Accomplishing Goals

A few of my goals this year are to increase my fitness level, make yoga a habit, try meditation, plan weekly menus, make only one trip to the grocery store a week, and of course save money.  I have been doing pretty good with most of the goals so far.  I can't believe we are already 3 months into the year.

I have been practicing Yoga since the middle of January by using the YogaStudioApp for the iphone/ipad.  It is an amazing app with just what I was looking for in terms of yoga practice.  I have noticed a huge improvement in my patience, stress level and flexibility.  If I miss a day, I can't wait to get my yoga time the next day.  I don't like feeling that stress and frustration build up and yoga definitely helps that to disappear. 

http://yogastudioapp.com/

The other goals that have been so benefical are menu planning and one grocery trip a week.  I take time each Saturday or Sunday to plan out several meals for the week and then get to the grocery store to stock up.  I find we eat better, healthy and less processed/packaged meals.   I am excited to cook each night and put together our meals and have plenty of time to do so because I don't have to stop at the store.  Because I don't make several grocery store stops I am saving quite a bit of money.  I don't shop when I am hungry and I am not picking up whatever looks good.  I focus on getting just what is on my list. 

Source

I am proud of my accomplishments so far and can't wait to see what the next few months will bring.  I hope to try new recipes, take yoga classes in town and maybe even give cross-fit a try.

QOTD:  What 2013 goals are you accomplishing?

Tuesday’s Tip

If you are looking for a good Yoga DVD you should check out the following: 

Christine Felstead’s Yoga for Runners.

I bought this DVD about two weeks ago and have tried it a few times.  I really liked the stretches and poses that she walks you through.  I felt a huge difference as I was doing the poses.  When I started I couldn’t get my heels down during a Downward Dog pose but by the end of the DVD I was having no problems getting the heels down.  I felt two inches taller and my legs just felt so stretched out.  The next day I could tell that I probably pushed the poses to far, but by going through the DVD again I got everything stretched back out again. 

Probably one of my favorite poses from the DVD is the Pigeon or Bird of Paradise pose which is another hip opener pose.  Check out this link for more information on this pose.

This blog site has a lot of great info on the pose as well.

I just did a quick search on Amazon and noticed there is also an intermediate level Yoga for Runners DVD.  That might be on my shopping list for later on in the year.  Right now I got quite a few DVDs in my rotation that I am putting to good use as I try to rack up points for my Fitness Challenge.

QOTD:  Do you have a favorite yoga pose?

Two days of great workouts

Friday was a busy busy day.  I started out bright and early 6 am at the gym with Manda and SB for a quick warm up on the bike and then about 30 minutes for the weight machines.  I focused on the arms and abs.  Definitely felt it a bit today especially by Triceps.  After school I met up with my Dad, Manda and SB for a run in my new shoes.  I didn’t plan on it being as long as it was but I forgot the mileage of the loop we did when I picked the loop.  So I survived 3.8 miles in my new shoes.  The longest run I’ve done since my half marathon in September.  It felt good although my big toes were a little sore and so were my inner thighs.  I need to work on strengthening them up a bit.  I think I may go ahead and get another pair of the Brooks Adrenaline and switch back and forth between those and the WaveRiders.  Maybe then I can even things out but not wear out one part of my legs versus another part.  I was so exhausted when I got home that I feel asleep on the couch at 7:30 got up at 11:30 got ready for bed and was back asleep by 12:15!

Today I had a wonderful “date morning” with my husband.  We ran quite a few errands together – a total of 10 stops.  But it was nice to get out together.  Usually I end up running the errands myself.  We even stopped for Little Caesar’s pizza.  We haven’t had that in years and since a new shop opened up we thought we would try it.  We still vote Pizza Hut pizza our favorite though.

I just got done doing a great hour long Pilates and Yoga workout.  I got three new DVD’s which I will share with reviews later this week.  I did 40 mins of Yoga for Stress relief and then two Pilates sessions for abs and stretching.  I love Yoga and Pilates.  I feel so good when I am done and about two inches taller!!  Now it is time for a quick little nap before I begin tackling some of this dirt and dog hair that is covering my house!!!

QOTD:  Do you have a favorite workout DVD?

Happy Dance Misinterpreted

This morning I laid in bed and listened carefully holding my breathe. I didn't believe what my little ears heard, so I jumped out of bed and was so excited to see that it wasn't raining.  I did a little happy dance and started on with my day.  Not 30 minutes later it started to rain.  I think my happy dance was misinterpreted as a rain dance and I've learned my lesson.  I am hoping Mr.WeatherMan is right and the sun comes out to stick around a while on Wednesday and throughout the week.

I didn't managed to get a run in today due to a meeting after work, but I am going planning on a short two miles tomorrow with Copper and some yoga. I have Jillian's Yoga dvd but really need to do some shopping for some relaxing and meditative yoga dvds, not just power yoga.  Any favorites that you use?

Tonight I am going to work on some stretching to try to get some flexibility back and a few gazillion ab exercises.  I definitely need to figure out my fall/winter exercise routine here quickly.  I hate when my body adjusts to the seasons and doesn't look or feel the way I want it to. 

I also have a few questions for you overnight oats people....I am going to try some overnight oats for the first time tomorrow.  I've been eating a lot more oatmeal on the weekends, and have made it a few times before school, but usually end up running out of time.  So I whipped up some and put it in the fridge.  I don't think I will like them cold, can you heat them up in the morning??  Also, what are some of your favorite toppings?  I like the simple brown sugar but Saturday I tried some peanut butter on top and decided that was pretty delicious too.  Any recommendations?

More alone time

Workout:  30 mins Yoga, 20 mins walk, 10 mins stretching

This time I will have more alone time that I bargained for.  Cowboy has gotten called away to fight a forest fire and may be gone for up to 18 days.  I was just saying on Friday that I enjoyed the hunting weekends to get some alone time, but I have a feeling by about day 5 of this trip I will be more than ready for Cowboy to get home.  Who am I kidding, I'm ready for him to come home tomorrow.  I spent many years as a single girl and was quite good at spending time by myself but since I've met and married Cowboy I have gotten quite accustomed to having him around.  This will be the first time he's been gone for longer than 3 days and left me with six dogs.  I think I will have my hands full!

I wouldn't let myself write my blog until I got my workout and stretching in.  I love the Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD.  The level two workout is my favorite.  It isn't the traditional yoga, she calls it a hybrid yoga and has you do the poses in reps and then hold the pose.  I feel so good when I get done.   It is by far my favorite workout.

If you are looking for a good DVD workout that isn't crazy with cardio and weights but still a great, leave you sweating and having little feel good muscle quakes this is a good one.   I know SB from Running is a Life just picked it up on sale at Amazon.com.

One thing I hate about being alone is cooking for myself.  I hate going through the effort of cooking for just one so my meals tend to be a little skimpy.  Since I didn't have much lunch today though I tried to cook a good meal.  I just tossed a few things together but it turned out really well.  I made a little Dried Tomato and Garlic Pesto from Tastefully Simple and put that on top of chicken and cheese tortellini.  It was delicious!  I bought a rotisserie chicken from Sam's club and figure that will be most of meals for the week.  Chicken sandwiches for lunch, chicken salad, and my favorite leftover chicken casserole.  Anyone else have some good chicken recipes or casseroles?

I just heard from the husband and he might not be gone as long as the usual 18 day trips which is good!! But we will have to wait and see.

I almost forgot go check out HungryRunnerGirl's newest giveway.  She is giving away a new pair of New Balance Minimus shoes.  They look so neat.  I think I would like to give them a try at least for hiking with the puppies on the trails or for everyday comfy use. 

Monday, Monday...here you are again.

BUT we are down to just 7 more Mondays until Summer Vacation!!!  I know this teacher is worse than the students with the count-down to summer.  I can't wait! 

We are off to a good start to the week.  The temps were wonderful today, even though by the time I got outside to enjoy the nice weather it started to pour.   I did get some errands run and got to play with the doggies outside.  I also got in a 30 min Yoga Meltdown workout in with Jillian Michaels.  I love the level 2 workout.  It is probably my favorite of all her workouts I've tried so far.  I still need to move on to level 2 of Ripped in 30 but I keep getting sucked back into the Yoga and 6 pack abs.   My goal is to do level 2 of Ripped sometime this week.  (I think I had the same goal last week....try, try again!).  Tomorrow's workout plan is a run with my dad and hopefully some Pilates when I get home.

We had delicious golden mushroom vension with pasta tonight.  It was really good.  Basically my mom's stroganogg receipe but instead of cream of mushroom soup I used golden mushroom soup.  It was very good.  Any suggestions for tomorrow nights dinner?  I think it might be time for another honkin' big Pittsburgh style salad.

Only Temporary

Thank Goodness the cranki-ness was only temporary.   I had a much better day today.  I really tried to go into the day very positive and tried to keep things very light-hearted in my first class so that I could get myself off to the right start in the classroom.  I was able to keep the grove going for the rest of my classes and the day went much better. 

I have to thank my husband for getting me out for a run yesterday which I think helped to dissolve some of the cranki-ness.  He has to get back into cardio shape for his pack test here before too long so he is going to try to run every other day on our quick out and back 2 mile jaunt.  It was nice to run with him and Copper since it has been a while.    I also got quite a few walks in with the doggies and used the book my sister gave me to do some strength exercises outside before Cowboy got home.  I couldn't get the lil girls to come inside so I took my workout outside. 

Today, however, I got home early enough that we walked a few loops and played outside for a bit before I was able to get the lil girls inside so that I could some Yoga Meltdown.  It's funny how quickly you can lose some of the strength you've built up when you don't do the routines regularly.  It felt nice to rep-it-out with Jillian again.

Now onto lesson prepping Accounting II - depreciation expense, displosing of plant assets, and declining balance method.  What fun!