Pokey pokey

I've developed an odd new habit.

I randomly poke myself.

My arm. My leg. My stomach. My ribs.

No, I'm not nuts. Well, I might be, but that is not enough evidence. But I can feel things. I'm not squishy like I once was. I'm also very glad I have a private office, or my co-workers would really think I'm strange.

I am also very fond of Dory from Finding Nemo. But I digress.

Anyway, yes, so, my poking habit. I can feel muscles. It is so many degrees of awesome. Shawn was commenting the other night that he could see a lot more definition in my arms, but I didn't really pay a lot of attention. He's a very positive, encouraging person (this is a good thing, don't get me wrong), and I'm rather hard-wired not to really take compliments at face value (not really a good thing - we're working on it). So it wasn't until I went to put lotion on the other day that I realized - my arms really aren't as squishy. Then I bent down to fix my shoe and I rested a hand against my thigh - it's less squishy too! Go to smooth a blouse and... when did my upper abdomen get so... un-squishy?

This is awesome.

Had a great workout last night. I had specifically asked for a really challenging core/abs/back workout, and that's what I got. Honestly, I am proud of myself. Some of those exercises were hard. When I started, I would have gotten frustrated, mad at myself, self-conscious - Shawn would have spent more time coaching me through the emotional upset of not getting them than actually working on the exercises. Last night, I think I did really well. Not only did I do really well in a lot of the new exercises he showed me (I think I have a new favourite exercise in side crunches - those are awesome), even the ones I found more challenging, like those using a stability ball, I managed to laugh my way through all my fumbles and stumbles. I'm not very stable, apparently (that's not what I mean). By the end of it, I was considerably less cranky and hormonal.

Today is another mandated "day off." I think I might try some low-impact yoga tonight, just to mitigate the effects of the stress of my workday, and I'll go for a walk, but no gym. I do have a chiropractic appointment, and a couple of errands to run, so hopefully I won't notice the change much.

In the meantime, I'm going back to poking myself.