hot yoga.

Exercise is going okay while on vacation. Not awesome, not awful.

I had kind of narrowed down my exercise routine to a three day rotation:

a) jillian's 30 day shred, level 3.

b) day of running.

c) yoga.

I've gotten a few Jillian days in, and running has been surprisingly great (another post for another day), but I'll confess - I've been much less motivated to do yoga without my sunny, beautiful, yellow yoga mat that I had to leave behind because I simply couldn't fit in my bag.

However, I'm slowly getting back on the yoga train and a big goal always helps me out. So here is my new goal for myself: sometime in the proximity of my 26th birthday (one week from today), I want to go to a local bikram (hot yoga) studio an take a 90 minute class.

You might think you love yoga, but do you love it 90 minutes worth?

Hot yoga might sound intriguing, but 105 degrees? Hm. We'll see.

I think I'm committed, but committed enough for this local studio that doesn't allow you to leave early?

I did a little warm-up on my mom's backporch today, in the 94 degree heat with p90x yoga. It was definitely do-able, but there seems to be such a difference in 94 and 105. Oh, and there is DEFINITELY a huge difference between falling by yourself when you can't hold half-moon, and falling in front of a room of strangers.

Only time will tell.

scale.

I may have an issue with scale.

Anything healthy, that I can eat in bulk - I'm a fan of.

Sometimes, I've been known to eat my salads out of casserole dishes.

Today, it just happened to be a brownie pan.

I'm not ashamed, though. This salad registered in just around 400 calories with some tomatoes, cucumbers, grilled chicken, chia seeds, and sesame dressing.

And it's still better than actually eating brownies for lunch, right?

with or without you.

I have a seriously complex relationship with oatmeal.

When I'm making it, I usually sing in my head

"I can't liiivvvvvve. With or without you...."

blueberries, mushed bananas, almond butter, honey.

chia seeds or flax seeds. just goodness.

I'm taking a three-or-so day break from oatmeal to do a little detox.

I've gotten overwhelmed with too many processed foods and eating out some this weekend so I need to stick to fruits & veggies for a few days to feel normal again.

Let's see if I can live without you old friend.

Until we meet again.

my very own green monster.

Some of my favorite food bloggers seem to be a little smoothie-obsessed. In a good way.

They're always showing off beautiful pictures of their "green monsters" and I get soooo jealous. Jealous, you say? Yup. My blender bit the dust awhile a go and my life has been smoothie-less ever since.

So, one of the major downsides of being on vacation is feeling bloated from eating out and not being in your normal food routine. One of the major upsides is having access to your mom's cute little smoothie blender so you can help fight that major bloatation.

And now - I have green monsters in my life.

And, come on - how much more enjoyable are they on this porch?

my very first green monster recipe.

1/2 banana

1 tbsp honey

1/2 cup of almond milk

1 tbsp almond butter

massive bunch of kale

2 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 cup of blueberries

.... delish!

Whole Foods Wednesday

When my love of food and quest for health combine, personal food rules are born. I've always thought I was not really a rules person, but I'll tell you what - the older I get, a love a good guideline. And a self-imposed one, woosh - don't even get me started with that. So my personal food rules (ps - does Michael Pollan have copyright of the term? hope not) vary a good deal and are usually based on my personal experience. Some examples...

- dont' eat a banana every day. or two bananas every day. (my digestion loves me for this rule)

- don't buy processed kid snacks (veggie chips, pirate booty, animal crackers) every week. If we buy them every two weeks, we will stretch them out.

- one dinner with meat per week (helps with budgeting and forces me to be creative)

My newest one: Whole Foods Wednesday.

I'm going to start with just Wednesdays and work my way up.

The "rules" of WFW, you ask?

I can process it, but I can't eat it if it's bought processed. Otherwise, I want to buy it as if it just came from the ground or came off an animal. And here were the results.

6amish, I started off the day super hungry with a plum and some coffee.

wfw fail #1: I do realize goat cheese is not a whole food. oh wait, and neither is salsa. I just got carried away. my hunger got the best of me.

9am: 2 eggs, hollowed out avocado w/salsa & goat cheese

noonish: black bean, cucumber, tomato, avocado salad with some apples.

afternoon snack: banana, plum, chopped almonds and honey.

pre-dinner snack: roasted eggplant with balsamic & honey.

dinner: three (or four, or five) sweet potato falafels and some tomato/cucumber salad.

I didn't count calories on this day but I am pretty sure I went over. I also ate a few handful of almonds in there and this morning I feel STUFFED and a little yucky. This post also doesn't include the picture of me taking like fifty "just for taste purposes" bites while making the sweet potato falafel.

hmmmmmm. All together, I liked WFW. I'd like to try a whole foods week soon.

But oh goodness how I miss some rice cakes and almond butter.

favorite movie quote ever

While watching the hilariously stupid movie, Man of the House,

I found my most favorite movie quote EVER.

"this combination here is proper as hell"

see below.

Teresa: [Sharp has a pizza delivered at dinner, while the girls all have homemade salads] What is that?
Roland Sharp: The Carnivore. Pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, ham and olive loaf all gathered together in one savory pie. With jalepenos. Want some?
Heather: Yes. No!
Roland Sharp: Extra thick crust.
Anne: I can't, I'm on the zone.
Roland Sharp: What zone?
Anne: The proper combination of protein, fat and carbohydrates.
Roland Sharp: This combination here is proper as hell.
Barb: I'm a total Atkins girl.
Evie: I'm on Weight Watchers, you'll probably blow all your daily points with just one bite.
Roland Sharp: This baby has one point and one point only, and that is tasting good.

4 successes

#1. Cleaning up the calories did the trick. After a week and a half of a small plateau, I watched my calories CLOSELY for one day and lost about two pounds. Which is GREAT except that eating those few of calories was pretty hard. But I think if I do three intentional days in a row, I'll do a fourth of easier healthy eating. So like three days of 1300-1500, on day of 1600-1800 (repeat) will be my new schedule.

#2. Running is going AMAZING. Well, maybe I should slow my roll. I suppose I shouldn't act like I'm busting out 5k's. But I've got about five running days down. Yesterday I did five minutes of walking, ran 1.3 miles, then walked another mile. Two miles, here I come:)

#3. fit club. Our church has an awesome fit club for women, once a month in an outdoor park. It's led by a great trainer who I love & there is a short devotional at the end. The last time I went was August and I was SKEEERED to death. That time I did the "postnatal" version of the fit club and I was still seriously spanked. I remember not being able to walk for a few days. Then, I couldn't go for like ten months because Nick had re:train the exact same weekend as fit club. Well, long story short - today I considered a success. I wasn't scared to go, I did almost puke a little, but it was a good, successful workout in which I didn't feel like the crazy out-of-shape lady getting left behind. AND on top of that - sweet Marisa (who teaches the fit club), gave me a beautiful new yoga mat which makes me a billion times more excited to do a long yoga session tomorrow. It's extra long and bright yellow and I can't wait to sweat all over it.

#4. three words. GOAT - MILK - YOGURT. Trader Joe's has it. Of course. They have everything good in the world. It's RIDICULOUSLY expensive - $5ish. But I figure, if I buy it once every three weeks or so, I can sparingly use it in oatmeal, snacks, and sauces. Amen and amen.