My Exercise Routine and A Walk Down Memory Lane

I don't know if anyone will be interested in this or not, but I thought I'd talk a little bit about my exercise routines, past and present. :) I usually workout 5 days a week (Sunday thru Thursday) I almost always workout in the late afternoon after I pick my son up from school. And let me just preface this by saying I'm by no means an expert and this is just what worked for me. I'm in no way endorsing this workout for anyone else. :)

For a long time (years, actually) my exercise routine consisted of a 1-2 mile walk/jog on the treadmill, followed by 200 sit ups (in 4 sets of 50) Then I would do 150 curls with 5 pound weights  (in 3 sets of 50) 

Below is the ab roller I use to do sit ups and the 5 pound weights I use for arm curls. 

Then after a few years, I switched to a recumbent bike in place of the treadmill. (I don't have a pic of the bike, but it was your run of the mill recumbent bike where you sit and kind of lean back while peddling) I would do 3-4 miles on the bike, followed by my normal routine of sit ups and curls. This was a big mistake. I was literally sitting down while riding the bike and wasn't working up a sweat at all. I knew it wasn't as good a workout as the treadmill, but I was just so tired of the treadmill at this point.

Then the other weekend, I decided I really needed to amp up my exercise routine and actually get something that forced me to get up (versus sitting down on the recumbent bike)

Enter the elliptical...

Y'all...I love this elliptical machine!!!! It is such a good workout! Since I'm new to it, I'm just doing about 25 minutes a day on a level 4 (it goes from level 1 to level 14) I'm a sweaty mess when I get off, so I know it's working. Lol! Plus, I burn way more calories than I did on the bike or treadmill. I hope to bump it up to 30 minutes a day this week. As I get used to it, I can also increase the resistance level. Its got a built in fan and a place to plug in my iPhone (so I can listen to my music) It also has built in speakers for my iPhone if I don't want to bother with ear buds. And the best part...it runs on batteries so there's no pesky cord to deal with. :) 

I'm actually sore all over after doing the elliptical, so that tells me it's working all kinds of muscles. I'm literally sore in my back, shoulders, arms, stomach, legs, etc. 

I personally think it's a much better workout (for me) than the combo of the bike, weights, and ab roller or the treadmill, weights, and ab roller. 

Don't worry though, I still do my 200 sit ups with the ab roller after I'm done with the elliptical. I had two c-sections, and my stomach probably won't ever be the same, but a girl can dream, right? :) Actually, sometimes I do the ab roller earlier in the day while I'm just watching tv, then after I pick up my son, I just have to do the elliptical. 

Okay, enough exercise talk. Let's talk ferns...

I blogged about this fern back in August. It froze the winter before, and I cut it down and it came back so beautiful and full. It was 4 feet wide in this pic from last summer.

And...here it is now...

Bless its heart. :) It froze down again and we just cut it back. I'm hoping it will have a repeat performance of what it did last summer and here's proof that there's hope...

Do you see that tiny little fern leaf? Yep, there's still hope. :)

I love planting snapdragons in the winter/spring. I never even covered these all winter long and they are still blooming nicely. 

But, pretty soon it'll get too hot for them and I'll have to replace them with something that can take the heat. I'm thinking of planting some kalanchoes in these pots for the summer. 

I was washing my apron the other day and realized I've never shown a pic of it. Isn't it the cutest? The "best neighbor ever" made it for me a couple of years ago and I love it! The material is just perfect and I wear it all the time. Would you believe this is the very first apron I've owned? I've been married for almost 24 years (I was a young bride at 19) and I've never worn an apron before this. Didn't know what I was missing, I tell ya. :) 

I talked about my apple peeler HERE, but did you know you can also peel potatoes with it? That was news to me. I saved so much time by using this instead of peeling them by hand. It makes the prep work for homemade potato soup much easier. 

Now for the "walk down memory lane" part. I mentioned in my master bedroom makeover post HERE that one of the things I keep in my new table drawer is the bookmarks my boys made for me when they were little. Well, here's a pic of a few of them. Aren't they sweet? I love the hearts and they even "laminated" a few with clear packing tape. :)

This is one more thing I came across the other day. It's a homemade Harry Potter wand my husband made for one of the boys when they were Harry Potter one Halloween many years ago. 

I mean, just look at the detail on that wood! I love it! 

Well, that's all I've got for now. What kind of exercise routine do y'all have? Please share in the comments. I'm always curious as to how other people workout. :)

I'm joining these parties: Dwellings The Heart Of Your Home, Savvy Southern Style, Imparting Grace, Common Ground, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, Cupcakes and Crinoline, It's Overflowing, Jennifer Rizzo

~Lisa