Today's workout

45 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20 minutes of intense stretching. I really needed the stretching; my hips especially have been mad as hell at me for the last couple of weeks.

I'm very glad that I didn't feel as sick/nasty this morning as I did yesterday, but yesterday's case of the nasties was an interesting experience. I just was tired everywhere in my body, and couldn't focus worth a darn. Looking at a few days of eating records, I'm realizing that I'm not feeding myself nearly enough during the day, which is resulting both in feeling really nasty/useless all day and gorging myself on whatever's available and convenient in the evenings. Today was the first day of planning out what to eat, and I think I'm doing all right so far. My cereal and blueberries for breakfast, a couple of fresh rolls and a small iced coffee for 1st lunch (at 11am), and brown rice with steamed spinach, olives, cashews and a bit of Bragg's Liquid Aminos for 2nd lunch (at 3, when I become STARVING). I feel much better today.

Either tonight or tomorrow, I go for my second running session. I'm thinking about five PM I'll think about it.

Vacation Day 3: Progress Made, but Slowly

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!

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.

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.