So, I'm on day three of the big Florida trip, and thus far I've done yoga every day and evening, and I even got in a 1-hour private class with my boyfriend Nick's mother (who it turns out is a quite accomplished yogini herself) along with my two daily practices. The eating is still not quite where it should be (I'm feeling insanely bloated today from all the food I've been eating and the overwhelming lack of fiber), but I'm practicing compassion and forgiveness towards myself for it, and working towards enforcing smaller portions with myself, which proves challenging with Nick's family; his father loves to cook as much as I do, and every time he does there's a metric ton of really tasty food to contend with. If I can just get him not to do appetizers all the time in addition to three courses, I'd be okay.
Overall, though, I'm pleased. I'm a bit behind the ball on yoga today (I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I'm off-kilter today), but I'm going to do it now. Ta!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Ups and Downs on Vacation
So here I am in sunny Florida, and while this is, in fact, a vacation, I'm still finding it hard to actually step away from work. Darn the fact that I can still get an Internet connection! The good news is that I can check my e-mail and put out any major fires if they happen; I can also respond to the lovely comments people made on my last newsletter (which you can sign up for on the zen kitchen's website - it's got news from my design studio, a really cool recipe and some links to recent entries on the zen kitchen blog). I also answered a phone call this morning from Kelle Sparta, a consultant who works with the real estate industry, who wants to interview me for her podcast. So all good things, but still, it's work. Must improve that.
Thus far I've been very good with exercise; I decided to start the exercise program from scratch and see if I can commit to a morning yoga routine and an evening yoga routine (more to relax than anything else) every day, and then after a few weeks I can expand on that. So far, so good... despite the fact that I've had people around most of the day, I've managed to make time for my yoga practices.
Eating, on the other hand, has been tough. My boyfriend's family tends to have a LOT of food during holiday meals, and I'm realizing that it's important for me to start seriously rationing myself, especially when it comes to dinners here, which always start with an appetizer I really shouldn't eat as much of as I do. Ah well - a challenge for tomorrow.
Thus far I've been very good with exercise; I decided to start the exercise program from scratch and see if I can commit to a morning yoga routine and an evening yoga routine (more to relax than anything else) every day, and then after a few weeks I can expand on that. So far, so good... despite the fact that I've had people around most of the day, I've managed to make time for my yoga practices.
Eating, on the other hand, has been tough. My boyfriend's family tends to have a LOT of food during holiday meals, and I'm realizing that it's important for me to start seriously rationing myself, especially when it comes to dinners here, which always start with an appetizer I really shouldn't eat as much of as I do. Ah well - a challenge for tomorrow.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Vacation!
At long last, it's finally almost time for my trip down to Florida, to spend 9 days with my boyfriend and his family. I'm looking so forward to it I could scream. I never realize how stressed out I get until it's finally time for a vacation. Then, my breathing clears up, I start sleeping better, I finally start making time for things like yoga and reading (well, at least, reading - still working on the yoga on vacation thing). When I get back, I feel refreshed and ready to work, but start falling into my old habits pretty soon again.
So this is my new challenge: using the upcoming vacation as a kickstart to a new schedule that still gets everything done, but makes time for things like daily yoga and reading books and magazines on a regular basis.
Let's see if I can actually handle this.
So this is my new challenge: using the upcoming vacation as a kickstart to a new schedule that still gets everything done, but makes time for things like daily yoga and reading books and magazines on a regular basis.
Let's see if I can actually handle this.
Shifting Things Around
So I've been a bit moody of late, partly due to the weather (the late sunrises and early sunsets make me a bit cranky), and partly because of the insanity of holiday schedules. One of the things I realized was making me cranky was actually my bedroom - although it was mostly fine, I had these very dark brown curtains hanging on the windows which made it incredibly dark in the room at all times. Even with the curtains open, there was almost no light coming in. Add that to a dark red comforter on the bed and just a lot of red and black in the room in general, and my room was really, really dark and kind of depressing, which was affecting my mood when I woke up, which was affecting my mood for the rest of the day. You see the pattern.
