This shrug is a crochet project that I recently finished. I actually started it a year ago and then it quickly became a UFO – or unfinished object. I am sure if you crochet, knit or sew you know what I am talking about. For some reason there are just certain projects that you set aside and intend to go back to but that doesn’t happen in a timely manner. Well, this was one of those. I am so glad to have finished it and have already been able to wear it once.
The colors of this shrug remind me of Fall. The yarn I used to crochet this was a cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby called I Love This Cotton. It is a great cotton yarn to work with and I have used it for a lot of other scarves and shawls that I have crochet or knit. It also washes well. I used three coordinating colors – a brown, orange and a maroon. The maroon is my son’s high school color so the shrug will go with my band Mom shirt.
Shrugs are a great accessory to have, in my opinion. They stay on better than a shawl or wrap and they keep your shoulders, upper arms and back warm. I live in a warmer climate so they are perfect to wear in the early spring or fall. I have also made some bulky weight shrugs that are nice to wear around the house in the winter when you are cold.
I will eventually be writing up a pattern on how to crochet this shrug but I am going to do another test run of crocheting it in a different yarn first. Currently I am working on a crochet cowl and a knit cowl – I hope to have both of them done in the next couple of weeks.
What crochet or knitting projects are you currently working on? Click on Leave a Reply and tell me about them.
This week I switched up my workouts and chose to do my Exhale Core Fusion dvd’s and some Shiva Rea yoga. This was also a really busy week with a lot going on so I feel like the workouts I chose to do worked well with my schedule.
Wednesday – Exhale Core Fusion – Lean and Toned – 20 min.
Thursday – Shiva Rea Surf Yoga Soul – 30 min.
Friday – Exhale Core Fusion – Body Sculpt – 40 min.
Saturday – Shiva Rea Surf Yoga Soul – 20 min.
Here is the cat – all ready to workout on Wednesday morning. He was scared to get on the new rug I bought in the past but he seems to be okay with it now.
I had not done the Lean and Toned dvd in a while. I really like this workout. I only had a few minutes to workout that morning but 20 minutes of this dvd was awesome! The core pretzel part that I did really worked deep into some core and glute muscles that had me feeling it well into the next day.
The yoga dvd I used this week was Shiva Rea’s Surf Yoga Soul. I think this was actually one of the first of her yoga dvd’s I ever bought. I have not used it in a while and forgot what great yoga sequences are on this program. As you can see my cat really likes her dvd, too. He didn’t even want to move off the mat at the beginning as seen in the one photo of me bending over him.
I also created a new smoothie this week. It is a “green” smoothie and I thought it had a really good flavor to it. I also felt quite energized after drinking it. Below is the smoothie and the recipe:
I am also continuing to make juices in my juicer and try to drink one or two per day. I have found that the juices or the green smoothies are a perfect mid afternoon snack that give me energy. One of my knitting friends has also now pulled out her old juicer and bought the same juicing book I bought and mentioned in my post last week – Juicing. You can read more about that book and a few of the recipes I have made from it in my Week 42 workout post.
This week I am not going to do my Fitness Tips. To be honest with you I have not prepared anything for that part of my post that I have been doing lately and I am too tired to think of something right now. We spent half the day over in Fort Worth at the Alliance Air show that my husband wanted to attend. It was nice and we saw some neat planes and planes flying and doing tricks. Today was very hot here though for October and the heat made the whole event less pleasant – and there was not a cloud in the sky today (which is good for an air show) or a speck of shade to stand in at the air field. I am glad we got to go though and spend time together as a family.
Friday – Cathe – Great Glutes – premix 4 – 46 min.
Saturday – Shiva Rea Yoga – AM Energy Vira Flow + Shavasana – 26 min.
All of the workouts this past week were with my Cathe Friedrich dvd’s that were part of a series I bought last fall. The exception was my Saturday workout which was a yoga workout using one of my Shiva Rea dvd’s. I love doing yoga on Saturday mornings.
The Greatest Hits Step workout is a combination of several different Cathe step workouts and compiled together on the one dvd. The premix I did on Wednesday also used some weights mixed in with step cardio – the cat joined me for most of the workout. He was either on or next to the step.
Lean Legs and Abs dvd is one of my favorites. Even though most of the emphasis is working out the legs and core you still work the upper body a little with having to use the 8 pound dumbbells and doing a lot of compound moves.
