Day 58: Oh Shit Guys, We’re So Close. Also Yoga and Cake.

It feels like “The Final Countdown” should be playing in the background, but I really really like the silence right now.  So much so that I have even stopped typing for a bit just to rest my hands and ears.  Ahhh…

So today I definitely earned my shower after yoga.  I was dripping during class.  It’s not a bad thing though–my body’s protecting me from dying, so it’s OK.

This was mainly due to having to be up front, even though I had my head down and turned away from the instructor–the universal sign for “please don’t pick me.”  She still picked me anyway.  By the end, however, I realized that being up front actually amps up my game, to which a different instructor agreed.  We both found that being in the back of the room may result in laziness or “phoning it in.”  Lazy is what I was before, and I was also unhealthy, so I guess I need to do the opposite.

Front of the room I guess.

Not for vinyasa though.  Hell no.  I do not want my struggling self to be the center of attention there, no thank you.  I’ll just be in the back, slightly dying in each chaturanga, wondering what wrong turns I made in life to end up in vinyasa.

Anyway . . .

Taco salad for dinner again.  It’s a repeat, but a delicious one.  A salad with all of the Mexican food dressings?  By the time I get my food set up, it’s spilling over the bowl it’s so full.  And awesome.

So my parents apparently had cake.

Just a few days before this 2-month trial ends.

They had cake without me.  Because I had to work.

I know, I get paid, but CAKE.  Fluffy, mousse-filled cake.  😦

Sigh, I’m gonna check on my dogs instead and then go to bed to drown in my cakeless sorrow.

Day 53-55: I Feel Like an Asshole–But a Healthy One

What did I tell you guys I would do?  What did I tell you?  I said I would try to get you at least one post a day, and now I have missed TWO DAYS IN A ROW.  What the hell?

Well, I’m here now, so I’d better give you the rundown of the past three days:

So there was a conference for disability support professionals the last three days this week, and on Wednesday I had to work it.  I think I told you about that–that was where I had to partake in an open-faced sandwich and a runaway potato chip.  Yeah, you know about that, I think.**

Thursday through today have been basically yoga catch up days, since I had to miss both Tuesday and Wednesday due to overtime work needs.  Plus, my eating wasn’t particularly fantastic during the conference–I ate crab cakes and noodles–so yet again I needed to flush that stuff out of my system.

However, this has led me to be pretty tired by the end of the day.  Tomorrow will be so nice; I will get to sleep in much longer than usual, and it will be yin yoga day–nice and chill workout to calm everything down before the hectic work week starts again.

I feel like you guys deserve a more coherent, but late post than a half-assed post every single day.  So no regrets on my end, but it did seem like I was on a roll and then I went kaput.  But, pretty soon this two-month trial will be over, and so will this specific blog.

So close to the finish line–let’s do this.

**If you don’t know this story, this is in “Day 52: We Didn’t Have a Choice.”

Day 52: We Didn’t Have a Choice

I say that with all the seriousness I can muster.

I transcribed a meeting/conference held at my main college, which was pretty much an all day thing for me.  Since we were working there (and my mother was the organizer), we were told that we could have lunch if we wanted.  And you guys know me–free lunch?  Hell yeah.

But we were next to the catering room, and I could see the kind of food being wheeled out: sandwich fixings with bread, chips, potato salad, cookies and soda.  Water and coffee were offered, but as their own station all day.

We were there, and we were hungry, and it was free food–so we threw all cares in the wind and went for it.

Ended up having pretty much an open-faced sandwich loaded with meat and veggies.  I did partake in some potato salad and one runaway potato chip from my mother’s plate.  Doesn’t sound too bad, right?

At least we didn’t drink the soda.  Also, considering how many opportunities there were to have bread to, I only had one slice.  Dinner tonight was burgers, but I had an iceberg lettuce wrap instead of a bun.  So yay.

I’ll be so glad to be on my regular schedule again.  Haven’t been to yoga since the weekend–it’s only been three days, and this body is complaining.  So I really do need to go tomorrow since it didn’t happen today.

Le sigh–adultish life.  Again, an early day tomorrow, so I should end here.  Goodnight all.

Days 50 and 51: Oops, I Did It Again *Wink Wink*

Channeling my inner Britney Spears there.  I know I said I would really try my damnedest to not fall behind on these posts, but low and behold, now I have to play catch-up again.  This kind of sucks.  Some of you have expressed how much you like these posts, so I feel kind of bad that I can’t give you one each and every day.

I try, you know?  Sometimes it doesn’t work.

I also had to forgo yoga today, even though I really really didn’t want to.  Today was hatha, at the best time for me, but there are people that just don’t plan ahead (even though that would really help them in the long run!) and need me to come in on my off time to help set up for work for the following day.  I am being paid for that time, which is pretty awesome, but . . . I also would’ve liked to be in a hardcore savasana at that time too.

