.

Well, I got my chance and here are some of my observations and tips:

• While Zumba’s supposed to be a dance-inspired workout that’s friendly to the mainstream crowd, I definitely feel that the “dancer-types” or wannabe “dancer-types” will get the most enjoyment and benefit from it. 
• It helps to have a great teacher and awesome music.  Both of which I had and, for me, it made the class.  Those two features made it fun enough that I would do it again.  You rock, Tammy!
• Don’t be afraid to loosen those hips!  Once I warmed up and got used to the feel of the movements, I relaxed and my shimmies really heated up!  I ain’t saying it was ever pretty, but I felt ever so slightly more adept.
• Make sure you whoop and holler at regular intervals.  This does two things:  1) It helps you convince yourself that you are enjoying every minute of feeling like an elephant among gazelles and, 2) it helps convince the teacher that you don’t blame her at all that you’re usually moving in the opposite direction and a half beat behind everyone else.
• You do want a supportive shoe (we did some stomping and hopping) but choose a pair with the least amount of traction because you do plenty of twisting, pivoting and gliding as well.  I wore my running shoes to the class and my left knee started talking to me during the class and kept grumbling discontentedly the rest of the day.  But 24 hours later, it was fine.

So, the bottom line:  I got a better workout from it than I anticipated.  I do feel I was hindered a bit by my lack of experience and skill, so I would expect an even better workout from repeated participation in the class.  I liked it; I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but I wouldn’t say I loved it.  It just ain’t my thang. Would I try it again?  Yes!  But I won’t go out of my way to incorporate it regularly.

Ok, the BOTTOM, bottom line:  Trying something new helps you overcome Lazy, big time!  You just may discover something you can use to freshen up and incorporate into your routine and, if not, you can move on to the next thing.  Ooooo, what will I (and you) do next?!?