Hi!  Yesterday i posted that it was the 20th.  I walked around all day thinking that today was the 21st.  Guess what?  It’s the 20th.

Today I ate a little more than I should.  And it wasn’t the best food either. I mean, it tasted good, but I could have chosen better.  McDougals…chicken strips and french fries.  In my defense, I didn’t eat all of the fries, an I declined the free ice cream.  And let me tell you…that ice cream is good.  My mouth is watering just typing this.

In brighter news, the scale was down 2 whole pounds this morning.  Now, I’ve been at this long enough to know that it might not stay there, but since it’s been hoovering in the higher ranges lately, that made me happy enough to do a backflip.  But I didn’t.  Because everyone else was sleeping.

My Pilates connection today has been the awareness of my shoulders.  I’m a writer, and a spend a lot of time like I am now: with my laptop in my lap, typing.  The tendancy for many who sit in front of a computer or a steering wheel a lot is to get “hunched” over the keyboard.  A lot of tension can build up in the shoulders and shoulder blades.  Now- the best thing for this is a massage.  But financially, that’s just not within reach for all of us.  So this simple exercise helps me A LOT.  It’s called Chest Expansion, but I like to think of it as hands-free bra removal.  Because that’s more fun.

Using the muscles just below the tips of your shoulder blades, draw you shoulder blades down your back.  This will draw the outside of your shoulders in.  Picture yourself unhooking your bra with your back muscles.  Men, I haven’t come up with a better analogy than this, so try a bra on and find the muscles that way 🙂  This isn’t the same as squeezing your shoulder blades together.  That works your rhomboids.  We’re trying to work your mid and lower trapezious muscle, the one that balances out the upper trap.  The upper trap is the one you use to lift your shoulders to your ears.  Like you’re doing right now.  See?  You didn’t even realize it did you.  Shoulders down!

Here’s my stats.  I plan to be up for a bit longer, so my calories will go up, but probably not enough to make a huge difference.

• Calories Burned: 2253
• Calories Consumed: 2053
• Deficit: 200 (that’s easy math!)

I didn’t get to the gym today, however, I did do a outside construction project that was nice and active…and fun.  Here’s my stats:

• Burned: 2289
• Consumed: 1900
• Deficit: 389

What have you done today?

Today wasn’t the greatest day on the exercise front, because I didn’t get any “real” exercise.  however, I’ve learned that mall shopping is a busy mom’s next best thing.  I drove to the outlet mall outside of town to see if I could get jeans similar to the ones I bought yesterday but cheaper.  In the end I didn’t buy anything at the mall, but spent the same amount of money at Subway that I could have potentially saved on the jeans.  So, all in all, kind of a waste of time.  But, I did get a boost to my steps!

Here’s my stats:

• Calories burned (so far): 2384
• Calories Consumed: 1241
• Deficit: 1143

Welcome! I’m so glad you’ve found Your Pilates Life! I have been writing about, practicing and teaching Pilates for nearly eight years and am excited to share it with you. I’m working on figuring out how I can recover my old blog posts and integrate them here, so be on the lookout for that. Until then, one of the features of this blog is going to be my own fitness routine and my Pilates life. So, here’s today:

Workout today:

Weights: 3 sets of 15 each, no rest in between

• Lunges
• Bicep curls: free weights, 10 each
• Leg Press: Incline, 135 lbs
• Shoulder Press 20 lbs
• Leg Extension 55 lbs
• Chest Press 50 lbs
• Hamstring Curl 100 lbs
• Back Rows 55 lbs
• Inner Thighs 145 lbs
• Tricep Press 60 lbs

Pilates:

• Hundreds
• Roll ups
• Roll overs (oh so good!)
• Single leg circles
• Single leg stretch (10)
• Double leg stretch (10)
• Single straight leg stretch (8)
• Criss Cross (10)

Cardio:

• 30 minutes elliptical w incline of 5, resistance increased from 3-9 every five minutes from 0-20 minutes and decreased back to 3 from 20-30.

Stats:

• Calories In: 2044
• Calories Burned: 3061
• Deficit: 1017

Calories In:

I’m excited to announce I am officially a Pilates Teacher again!  Check out my new site: www.yourpilateslife.com.  While you’re there, you can see my new series about my personal fitness journey.  Since my treatment for thyroid cancer last year, I struggle with having enough energy to want to work out.  I’ve tried several things, including changing my workout times, routines, etc.  It’s been hit and miss.  But there are a few things that I know work for me, like journalling my food and trying to track my exercise.  So I got a fitbit back at the end of October.  Now that I’m really consistent with it, I’m going to share my stats, along with my exercise information.  I’m hoping that sharing how I incorporate Pilates will inspire others to do the same.  Check it out: http://yourpilateslife.com/welcome/.