Posted on by Maggie

Exercise Routines & Exercise Videos

Since moving to New York, my exercise has been cut down a lot. Take a look at this week‘s exercise routines:

Week of 06 Dec – 12 Dec:

Sunday – sadie nardini’s power half hour exercise video; walking
Monday – 5 minutes yoga in the morning; 20 minutes yoga @ night
Tuesday – 5 minutes yoga in the morning ( =( wish i had done more this day)
Wednesday – 2 mile walk home
Thursday – 25 minutes yoga in the morning
Friday – yogadownload’s “weight loss yoga #2″ (20 minutes; this was an exercise video, not just a podcast)
Saturday – meaghan townsend’s cardio yoga exercise video (20 minutes; exercise tv); walking around @ night (1-2 miles?)

That is an average of about 20 minutes of very relaxed exercise each day. But I feel great! I wish I was walking more, but I do think I’ve found a great balance. I should have known – sometimes less is more 🙂

I found this great exercise video yesterday (and I did it again today): Meaghan Townsend’s Cardio Yoga (exercisetv.tv).

cardio yoga

Bobby did it with me yesterday (Saturday) morning. It is great – it’s the flowy, dancey, motion-filled yoga that I love. This is the best video since…

Tom Morley’s Cardio Yoga. I discovered this way back in the fall of ’08. The first time I wrote about him was on September 9th, 2008 – back before I had any commenters and before I knew how to make real post titles. Since then I have done Tom’s yoga videos many many times. I still highly recommend him, but I can never find his “Cardio Yoga”. I can only ever find “Buns and Thighs Yoga”. Sigh.

You don’t have to kill yourself to be in shape. I disagree with many fitness professionals in this respect. I think that taking the stairs, parking far away, being mindful, and taking some deep breaths are way more important than getting in an hour of sweaty cardio. Work exercise into your life – don’t work your life around your exercise routines. Life is short, so chill out and enjoy it.

P.S. If you think that you’ll gain weight by chilling out, think again. Exercise can increase your appetite and make you ravenous – which makes it easy to overeat.

Stay tuned for…

  • Baking experiments starring some NY family members (this was so fun!)
  • More Macro Vegetarian Reviews
  • New York bagels
  • A Holiday Challenge (this won’t be for a week or two)
  • Restaurant review (The Long Room on44th between6th and 7th aves) & a night out with friends

Have a lovely lovely week! Don’t forget to relax.

30 Replies to “Exercise Routines & Exercise Videos”

  1. What a great post, I always used to feel bad having a day off but I am slowly learning the body needs that day as much as it needs exercise!
    Thanks for the inspiration x x

  4. I agree. We all deserve a nice break.

    So no more grapes? 🙂 You can get cheaper grapes (not organic though) in Chinatown if you want.

  5. i love your perspective so very much, maggie. i think it’s especially easy to work exercise into your life when you live in a city. i mean, between all the walking, subway stair climbing, carrying heavy groceries around – we’re naturally active. i think that’s the best way to be, and definitely a privilege of being a city dweller.

    ps: did i every say welcome to nyc? i’m so ridiculously behind! but glad to have you here! 🙂

  6. “Work exercise into your life – don’t work your life around your exercise routines”
    well said!!! recently I feel myself kinda obsessed with running, partly because I am bit concerned of my weight gain during these holiday season. Sometimes it’s really hard to fit in the final schedule. I think a balanced daily routine including light eats and small exercise would do the duty to maintain my weights too 😀 like your workout routine, I now realize that there is more than one way (running) keeping myself active!

  7. Just cant get in to yoga yet. Sure I will some day :). Great post though. I totally agree. I have also lost several pounds the last week or 2 by cutting back on exercise and not obsessing or thinking about food too much :). Feels great doesnt it?

    Love,
    Justine

  8. LOVE this post! You are SO right! I want to live my life and forget about food and exercise 😉 I get TONS of exercise cleaning other people’s homes and I don’t know why I feel like I’m not doing anything if I’m not on the treadmill or doing yoga etc. I did an hour yoga practice this morning and really struggled to get through it. I haven’t been doing much formal exercise lately and had noticed that I felt a little better and had a little more energy. Hmm! I tend to do better with about 30 minutes of cardio or a relaxing yoga practice–not both together 🙂 Glad you are enjoying you life in NYC!!

  9. good good points. I have been EXHAUSTED for a few weeks and this morning is proving to be no different. I have been killing myself (and loving the business) but being off coffee and much less sugar…MAN my body tells me it wants REST.

    I can’t even get myself out to shop…or any holiday type things…we did cruise around to see lights Saturday night…that was fun and easy.

    great reminder Mags.

    THANKS

  10. You have such a good point here, Maggie! I often get into the mental trap of thinking I have to do an intense hour-long workout or nothing at all – but you’re right, it’s definitely possible to maintain fitness in smaller increments of time or with less intensity, doing things that are actually fun. I’ve never gotten into yoga, but I do enjoy pilates DVDs at home – and I love love love walking outside.

  12. That’s so true that you can lose weight when you stop focusing on it and start living life. I love that you’re so dedicated to yoga. I’m a runner, and starting to appreciate yoga more and more. It’s amazing that you can get such a good workout doing something that doesn’t wear you out.

  14. I reallly like this post- because lately I’ve even felt the “blogging pressure” to run lots, or over-exercise. When I can think of two times in my later life, (15-19) that I’ve felt very confident in myself, and that’s when I’m doing less! I think working out less, leads to being more intuitive with eating and not paying as much attention. When I worry about working out, and eating, I always end up eating more, and having to compensate either eating more, or feel the need to eat more, because I’ve worked out so much. Blahh.

    So kudos to acknowledging this and feeling good. Tight pants fitting? Um, yes please.

    Have a good one Maggie!

  15. “Work exercise into your life – don’t work your life around your exercise routines. ” – Great point. I think we can work a lot of exercise into our life naturally. You are so right, we don’t always need sweaty sessions at the gym. And sometimes our bodies need some rest… It’s so important to truly listen to our bodies and do what feels right. Great reminder! 🙂

    Happy Monday! 🙂

  18. funny; i think i definitely got more exercise when i lived in NYC (just from all the walking) than when i live in l.a. now.

    speaking of nyc did you ever get my email about the blogger meet up on jan. 1st? just trying to make the reservation soon so if you could email me and lemme know if you plan on attending that’d be awesome!

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  26. Every morning lately I’ve been waking up tired and tell myself that I will take the day off from exercise, only to end up doing my usual gruelling cardio or yoga or weight lifting. I bookmarked this page and plan on reading it tomorrow each time the mood strikes to exercise. Less is more, less is more, less is more….

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  30. Im doing quite a bit of yoga these days myself and it has really helped my concentration—which means I’m getting more done in less time! Im doing this great video from htttp://www.workoutsondemand.com called Fitness Yoga and it gives me a great balance between relaxation, stretching, core work and strength work.

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