I guess the takeaway from that is actual life sometimes gets in the way of how you want life to be.  You have this idea of what you want to do and actual life is all “NOPE GUESS WHAT YOU’RE DOING THIS OTHER THING.”  Cool.

However, I have more control over my snacks now.  Yesh.  Went to the store and got myself an apple and some cashews, and I was pretty happy during the second class I had to do.

Really debating whether or not to go to early yoga tomorrow.  It would be good for me, but I think getting everywhere I need to be will be tight if I do that, which negates the awesomeness after yoga.  Plus, it’s vinyasa, in the morning, with little time to shower.  But man, I need to do yoga . . .

I’ll let you know how that turns out.  For now, I need to sleep on it.

Day 49: Some Things Slipped Through our Non-Sugar Firewall

Looking back on the past month and a half, I think we have done OK making sure we are putting the right things in our bodies.  But, those who are tech savvy know that every now and then, a virus or something that’s not supposed to go through goes through.

Today, we put down our guard and decided to have a sugary taste of something.

My mother needed to make cupcakes for a friend’s birthday, and we also needed to bring some cupcakes to the IT department at our college.  So she makes a batch, and decides that she will leave four at home for us to have after dinner.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  We were actually going to have cupcakes??  Awesome.

They were really good–they are Paula Deen’s recipe for coffee chocolate cupcakes–but I am not sure if the tiredness and dizziness I am feeling right now can be contributed to that.  I mean, I haven’t had that kind of sugar overload in about a month and a half.  I am sure that my body is having a hard time trying to process it, and maybe I need to sleep to do it.

Seriously guys, I feel exhausted, and it isn’t even 9:30 yet!

I guess the yin yoga really helps with sleep issues.  It’s been really hard trying to get a full amount of sleep when I haven’t been tired until 11:30 at night.  Finally, I get a chance to get my 7-8 hours of sleep, so I may need to cut this post short pretty soon.

Basically, everything is good so far.  We have 12 days left with each other, you guys–erh ma gerd.  We’re in the final stretch!

Photo credit: foodnetwork.com

Day 48: How to Magically Turn Veggies into Pasta

You need spaghetti squash, tomato sauce, and a lot of cheese.  Like, a ton of cheese.

I was at vinyasa, so I wasn’t there to witness the witchcraft.  But, from what I could gather, you need to cut the squash in half (which takes the upper body strength of a WWE wrestler, apparently) and then you shred the guts of the squash.  That gets mixed with tomato sauce and cheese–again, maybe, because I was not present–and then baked for a while.  Sprinkle a little more cheese, bake until that’s all melty, and boom–it’s like you are eating a lasagna without the guilt or doughyness.

My kind of pasta.

I think in the beginning I said that giving up meals like pasta would be the hardest part, but if I could have a dish like that, I suppose I don’t really need pasta made with grains all the time.  I won’t totally leave it out, but white pasta probably won’t be a staple in my abode either.

VEGGIES FOR THE WIN.

Two months ago, that’s a statement I wouldn’t have said.  Well, maybe I would’ve been like “veggies, how nice, goes great on a sandwich,” but we were definitely purging more good veggies than all the other crap we should have been throwing out.

Finally bought myself new yoga clothes today; this way, I don’t feel like I have to do yoga laundry every single day, and the new tank is cute :).  I would like to buy some fun ones from Teeki, but my waistline needs to shrink at least a good 6-8″ before the pants would fit comfortably.  That’ll be my next big reward if I drop some more weight and shrink the pants size.

Check out their site, ladies–they look fun, and sustainable:

http://teeki.com/collections/shop

With that, good night Internet.

Photo credit: http://www.pinkbasil.com

Day 47: Given This Week’s Crap, We Did OK

This week proved itself a challenge, maybe even slightly taunting with all the crap it threw at us.  If this were months ago, before this whole health thing started, I probably would’ve pounded down some chips or ice cream laying around the house to cope, because SALT AND SUGAR.

Now, I sweat all that crap out.

I’ve now picked up on a habit that one of our yin teachers told us to do before each class; she tells us to pick something to focus on, to have an intention for that day’s class.  It can be a word, a picture, a color, an idea, etc.  As long as you meditate on that idea, your practice will follow.

Today was “blue.”  It seems weird to just pick a color, but blue is so calming and flexible in a way.  “Breath” was the focus of a class or two ago, I just remembered.

Dammit, yawning and exhausted again.  What is wrong with me??  A decent night’s sleep hasn’t happened for me this week apparently.  I even napped yesterday, which I never do.  I totally thought a one-hour sleep would do me, and then I would go to 4:30pm yoga.

