Barefoot & On the Mat: November 2020 Check-In

[toaster]

Anny, state laws vary. New York prohibits gatherings of 10 or more indoors. It's sad but totally understandable! I have heard my co-worker is not feeling well, but hopefully she's okay; I emailed her.

Paine, I have never been able to do a pull-up either! Obviously those of us in female bodies have our weight/strength distributed differently. I know that you are sad about your sons but I believe it's 100% the right thing. I am missing my family (and I know my uncle was sad about not hosting this year), but I want to have a future with them. It's especially understandable for your with your SIL's risk factors! Hopefully you can have virtual contact with your sons.

(((HUGS))) to all; it's a tough time.

[YogaGal]

My exercise last week:

Monday: Jessica Smith’s Boost Metabolism + Muscle, Total Focus morning before work and Sarah Beth’s 15-Minute Relaxing Yoga for Anxiety & Stress Relief in the evening after work

Tuesday: Jessica Smith’s Burn Fat & Have Fun, Have A Ball!

Wednesday: 1-Mile walk outside about 4 pm and Sarah Beth’s 15-Minute Seated Stretches for Headaches, Anxiety & Tension in the evening about 7 pm

Thursday: KCM’s Stepboxing, Dumbbell Drills, and Sarah Beth’s 10-Minute Morning Yoga Stretches for Stiff & Sore Muscles

Friday: 3.2-Mile walk outside (about 1 hour, 13 minutes)

Saturday : 30 Minutes of yoga with two Sarah Beth practices: 10-Minute Mobility Yoga for Neck & Shoulders and 20-Minute Yoga for Anxiety

Nothing on Saturday or Sunday.

***********************************

My exercise this week:

Monday: Jessica Smith’s 30 Day Plan, Strength Interval Walk in the morning and then in the evening, two Sarah Beth practices: 10-Minute Mobility Yoga for Neck & Shoulders and 10-Minute Lazy Yoga Stretches (the word “lazy” got me!)

Tuesday: KCM’s Stepboxing, Workout #1 and RaviAna’s House Call Inflammation Relief

Wednesday: Jessica Smith’s Metabolism Booster, Upper Body Circuit Walk

[YogaGal]

DH and I made it through Friday the 13th unscathed. We do seem to have occasional brain fog, but that sounds like a common malady this year.

Garrie: Glad to see you pop in and to hear that you are having fun with your reformer! I haven’t been able to check in as often lately either. Maybe that should be my monthly focus for December, lol!

Pam: How awesome to have video chat with pals from your nursing class from 1978! You must be in my age range. (I got my B.A. in 1979.) LOL about your DH comparing aging to playing Whack a Mole! I am fortunate not to have any chronic issues (knocks on wood), but have had to get 2 implants in the past 5 years. At some point in the future I’ll need cataract surgery based on my eye exams, but nothing soon; I just have the very beginning decline for it.

Beth: Glad to hear that you are having better luck this week! I went to the dentist on Veteran’s Day last week to finally get my crown for my implant. So no more gaping hole on the side of my upper teeth. Took just a day or so to get used to it. Sorry to hear about the staff member in your department testing positive for covid. I learned in a meeting yesterday that classes at my college will be the same as this semester--pretty much all online with just a few exceptions. So I’ll likely be 100% remote too unless they decide to open the library for limited hours, but I don’t expect that to happen. LOL on the rabbit pj’s cartoon!

Sandra: You are doing so well with Jessica Smith's Healthy For the Holidays rotation. I love 360 Abs! And what is this “rain” you speak of? Please tell it to move southeast so I could see what it’s like. (Seriously, we had one rain in July and that’s the last we’ve seen of it.)

Paine: Thanks for sharing your story about your name choice, Paine! I also find the increasing covid numbers and deaths frightening. So many people refuse to follow the medical advice to stay home as much as possible and to mask and distance when you have to be out. DH and I have turned down 2 invites to Thanksgiving dinners; one from DH’s cousin and the other from his niece. It just isn’t safe to be in other people’s homes right now; they say that is a big part of the current spread--small family get togethers. I am glad that you are able to spend time with your daughter's family since she works remotely and I’m sure is extra careful due to her husband’s condition. A proven vaccine can’t come soon enough!

Linda: Yay for getting good numbers on your bloodwork. I think that CBD and sleep sounds like a good combination for dealing with life in 2020! Take care of your strained quad. My SIL has her first doctor’s appt. since her surgery, so I’ll call to check on her tomorrow. So far she is still in some pain, but gets up to walk around the house for a few minutes a few times a day using a walker. She also has a wheelchair for getting around faster and easier.

Sherry: Sorry to hear about the bloodwork issues. I take Vitamin D as I tested low years ago. I am vegan, so no meat or dairy cheese. However, in recent years there have been some tasty (but fatty) vegan ice creams and cheeses come out. I have to be careful to have them in moderation. At least the cookie eating didn’t affect your blood sugar. I’m planning a trip to Trader Joe's on Friday. They have some delicious vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies that I love and have to be very moderate with as well.

Anny: That The 10 Minute Man book sounds interesting: simple and good variety. Glad to hear you are enjoying the sun and blue skies.

cyana: So sorry to hear that a wonderful family member of yours lost her life to covid. We have lost too many good people these past few months. My SIL will likely get a bone density test and I suspect she may need some prescription medicine to strengthen her bones, but the focus now is on healing from this recent fall. She is 63, same as I am, but does have good health insurance.

