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Figure 8 Day 1

Today is my first day with Figure 8. I plan on doing this for cardio and for fat burning. I will be following their exercise guidelines, but as a vegan the nutritional plan is not my focus. If you are interested in my dietary intake I am blogging about that separately.

First, I reviewed the materials and the instructions. I like the simple way they start out with the basics for the first few days. Easy enough on day 1 – tomorrow we will see!

My plan is to incorporate this into my lunch routine. Should be a nice kick in the middle of the day and just long enough to get it in!

Check back on day 2 to find out how that goes… 😉

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Essentrics Day 2

While it was hard to initially motivate to start this morning, I did it. And all I have to say is WOW. I had no idea how tight my body was. The movements were slow and fluid. The stretch was amazing. This is going to be a GREAT way to start my day! I feel energized and muscle pains I typically feel first thing are much much lighter.

I can honestly say I feel a bit of a rush from this. Which lets me know that this is a great add on.

I did the very first 30 minute workout. My plan is to do that for the next two weeks then move to the next one. Really – this is a phenomenal way to start the day. Looking forward to day 2!

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Essentrics – Day 1

I have the full DVD set. I decided to start with Mobility & Bone Strengthening for Beginners. Day one, I watched the video. That’s it. That was my only goal – watch the video and PAY ATTENTION to what was needed.

While it looks simple enough, day 2 will tell the tale. I love how fluid and smooth the movements are. I cannot wait to start first thing tomorrow! Wish me luck and you will find out how it goes in the morning!

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Fitness plan for the New Year

I turned 55 this month.

I am approaching fitness as a 3 tiered project. Cardio, flexibility and mobility, and building lean muscle mass and endurance.

Swimming has been a go-to for me for over a year now. At one point, I was swimming more than a mile a day. The struggle with that is it takes a large amount of time. It takes me about 2 minutes to swim a lap (50 yards total) as I do the breaststroke. 1 mile is 60 laps. I can comfortably take 45 minutes a day – I swim at lunchtime so that is impractical and just not working out. Cutting my swimming back to 40-45 laps has been ideal. It does, however, leave a gap. Swimming will help me in overall fitness as well as building lean muscle mass and endurance. I will be moving swimming to an evening activity (after 7pm) as it can be very relaxing – particularly if I do a 15 minute hot tub afterward.

I am adding two new fitness regimens this year. One is Essentrics. I am planning on completing certification frankly as I see this as a bridge for people in my age bracket to increase and improve our quality of life. This will be my morning starter plan. I will do this activity from 6am – 7am.

The second new fitness regimen will be Figure 8. I plan on incorporating this at lunchtime. This will be my cardio. As I will be doing this at home, I can comfortably do an hour long session. While swimming does elevate my heart rate to around 105-110 bpm, I need something more reliable that pushes it a little higher. This activity will happen somewhere between 11:30 am and 1 pm meeting schedule driving that timing.

I plan on blogging about each of these separately so please stay tuned!

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About This Blog

None of us are single faceted. We all have a variety of interests – some more important, some less. I intend to write about mine and hopefully that will encourage some others to do the same or engage.

This blog, at this writing (January 20, 2019) will include a variety of topics. Maybe it will help me generate a little income on the side for my business, or maybe it will just be. In either case, by writing about what I love or am experiencing, no harm, no foul. It will be value added to ME. Maybe I will grow from the experience – which is always a good thing.

Some of my topics are –

The Third Wave. This is based on an idea from one of my favorite futurist authors, Alvin Toffler. The concept is that mankind went through an agricultural age, then an industrial age, and now we are in the third age – data and information. How does that impact us, what can we do as a species to thrive in this age?

What working from home means to me. Includes how I manage it, how I modify my own (and my family’s) behavior, and what is involved in keeping balance.

Certification path. I have been an analyst for a number of years now and was an IT manager and systems operator in prior years. Recently I decided it has been quite some time since I have taken any courses or certifications. I am getting my DBA certs. What does that mean? How does someone go through the process? What is involved, and where does it take me?

Project management for non-project managers. I am not really a project manager, but sometimes have to act like one. How to cope? I will discuss those ideas in this category.

Forex Trading. I have been trading for a few years, and I am starting to show a turn around. Will be sharing that portion of my life – the good and the bad – with the intention of improvement.

Healthy living. Like most people, I have been modifying my diet and exercise. In January 2018 I became a vegan. I also swim at least 4 days a week (preferably 5) and am incorporating other things in my routine.

Positive living and positive energy. Why do we no longer talk about our goals and dreams as people – as a society of human beings, why have we turned to far inward? Have we lost our spirit of adventure, learning, and growth? Or is this a mis-perception? This is my more rambling esoteric category. One bound to bring conflict and discord but I think an important discussion.

So, that is the initial list.