It’s so gross outside– snowy, windy, and COLD. It’s basically white-out conditions and we’re expecting 10+ inches in Boston. I’m SO sick of winter! WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE SPRING??? GAH! (Ok, I feel a little better. 
)
20-20-20
Despite the depressing and uninspiring weather outside, I managed to wake-up for an early morning 20-20-20 workout. I started with a half mile jog on the treadmill before picking it up for timed 2-mile run, which is part of my half marathon training program. I finished the 2 miles in 17:19 (8:39 min/mile). After my run, I did 20 minutes of upper body strength training with free weights and finished with 20 minutes of yoga.
Yoga Challenge: Day 2
I ended of my workout was 20 minutes of Gentle Hatha Flow #2 from YogaDownload.com. Today’s yoga session was a million times better than yesterday! When I started the Gentle Hatha Flow, thoughts of work kept creeping into my mind, but my the end of the audio class, those pesky work thoughts just rolled right by. I actually felt moments of complete mind and body stillness, which is a first for me. I really wanted yoga to go well this morning, and just a little extra focus on my end seemed to do the trick. What surprised about the Gentle Hatha Flow was that it was soooo incredibly relaxing, but when I stood up from Savasana, I felt refreshed, not sleepy. It was awe-some!
Feel free to leave your comments about Day #2 on this post. I’m still working on updating the Day #1 feedback– hopefully, I will have it compiled by the end of the day today.
Breakfast
I was in the mood for raisins this morning. Sort of weird, right?
In today’s mix: 1/2 cup dry oats, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed meal, 1/2 cup vanilla hemp milk, 2 spoonfuls of Teddie chunky peanut butter, and raisins sprinkled on top. I also munched on a few raisins while waiting for my oatmeal to cook.
With my raisin-y oats, I also had some OJ mixed with water. I’m not a big juice person, but occasionally, I’m really in the mood for it!
Introducing Gato and Monet
I’m out-numbered by the male species in my home now. It’s 3 to 1!
The boys on the couch last night…
Our special visitors are Mal’s parents’ cats, Gato and Monet. Mal’s parents are headed to Paris for a week and a half, so we are cat-sitting until while they are away. I am so excited to have pets, even if it is just temporary! 
Gato and Monet are so cute!
Gato:
Monet:
I’m sure you guys will be hearing lots more about these two guys in the coming weeks!
National Nutrition Month
Happy National Nutrition Month!!! The theme for this year is “Eat Right.”
National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the American Dietetic Association. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Registered Dietitian Day, also celebrated in March, increases awareness of registered dietitians as the indispensable providers of food and nutrition services and recognizes RDs for their commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives.
Question of the Day
How often do you think about eating?
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Awwww, cute cats! I’m a sucker for cute kitties.
cute kitties!!! how exciting to be able to have them for a week and a half! hopefully the in laws will bring you back some chocolate from paris!
I think about eating all the time. When I’m not actually eating and thinking about it, I’m planning a future meal…
Stayed with my beginner yoga tape again and utilized my “brick”…it actually helped with some poses, but will I ever be able to rest my head on it during “downward dog”?!!!! Incentive to stay on the challenge.
Cute cats.
I did 60m of yoga last night – so great. I’d love to try the Hatha Yoga soon.
The kitties are adorable. I need to move to a place where I can have pets. I really want one so badly!!
I think about eating all the time. I log everything in a weight watchers on-line tracker that I visit several times a day, and am often cooking, eating or thinking about what to eat next. I do love food!
i challenged myself to sadie nardini’s 30min challenging detox yoga~ great way to start the day!
Adorable kitties!
I did 20 minutes of my power yoga dvd today. The warrior poses made me feel strong but I had too many thoughts in my head to focus on the flows and breathing. I’m still glad I completed day two and I’m looking forward to a better session tomorrow!
