Sidewalk yoga.

OAKtown surprises.

Thanks to all of *you* Im walking more.

I dont live where I can walk to the store—but Ive CHOSEN to live as though I can walk to the store!

I snag my freak flag don my backpack and I walk.  And WALK.

I fill the pack as full as I can and I trek home.

Yay 10k!

Not only have I gotten more steps—-Ive learned so much more about my ‘hood than I had driving, parking, walking

Ive learned theres a house where every Saturday the kids who live there have a lemonade stand (I wanted to snap a pic–but other people’s children & all I resisted).Ive learned theres a house where every few days a new plastic lawn ornament thingy is shoved lovingly in the ground. (no picture. I got screamed at.).Ive learned theres a house where every few days a new yoga sequence is drawn in chalk on the sidewalk out front (Note haste with which I snapped photo.  It’s blurry. Im in it.  You can tell Id recently been screamed at).

Im a writer and storyteller at heart.

It’s taken everything I have in me NOT to bang on the door of the yoga-house and beg the chalking-resident to tell his tale.

Im so curious (yet Ive resisted.  we do live in the land of broken windows & even this woman possesses a little caution) & since I cant satiate my curiosity (yet!) I decided to join in.

I procured me this:

I love this.

I picked my first pose and I launched my new sidewalk yoga practice:

OM blue.

Every few days I change the pose:

OM a little wonky looking.

Downward facing chalk.

And yes.  The Tornado insisted on joining in:

YogaKid

We both hope stumbling across our little sidewalk patch of yoga & zen will brighten someone’s day as much as the yoga-house discovery *still* does mine.

Whats the quote? The secret to humor is surprise?

Ive learned as Ive ambled my ‘hood recently the secret to JOY is surprise. 

Surprise discovery of something you’d never have anticipated being there—and which makes you smile long after you pass it by.

Snag some sidewalk chalk and join me? 

From yoga stick figures to motivational phrases let’s blanket our ‘hoods with sidewalk smile-inducing surprise…

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2,4,6,8,10 Treadmill workout

When we family or with friends at us, makes me feel we're on vacation. It's good to Slooooooow down for a second, sometimes playing tourists in our own city and enjoy you be easily together.

Yesterday afternoon, we were all swimming:

(Fish was very busy, that eating a bagel chip, so the lack of smiles)

and then went 15 of us to dinner at G Grill.

(Trevor with his blazing fajita boiler)

Although we were a large group - with three high chairs - the service, food was fantastic, was delicious, Liv mariachis, dance, and was very pleased with the salsa before your very eyes. During the dinner would Livi and one of their cousins, sitting in the high chair next to each other, stop to kiss each other or hold hands between bites. Basically it was what in the world the sweetest.

I sleep with a belly full of Mexican food and all ventured out in the gymnasium, in to get a little in front of the bed of cardio. It felt great to shake the new O magazine to read and my legs out, before you call it a night. I was wondering if I last night training post, because "twice already I 2.468, 10 theme.

I think that the jokes are no longer funny after the second time you say them. (If you've read my blog for awhile, you know that I don't always follow my own rule...) As always...) It's the same with training?

The perfect mix of challenge and thought provoking - I was sweaty, but not completely zonked at the end. Let me know if you have it a try give!

This morning, we are helping the fam move and then maybe hit a movie later in the evening. We see us later the family page with a project that is in the closeness and love to my heart.

XOXO

Gina

Was the last vacation? If you could go on a trip to this very second, where was you choose? Daydreaming a little Tuesday is always nice

Summer shape up friends: today was your steady state and flexibility? What have you done?

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The winner of the FITBLOGGIN TICKET!

winner winner chicken dinner!

Kim of Day with KT!

Email me (carla at carla birnberg dot com) and I shall connect you with your FITBLOGGIN ticket!

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Something outta nothing + a new arm burner

After a weird couple of days -sorry again for the server issues!- we’re back to blogging action It was so strange to not be able to post, but I am so thankful to Cody and Ryan for their hard work to get the blog going again.

Every post for the rest of the summer:

we swam, we grilled, I had a glass of wine, the end. Just kidding… but not really Hope that’s ok?

So we did swim again yesterday, our dinner was baked instead of grilled (walking’ on the wiiiiild side)

I did have a glass of wine,

and also went to CrossFit for the third time. I went to the “lite” class again, and to my happy surprise, it was the exact same thing as the regular option. The only change was that I did ring rows instead of strict pull-ups -which I would have had to do anyway- and it KILLED me. Last time I left wanting more, but for my third class, I got more than enough.

