Its a Hero

Baptiste Power Yoga

it’s the weekend!

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I seriously have been waiting to scream this all week long. Longest week ever? Yes. I have been ready for this day since Sunday night. For whatever reason, this week was dragging. 

And I’ve got big plans for my weekend!

After work tonight, the BF and I are meeting my parents for a little belated birthday dinner celebration. And perhaps after that we’ll catch a movie. Whatever we find ourselves doing, I’ll just be happy to be spending time with them!

{Zeek Vincent}

Tomorrow morning I will be an early one. I’m going to a yoga class with a master Baptiste teacher, Zeek Vincent at Yoga Bliss in Akron. I love going to visiting teacher classes and workshops because you get to experience new teaching styles and gain a new point of view on everything! So it’s worth getting up early to be there.

After yoga, I’m getting my hair done! For those who follow me on Twitter, you may know that I had about 6 inches chopped off my hair Wednesday; well tomorrow I’m going back for highlights on my virgin hair! {the stylist was really happy about the fact that I have ‘virgin’ hair.}

Once my hair is all beautiful, the BF and I will be meeting my aunts for an early dinner at Rockne’s. I LOVE Rocknes food, so I’m pretty pumped that they chose this place. Should be delicious food and fun times!

And I’m sure we’ll spend most of the weekend, like Saturday night and Sunday, doing some much needed relaxing! Thank goodness!

So what are your plans for the weekend?

on being a healthier me.

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Back in the day I used to post a lot about healthy food and exercise. Somewhere along the way of moving back to Ohio, I just stopped writing about food and exercise. 

That’s not to say that I wasn’t eating healthy and working out, I just quit writing about it. 

But I think it’s important to not only hold myself accountable, but to share any good and healthy food-finds with the rest of you.

Part of my plan to lose that 5 or so pounds I told you about, is to combine healthy food with a healthy amount of working out. 

**Side note: No, I do not weigh myself. I can tell about how much weight I’ve put on, and since lost, by how good I feel and how my clothes feel. I know this method isn’t for everyone, but weighing myself everyday is certainly not for me. I learned the hard way.**

What I’ve been eating: 

Lots of dairy-free smoothies. I choose dairy-free because I personally prefer my fruit smoothies to be all-fruit, no dairy. 

Veggies and 4-6oz of meat for dinner, with a side of white rice. I didn’t think this would be enough food for me considering how hungry I was before dinner. But, surprisingly, I would finish and feel satisfied. Not full; just right.

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Tuna and crackers. Starkist Lunch-to-Go kits are my go-to work lunch! 260 calories and it’s really filling. Instead of using the light mayo included with the kit, I much prefer an egg-free, healthier, vegan alternative: Vegenaise. For years I have been an advocate for Vegenaise. For those of you who love the taste of real mayo in things like potato salad, egg salad, etc, but hate all of the calories and cholesterol that come with it, Vegenaise has all of the taste without all of the bad stuff! It’s sold in some grocery stores, but readily available in specialty stores, like Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s has their own version of Vegenaise {also delicious!}.

Applesauce. For whatever reason, applesauce has been curbing my mid-afternoon cravings for something sweet. Rather than eat the leftover candy hearts I have from Valentines Day {no joke. I have about a pound of them in my desk drawer at work}, I eat a 90-calorie cup of applesauce.

How I’ve been working out: 

Yoga Bliss Akron! Can you spot me?? 🙂

Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. I love taking yoga classes at a studio. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you’ll know my favorite type of yoga is a practice called Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. It’s practiced in a hot room {generally 86 to 90-something degrees}, for anywhere between 60 to 90 minutes a practice.

In addition to getting a super-intense, incredibly sweaty workout, I leave feeling detoxed of all of the toxins in my body as well as in my mind! It’s a fabulous feeling! I’ve been going to power yoga about once or twice a week.

Lots of cardio at the gym. This is a no-brainer. The only way I’m going to shed the pounds I put on is to get my butt to the gym and burn some calories! I’ve been making my best effort to get to the gym at least 5 times a week and do at least 1 hour of cardio. 

Other ways I’ve been staying healthy: 

Recognizing when my body needs a break. If there’s a night where I get zero sleep, I skip the gym in the morning. I know that putting the extra stress and strain on my body {and mind} I’ll pay for it in the long run. So there have been days {like this morning} where I’ll make an executive decision to sleep rather than push my body over the edge. 

Not running. By listening to my body and knowing that the aches and pains I was experiencing from running were not normal, I did myself a huge favor. It bums me out, but maybe I’m just not born to run!

Keeping myself healthy is a constant journey and definitely not just a destination. There is no stopping point. I don’t expect it to be easy; but things usually aren’t! So I plan on using this as an outlet to talk about it: about goals, the struggles, staying healthy, eating good food, and enjoying it all!  

I’d love to open up more conversations on health issues. Is there anything in particular that you have been interested in discussing?

 

not all hot yoga is created equal.

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When we vacationed in Denver last week, I was unable to fit my Jade yoga mat in my luggage, but managed to squeeze my Yogitoes non-slip mat-sized towel into my carry on with hopes that I would have the luxury of trying out a studio in Denver.

