A Slow Paced Saturday (Plus Weekly Weigh in #6)

This week has been a little bit rough. I have some personal (yup too personal for the blog right now) stuff going on and I really wanted to use today to recover from my fast paced week. I packed up the wonderbug bright and early and headed out for the morning. I made sure all of the essentials (purse, yoga bag, yoga mat, water, vitamin water, breakfast, etc) were all good to go since I would not have time to stop back by my house. I am amazed at my ability to be so prepared so early on a Saturday morning!

My first stop was Weight Watchers for my week 6 weigh in. I really busted my booty this week in terms of my workouts. I pushed myself hard, didn’t eat any of the resulting activity points, and made sure to get in tons of fresh veggies and fruits. I had myself all geared up for a stellar result but got this instead…

Week      +/-        Total lost

6               -0.2          21.2

Which makes my overall stats:

Week            +/-          Total Lost

1                   -10.8         10.8

2                   -3.2            14

3                   -3.0             17

4                  -1.0              18

5                  -3.0              21

6                 -0.2              21.2

I normally try (try try try) to take my number in stride. I really do. However, today to say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was pissed. My Weight Watchers leader was really supportive and answered my questions about how this complete injustice occurred. Her explanations made perfect sense but I am still upset. I feel like when you consider calories in versus calories out I should have had a three pound lost at least! I worked so hard this week and truly pushed myself. A 0.2 pound loss feels like a slap in the face. I know I should not be bitching about this. I posted a three pound loss last week and am seeing great changes in my strength and body shape. However, people feel the way they feel and this made me feel like crap. I feel like this early in the process a 0.2 pound loss should not be happening. I wanted to grab a latte and a scone after this less than stellar weigh in but instead I read over my Weight Watchers materials for the week, ate a quick breakfast of organic peanut butter on whole grain, and headed downtown to my Bikram yoga class.

Class was amazing as it usually is. My mind was all over the place when I first went in and I was really dwelling on the weigh-in. However, a few poses into the practice and I felt myself calm down. I worked really hard and even managed to get a little further into some of the poses than I have in the past. This is such a great practice and a wonderful studio. I truly feel at home/ at ease there now which is so unlike me. I have been at my current gym for over two years and still do not feel totally comfortable there. Plus, I can feel and see myself change from week to week with yoga. I am so glad I worked it into my routine. After class I was pretty much famished so I stopped at Subway to grab lunch for the hubs and I. I chose chicken on flatbread with loads of veggies and some Sunchips. I have not had Sunchips in forever and they were really yummy. And of course my gigantic water bottle made an appearance.

After our quick lunch the hubs left for his afternoon bike ride and I decided a bubble bath was in order. After the week (and super hard class) I had it was much needed. I also took in my trusty copy of Rachael Ray to get in some reading. Ya’ll know how much I heart that lady!

The hubs and I had a little date night planned so I got dressed in a super cute sweater I picked up in Dallas last fall and we headed out.

We headed out to an E A R L Y dinner. I am talking Golden Girls early. We were trying to avoid the Valentines weekend crowd. Mission accomplished as we pulled into one of my favorite local places, Neighbor’s Place, around 5:00.

I was totally craving a Spinach salad so I ordered one topped with yummy piping hot grilled chicken. It was pretty fantastic. I love it when restaurants have open kitchens. Its cool to watch how quickly they can get everything cooked up. They are the ultimate multi-taskers!

Since it was Saturday (yay Saturday!!) the hubs and I decided to share this amazing piece of chocolate cake. Even between the two of us we could not finish it.

Let me tell you a little something about said amazing cake- It tasted wonderful but was too much for my tummy to handle. We were barely to the car and I was sick with a capital S. It’s not that I never indulge, because I do. I have a piece of chocolate on Wednesday nights and pretty much an item or two I have been craving on Saturdays. However, I am apparently going to have to be a little more choosey because my body has started to change in terms of what it will tolerate. The hubs and I sort of marveled at what a difference six weeks makes.