So, today I decided to do something about it. I have now replaced the brown curtains (they're going to my mother for her candle shop) with some sunny orange curtains that let in plenty of light. I still have the red comforter, but it's covered by a light green super-fuzzy blanket, and all of the furniture has been moved around to a much better configuration. I have my bed positioned so I'll be able to look out the windows as I wake up, and my meditation alter positioned so I'll be able to look out the windows as I meditate (before, it was against the wall looking out into the hallway), and overall, I feel much happier about the current configuration.
The next step is tackling the office. This one's going to be a bit more of a challenge; I have a lot of stuff in a relatively small space, and it has been really hard to convince myself that I don't need half of the stuff in there. Wish me luck!
So, today I decided to do something about it. I have now replaced the brown curtains (they're going to my mother for her candle shop) with some sunny orange curtains that let in plenty of light. I still have the red comforter, but it's covered by a light green super-fuzzy blanket, and all of the furniture has been moved around to a much better configuration. I have my bed positioned so I'll be able to look out the windows as I wake up, and my meditation alter positioned so I'll be able to look out the windows as I meditate (before, it was against the wall looking out into the hallway), and overall, I feel much happier about the current configuration.
The next step is tackling the office. This one's going to be a bit more of a challenge; I have a lot of stuff in a relatively small space, and it has been really hard to convince myself that I don't need half of the stuff in there. Wish me luck!
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Mindful eating over the holidays: a childish dream?
My goodness, it's hard to stay focused on eating well over the holidays! This weekend was especially tough; I went to a lovely party hosted by a couple of friends where I was treated to a seemingly neverending buffet of hot chocolate, pound cake and 2 trays of chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven (let me tell you—if there ever was a weakness, it is that). Today between waking up late from the late night at my friend's party to running down to Providence to spend time with family before I leave for my Florida vacation, I ended up eating a whole pile of stuff I wouldn't consider eating otherwise, including McDonald's and TasteeCakes (WHY did I pick those up?) Overall, it's been a challenge the last couple of weeks.
So it's time to step up a bit with my original fitness plan. A while back, I had made a deal with myself; if I exercised every day (by exercise, I mean 45 minutes of physical activity a day, which can be training on the elliptical, vinyasa yoga, pilates or walking) every week, on Sunday night I would give myself $5 in a special fund which would be used to purchase some luxury item or another. It was originally going to be DVDs, but I'm beginning to think I'm going to start investing in some really nice yoga clothes—stuff I'd feel proud wearing if I have to run out and get something at the store before I do yoga. So this week, if I'm really good and I work out every day, I'm going to give myself $20. Week after, $15, week after that, $10 and back down to the original $5 per week. Hopefully in time I'll get back up to my goal again, and hopefully once I'm back in the swing of daily yoga, I can cut this sweet habit I've been going insane with.
So it's time to step up a bit with my original fitness plan. A while back, I had made a deal with myself; if I exercised every day (by exercise, I mean 45 minutes of physical activity a day, which can be training on the elliptical, vinyasa yoga, pilates or walking) every week, on Sunday night I would give myself $5 in a special fund which would be used to purchase some luxury item or another. It was originally going to be DVDs, but I'm beginning to think I'm going to start investing in some really nice yoga clothes—stuff I'd feel proud wearing if I have to run out and get something at the store before I do yoga. So this week, if I'm really good and I work out every day, I'm going to give myself $20. Week after, $15, week after that, $10 and back down to the original $5 per week. Hopefully in time I'll get back up to my goal again, and hopefully once I'm back in the swing of daily yoga, I can cut this sweet habit I've been going insane with.
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Advice on planning for 2007
A terrific woman in my network, Kerri Salls of Breakthrough Business School, gave me some great advice on planning for 2007:
1) sketch out where you want to be, personally and professionally, in 2010;
2) break that down to where you need to be in 2007 to get you there;
3) break that down into 90-day action plans to help you move toward your vision.
Kerri is a consultant that helps business owners make more money in less time. I met her during a speaking engagement I did at the Northeastern University XCel Conference, and her workshop on managing your finances gave me some terrific new ideas that I put into place almost immediately after the event. If you're an entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level and make more money in less time, check out her website at Breakthrough-Business-School.com.
