My breakfast today. It tastes much better than it looks.
I survived Day 2 of my cleanse. But I was only substituting one meal with a one green smoothie today and yesterday.
Tomorrow will be the real test: three green smoothies=three meals. If all goes as planned I will do that for the next five days. We’ll see how it goes.
My friend Karen asked if the green smoothie I had today was actually green. I think the picture reveals the answer to Karen’s question.
The smoothies are so thick that I can’t actually drink it out of the water bottles I have been filing. Heck, I can’t even drink it. So I have been eating it with a spoon. That seems to work pretty well.
And the smoothies are so thick and filling that they take a long time to eat. It gives me a chance to eat my meal slowly and digest it slowly.
You may be wondering why I am doing this cleanse. I am doing it for a variety of reasons.
Lately I have been really paying attention to what I am eating and drinking. I decided that the cleanse would be a good addition to this. I do already eat a lot of fruits and veggies. But I wanted to detox and get and feel healthier.
And don’t forget all the great de-cluttering I have been doing lately as well. This all grew from the cleanse.
I know people do many kinds of cleanses and/or detoxes. Some are healthy and safe. And some aren’t. This one is healthy and safe. I am getting my advice from a Holistic Nutrition Counselor and Certified Pilates teacher. I am not skipping any meals. And I am ingesting calories and so many raw fruits and veggies.
Here’s to three smoothies tomorrow.
My breakfast today is a green smoothies with lots of fruit and kale. The smoothie is in a blue tinted water bottle, so it isn't as gross looking as it appears here. Though it does have a hint of green.
I recently signed up for a 7-day super cleanse with Lory Benson Pilates. The cleanse actually started on January 14. But the timing wasn’t right for me. I needed a time where I knew I could dedicate seven days to this green smoothie cleanse.
So I start the cleanse today. Today and tomorrow I will substitute one meal with a green smoothie. I have decided to have the smoothies for breakfast. Last night I made smoothies for today and tomorrow. I had a quick taste of each and they tasted pretty good.
The amount of smoothie seems like a lot of stuff to drink. But they are supposed to be filing. This cleanse focuses on green smoothies and raw food. A green smoothie’s two main ingredients are greens and fruit.
I plan to write updates on my cleanse throughout the week. Not sure if I will write about it every day. I hope to make it through the full seven days. Days 3 through 7 I will have three green smoothies a day. If I can’t drink three smoothies a day for five days I will try to do one or two. I will just try to do my best. It’s all I can ask of myself.
Even though I didn’t start the smoothie part of the cleanse on the actual start date I received all the materials. One thing that has stuck with me is the cleansing and de-cluttering of not just physically and mentally but also with my surroundings.
So I have been in full de-clutter mode at home. So far I have attacked the kitchen, bathroom, linen closet and my closet. The amount of trash thrown out and the growing charity pile along with how organized and good I feel has had an amazing impact on me. I am excited to de-clutter. And I look forward to our home being rid of crap we don’t need. And things being cleaned and organized is pretty nice, too.
When I got home from work last night I actually put my shoes back into their box in the closet. Before I couldn’t or wouldn’t. Wouldn’t because I got lazy. Couldn’t because I got lazy and I couldn’t actually access the shoe boxes to return my shoes to their rightful place.
When I was cleaning out my closet over the weekend I found jewelry supplies I bought more than five years ago after I hosted a birthday jewelry party at Michaels. I had planned to make bracelets and necklaces the following year for friends and family. Yea, that never happened. My friend and co-worker Jessica makes jewelry. So I took the supplies in yesterday and told her she could have any of it or none of it. I wouldn’t be offended if she didn’t want any of it. She was so excited and she took it all, beads and tools. It made me happy that she could use it. YEA!
Check back to see how my cleanse continues … with green smoothies and de-cluttering at home. Here are a few photos from my cleansing/de-cluttering so far.
In class tonight, we did a similar pose. The only difference was we also used a strap. http://www.spiritualhealingportal.com/
I had so many ideas swirling in my head for tonight’s post that I wasn’t sure what to write about.
At first I was going to write about the 7-day super cleanse, which I will start tomorrow. But you will have to wait for that …
The second possible post was to write about how I lost another 2.2 pounds. Another week of really paying attention to what I was eating and really planning my meals and snacks.
And the third idea was what happened in yoga class tonight. So that is what you get. What I learned in yoga class tonight.
I attended Vickie’s Hatha class tonight. As she started the class talking about running on adrenaline and trying to relax she decided to change the focus of the class. Vickie mentioned cortisol, which is released in the body when stressed. She said when we practice Restorative yoga the hormone is reduced. Sounds like a good reason to me to practice more often.
So lucky for me and the rest of the students we got a mellow Restorative class. It was so relaxing and lovely.
Vickie reminded us that we should take care of ourselves this evening and be kind to ourselves. Of course, as soon as I got home I had to make dinner, prepare a green smoothie for my cleanse, wash the dishes, eat dinner, write this post … (Luckily I already have clothes ready for work tomorrow. I knew this week would be a little hectic so I got clothes ready for the week last night. I know, that seems a little intense. But it makes me a little less stressed. So it’s worth it.)
Lower back pain ... is well a ... pain. http://www.olympichottub.com/hot-tubs-sauna-blog/category/health-benefits/back-pain-health-benefits/
I attended the 6 p.m. yoga class, which Baxter normally teaches. I forgot he is in Costa Rica this week for a yoga retreat.
Dominick was the sub. I like Dominick’s teaching style and he is funny. But his class starts at 4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. So I can rarely go. But I do enjoy when he subs one of my regular classes.
Today Dominick focused on the spine and back.
Focusing on the back/spine/alignment is always good for me. I have bad posture, kyphosis, weak back muscles, not the strongest core, low back pain and a strong lower back arch.
Dominick talked to us about the natural alignment of our spines. He had us hold full forward bend. And then half way up with blocks under our hands to help us really focus on keeping the back straight.
We also focused on hinging at the waist instead of rolling the back down. This also helps keep the back straight and engaged.
Every pose we performed today we focused on the alignment of the back and our breathing through the front and then down the back. We held the poses much longer while focusing on alignment and breathing.
Another aspect to help with the back and keep the back strong is a strong core. So, of course, we did some intense core work.
Dominick reminded us that we did some intense work on our backs and used muscles we don’t normally use. So there is a chance we will have sore backs tomorrow or Wednesday.
Self-portrait of me dancing at the annual party on Friday night. It is kinda cool and creepy.
Sorry for the slacking in blogging. But rest assured I have not been slacking in the exercise or the caloric intake department.
Let’s see. What have I been up to since I last blogged on Tuesday …
On Wednesday I walked with some co-workers/friends. It was a small group, but we were/are fierce. The walk started off rather cool. But eventually we were warmed up and feeling good. We walked for an hour. And we were faster than last week. In our first 30 minutes we got farther than we did the week before. I kinda dreaded the hour walk. But once we got going I felt great! Wednesday night I went to Baxter’s Hatha yoga class, which was packed.
Thursday my friend/co-worker and I went out to lunch. We had Chinese food. I had a cup of hot and sour soup and steamed veggies over brown rice. I really wanted kung pao chicken, but I refrained. Thursday afternoon I hit the gym at work. I decided to not spin as the seat is jacked up. (The repair guy is coming tomorrow.) So I walked for about 20 minutes on the treadmill and then did weights and abs for about an hour. It is amazing how weights can quickly become cardio.
Friday I worked from home. It was a short day as our annual party was that night. There is a new lunchtime flow class at the yoga studio, which is only an hour (almost all of the classes are an hour and a half). That evening was the party. My dinner was fairly healthy. I didn’t have any dessert. And I had about three glasses of wine. And I danced my booty off!
I bought ingredients today for the first four days of my super cleanse, which will start later this week.
Yesterday I skipped any workout. Curt and I stayed the night in the city and we got home a little after 11. Too late for any classes at the gym or yoga studio. But I figured with my hours of dancing the night before I was OK to skip. Plus I wanted to attack my closet. I spent more than four hours de-cluttering and rearranging and organizing my closet. I also was able to attack another part of the bedroom. (I still have the dresser and under the bed–though there isn’t much under the bed.)
This morning I have done the grocery shopping, including getting items to start my 7-day super cleanse later this week. I made some carrot and tomato soup to eat during the week. And I will be heading to my Vinyasa yoga class in a little less than an hour. Oh, and I am getting some blogging in.
I was happy to see my dedication and hard work drop the numbers on the scale today.
Last week I talked about how planning my meals and my exercise was keeping me on track.
Well, the regular exercise and healthy eating has proven to be worthy. I got on the scale this morning and I lost 2.2 pounds from a week ago.
I haven’t tracked my food or counted Points or calories. I just paid attention to what I was eating and I planned.
I did a lot of cooking two weekends ago and most of my meals were fresh (hardly anything processed) with very little meat. I ate lots of fruits and vegetables. I drank water or tea.
I have been limiting my caffeine intake as well as my alcohol intake and trying to keep the imbibing to the weekends.
I plan to keep this up. We’ll see what happens next week.
Warrior II
A little more than a week ago the New York Times ran an article in their Sunday magazine titled How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.
There has been a lot of talk in the yoga world about this article, or at least in my yoga world. We have been discussing in classes, some of my teachers have written about it. I have done a lot of thinking about the points made and the things my teachers have discussed. This past week I have been thinking about it and taking notes in preparation for this post. Now to actually put my notes together and make some sense.
The article is very one sided. The statistics seem to disprove the idea that yoga injuries are going up. Yes, more yoga injuries in numbers. But the number of people practicing yoga is so much more higher. And, there are extremes to everything. I am not really sure if the woman in the article had a stroke caused by doing Wheel Pose or if that was just the last straw. Maybe she would have had a stroke had she been lifting weights. I don’t know. And I in no way mean to light take to take her having a stroke.
The title of the article should be changed to Yes, Yoga CAN Wreck Your Body … but so can any other physical activity, especially if you don’t do it right or aren’t prepared for it. But that title is way too long and not nearly as sexy, right?
The article mentions a naive thought that yoga should be a source only of healing and never harm. And I say yoga should be a source only of healing and never harm.
If you do a pose incorrectly, do certain poses while not warmed up, attempt an advanced pose when you are not warmed up, prepared or ready these can all cause harm.
I see beginners in class attempting poses they should not be doing. I have been doing yoga pretty regularly for four years and there are many poses I am not ready for. I see beginners attempt handstand or headstand and I know that I am not ready for that. In fact, I am scared. I don’t let my ego tell me differently.
The thing I am almost always taught in yoga pretty much every single class is find your edge and take a step back. Many exercises and workouts are about no pain no gain. Yoga is the complete opposite.
One of my teachers, Baxter, usually won’t let us go up into shoulder stand until he checks that we are in the correct start position. Once we get the OK we are able to go up into the pose.
The guy who wrote the article asked the instructor after class why they didn’t do any inversions or many of the classic poses. His response: That awareness is more important than rushing through a series of postures just to say you’d done them. And I completely agree with this. I go to different classes and instructors for different reasons. Some classes are more aggreesive and quick paced. Others are slower and more gentle.
The instructor, Glenn Black, mentioned throughout the article has come to believe that “the vast majority of people” should give up yoga altogether. He thinks that it i simply too likely to cause harm.
I know which poses I can do, which are difficult for me and which ones I simply can’t do or shouldn’t do. Finding your edge and taking a step back. I am not a competitive person. And I rarely find myself competing with others in yoga or even with myself. Something I could do in yesterday’s class may not be possible today for a variety or reasons. I may be more tired today, just not feeling it, slept badly, had a bad day, etc.
Most of my instructors ask new students if they have anything going on with their bodies or any injuries they need to know about. Experienced yogis already know how to modify, other times we need suggestions and are willing to take them.
I have a funky left shoulder, Kyphosis and weak wrists. Over the years I have practiced I have learned how to deal with these issues and I modify when I need to.
Lily, another one of my yoga instructors, said: … Here’s the beauty and optimism of yoga and of any healing system of movement: We learn in baby steps and we keep practicing.
I am careful with my yoga practice and the only yoga injury I have had was a pulled muscle in one of my legs. And what I was taught was to not overwork it and to baby it until it was healed.
In Vickie’s class last week she also mentioned the article and agreed there were some good points. She talked about self-responsibility. We are the only ones who know if something hurts. She asked us to start sitting in Hero’s Pose and asked us to use whatever props we needed because she in no way whatsoever wanted us to hurt ourselves or be in pain.
There is a difference between pain and sensation.
The article does mention serious injuries people have encountered. They are rare situations and the one example where the man was doing spinal twists and rotating his head too far and then putting his body into shoulder stand without a blanket or even a yoga mat on a hardwood floor. Could he not figure out the difference between pain and sensation?
You can definitely injure yourself while doing yoga. But you also can while in a weights class or running. If you feel pain you should stop. I can’t emphasize the idea of yoga enough: Find your edge and take a step back.
Years ago when I thought I needed to run (I hate running) I started off with walking for the first month at least three times a week. The next month I would walk for two minutes and run for one. Probably Day 3 or 4 I hurt my knee. I was able to rehab myself. And after that I decided running was not for me and didn’t go back to it. In other words, I listened to my body.
Baxter, one of my yoga instructors, wrote a blog post on the Yoga Journal web site and he said this: I’m interested in sharing the benefits of yoga with my patients and students, while realistically cautioning them on yoga’s risks for certain injuries, such as the risk of wrist strain with arm balancing poses if one is not properly prepared.
The NYT article ended with a quote by Glenn Black, a yoga teacher for nearly four decades, saying: In fact, if you do it (yoga) with ego or obsession, you’ll end up causing problems. A lot of people don’t like to hear that.
I couldn’t agree more.
The de-clutter in the kitchen was a success. Tomorrow onto other parts of the house.
I recently signed up for a super cleanse with Lory Benson Pilates, which started yesterday. I haven’t actually started the green smoothie cleanse as the timing isn’t quite right for me. But before the end of this month I plan to imbibe in some fruit and veggie smoothies.
The seven-day cleanse is about de-cluttering physically, mentally and your surroundings.
Because the cleanse technically started yesterday Lory is sending out daily e-mails. Her encouragement and advice on our de-cluttering in all aspects is really great, motivating and inspiring.
Yesterday and today Lory has been giving advice on how to de-clutter our surroundings. I am totally excited and motivated to do this. I had planned to attack my closet and our spare room/office over the week off between Christmas and New Year’s and then I got a cold. So nothing was taken care of then.
We have friends visiting in March. So that gives me a goal and deadline to have the spare room in tip top shape followed by the rest of the house.
This morning I attacked the kitchen. I cleaned the top of the fridge, inside it, outside of it; moved on to pots and pans; various drawers, pantry, etc.
I have cleaned, reorganized, thrown things away and started a box for charity. (Who knows? At this rate I could have enough stuff to host a yard sale.)
After that I went to my Vinyasa class, which was taught by a sub today. We started class seated in meditation. We had our eyes closed. Once we were ready to start our practice Jen asked us to keep our eyes closed. We moved from seated position to Child’s pose and then to all fours and then to Cat Cow and then to Downward Facing Dog, all with our eyes closed. Jen told us if we kept our eyes closed we would work more on memory of the poses to our body. If we opened our eyes our mind would take over. This totally seemed to fit into my de-clutter theme today.
This afternoon I finished up the kitchen. Since I am off tomorrow I plan to hit the linen closet and bathroom. If time permits my crazy closet will get a make over. (If not, I have plenty of weekends to work on it and other parts of the house.)
This evening I attended the Restorative yoga class. The idea of Restorative practice is to quiet the body and the mind, aka as de-cluttering. Sometimes I am really able to relax and calm my nervous system. Sometimes I even fall asleep. Other times I am fidgety.
The new restorative teacher, Jeff, gave great advice to those who have a heard time sleeping. While lying flat on your back stretch your arms and legs out, tense up and make yourself long. Try it three times and see if that helps. I definitely felt great after we tried that tonight. I will see if it helps with sleep later.
Once I start the cleanse I will report on how it is going. And I am sure there will be updates on the de-cluttering of the house. Wish me luck on both!
Lily had us partner up and get into Child's much more deeply. It was like heaven.
I attended my kinda sorta regular Vinyasa flow class tonight. Since getting sick and with the holidays I haven’t been to that class in probably almost a month.
The class is slightly aggressive, which is the type of yoga I normally prefer. For me it is all about burning the calories. Though I do take some less intense classes to balance out my practice.
This Friday night class is supposed to have live music, which I was excited about. Unfortunately Gary got caught in traffic and didn’t make it to play the Hang, which I have been lucky to hear him play in other classes.
Today Lily had us partner up. I have to say I am not a fan of partnering up with another classmate. I don’t really know anyone and usually we are sweating. And well, I just don’t like it.
The first partner practice was to help your partner into handstand. She gave us an alternative choice if we weren’t inverting for whatever reason: Dolphin. I was uncomfortable working on this pose with a partner for a variety or reasons. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone falling over or hurting themselves. And I am not ready for handstand, even with help.
The closest I have gotten to a handstand was doing Downward Dog against the wall with my legs almost straight up. That was intense and scary and exhilarating.
Later on she had us partner up again. I groaned silently. She had each partner get into Child’s pose with the other partner putting pressure on the sacrum and really getting their partner into a much deeper pose. Then we worked our hands up the partner’s back and ended with a little massage of the shoulders. Oh yea, that partner practice I liked and appreciated.
Planned and packed lunch for the workday.
This week has been a successful week for me in terms of exercise and healthy eating. And a lot of it has to do with planning.
Since I just came off a two-week cold I have been doing less intense yoga this week and no spin until the weekend. I checked out the yoga studio schedule and planned the classes I would take Monday through Wednesday.
(Normally I have a pretty regular exercise schedule during the week: between yoga at the studio; working out with friends one night a week; spin at the gym; abs and weight classes at the gym; spin and abs and weights at the work gym on my own.)
Because I cooked a few things over the weekend I have had many planned healthy dinners and lunches. They are filling, delicious and good for me. Even my snacks are planned.
I find that planning helps me from straying. I haven’t been tempted by any treats or candy at work this week.
I also haven’t been tempted by the numerous food trucks that come to work. Yesterday the e-mail about the food truck mentioned that there would be extra food (since they ran out last week) and cupcakes would be served with each order. My response to that: DELETE!
Finding healthy options you like also helps. Lucky for me I like most fruits and vegetables. I am a meat eater, but I am also OK with vegetarian or vegan options. I am willing to try most things.
Except for Spam and that isn’t healthy.