Looking Good

It’s always fun to go on vacation, especially when you have the chance to go back home to see family and friends. But, it’s also nice to get back into a familiar routine. After a week of eating like royalty and taking a break from my typical workouts, yesterdays focus was getting organized, filling my body with wholesome food and a light cardio/yoga combo workout.

There is nothing quite like a bowl of oatmeal to start the day off right. When I was sick, I never allowed myself to have oatmeal because it felt too indulgent. Now, I eat oatmeal at least 3 times a week. I think Trader Joes has the best oats, and they are ready in about 10 minutes. For some reason, their oats make a bigger serving than others I’ve tried, and I am usually really hungry in the mornings so it always hits the spot. If you’ve never tried putting almond butter in your oatmeal, you must try it! I tend to put a little more water in the pot than the back of the bag calls for, which is usually around 1/1/2 cups water to 1/2 cups oats. The amount of almond butter that I add depends on what my activity level is going to be like. Yesterday I added 1 Tablespoon. Delicious!!

After finish this bowl of goodness, I went on a short run to try out my new sneakers. They felt great. I definitely wore the last pair for too long (I don’t recommend this), so this was a much needed change. I haven’t worn Nike running shoes for a long time, but the Pegasus 31’s felt great (and I got them at 1/2 price)…I think they looked pretty good too!

It was already pretty warm and muggy out, and I knew I wanted to take a yoga class so I kept it short and sweet. After finishing 4 miles, I took a much needed yoga class to stretch out, detox, and center after my week of fun. There is nothing in the world that brings me back like a solid vinyasa class. I hadn’t practiced for about a week and a half so this was just what the doctor ordered. Because I’m human, I noticed my mind wandering at the beginning of class, thinking about the fact that I only ran 4 miles that morning, and that I should have done more because of all I had eaten over the past few days.STOP! The teacher asked us to set an intention, so mine was to accept myself as I was in that moment, with all of those meals, missed workouts, tight hips, bloated belly…so I did. It’s amazing how your perspective can change when you let it. With every breath, I became more centered, and before I knew it I was back to living, moving, flowing in the moment. I left everything on my matincluding a bucket of sweat, and felt a thousand times better when I left the studio. I came out with a brand new perspective, ready to take on the day.

For lunch, I had an almond butter and strawberry jelly sandwich on Trader Joes sprouted grain bread. It was really good and it felt nice to eat something so simple. Don’t get me wrong, 9 times out of 10 I’d prefer to prepare/enjoy a meal that looks nice, tastes nice, and has some variety to it. But, as you’ve all witnessed, I’ve done plenty of that over the past week so this was quick and it hit the spot. I eat a lot of peanut butter and almond butter these days because I love the taste, and they were forbidden foods for so long. Back in the day, I would measure out 1/8 of a tsp to spread on 1/2 of an ezekiel english muffin and that was all I’d get to fuel my 4 hour workout. Occasionally I’d throw in some sort of fruit but that was rare. Yesterdays sandwich had 1T on each side and plenty of strawberry jelly. Happy!

Wednesdays are my busiest days at the studio. After spending a couple of hours preparing for class, getting my playlists ready, etc., I get there at 4 and typically don’t leave until 8:45. I teach 3 classes back to back, and after my 4:30 Power Hour, I was really hungry. Since I’ve been on vacation, I haven’t been to the grocery store so I didn’t bring a snack. Luckily, Burn started to carry , so I decided to try one. One thing you’ll learn about me is that I’m not really a smoothie person. It’s not that I don’t like the taste, but I think I just spent too many years not enjoying food, so now when I eat, I like to have a meal. But, yesterday I didn’t really have a choice and this was actually quite good. I tried the ‘Balance’, which includes celery, cucumber, romaine, water, kale, spinach, lemon, parsley and ginger. After I got over the sticker shock (8.00 felt a little steep for a juice), I downed this puppy and felt the benefits immediately. When my budget allows, I might try toincorporate these into my weekly routine. Or, I could put my Vitamix to good use and make my own!

It was great to be back! I really missed my students. The theme for the evening was self acceptance, and I talked about the importance it is to have a positive relationship with yourself. I always have a theme for my classes, which usually includes a quote from another source or something I’ve come up with on my own. Everything that I talk about stems from something I’ve gone through or I’m going through at the moment. Early on in my teaching career, I noticed that at the more honest I was and the more I opened myself up to my students the more connected I felt to them and vise versa. For me, recovery has been all about self acceptance. Until I made the decision to love myself, flaws and all, I stood no chance. When I’m down on myself, everything else in my life suffers- my relationships with other people, it shows up in my classes/teaching, self doubt consumes my every thought, action, and it kills my spirit. On the flip side, when I choose to accept myself, my physical body, justexactly as it is, everything else is better. Truth!

This is something that I work on every day, and probably will for the rest of my life. I’m worth it, and so are you!

I’ve mentioned before that a lot of my students travel for work, which means they are limited with workout options. Having spent many years in a job where I travelled often, I totally and completely understand how much of a challenge it can be to stay motivated while limited to a hotel gym. The thing I love about Burn, is that it is a class based studio. I get bored in a typical gym setting, so my first piece of advice would be to get outside for a walk or run if possible when traveling. However, I know the reality is that it can be difficult when traveling to unknown places, and sometimes weather can be a factor as well. Usually upon checking into a hotel, I ask the front desk for a safe place to run. If the options are less than desirable, I make do in the hotel gym. You can actually get a lot done in about 45 minutes. I’ve put together this little routine with a good mix of intense cardio and total body strength moves for you to try. Let me know how it goes!

Plank row – I usually use 8 or 10lb weights. You can drop to your knees if needed, just make sure the knees are behind the hips to engage the core. Keeping quads flexed and pressing back through heals will take some of the pressure out of your upper body. It’s very important to keep the hips steady. If this is a challenge, widen your feet.

Lunge/bicep curl – make sure you take the arms full range and keep the movement slow and controlled.

Pushups – only lower to 90 degrees to protect the shoulders. Drop to knees if needed, keeping them behind hips to engage the core.

Forearm side plank leg lift (the weight here is optional) – bring top leg just above hip height, and lower down slowly/controlled.

If repeated 3 times, this should take you around 45 minutes and you will be spent in the best possible way and ready to take on the day!

Before I leave you for the day, I want to say Happy Birthday to this guy! I’m so thankful that he is in my life!

I’ve invited some of our best friends over for dinner tonight to celebrate. We are having grilled fish tacos topped with mango salsa, and a roasted corn and black bean salad on the side. I’m sure there will be some chips and homemade guacamole, and I heard a rumor that there might be some ice cream cake involved. I guess I’d better get out the door for my run so I can hit Trader Joes and start cooking!

Get out there and make today count! I know you will.