Keep The Body Guessing

Happy Earth Day!  I'm not doing much to celebrate this year, but did donate to my office's fundraiser for the Earth Conservation Corps.

Happy Good Friday, too, for everyone that observes it!  I love Easter and can't wait to have a big family dinner on Sunday to celebrate.  I gave up (or really just cut back on) sweets, so I'm looking forward to indulging in a chocolate bunny.  My mom always eats the ears off of mine, which drives me nuts.

I go through this cycle every few months, but I am back to being less than enthusiastic about working out.  I've actually been avoiding it all together lately...

Yes, yes and yes.  I'm working to get back to the place where I actually enjoy exercise, but I'm not there yet.  This is in part due to an IT band injury that has resurfaced over the past couple of weeks, as a result of this:

I realize that's not a speedy pace for a lot of people, but it is way too fast for me.  I'm not a speed runner (nor do I enjoy running for speed), but I had a lot of steam to burn off during this workout.  Clearly I didn't listen to my body when it was telling me to slow down and my legs were screaming WE CAN'T DO THIS!  After hobbling around for a couple of days, I visited the doctor and he thinks I strained the muscle but should be back to normal in the next month or two.  In the meantime, I'm pretty much not running (err... jogging) right now. 

To help shake off the workout blues, I'm forcing myself back into the gym routine.  Tomorrow I'm doing a BodyPump and spin doubleheader, and I'm going to keep doing this Jillian Michaels DVD on days I don't hit up the gym.

Why is she so evil?!  This is a killer workout, and targets areas that I never focus on in my other workouts. 

I'm also getting back into swimming and trying to do laps at least once a week.  So far so good.  It's a different type of workout.  I think it's more mentally relaxing than the endorphin high I get from other forms of cardio.  I love it!

How do you reinvigorate your workout routine?  I think it's just about changing things up.  You know.... keep the body guessing!

Down To Earth

Happy Earth Day! I'm not a tree-hugger by any means, but it's great that there's a day devoted to improving the way we treat Mother Earth. After all... if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! 

Confession: I'm pretty much useless when it comes to being green. I really don't recycle, except at work where we have a different recepticle for every item (which confuses me on a daily basis). I also buy a ton of bottled water, and drive to work almost every day eventhough I could take the metro and help save the planet. I get a big fat green F.

Buuut, I looked over the "take action" items that the Earth Day Campaign lists to see how annoying they'd be to try, and they aren't that bad. For example, I already have reusable grocery bags, so I just have to remember to take them with me, and I can also be better about turning off lights and buying environmentally friendly cleaning products. Shopping? Yes, please! I think I'll start with one of those dishwasher safe sponges. Stinky sponges make me gag.

Ohhh and here's a hilarious video that was sent to me today.  This dude is taking up recycling in hopes of earning enough money to buy a Ferrari. Maybe I'll scale back and just go for a pair of Louboutin shoes :)



LOL!  I think I'll stick to my day job.

xoxo,
Olivia