Have fun cat sitting!! I feel so bad for you guys and your snow storm – I know how much it stinks
Hopefully the weather will turn around soon!!
Yoga was still kind of rough today for some reason. I think maybe I’m not as focused when I practice alone at home. I did the 20-minute Core Yoga session at Yoga Download, but it didn’t really feel like yoga to me– it was fast and seemed more like an aerobics class. I liked it because I could feel it working on my core, but I don’t know if I feel like I just did yoga.
Even though it’s now 2pm, I just completed Morning Flow #1 from yogadownloads, it focused on back bends, I got a little lost with the crescent moon positions, but the back bends were wonderful and I even did a backbend down on the floor (I felt like I was in the 4th grade again!) It was amazing to get into this positions again, I enjoyed this 20 minute session.
Just noticing that my back is a little sore (good sore not bad sore) I think from all the superman type things in the 45 minute session from yesterday. I am getting stronger already, yeay!
Yayyy you like the yoga! I followed up a cardio routine (the Firm: Cardio Dance – 25 minutes) with YogaDownload’s 20 Minutes of Power #1. This afternoon I’m going to do the Hatha Flow #2 that you did this morning! Happy Monday!
gato and monet are adorable!
Ooh cute kitties! Gato looks just like my cat MissDottie! http://lengslog.wordpress.com/pre-vegetarian/miss-dottie/
Mal looks so excited to have kitties around.
I didn’t get to post yesterday on my first day of yoga. I’m in CA, plus I am a nigh-towl, so yeah…Here’s my late update:
My first day went well. I actually did better than I thought I would. I chose a workout that was more similar to what I know Yoga mixed with calisthenics. I found it from Self.com. I gave an update on my blog also. I’m a little sore too! Wow I feel like yoga really kicked my butt! haha.
I’m excited for day #2 of yoga, but I won’t get to do it until late in the evening. Probably before bedtime as Monday is my longest day.
Love your blog! I read often, but am finally getting around to commenting.. I, too, had a version of this breakfast! oatmeal/steel cut oats with raisins and a scoop of Teddy PB. I’ve been wondering-is just a taste preference that you seem to have Barney Butter(almond b.) most of the time? (vs. more nutritious than peanut b.? I grew up on Teddy.)
I’m looking forward to yoga today, trying a new Bikram studio (for me; my ‘regular’ is too hard to get to in this weather)… does anyone else do Bikram yoga? I love it & always recommend it
@Julia: Hi Julia! Yes, my love/obsession for Barney Butter is all about the taste. It tastes like roasted almonds. It’s heaven! Nutritionally, BB is very similar to regular peanut butter.
Yoga Challenge Day #2 was a tough one for me. I did 20 minutes “Energizing the Body” from yogatoday.com. I had to fast forward through the talking bit at the beginning which sort of took me out of ‘yoga mode’ as I call it but once I got into the groove as I started with a downward facing dog I felt much more into it. Towards the end of my 20 min session I was surely feeling it in my upper body! I have a feeling i’m going to be sore tomorrow, even after 20 minutes! I find it amazing each time how yoga can challenge the body. I had to come down into child’s pose once during the session because my arms were shaking so much. Definitely enjoyed day #2!
Day #2 of yoga challenge was a 40 minute class focused on some basic yoga poses – but going deaper into our poses to massage our internal organs!!:) Felt great!! Love yoga!!
I don’t think about eating as much as what I’m going to eat. I plan. Right now I’m debating whether I should go to the gym but I’m going to do yoga. Thanks Tina for the yoga challenge. I’m a runner and I started doing yoga to help with my lack of flexibility.
Sweet kitties!! have fun with them!!
I just finished 25 minute short power flow that I have had on my ipod so long that I don’t remember where it came from. it was nice, short and challenging and really cleared my mind.
Yoga Day #2 – I did the Namaste Shoulder & Flexibility 22 minute program first thing this morning when I woke up. I was a little sore from doing this program the night before but figured that I would benefit from doing it again. It was easier to do the flow because I could remember some of the poses. Then after the gym I wanted to unwind so I did the Namaste 22 minute advanced series that was recorded today. This was definitely more difficult and some poses I had to modify but I liked that it challenged me more.
To answer your question, I pretty much think about food constantly. I wish I didn’t! It makes me always want to snack even when I’m full.
I just did my yoga for the day… I tired the 20 min detox yoga class… I have to say, this one was great! I was sore from running yesterday and this one did the trick! It really worked my muscles and made me feel so much more relaxed. I love doing yoga at the end of my day… it just makes everything go away for a bit!
Day 2 of the Challenge went well for me! I lucked out and realized one of my fave gym teachers (we are actually Facebook friends, ha) is now teaching a Monday lunch yoga class at the gym that is only about 5 min from my work. Sweet! The class was good and helped calm me down in the middle of the day, because I’ve been a bit stressed about a few things. One thing I struggled with – in a side plank, I have to put one knee down because it hurts my hands. I have a decent amount of arm strength (I thought, at least!) but have trouble not putting so much pressure into my hands/wrists. Does anyone have any suggestions? I also sometimes realize I am forgetting to breathe, so focusing on that is another goal I am setting for myself for this challenge!
Loving the challenge Tina! After a crappy day, where being overly hungry gave me a headache a foul mood, I did 45 minutes of Gentle Hatha 1, and now I’m ready for bed, and my headache is near gone.
I did 20 minutes of Hip Opening Flow #2, which was really lovely, except there’s no way I can do the double pigeon–my hips are way too tight! Janet, on the side plank–maybe try really flexing your feet to make sure you’re engaging them and putting weight on to them? Also make sure your shoulder isn’t forward of your wrist–a bad angle could be putting too much pressure on your wrist. Good luck! (I love side plank!)
I decided to step up my yoga workout this evening a wee bit, and chose the “30-minute core workout” from Gaiam’s Yoga Now series. I had purchased this set of three DVDs quite a while ago, but haven’t ever really used them — there is a lot of arm-swinging and random jumping around, since the instructors combine yoga and aerobics (I didn’t realize this when I purchased the DVDs.) However, I chose to retry this DVD tonight, and although the jumping around and arm-swinging is still a little weird, it was a pretty good workout! My legs, arms, and abs all feel like I did a little more than usual, and my back feels all stretchy and happy.
P.S. Photo of my cat thinking he’s joining in on the challenge on my blog!
For today’s yoga, I was feeling like more of a challenge so I did 20 minutes of the Biggest Loser Yoga DVD. My arms are killing me right now, but that just shows that I need to strengthen them more. It also helped me strengthen my abs with all the plank positions, although my wrists started getting sore towards the end.
Hi Tina! I just finished up a late-night yoga session. I decided to do the Yoga Detox #1 tonight – the 20 minute free class on yoga downloads. I was in a much better state of mind for this session! I downloaded the session to my ipod and decided to do the moves to the best of my ability. I closed my eyes for the entire session, shut my door and ran the ceiling fan on low. While I’m not sure I did each pose correctly (since I didn’t have the PDF to consult), I still felt such good stretching in my back and shoulders. I walked out of the bedroom ready for bed!!
Omg adorable cats! They look right at home already!
I did 20 minutes of Gentle Hatha #1 from yoga downloads just now and think it was my best yoga experience yet. I agree, the gentle hatha is very relaxing! I’ll be trying it again in the morning and hopefully I won’t have to be checking the pdf every other pose to make sure I’m doing it right. Thanks for the challenge, it’s so motivating!
At first I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but I took 25 minutes before I went to bed and just went through some poses right there in my bedroom. It was very relaxing and I got some good stretches in my legs. I spent about 4 minutes in Savasana at the end with my legs elevated. Hope I can keep this up
I’m planning a longer session tonight.
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