On Tuesday we drove passed a Core Power Yoga studio. I yelled for BF to stop the car so I could go inside and check out when classes were scheduled. The studio was beautiful. And the desk yogis were genuinely nice.

So Wednesday BF took me to the studio for an hour long ‘Hot Power Fusion’ class. Which is described, via their website, as follows:

Blend the best of both types of yoga offered by CorePower. A Vinyasa-style yoga practiced in a heated, climate controlled, environment that incorporates the poses from the Hot Yoga series systematically working the entire body, concentrating on the essence of every organ, bone, joint, muscle, ligament, tendon, blood vessel, nerve and gland. Inspiring, fun and uplifting music will be the background for this revolutionary class.
The type of yoga I have become accustom to is a Power Vinyasa Flow class. Particularly, the Baptiste Power Vinyasa. The yogis at Core Power Yoga assured me these classes were similar. 
They were not.
There was little to no flow in the Core Power class. Single poses, followed by breaks in breathing, or the ujjayi breath, which {to me and my practice} is the main focus. The focus seemed completely on the bandha, or the practice of locking up the abdominal muscles. 
Neither the heat nor the altitude effected my practice. This is probably because the class did not challenge me and I found the poses and sets to be, well… simple. Too simple. Especially for a place that considers itself to be a power studio.
All in all, the staff was fantastic. The teacher was, for lack of better words, different but interesting. The studio was gorgeous. 
While this yoga studio and type of yoga works for some, I can definitely say it isn’t for me. This is neither good nor bad. It just is. You live and you learn. Trying this studio was part of my own growth into my own practice. A yogi lesson.

my yoga story: part one.

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Late last week I mentioned that I was excited to take a yoga class at Cleveland Yoga with my favorite yoga teacher, Diana. She moved to California from Ohio a few months after I really found my yoga practice and is back in Cleveland visiting this week.

Well I realized that I have never shared my ‘how-I-came-to-love-yoga’ story.

I took my first yoga class at Cleveland Yoga by myself. I’m not sure what gave me the motivation to go and try it, but I just built up the courage to go. By myself. To a class where I knew no one and nothing about yoga.

And in walks the teacher. And the class made me feel so comfortable. Well, as comfortable as a beginner student can feel. But I knew instantly…

This is for me.

And if the breathing and the postures and the teacher weren’t enough, during savasana {or corpse pose, the pose used for final relaxation} the teacher said the following:

If you’re going to be passionate about something, be passionate about learning. If you’re going to fight something, fight for those in need. If you’re going to question something, question authority. If you’re going to lose something, lose your inhibitions. If you’re going to gain something, gain respect and confidence. And if you’re going to hate something, hate the false idea that you are not capable of your dreams. {Daniel Golston}
And then I knew for sure. This is most definitely for me.

I had never been so sure about something in my life. I started attending classes regularly. I began to become more flexible in my body, spirit and mind. For those who have been reading for a while, you may have noticed that I am not religious person whatsoever. But for me, yoga fulfilled this purpose. It makes me trust in myself, body and mind, while being mindful of all of those around me.

And it can truly all be summed up by my first experience with yoga… to be passionate about things worth passion; fighting for what’s important; questioning injustices; losing your self-conscious self; gaining self-respect while earning the respect of others; and acknowledging that you are capable of more than your mind allows you to believe.

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weekend wrap up.

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This weekend = a total blur!


And not the kind of blur you get from too much alcohol. The kind you get from no alcohol, but lots and lots of things going on!

First things first: Go see the movie Red. Fantastic movie!

So my weekend goes like this:

Red = great movie.
Mexican food = deeeelish! And just what my life had been missing.
Football game = fun, but horribly played game by Akron.
Relaxing with BF at home = much needed!
yoga practice = amazing. and exhausting!
lunch with my parents = made me smile.
cleaning & laundry = much needed and complete!

And with that goes another weekend!
I’ve got a busy week ahead, but I’ve got my eye on Friday at 5!

What did you do this weekend?

hello, weekend.

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I have been waiting to say this all week: Happy Friday!

Seriously, I don’t know what it was about this week, but I have been majorly jonesing for the weekend in a major way.

Plus, we have plans that I’m very much excited for!

Tonight is date night!

As soon as I get home from work, we are going to see the movie RED {the movie starring John Malkovich – yay! –
and Mary-Louise Parker – double yay!}.

After the movie, we are going to my favorite
little Mexican restaurant, Mariachi Loco! We pretty much eat here once a week, but we haven’t been in three weeks. I’m going through salsa withdrawls. BF knows it, so we are going. It feels like twelve years has gone by since I last ate their super delicious salsa!


And our weekend just starts there! We have tickets to the Akron Zips football game against the Western Michigan Broncos tomorrow afternoon.
Hopefully we will have beautiful, Ohio, fall weather!
{fingers crossed!}


To top it all off, Sunday my favorite {and first ever} yoga teacher is teaching a class while visiting Cleveland Yoga from California. I’ll have to share my story about my first ever yoga class sometime. But for now, just know, that Diana Vitantonio is an incredibly inspiring teacher to have. She moved to California a couple of years ago.
And I am so excited to be attending a visiting teacher class taught by her!


What are your plans this weekend?