Row,row row your boat

Yesterday was a productive day. Hubby stayed home to serve as music minister for three services, homeschool was done, menu planning happened, and my mind was trying to figure out how I could get in more strength training type exercises using what I had on hand. I have a stability ball, pilates bands, some small hand weights and a stationary bike. We also live in less than 900 square feet of space, so big pieces of equipment are out of the question. As nice as the stationary bike seems to be, it is not giving me the results I want, and neither of the guys use it with any consistancy. What would be nice to replace it with would be a rowing machine. As a kid my family would do a lot of wilderness canoe trips, and being the oldest I was one of the regular rowing people. I was also pressed into service on portages, carrying the ancient 17 foot aluminum canoes and 75 pound Duluth packs of food from take out to put in point. It was a great work out, and to tis day the exercise I feel the most comfortable with is rowing. It works just about every muscle in the body at once.

However, rowing machines, if you can find them, are pretty expensive and take up a lot of room. Not such a positive factor at this time in this place. So my mind started wandering and getting creative. Suddenly it dawned on me that if I position the things I own in just the right fashion, I could create something that would give me the benefits of a rowing machine without buying anything. Here is what I did. We have office chairs with arms, and my pilates bands have handles on both ends. I hooked he handle of two bands onto the arm of the chair my son was sitting on( he still outweighs me) , and then positioned the stability ball far enough away from the chair to make the bands stretch, then sat on the ball, grabbed the bands and began to do a rowing motion, Begin close to the chair, pull back with with armsand use your extended legs to lock you in place, relax legs while coming back, and repeat. It is hard to explain, but if you have ever rowed a boat in real life, I think you would be able to figure out how to do this. It feels VERY effective. I stopped after 5 minutes of rowing because I want to build myself up slowly and safely to this exercise. Sweet !
Yesterday's log- Ash Wednesday, and a day of fasting and abstenance from meat.
exercise-
Wii fit strength training 20 min
resistance band work 10 min
hand weights 120 reps
homemade rowing machine 5 min

Breakfast-
5 grain cereal (oats,barley,rye,wheat,buckwheat)
topped with crasins,coconut,ground flax,goji berries,wheat bran,seed mix,peanut butter,olive oil
Yo plus digestive yogert
water,2 coffee


Lunch-
Thomas whole wheat muffins with 2 slices provolone cheese
asparagus ( I love asparagus, and it seemed like a good Ash Wednesday sort of food to me)
apple,yo digestive yogurt
water


Dinner-
Tossed salad with fat free cheese, seed&nut mix,crasins
whole wheat bread with olive oil for dipping
apple,water




Snacks Spa water through the day
Pre breakfast- dandelion,parsley,thyme,nettle tea
Morning-dandelion,parsley,thyme,nettle tea, fat free cheese stick
afternoon-dandelion,parsley,thyme,nettle tea,
all bran crackers,laughing cow,apple
evening- Nettle tea,Fiber plus bar,17 almonds

water 14 (112 oz)not counting tea or coffee
Fruits 4
veg 5
lean protien- taken over by extra dairy this day
dairy 5
healthy fats 2