The hubs and I ditched our original plan to see a movie and instead watched “The Killers” on DVD with my fave Katherine Hiegel at home. We capped off the night with a trip to Old Navy. The hubs promised me some new yoga pants and I was ready to collect. I somehow ended up with an entire new outfit. Not sure how that happened. 😉 (photos coming soon).

We headed home and are currently bonding with our TIVO. My relaxing Saturday is just what I needed. Check back tomorrow for my re-cap of my Anti-Valentines date with fabulous fave Kristen.

Have a Happy and Healthy Weekend!

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Recovery Food

Several of you have asked via email whether or not I am still taking the Bikram Yoga classes, as I have not posted about them in a while. The answer is yes! I am still completely in love with the hot yoga (and still totally bad at it). 😉 The funny thing is, while I am very hard on myself in other aspects of my life I feel totally comfortable learning and practicing yoga at my own pace. I am not trying to “please” anyone but myself in those 90 minutes and maybe that is where the appeal comes from. I just love the feeling that comes from pushing myself so hard that I can only concentrate on the moment. Plus, our instructors are very positive and make me feel as though I am truly doing something good for myself with each visit.

While I trained for the Wine and Dine ½ marathon last year I learned a little about recovery foods. With a long difficult run I find that chocolate milk is exactly what I am craving to feel better. With yoga it is a little different.  When I get home from my 90-minute Bikram yoga sessions my body is completely worn out yet energized all at once. I am also struggling to overcome nausea, which I think is a result of the heat as well as the crazy amount of calories burned during a session. I have a very specific formula to get me back on track!

First, I start sipping on calorie free vitamin water (or coconut water) as I leave class. It’s a good way to re-hydrate naturally without having to use a sports drink (which I do sometimes use with running).

Next, the hubs prepares my “perfect” post yoga meal: A grilled cheese made with whole grain bread, olive oil, and 2% cheese. He bakes this in the oven for me until it is golden brown and yummy.

I also feel like I need a touch of sugar so we added 1 tsp of natural blackberry preserves for dipping and a side of fruit.

Finally, my body is craving salt so I toss a couple of small pickles on the side.

This might sound like a weird combination but it has definitely become my post yoga ritual.

Do you have any weird post workout food preferences? What do you eat to recover from a strenuous workout?

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Hot Yoga on a Cold Night

As is true with most cities on this side of the country it is FREEZING cold in my little town today. However, my yoga pal and I did not use this dip in the temperature to derail our Bikram Yoga plans. Siobhan and I braved the ice and headed downtown to get our workout in!

The good news is I felt a lot stronger than even just a week ago and I was really giving it a good try. I need to mention again how understanding and amazing the instructors are here. They are exactly what I was hoping for when I decided to give hot yoga a try. Tonight, I was listening carefully to the instruction, following along as best I could, and really making an effort to do the poses correctly (even those I cannot fully go into yet). The bad news is I overdid it a touch in the beginning and ended up in a child’s pose for the last 10-15 minutes of the 90 minute class. This was a little discouraging and while the spirit was willing, the body simply was not able (at this point). I mostly felt proud of my effort but I could also feel that oh too familiar “you have no business doing this” feeling creeping in.

Here is what I want to say tonight. When you start to feel intimidated, upset, or discouraged it is so important to understand that you have just as much right as ANYONE to be there. If you find a fitness activity you enjoy, start taking a class or join a gym these moments of self-doubt will creep in. Acknowledge them, work though them, and put them away. Tonight I had a random girl in class say to me “Oh you’re just doing once or twice a week? Mmm well I guess you’ve got to start somewhere.” And while I get that she was kind of being a bitch, she was also kind of right. You do have to start somewhere. I am not going to be perfect in two weeks, two months, or even two years but just the act of doing and growing is so important. I wager in two month’s time I will look back at this and smile remembering just how much I have learned and changed in that amount of time. You’re journey is about you and you alone. Tonight, I grew just a little and it felt pretty fantastic!

Namaste~

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