I woke up at 6pm.  Needless to say yoga didn’t happen.  So I went today’s morning class instead, even though this isn’t my usual day and I am more of an afternoon yoga person, not morning.  But, I needed to go.  Needed to get my sweat on.

Even with a good exercise, and I am still beat.  Maybe that’s a good thing.  I need my beauty rest though.

Probably won’t make it to hatha tomorrow.  Instead, I will sleep.  Maybe I will power through vinyasa or just walk a dog instead.  Either way, I need to sleep in past 9.

Day 44: Up Close and Very Sweaty

I go into the yoga room, as usual for a Tuesday afternoon, and go into a comfortable spot in the room–nothing too far back or too close.  A Goldilocks spot, just right. We all stretch as usual, getting ready for hatha.

The instructor comes into the room, and says she wants to make some adjustments.

“Let’s see . . .”

I can see that there is no one in front of me.

Oh, wait a minute.

“Carly, will you move up front? You have a good practice, and some people in the back are pretty new, so it’d be good for them to watch.”

Shit, are you serious?  Well, OK.

Even though I sat out on a few poses, I think I kicked yoga’s ass today.  I am almost getting back to where I left off years ago.

I actually started when I was 14, just going into high school.  You know kids that age can bend into any position–they could literally become a human pretzel.  I’m pretty sure my first time doing Eagle, I got my hands in the right position:

Fast forward nearly ten years later, and I am just starting to get my hands to connect again.  I don’t say this because I want to get the position right again the first time–it’s all about the process, etc. etc.  It’s just remarkable to me how much damage ten years can do.

But, I think I am on the right track to getting that back.  I think my instructor saw that too.  Maybe that’s why I was at the front of the room.   I don’t want to be perfect–I just want to have a mini heart attack with every yoga class.

How hard is that?

Photo credit: www. a2zyoga.com

Day 42: I’m a Pro at Snail Apparently

So, the yoga’s working.  Today’s yin yoga required us to do Snail Pose:

I watched the instructor demonstrate this and thought, “nope, not happening.”  But, I decided to give it a go, because what else could happen?

I lifted my hips up.

Holy crap, my legs went back.  Not as far as the photo, but almost.  That basically means that my lower back is now really flexible and can do these kinds of bends. Nice.

Maybe vinyasa is a possibility before the end of this year.  I just need to make sure the swelling/cyst in my wrist goes down before I start though, because full-on arm weight can’t be put on it yet.  Also, I need to make chicken, kale and quinoa soup, so I can’t really go to afternoon yoga tomorrow.  Which is OK though, because this soup is the shit, as some of you know from a post from a week or so ago.

I keep thinking that hatha or yin style yoga would be a good PE class for grade schools and colleges.  I remember seeing some kids in high school doing Triangle, but instead of putting the weight on the leg, they put it in the hand for support.  And I was just like, “noooo, so wrong.”  These practices have helped so many people with their ailments, and I would love to see students just try for one class, one quarter, and see what it does.  Le sigh.

It is close to bedtime for me–need an early start.  I will see you at this space tomorrow.

🙂

Day 27: For The First Time This Month, Dinner Wasn’t a Slab of Meat

As I begin to write this post, I can feel my eyelids drooping so I will try to write as much as I can. I’m not promising anything though. It was the first week of my entire work schedule, which meant getting up no later than 6 AM. I am so excited to sleep in tomorrow.

Even though it was Saturday, I couldn’t sleep in because hatha yoga started at 9:30 this morning. As you may have heard from a couple of posts ago, I don’t do so well in the morning, but I got up and went to do yoga anyway. It’s usually hot yoga, but apparently some of the heaters were broken, so I ended up being in the cool part of the room. Cold is so not good for intense stretching. Overall, the class was okay but not warm enough.

I’m trying to remember what I have for lunch today, but for the life of me I can’t. It’s the weirdest thing. I know breakfast was an entire apple with some peanut butter, as well as my latte. I had some string cheese and cashews for snacks… but what was lunch? It could’ve been the toast I had. It’s late, so we’ll just say toast was lunch. That came with another coffee because yummy.

It was dinner that was worth mentioning, because we didn’t have a slice of meat with some kind of veggie like we tend to do. My mother made a hearty chicken and vegetable soup that warranted a second helping. It was nothing fancy, but finally having soup really hit the spot, especially with all the gray rainy day we have been having.

I’m honestly looking forward to yin yoga tomorrow. Instead of switching poses and barely having enough time for savasana, yin will give a relaxing stretch for all of my muscles while letting me basically relax on the floor. If you haven’t tried this type of yoga, I thoroughly suggest you do.

That’s about as much as my brain can muster, so I’ll be hanging up here. I’ll see you lovely people tomorrow, more rested and ready to tell you more.