The warmup:

10 Storkes

10 Frankensteins

10 slow burpees

10 push presses (no weight on the bar)

200m run

We did that twice, and then went into the WOD (Workout of the Day):

3 rounds

1 minute ring rows (or strict pullups)

1 minute burpees

1 minute rest

1 minute push press (weighted)

1 minute row

1 minute rest

We were doing the workout for reps, so we wrote down our reps for each round (for the row portion, 1 calorie counted as 1 rep) and tallied everything at the end. It was only 17 minutes, but it was an intense, fiery 17 minutes. For the last round, the coach was yelling to keep us pushing hard -he remembered all 14 of our names and would say things like “Great job Gina, keep moving!”- and for the last round, he said something that really clicked with me:

“Any energy you have left: burn it. You may feel like you have nothing left, but it’s amazing what you can get out of nothing.”

This really resonated with me because I’ve experienced it, in a variety of situations. There were so many times when Liv was a newborn that I thought I wouldn’t be able to survive another night. (It’s fully understandable that sleep deprivation is an interrogation technique.) But I did it, night after night, on hardly any sleep. A 17-minute CrossFit workout is a picnic compared to staying up all night, feeding and pumping (New mamas, hang in there. It gets so much easier, I promise.)

My arms are wicked sore from the workout, and I thought I’d share some of the gun show love with a new arm burner.

Please let me know if you give it a try!

Have a wonderful morning <3

xoxo

Gina

Stay tuned for a new family post this afternoon and a new dance cardio video in the am!

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A beautiful book

It is funny, as a way to come around full circle supply.

My first impression of jade Beall was that I wanted to be much more like it. I took a Zumba class in the studios of the breakout, and class when I moved back to Tucson before Zumba of a West African was class with live drummer dance. The Studio echoed with the strong drum rhythms and evening cool December all the Windows were fogged up. I was just through a side window and couldn't help but gawk on the instructor. I was totally dance floor.

Jade uneasy they dance to the music... feeling the music. It is the music. It is really amazing to see.

Although I had never to meet the pleasure, not a few of my friends have with jade danced, and I her partner, Alok recently met. Her Studio in Tucson a few times - more details we on that rented soon – and the beautiful Buddha shrine from this weekend? It is up to you. As always, while I was researching the Studio about six months ago, I realized that jade is not only an incredible dancer, she has a gift for photography.

This image on my screen came and brought tears to the eyes immediately.

(Photo source)

There is so much joy and beauty in the frame. You can see, how much these girls love their MOM and even though her face in the shot does not feel their babies is how proud. I found out that jade, had been working on a book to document mothers make during and after pregnancy, and me found appended to your project even though I had nothing to do.

Short, jade takes the photos changes free of charge for women who are ready, their stories about motherhood and body image after the birth.

(Photo source)

Although I only a handful of photos seen – some are in this recent Huffington Post article - not I can wait to get a copy of the book.

After my last post on the family page by e-Mail of a few of you, to me about this project to let know. It's funny, because I already * knew * Furthermore, it is a coincidence that jade here in Tucson, and a pity that I had already mentioned it on the blog does not. While I don't post Shout-Outs for all causes, and I think post may - I often get e-Mails about this and apologize that I am not able to everyone's desire - is one that really touched my heart. While the level of physical change varies from woman to woman, change after carrying and delivering a baby. First of all, your heart changes. Priorities shift and but true, find cliché, to love someone more than you ever were.

Probably the last thing I felt was when I first had Liv, beautiful. I felt like I'm a tired milk machine with a Synophrys - me sure many moms can relate. I wish I could've seen pictures, and some stories to read, when I felt my absolute worst me and anxiety experienced after the birth.

Jade succeeded, the true beauty to capture, living in all moms, and I'm so excited to see the final result of their hard work. It has a kick start page for the project and has already exceeded its target. There are 6 days leave in order to provide the possibility for more women to Tucson, Arizona have travel, their photographs and their stories documented.

XO

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Working Out—and Cooling Down—With Reggie Bush

Reggie Bush, so cool. Get it? Har! Har!

Being a New York City-based Fit Bottomed Girl has its advantages, and one of them is that I get to participate in cool events like an exclusive workout at BOOM Fitness with the one and only Reggie Bush of the Detroit Lions! Reggie himself showed a lucky group of us fitness lovers his own personal “Training Day Workout” and gave us the chance to try out some new keep-you-cool gear.

When I was a kickball-loving youngster who could play all day long during the summer, my friends and I used to beat the summer heat and humidity by watering down our bandannas and putting them in the freezer for a few minutes. (Ahhh…I can still feel that relief!) According to the CDC, heat-related illnesses are a very real danger to both high school and college athletes and should be a concern for everyone who chooses to exercise outdoors in the summer months. Well, some of the world’s top athletes (including Reggie Bush, Dwayne Wade and Serena Williams) joined together to create cooling products that help keep excessive heat away while bringing down your body temperature during and after training: MISSION Athletecare EnduraCool Instant Cooling Gear.

Working on our abs with Reggie.

