I Can. I Will.

When I woke up this morning, the water was not working in the apartment.  I went to investigate and saw an announcement posted in the lobby of our building. In Chinese. Super helpful, right?

Luckily, one of my Chinese neighbors came along to read it, too. We sort of had a conversation (I don't speak Chinese and she did not speak English), but by throwing out phrases like méi yǒu shuǐ (no water) and jiān (time, while pointing at my watch), she was able to tell me shí (10 - which I interpreted as 10:00). I thought the whole thing went rather well. And, the water came back on a little after 9.

Meanwhile, with no water...

Yoga Camp ended. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in the free flow workout for the final day. I haven't been doing yoga long enough to just make up a flow on my own. Plus, I look forward to being led through an invigorating session. 

I tried to watch what Adriene was doing (she was un-mic'ed), but at times I did veer off to practice some of the poses that still challenge my strength or balance, or both. 

After my lackluster yoga session, I chose a cardio yoga workout from Booya for my 30 Day Pilates Body challenge "free day" choice. My internet was super stinky (translated that means it would start, stop, start...), and the instructor went really fast, but I was still able to get a good workout from Crossflowx. 

Most importantly, I had a moment during that workout. Since my knee surgery, I've lost a lot of strength in my left leg. The ongoing problems have made it hard to build it back up. Side plank variations on my left side are usually pretty dismal...until today! I was so excited to feel power doing these side crunches. 

This was a big milestone for me. I have been fearing that I wouldn't be able to get stronger. Today showed me that when you do the work, when you're consistent, when you have faith...you CAN reach goals, make progress, see change. It might not happen as quickly as we'd like, but it WILL happen. 

BTW, today is the last day to enter the Booya Cardio Blast Challenge. Don't miss out on the chance to win one of the awesome prizes simply by doing a cardio workout! You can signup here.

After my morning fitness excitement, I had to make another batch of banana peanut butter protein bars. They make the apartment smell so good and make a great healthy snack or dessert. 

What's your latest milestone?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for signups made using my link. If you signed up today, thank you!

Try It Tuesday: Mindfulness Yoga

This morning I tried a new yoga class at a new studio: PD Yoga. The studio is across the street from our apartment community, in an area called Sea Taste, so super convenient. It's a small studio with three small rooms and a variety of class offerings. The studio is clean, offers lockers for storing belongings and a changing area. More importantly, for expats, everyone I've met so far speaks English.

Mindfulness Yoga was a hatha style class that focused on poses that will help improve posture. It was perfect for me. The instructor came around many times during class to assist, correct, or challenge us in our poses. I didn't exactly work up a big sweat, but I loved feeling looser and relaxed when I left.

mrC met me after yoga class at the studio and we took a walk to pay some bills. It was such a nice day that we decided to have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant because we can sit outside. We always laugh at the portion size difference of the chips and salsa here versus the US.

Later in the afternoon after doing a little work around the apartment, we took our second walk of the day and picked up some clothes I had hemmed. The weather has really been perfect the last couple of days, so we have been taking advantage of it.

After our walk, I was hit with a wave of fitness ambition so I went to Booya Fitness for some more Pilates. One thing I love about the video selection is the variety. There are traditional classes like the one I did today, The Classic Pilates Body, where the workout format follows the time-honored routine (see Pilates 100 picture below). There are also classes that put a twist on tradition and create a high energy class like Cardio Pilates. 

Don't forget that you can try Booya Fitness classes free for 30-days (sign up here) Every workout you do until March 15, enters you into the Cardio Blast Challenge for a chance to win some great prizes!

What new fitness activity have you tried lately?

This is not a sponsored post, but Booya Fitness will compensate me for any referrals. So, if you signed up using my link, thanks!!