uh oh, life changes

I moved to Tx last week and discovered my rental house does not have a home gym (as advertised) :(

I am also a single mother for the first time ever and trying to balance parenthood and work.

So needless to say, I have not "worked out" since a week ago. However, my current job is very active and requires me to be on my feet hiking rugged trails and hills all day (yah!). So far most forays have been 2-4 hours because I've been hauling a 3 year old with me. I finally got out for 5-6 hours the past 2 days and my legs (and knees) are definitely feeling it.

Other than hiking, I have continued working on my headstand and my pistols and am making progress on both (more to come). I haven't found a playground in my area yet and I am seriously jonesing for a pull-up bar. I do not want to lose my momentum there!

I also just made the switch to a high protein diet, or at least I am trying to. High-protein, high-fat, low-carb diets are pretty hard for those of us who don't really like or want to eat meat. I did purchase 2 lbs of beef brisket several days ago that I'm gnawing on. I have to admit I am disgusted by it (not the taste, it is good), but the idea of it. I have been eating lots of eggs (pastured hens) and just got some fresh eggs from my neighbors' chickens. I have abstained from bread since last Monday (huge victory!) and have no pasta or chips in the house. I have veggies, some fruit, and the lowest carb energy bars I could find at the store. My understanding is this diet is supposed to keep you satiated longer and you naturally eat less calories and lose weigh (and bloat).

I haven't experienced any of that yet but it has only been a few days and maybe my body is adjusting, or I am not doing it right. I have been very bloated for a week and definitely feel hungry, but I am not counting calories (and wasn't before) so I don't know how they compare. I have mainly just drastically reduced my carb intake, which now that I'm playing attention, I am aware was very high, and switched over to foods with more protein and fat.

I need to lose about 10-15 lbs, especially because now I'm on a break from lifting. Fingers crossed!

core work

My core has been weak since pregnancy. Long gone are the ripped abs of my 20's. Admittedly, I did almost nothing during the first year after having my baby to work my core and not a heck of lot during year 1 or 2. I think it was such a mental block, going from so strong to so weak, and knowing I had to start all over. But I am. Finally.

This time around I am approaching core work differently. I am back to lifting and doing compound movements that engage my core. I am doing planks and L-sits/hanging knees. And just recently I added a couple moves borrowed from the crossfit world - toes-to-bars and knees-to-elbows. Holy moly, those are challenging.  Today was probably my 4th time doing them, and I was able to do 8 T2B (toes-to-bars) and 3 sets of 6-8 K2E (knees-to-elbows). My T2B aren't pretty, but heck, I'm doing this and soon enough they will be!  My K2E are also a work in progress.  I filmed all 4 sets to review my form. For my K2E, my knees were closer to my shoulders than elbows so I tried really hard to press them higher the last round.  I have found it helpful to film my progress so I can check form and monitor progress.

And below is my GOAL!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqOgtFcqWbE

here's where I'm on handstand

So a big 2016 goal of mine is a free-standing handstand. I've been practicing for a couple months and I'm happy to say I have made progress. But not as much as I had hoped to at this point. I can *sometimes* hold it for a few seconds (max was 5 secs so far). I have to admit I think some of my problem is an unwillingness to focus on the progression rather than the final outcome. I should be spending more time on crow pose, headstand, wall walks, etc., focusing on developing the core and balance, and less time in the actual handstand.  hope let's face it, the handstand is so much fun!

Today I focused on getting in position for the face-to-wall handstand and holding it. For me at least this is much harder than kicking into a handstand. My shoulders are already tired from walking up the wall by the time I get into position and then the feeling once inverted is much harder to hold, I think because my shoulders are pulled, correctly, further back and aligned over my body. I am supposed to get to a 60-sec hold before progressing and today I got to 30-sec. This is actually great progress because I haven't done very many this way because they were harder.

I am going to try to incorporate more of the progressions in my handstand training now that I see I am still really lacking the stabilization aspect. Off to do headstands:)