The day after Lean Legs and Abs I did the Great Glutes workout. This really works your back side and the hamstrings. I was definitely feeling it by the end of Friday and into Saturday morning (and into the day Saturday). The workout uses minimal equipment and is a combination of light cardio and toning moves that use the 8 pound dumbbells. The cat of course was around to supervise my form. I think he is scared of the new rug I bought for the room though as he won’t walk on it.
I bought this new Juicing book a couple of weeks ago at Barnes and Noble in the sale section. I think it was $10.00. There are lots of great recipes in this book and I have made at least a dozen of them in the past week. I like how the book is set up – it is alphabetized by the name of the fruit or vegetable and gives at least two recipes per one fruit or vegetable. There are also color photos – not of every recipe but at least one or two per page. I have been trying to make up about three or four recipes every other day and store them in mason jars in the refrigerator so I only have to get the juicer out once a day or once every other day. This is a real time saver. It is also helpful to label the juices and put the name and page number of the recipe so you can remember what it was and note if you like it or not.
The above recipe was from the book and called Peach Spice Pie. It was just a peach and 3 carrots juiced and then you sprinkle a little cinnamon on the top. I LOVE this recipe. It is very good! I always feel so healthy and energized after drinking a juice each morning, too.
The other recipe I just made this morning from the Juicing book was called Orange Beet. It is made with the ingredients of the title – 2 oranges and 1 beet. In the one I made my beets were sort of small so I used 2 oranges, 2 small red beets and 1 small golden beet. I love how you can add or take away something from the recipes to create something a little different. This juice here had an earthy flavor to it because of the beets in it. I also felt so great after drinking this juice. Fresh juices are really the way to better health, I think.
I also finally tried a juice with some red cabbage in it. The verdict is still out on that one. It is okay but not one of my favorites. I think I will have to try it again in a different combination of ingredients to determine if I like the red cabbage. The juice was a really pretty color though.
I have fallen of the green smoothie challenge I was doing. I think I had a few at the beginning of the week but I am really into juicing lately and not so much the smoothies. I did try to drink at least one “green” juice a day for an afternoon snack to make up for not having the green smoothie – so I am thinking I didn’t completely drop out of the challenge. I am just having a green juice instead of a smoothie.
Fit Tip of the Week – Eat Well for Better Health
– try out some new healthy recipes
– go to the library for some healthy cookbooks or magazines – or look up some recipes on pinterest
– make it a goal to eat only whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and limit sugar, caffeine and avoid alcohol for at least 5 days and notice how much better you feel
– try out juicing to see all the health benefits
– try out green smoothies to increase your daily intake of greens and fruits
I hope everyone is enjoying the nice fall weather in their area. It is finally cooling down here and the past few days have been beautiful.
Thursday – Cathe Ab Circuits – Stability Ball Abs – 20 min.
Friday – Cathe Low Impact Circuit – Premix Upper Body Sculpt – 31 min.
Saturday – Yoga – Find Instant Calm routine from Yoga Journal Magazine – 20 min.
The cat and I were so glad to be able to do our regular workouts again now that the wood floor is done. I like working out on it for the cardio. I chose to do my Hiit dvd- high intensity interval training – for the purpose of testing out how cardio would be on the new floor. It is a little hard on your back for the ab workouts, even with a mat. I am thinking I will have to invest in a thicker mat for ab workouts or yoga.
Here the cat is above waiting to get going with the Hiit workout on Wednesday. He was all over and around the step when I wasn’t using it as seen in the below photos. I had to do a lot of those continuous kicks – at least 24 in a row per side and avoid kicking him at the same time – an extra workout challenge.
I love doing the abdominal workouts that use the stability ball. There are at least 5 or more different workouts on the Ab Circuits dvd and the stability ball one is a favorite for me.
I am continuing to use my juicer almost every day. I have checked out some other juicing books from the library with some good recipes and I also bought one on sale at Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago. I am really noticing a difference in my stomach becoming flatter and in less cravings for sweet foods since I have been trying to drink at least one or two juices per day. I also notice increased energy. One of my sons is also getting interested in trying some of the juices – mainly the fruit ones, no green ones for him yet.
I am also just finishing the second week of the green smoothie challenge that I mentioned in last weeks fitness post for week 40. I have created a recipe of my own that I am really enjoying and drank a couple of times this past week. There was one day that I forgot to drink my green smoothie and that was on Wednesday. I did have a juice that day though. The recipe I made up is below – I am calling it Peachy Green as it has spinach and peaches in it and is a really pretty green color. I think it tastes good and I can not tell there is spinach in it except for the fact that it is green!