1) sketch out where you want to be, personally and professionally, in 2010;
2) break that down to where you need to be in 2007 to get you there;
3) break that down into 90-day action plans to help you move toward your vision.
Kerri is a consultant that helps business owners make more money in less time. I met her during a speaking engagement I did at the Northeastern University XCel Conference, and her workshop on managing your finances gave me some terrific new ideas that I put into place almost immediately after the event. If you're an entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level and make more money in less time, check out her website at Breakthrough-Business-School.com.
On productivity
Over the last few days I haven't felt as organized as I could be — my apartment is pretty much in order, laundry and dishes are in good shape, office is pretty well organized, but something feels... off.
What I'm realizing is that, now that a few of my jobs have either been buttoned up completely or are still waiting approval, the only thing left is to work on my own stuff. And that, for whatever reason, always makes me incredibly lazy.
It's time for an action plan. Over the next month, I'm going to be focusing on revamping the zen kitchen's website, re-evaluating the marketing plan for the studio, and working out a business plan for a couple of other business/personal things I want to get started.
In the immediate, it's time to break the insanely overwhelming task of revamping the website into its smallest possible chunks. Home page: done. The rest: well, still needs to be done.
Okay; let's get going!
What I'm realizing is that, now that a few of my jobs have either been buttoned up completely or are still waiting approval, the only thing left is to work on my own stuff. And that, for whatever reason, always makes me incredibly lazy.
It's time for an action plan. Over the next month, I'm going to be focusing on revamping the zen kitchen's website, re-evaluating the marketing plan for the studio, and working out a business plan for a couple of other business/personal things I want to get started.
In the immediate, it's time to break the insanely overwhelming task of revamping the website into its smallest possible chunks. Home page: done. The rest: well, still needs to be done.
Okay; let's get going!
Friday, December 1, 2006
Thanksgiving: A Challenging Week
So, by the Monday before Thanksgiving, I was completely burned out on work. One project in particular had gotten me to the point where I didn't want to think about being near a computer, let alone getting more work done for my clients or for the zen kitchen. The good thing was that that Wednesday afternoon, we headed up to my mother's house in Maine, to spend four days hanging out with Mom, my best friend Rachael and her kids, our friend Sin and my boyfriend Nick. I had four days with NO INTERNET ACCESS WHATSOEVER. And it was beautiful.
It was, however, a bit challenging on the diet and exercise front. I actually ate some of my mother's turkey (oh my GOD it was good), and everyone at the house spent the entire time chipping away at the ungodly amount of food that was presented to us - sweet potatoes with marshmallows, walnuts and coconut, a 20-lb. turkey with stuffing, escarole soup (which I made with the turkey stock I made from the turkey bones) and some of mom's famous applesauce and cranberry sauce. I don't think there was a moment in four days when I actually felt hungry. To make matters worse, there was no room anywhere in the house where I could exercise, which meant no yoga, and no exercise other than a bit of a hike with the kids and Nick on Friday.
Since I got back on Sunday night, my eating has returned to almost normal, thank goodness - aside from a bit of ice cream here and there, I've been doing well. But I haven't been able to get back into the yoga habit, or do any other form of exercise with any consistency.
It's interesting to note how such a little setback can throw everything off course.
It was, however, a bit challenging on the diet and exercise front. I actually ate some of my mother's turkey (oh my GOD it was good), and everyone at the house spent the entire time chipping away at the ungodly amount of food that was presented to us - sweet potatoes with marshmallows, walnuts and coconut, a 20-lb. turkey with stuffing, escarole soup (which I made with the turkey stock I made from the turkey bones) and some of mom's famous applesauce and cranberry sauce. I don't think there was a moment in four days when I actually felt hungry. To make matters worse, there was no room anywhere in the house where I could exercise, which meant no yoga, and no exercise other than a bit of a hike with the kids and Nick on Friday.
Since I got back on Sunday night, my eating has returned to almost normal, thank goodness - aside from a bit of ice cream here and there, I've been doing well. But I haven't been able to get back into the yoga habit, or do any other form of exercise with any consistency.
It's interesting to note how such a little setback can throw everything off course.
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