Author: gracefulfitness

*cough, cough*

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Well I seem to have overdone it.  Liquid energy in the form of green tea before my run on Thursday may have been a bad idea.  Or maybe it’s the stifling humidity paired with going in and out of AC all day.  Whatever it is, I feel run down.  My throat is still very sore and is now accompanied by a hacking cough and a runny nose.  Yeah, not a pretty sight.

Sleeping in a different bed every few nights doesn’t help much either.  Last night was spent on the train, which wasn’t so bad really.  We got on at 7pm, ate a bit, read a bit, slept.  Got off at 6:50 this morning in Wuhan.  Trains are generally very timely here in China.

I love traveling.  It’s one of my favorite things.  But it can be very draining and with 10 days left to go I am starting to transition into thinking about my life back in the U.S.   My thoughts are turning more and more to Portland and our big move coming up.  My goal is to stay present and really savour this last week of being abroad.

We have an old friend from West Virginia here in Wuhan and he and his girl-friend showed us around this afternoon.

We climbed to the top of a hill for a city view and went to a veg restaurant at a Taoist temple for lunch.

We had a variety of “fake meat” dishes.  Wheat gluten? Soy? I dunno but they were tasty.  Here’s our appetizer platter.  I meant to take more pictures but I got busy eating!

Later on Tate and I went into a REAL GROCERY STORE!  All I have seen since April has been convenience stores chock full of candy and candy posing as crackers or breads. 

As I have mentioned, Chinese food can be overly salty and overly oily.

The oil section! And that’s not all of it!

The soy sauce AISLE!

And, of course, the SUGAR!

 

We are eating in tonight!  Well, sort off, Lucas and Guilia are having us over to their apartment.  It’s been too long since I have cooked a meal!

Gratitude

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Today is the birthday of one of my gracefulfitness inspirations.   My grandfather turns 92 today.  He is an original “health-nut”.  He discovered yoga in the 1950’s or so and has been practicing ever since.  Nearly every morning he walks two miles.  Sundays are golf.  Mondays are water aerobics.  Thursdays are yoga (except for the month in summer when he is at Chautauqua Resort, then it’s yoga everyday).  He loves food and eats out many meals a week but keeps his weight in check with portion control and keeping a handle on desserts (he ADORES dessert so this is not always easy for him).  I think a lot of people see the later stages of life as a time to indulge, thus neglecting their health and weight control as the effects of aging are inevitable.  My grandfather sees this as a time when being diligent about fitness is non-negotiable.

Thanks Zeyda!

And alongside this great man is a great women.  While visiting my grandparents in late April I attended my grandma’s aerobics class.  She uses 3 pound weights for the strength portion of class.  Now, I haven’t been lifting lately but I have been doing lots of push ups and using my band so I thought I could handle 5 pounds.  With my biceps burning I quickly downgraded to 4’s.  3 pounders probably would have been perfect.  It was really high reps!  And she attends class 3 times a week. 

So, thanks Grandma and Zeyda, you are beautiful and inspiring examples of gracefulfitness! ( And thanks for the good genes!)

FRIDAY’S PUSH UP VARIATION CHALLENGE

Side Plank Push Up

  • Complete one push up
  • Shift weight onto right hand and right foot, making your way into a side plank
  • Thread top (left) hand underneath ribcage while keeping your hips lifted
  • Reverse movement back to side plank
  • Slowly and with control move back to push up position

Adding the plank really increases the work for your abs, back, and deltoids and adds obliques into the mix. 

I did 5 sets of 10 repetitions (each push up counting as a rep) and this variation is a workout in itself! Try it!  To make it easier you can always come to you knees for the push up.

Thanks Rachel  for this great recommendation!

My run for the day was about three minutes long and went from the bike rental stand to the hostel.  But it was fast, I was trying to escape the pouring rain…it’s fine, I am still feeling pretty lousy I think today will be an easy activity day.