Weekly Fitness Tip: Be Patient, Be Persistent, Have Perseverance
– Change takes time – you can not expect miracle weight loss overnight
– Keep at it – don’t let a set back or two get you off track and going back to your old bad habits. Look at how far you have come and how much better you feel.
– Realize that there will be ups and downs but stay committed to better health and you will succeed
In our weekly newspaper, The Dallas Morning News, there was and article on health and fitness on Wednesday. It was very inspiring about a lady who weighed almost 400 pounds when she was around 29 or 30 years old. She got some bad health news from here doctor a few years ago and decided to do something to take charge of her life – the article said she began walking as that is all she could do at the time. Within three or four years she lost over 200 pounds and has gone on to become a personal trainer who is now helping others. I thought that was such a great story about someone who succeeded in taking charge of their life and making a positive change.
Well, I hope everyone had a good week and you are enjoying your weekend!
This week was not exactly a working out week for me. I did manage to fit in a few workouts and a bike ride but we were in the process of redoing the floors in my dining room and living room so the whole week was spent living in a construction zone. The below photo shows what the room looked like when we ripped out the carpet last weekend.
You can see in the left in the background of the photo the boxes of wood floor that were waiting to be installed. Of course that didn’t go exactly as planned since our house is over 30 years old the floors were not completely level – they had to add some more concrete day 1 of install and then let it dry.
The above photo is day 2 of the install – things did not go well as the floor was not locking in place correctly – so we decide to get rid of the underlayment (that black and red stuff) and go with a glue down. Of course this requires more time, supplies and money so it will now be a couple of more days, they say, before they can finish.
Cat is ready to workout on the new floorView of dining room into living room of new bamboo floor
The above photos show our new, almost, finished floor. They still need to come back tomorrow and nail in the trim – they didn’t have the right kind of nail gun with them today for that part. I am so glad it is finally finished and in a couple more hours I can get all of this extra furniture out of my sewing-computer room. It has been very crowded in here for most of the week!
So, in dealing with all of this the past week I was able to get in a few workouts but not the normal amount.
Monday – workout with exercise bands with door attachment – 25 min.
Tuesday – ride bike to store for groceries
Wednesday – off
Thursday – yoga in evening before bed – 15 min.
Friday – yoga in morning – 20 min.
Saturday – off
I was very stressed out this week on Thursday when things were really falling apart with the floor installation. The yoga really helped calm me down that evening – so glad I decided to do a short routine before bed. I think it also helped me to sleep better.
I did keep up with my juicing this past week. I tried several new juicing recipes. There are a couple of them below but I made so many different ones this week I can’t remember what these were called. I know the orange one had carrots in it. My kids are even starting to like the ones with carrots in it – especially if there is pineapple in the juice. The pineapple makes the juices really sweet.
One of the other juices I made was this green one above. I have found that if you get out the juicer and make a few of the juices ahead of time and store them in 12 oz. mason jars they keep well for at least a couple of days. I like the juice cold better, anyhow. You just need to shake it up good in the jar before you go to drink it. Also, it saves me from having to haul the machine out more than once a day.
I also started the 30 day green smoothie challenge this past week on Wednesday. The challenge is through a website (click on the highlighted green text to go to site) and if you sign up they give you free recipes to try. So far they are just okay with me. I think I have gotten used to juicing and prefer the juice over the smoothie but I am trying to do this to increase my fruit and greens intake. So, I am having a green smoothie a day and at least one juice, usually with breakfast or as a snack. The one I made yesterday, on the right in the photo below – was strawberry lime and it was pretty good and refreshing – a great afternoon snack. I am not sure if it is the type of spinach or kale I have or the fact that I am using some frozen fruits in the smoothies but mine are not turning out very “green” – more of a brown to me.
Fitness Tip for the week: Fit exercise in where you can
We all have days or weeks when regular scheduled workouts are not possible. On those days or weeks try and get workouts in during your day. Here are some ideas:
– Go for 20 or 30 minute walk after lunch or dinner
– Ride your bike to the store for a few groceries
– Walk your kids to and from school if possible – this is also a great time to talk to your kids about their day
– Do a short yoga routine or stretching before bed – you will also sleep better
– Do some ab exercises while watching TV
– Do some stretches while waiting for your morning coffee to brew
Also, if it isn’t possible to squeeze in any type of physical activity don’t stress about it – just start up again the next day or week to get back on track.
I hope everyone is having a great week! I am so glad my floor is mostly complete. I am also looking forward to working out in there on Monday!