Pat: Hope you are feeling good and having less stress at work. Your walking and yoga should help with any stress.

[toaster]

Carolyn looks like you got in some nice routines with SarahBeth. I'm definitely relieved that this week has been less crazed! I expect that our spring semester will look similar too.

[yogapam]

Hello mat mavens!

Today’s workouts:
~Functional fitness - DH & I did a blitz on the house today, cleaning & organizing. We’ve just been surface cleaning for a while so we were overdue.
~20 min rebounding - a bit too windy & wet for a walk today
~Low back exercises & stretches, legs up the wall, active release
~Steps: 10,544

Regarding pull ups....I could do one when I did P90X a looooong time ago, lol. I sure couldn’t do one now!

Beth - I love your hump day funny! Glad this week is a better one!

Paine - I hear what you are saying about keeping your family safe with Covid cases being high in your area. We don’t have a lot of cases here although they are slowly increasing. We are on an island so that has helped us. The mainland across from us is quite bad. We will be seeing our eldest son & family this weekend. I think things will get worse & we may not see them at Christmas. Right now our home gathering limit is your household + 6. We haven’t seen our youngest son & his wife for several weeks.

Sherry - Sorry about the bloodwork numbers. I’ve eaten my share of extra cheese and cookies these past few months too. I don’t eat oatmeal, but I’ve started taking inulin in a glass of water every day. My hip is slowly improving, thanks. It’s just going to take time I think.

Nice workouts Pat!

Carolyn - Yes we are of a similar vintage, lol, children of the 70s. I graduated HS in 1975. It was interesting to chat with my classmates, some I haven’t seen for years. I have 3 classmates that I am in regular contact with & this is the first year we won’t be getting together in a long time. How wonderful that you don’t have any chronic issues! Mine are somewhat genetic I think, I am much like my mother with a tendency to arthritis. I remember she had very similar lumbar spine degeneration problems too. But I keep moving and trying to work out the kinks! I will need cataract surgery at some point too, hopefully not for a while. I will say that I notice the glare from headlights a lot more when I drive at night, especially if it’s raining. I’m guessing that’s the cataracts.

[Anny]

Paine and Beth thanks for the update on the pandemic situation in your states. It seems much different than the situation here, with more cases and risks.

Pull ups have always been difficult for me, so I skip them.

Tonight I am doing the stretch routines from the book.

[toaster]

Anny, the increase in cases is disheartening! New York was doing well for months.

Pam, I heard there was an increase in Canada's cases after Canadian Thanksgiving, but hopefully you were mostly isolated from that. I think my mom has that same issue with the glare when driving at night.

Happy Thursday!

[Pat58]

Morning everyone! Yesterday I was sore from the gym and tired from work so I crafted a nourishing routine from Glo that still provided a good workout:

~ Lee Holden Tao Yin class 1-5, Empowered Core
~ Kit Rich Standing Abs & Core Pilates

Anny, I agree - body weight exercises are effective. Over the years I've noticed that people at the gym who focus on body weight work in the stretch / mat area have a naturally healthy and balanced looking physique.

Beth I love the Wednesday funny. It is very scary about NY cases going up. As you know i'm near the border and hope never to go back to those horrifying early months. We're spiking around here on our efforts though, never mind NY being close.

Carolyn great workouts for you - you're so consistent. I noticed the RaviAna inflammation routine on your list - I should get that one out, some sitali pranayam would be helpful right now.

Paine - stay strong! You're doing the right thing. We all want to see our loved ones next year.

Pam - doesn't it feel good to have a blitz behind you and a sparkling space?

Waves everyone - have a healthy day!

[Paine]

Margaret's 1900 Unplugged, Volume 1:
1901: Inner Thighs and Hamstrings
1902: Gluteus and Outer Thigh
1903: Abs, Quads and Calves

Carolyn, you had a nice variety of workouts the last week and a half. It's good to hear from you.

Anny, your country is doing really well in keeping the covid cases low.

I'm waving to everyone!

[luvcritters]

Today I did David-Dorian Ross' Tai Chi Fit Over 60 Gentle for Beginners. Dumb title since most tai chi is gentle and "beginners" is even worse. For me tai chi is more relaxing than anything else I've tried over the years.

Sherry - do you remember the chocolate chips you sent? Were they from Amazon? I need chocolate for after surgery. My quad is still painful but CBD gummies or lollipops help better than my prescription anti-inflammatory.

Carolyn - is Sarah Beth on YouTube? Does your SIL walk away from her walker yet? I did that much too often after my replacements. My walker is folded in the spare room. My SO thought it might be a very strange piece of exercise equipment.

Anny - the state of Virginia lowered the number of people at a gathering from 250 to 25. People 5 years old and older need to wear a mask. Alcohol sales stop at 10 pm, and bars and restaurants must close at midnight. I only grocery shop once a month when I need to get my medicine. That would be the only time I leave my house but now I have pre-surgery appointments. I used enough hand sanitizer for six people when I left the hospital after testing on Monday.

Beth - I listened to the meditation for pain the other night around 2:30 a.m. It might've put me to sleep. Or maybe the combination of cbd, whiskey, and your voice did it.