Its a Hero

health

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.

still caffeine free!

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Yesterday I indulged in my first post-cleanse Starbucks beverage. It was a tall non-fat decaf pumpkin spice latte. It was warm and delicious, but not nearly as awesome as a regular non-fat latte.

Perhaps due to my water-only intake, I’ve been thinking a lot about caffeine in recent weeks. My body has felt so much better without it, that it’s led me to question the hazard effects of caffeine on our bodies.

I’ll definitely be doing a little bit more research on caffeine before indulging in any regular lattes.

Image and information source here.

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detox: week four.

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Woo hoo!! I made it!

Our four week detox program is complete!

I am proud to say that I have gone four full weeks on only water and food.

No coffee. No diet coke. No Starbucks run at lunch.

No caffeine whatsoever. And zero alcohol for four weeks.

That being said, I feel amazing.

My body is not retaining nearly as much water; I’ve figured out some of the foods that make me feel downright blah; and I’ve kicked my caffeine habit!

Three things I am very excited about:

1. Being able to go to my early morning yoga class again.
2. Having a glass of wine.
3. Getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte before they are gone for the season.


However…

Knowing I have kicked the caffeine habit and not had a sip of wine in 4 weeks makes me feel like if I have a latte or a glass of vino, my body will revert back to feeling like yuck {there really is no other way to explain it other than ‘yuck’ and ‘not yuck.’}.

I mean, I feel awesome without it. But is there a way to have caffeine in moderation? If I have a latte, will my body expand with water weight, yet again? Will I go back to frequent daily hourly stomach pains??

To be honest, all of these things have been going through my head since Saturday, which was the last day of our cleanse. But it is now Tuesday and I still have not had any caffeine or wine. Because I’m scared. No joke.

Anyone cut caffeine and then dabbled again care to offer some advice?
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detox: week three.

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I feel like it cannot be true unless I say it out loud: I have been without caffeine for over three weeks. Three weeks!

This is a huge feat. Prior to this cleanse, I would guzzle caffeinated beverages like it was my job. Coke Zero, Starbucks, and Diet Coke were all par for the course.

But now I find myself day dreaming about caffeine less and less. In fact, only once in the last couple of weeks have I really wanted to give in and get a fancy drink from Starbucks. In actuality, I think it was more about the fact that I wanted a taste of a Pumpkin Spice Latte, rather than a craving for caffeine.

In addition to cutting out caffeine, I’ve, almost accidentally, cut out most gluten. I have had some belly issues for as long as I could remember, but nothing has seemed to help. I tried cutting only gluten from my diet in the past, but it didn’t work. I’m wondering if the combination of less gluten and zero caffeine is what is really starting to do the trick!

I now have less than a week to go!

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detox: update.

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So it’s about time that I update you on my lack of progress on my detox.

What happened? Life happened. Try and detox your first week on a new job, while spending your  mornings in interviews and dealing with all of the other curve balls life decides to throw at you.

It’s not that I didn’t kick some butt, because I certainly did. I was going to yoga very regularly and eating only fruits and veggies.

Try finding just fruits and veggies at a funeral you drove to right after work without stopping at home and then not getting back home until 10:30PM. Yeah, it doesn’t make for a pretty detox situation.

It also turns out that you shouldn’t try an only fruit & veggie detox while you’re job hunting. Because fruits and veggies only leads to baaaaad belly aches. Bad belly aches that hit you like a ton of bricks mid-interview. Not cool.

Not to worry. When things get more “normal” around here, I’ll give this a shot again. In the meantime I’m going to continue eating healthy without depriving my body of some yummy things along the way!

time to detox.

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I’ve decided that I need to a complete detox. Like, physical, mental, emotional, all of it. Detoxed.

It just so happens that some fellow yogis were recently discussing doing a “cleanse” as a group.

We are all taking different variations and none of us are following a program, per se.

For me, it’s important that I figure out what foods my body can and cannot handle. So I am eating strictly fruits and vegetables this week. No caffeine, no meat, no dairy, no processed foods, no breads.

BF & I went to the local organic store, Kriegers, last night so that I could stock up on fresh fruits and veggies. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be eating non-stop and go through the fruits and veggies like woah. Also? Just water. {Yikes! Especially since Ginger Ale is a staple for me, considering how sick I get pretty much everytime I eat — OK, not JUST water. Also some Yogi Detox Tea and maybe a glass of wine if I need it}.

Also I will be doing yoga at least once a day during the week. On the weekends I haven’t decided if I will. You never know what we will be up to on the weekends, so oh well.

Things that I am nervous about:

– $5 Movie Mondays { = going to the movies & being surrounded by the smell of popcorn; granted, we never get that popcorn, but I’m imagining it will be torture}.
– BF cooking dinner for himself {he’s an awesome cook and I’m hoping he doesn’t torture me TOO much with foods I can’t eat}.
– No Starbucks {obviously going to be a struggle, but a great way to save some moolah!}.

Oh, and one really random picture from Memorial Day weekend of me & BF: