I forgot that Baptiste Power Yoga is so hard!! I was dying in this morning’s class! Holy moly. Obviously, I was sweating buckets (because the room was so hot), but I was also breathing heavy and my muscles were burning at times! 
I was supposed to run 5 miles today (according to my TNT training schedule), but my body wanted a day off. I woke up stiff and sore after yesterday’s Body Pump class, so I opted for yoga instead.
This might sound like a ‘duh’ statement, but I’m starting to realize that training for a marathon requires a huge demand on the body. Lately, I’ve noticed that if my week is hectic or I’m not eating or sleeping properly, it adversely effects my workouts, especially my runs. So, I’m taking it easy today and tomorrow, so I’m ready for Saturday’s long run.
In today’s yoga class, the instructor kept saying “make it a ‘yes’ for you” over and over again. Her statement was referring specifically to the poses in class, but it got me thinking outside of the yoga studio. To me, this statement means: do what’s best for you. Basically, there’s no right or wrong way. Just find a way to make it (whatever ‘it’ might be) work for you. Make it a ‘yes’ for you, personally.
In light of the Marie Claire article, I want to explain what I mean by ‘do what’s best for you.’ Personally, I blog to share my life and experiences with other people, and I read other blogs for the exact same reason. I like to see what other people are doing in their lives and what they think about their experiences. Plus, I like to get new ideas, recipes, tips, and tricks from people with similar interests. In general, I think sharing these personal experiences is a really good thing.
With that said, I blog about what works best for me. My blog is based on my own personal experience with regard to food, fitness, travel, family, pugs, and whatever else I write about. It’s only one person’s (non-professional) perspective, which may or may not be the best thing for you. So, when I write posts like “Body Pump: Tips for Beginners,” please realize that these ideas are based off my own experience. I’ve taken a ton of Body Pump classes over the years, so I want to share my experience with other people, especially those who want to try something new or different, but don’t know where to start. But, of course, I’m not a trained Body Pump instructor or a certified personal trainer, so it’s not an “expert” opinion.
On the flip side, I enjoy learning from other bloggers (and readers) and will continue to read their blogs and ask for advice about people’s experiences (i.e. marathon training, roasting a chicken, etc.). Based off these personal experiences, I will decide what works best for me.
With this in mind, I try to be as responsible as possible with what I write on my blog about my life and experiences. At the end of the day, Carrots ‘N’ Cake will inspire you to live well and figure out what’s best for you.
Breakfast
Before class, I ate breakfast. I had two pieces of toasted Oatmeal Bread with macadamia nut butter and a small bowl of plain yogurt with a few raisins.
I also enjoyed a glass of iced coffee with soy milk. Sadly, this glass of iced coffee is from my last batch of the Birthday Cake flavor. 
Question of the Day
What does “make it a ‘yes’” mean to you?
P.S. I’m hosting a giveaway over on Trading Up Downtown today! 
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Make it a yes to me means always looking at the positive side of things. Life is so much better with a positive attitude!
I like your interpretation of it meaning “do what’s best for you”.
I look at it meaning something similar to the quote on lululemon posters “Do one thing a day that scares you”. I feel like often people put things off, such as their dreams, etc, thinking they will get to them at some point in life. I say, make it a yes for you! Do what you want to do, NOW. Why wait? This ties in to the picture you posted yesterday will all of the live your life quotes. Loved it.
I find the whole debate about bloggers being experts funny, especially when it comes to healthy living. Even so called “experts” should be taken with a grain of salt in my opinion. No one really knows what is good for us/not 100%.
Swapping a run for yoga was perfect! Marathon training is really intense (although I think tapering is the worse part!) and you will certainly need some extra rest days every once in awhile…but if you ever need someone to meet up with for a long run, give me a shout!
You’ve done a nice job addressing the Marie Claire article. Keep doing what’s best for you!
the thing i love most about your blog is its balance. i love that one day you do intense marathon training and the next day you have beer and pizza. your dog is pretty cute too
Make it a yes implies that it’s currently a “no” – OR – there’s no answer as of right now.
I have never heard of that form of yoga, sounds interesting. And macadamia nut butter, yum.
Make it a yes means have a positive attitude to me. When going to work, think “yes”! I have this wonderful opportunity. The food I eat is an enthusiastic “yes” and access to be theatre ukulele, another “yes” for tonight. Yes, this is my amazing life and I feel grateful.
It means stop hiding from life and give things a go… and, of course, try new things like macadamia butter
I think when you’re making decisions in life you always have a little internal dialogue. Should I run this marathon, should I buy this house, should I let my kids do that… whatever it might be. Making it a yes for you means listening to that dialogue and only doing what you heart/minid is telling you yes about. Make it a yes, means listening to yourself and doing what you know it right.
To me, “make it a yes” means to change something to best fit yourself. Make it applicable, whatever it be, to yourself so you can check it off your list…yes!
Ooh I hear you on the marathon training; I was training for my first half marathon last year and quickly realized that sleeping and eating well helped immensely. I also became “no fun” as my friends said; because I couldn’t really go out or drink anymore! Especially the night before long runs; even one beer threw me off. Basically the last 6 weeks of training, I was in bed on Saturday nights by 9am, after eating eating a sensible dinner and drinking water! But that’s what the cool kids do – right?
I totally agree, do what is best for YOU. I had to practice that today. I went for a run around a local lake (9 miles around). I made it probably 6 miles and just couldn’t do that rest. I wanted to SO bad, but was cramping up and severely dehydrated since I didn’t bring any water ( those 2 vodka tonics last night didn’t help!) and it was hot. So I just briskly walked the last 2.5 miles. During those 2.5 miles I had some time to think and instead of beating myself up about not finishing I just thought you know, if I push it I will pay for it in the end and something bad might happen or make things worse. So I told myself, hey girl, you’re still movin’, you’re still walking, getting in some exercise so I still felt good about being out there even though I didn’t finish my run. Sometimes you just have to listen to what you’re body tells ya.
In short, thanks for this post
It made me feel a lot better about what happened today.
p.s. what brand is your yoga mat?
@Casey @ Chasing Casey: Savasa.
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