Reggie was very friendly to everyone during the workout (a high-interval routine that keeps him in fighting shape), and you can tell he takes great pride in these products—which include cooling towels, cooling hoodies, cooling arm sleeves and cooling helmet liners. The best part of this stuff though is that they are NOT expensive. Items range in price from $14.99 (Cooling Skull Cap) and go up to $43.99 for Cooling Arm Sleeves. (I have lots of friends who would like to steal mine!)

All you need to do is take the EnduraCool item (my current favorite is the Long Cooling Towel), pour a little bit of water on it (from your water bottle or fountain,) wring it out a bit and then place it on your body and allow the coolness to wash over you. That’s it!

Recently, I taught a spin class where the air conditioning was broken and my students were very envious of how cool and comfortable I appeared to be using my towel as a cape. (Sorry, gang!) You can check them out for yourselves at Dick’s Sporting Goods and Hibbett Sporting Goods locations.

So how do you beat the summer heat? Are you going to give Enduracool a try? And, just wondering, but do kids still like to play kickball? —Margo

Tags: apparel, athlete, celebrity, cooling, fitness equipment, football, New York, On the Scene, Reggie Bush, review, summer

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For [body] shame

[Just a head's up that if reading about body image is an uncomfortable or triggering topic for you, this might be a post to skip. What we read can affect us in a positive or negative way, so please use your best judgment and choose literature that nourishes your body and mind. If you're in recovery from an eating disorder, my healing wishes and heart are with you.)

There are some things I'm careful not to do in front of Liv:

-say the "F" word.. even though it still slips out sometimes (especially while driving)

-eat handfuls of chocolate or face-burning spicy foods, just because she always wants a bite

-body shame.

Even though there are some parts of my body I don't exactly love, I don't want Oliv to know the difference. Of course, I'm proud of my body, and am thankful it helped me carry a beautiful, healthy baby. At the same time, I think as a woman there are always little things we would love to change if we could. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you're probably aware of the fact that I don't love my nose. I call it my "honker" and hinted at Tom to let me get rhinoplasty for years. After being repeatedly shot down because my nose makes me me, I’ve given it a rest. And now, the thought of someone taking a hammer to my face scares the bejeezus out of me.

Since having Liv, I notice the stretch marks on my belly. The other night, I told Tom that I’m like a tiger who earned her stripes Would I do it again? In a heartbeat, and I pray I’m able to, but I can’t say I love the stretch marks, even though I love the reason why I have them.

Despite the little things I would physically change, over time I’ve become more accepting and loving of my body. I think part of this comes from being older and more confident with time (I used to be really, really insecure. Having a verbally abusive person in your life will do that to you), and the other part is from having another human to take care of and realizing where true priorities lie. The funny thing is that back in the day, when I was my own harshest critic, I looked pretty much the same as I do now (save for a few new undereye bags). I’ll look back at pictures from a time when I was working to change so many things and think, “Wow. You wasted a lot of brain space worrying about nothing.”

Even so, just last week I realized that I was doing something I hadn’t done in quite a while: body shaming.

I was talking to some friends (this was relevant to the topic somehow?), and told them that when I sat down on the couch the previous night, my thighs got stuck together and make a horrific noise. Looking back, it’s kind of funny, but also, “WTF?”

As a girl who’s always been the one to tell friends they’re perfect and gorgeous as they picked themselves apart, here I was participating.

As women, I think body shaming can be a bonding thing (which is also very WTF). It can also be another way for women to compare themselves against each other. Women looooove comparing themselves to other women… and it’s stupid. Sure, comparison can be motivation and encourage you to make positive changes, but it can also be demeaning. It’s important to remember that everyone’s situation is unique. You never know what battles someone else is facing.

After my noisy thigh exclamation, I made a promise to myself that I would not get back into the body shaming trap. I’m endeavoring to lead by example for Liv: how to be compassionate, loving, truthful and have a positive self worth. Having confidence while still being humble is critical… especially when it comes to school, friends, and making smart decisions. If you have no confidence, you will be easily peer-pressured into things you don’t want to do or make poor choices for the sake of others’ approval.

I know that inevitably, she’ll be a teenager. She’ll start to think of things that she doesn’t like about her body, and these things could be largely influenced by her friends and the media. For Tom and myself, it’s an important goal to teach her of all of the things her body can DO without emphasizing how it looks. (Even though, yes, I do and will continue to tell her how beautiful she is.)

I don’t remember everything about my childhood, even though I have vidid memories that stand out. While the details are kind of fuzzy as far as what we did each day, I clearly remember how I felt growing up: loved. My mom and family always made me feel loved and that I was safe. My mom was beautiful to me, because she took care of me, taught me, and did fun things with me… not only because of how she looked (even though she was, and is, absolute stunning). I can only hope that Liv will feel the same way <3

This is a huge topic, but I would love to hear any of your musings or experiences with body shaming (how you stopped, or how you’re going to stop), teaching confidence to young girls, or even your favorite memory with your mom.

xoxo

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