icfasntw

WEEK ONE (plus a little bit): Went well! Food: I stuck to the Whole30 plan all week, although I mostly stuck with recipes I've used before. The flu part? Significantly harder than expected. This week, I've struggled a bit more. I didn't get a chance to shop or plan meals this weekend, which left me scrambling (or hungry) yesterday (Monday) and today. I'm out of town for Week Three, so meal planning is kind of out the window -- I'll be adjusting restaurant menus to fit my needs. I've already set aside some time the following weekend to shop and plan Week Four's food, though. In a grand coincidence of timing, I got my Fitbit Flex in the mail last Monday so I've been using that to log my food. I've found that it's a lot easier to stick to plan -- as in, I'm a lot less tempted to stray -- on the days when I log my food religiously. I try not to pay attention to the calories, though. Yoga: Three days a week goal: Met for Week One. Two early morning classes, one evening class (with friends!). OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Week Two is on track -- I'm registered for morning classes on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. This week/weekend, I'm going to research yoga videos on the internet so I can practice at least once while I'm out of town next week. (I can do a basic flow without any help, but it's nice to have suggestions for additional work.) Do any of you have good free yoga video suggestions? Running: Off track. After I ran last Sunday, I noticed a tweak in my knee. I am afraid of my knees -- God forgives, but knees never forget -- so I took it easy this week and did a lot of walking instead. This week, I'm going to run on Thursday and Sunday. I'm fairly certain the tweak came from a steep downhill section of the route I ran, so I'm going to adjust my routes in the future to avoid going down that specific hill. There are alternate routes that get me to the same place with less vertical drop. Next week, I'll treadmill it at least once while I'm traveling. Budget: I am on! I've had to adjust to account for a few unexpected forgotten expenses (I owed dues for the community band I play trombone in, for example), but I'm on track for this week. Yay! Overall, Week One was a good week. :]

DAY NEGATIVE ONE. Today I did some prep for the first week of my challenge. I planned a week of Paleo meals (much thanks to Well Fed, the fabulous cookbook by Mel from theclothesmakethegirl), planned my workout schedule, booked my yoga classes, and reread some inspiring posts about the Whole30 program to get excited. I also went for a quick run -- foolishly including the most ridiculous hill I could find -- and tested a couple recipes I want to use later. Day Negative One: Win.

I haven't! I'm concerned I won't be able to walk afterward, because I've heard the instructor is kooksters. The good kind of kooksters.

@Cavemom: I started running when I didn't know how else to get in shape, especially without going to a gym. I didn't really like it, it just seemed like the only option, and that's the place I lurked in for a long time. Then I read Born to Run and ran Ragnar Las Vegas (2012) within about a month of each other... and now, when I run, I get a hit of remembered Ragnar endorphins and I fell like an apex predator. All in all, pretty awesome. :]

Oh heyyyy. My screen name stands for I Can't Find A Screen Name That Works. My actual name is Michelle, which is probably easier to say. Main Quest: Lose weight, healthily. In college, I lost a lot of weight on WeightWatchers -- but my perfectionist tendencies took the system too far and things took a dark turn. Since then, I've tried to avoid restrictive diet programs. I've approximated Paleo in the past, but I've fallen off the wagon in the last year or so and I want a kick in the pants to get back to a healthy weight in a healthy way. Goal 1: Stick to Whole30 rules for the duration of the challenge, with two exceptions (August 24, for my friends' birthday celebration for me and I will drink with them, and September 1, when I will eat one glorious, fluffy, sugary piece of chocolate pudding pie that my mom made for my birthday and otherwise stick to program). >> Note: I plan to eat food made by the cafeteria at my place of work when that food meets Whole30 standards. I'll check the nutrition facts they post for offending ingredients. Goal 2: Do yoga 3 days a week. >> OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Goal 3: Run 3 days a week. >> When winter sets in, I want to shift away from running-like cardio. In a couple of months, I plan to expand my yoga membership to include TRX and barre classes. Later, I want to join the local weightlifting gym or rejoin the local climbing gym. Why not do these things now? First, monetary reasons (see life quest). Second, I want to do things that force me to be outside while Wisconsin is still wonderful (see motivation). Life Quest: Stay on budget. In the (recent) past, I haven't managed my money well. That changes, starting this month. I have a budget for August. I will stick to it during August. On August 28, I'll review the accuracy of my estimates and create a September budget that's more accurate. Staying on budget means that I won't incur additional credit card debt during August. The budget includes a large (within the bounds of what's manageable) payment against my balance. If I can stay on a similar budget for several months, I can knock out a big chunk of my credit card debt quickly. Motivation: Run While You Can. A work friend of mine is 41. She's been running for ten years and is happily training for the 2014 Antarctica marathon -- setting PRs left and right, I might add. Run while you can. My cousin is 35. She has lost over 100 pounds and is happily training for a triathlon. Run (or bike, or swim) while you can. My dad is 54. For the first time in years, he's fit enough to walk nine holes of golf. (He's golfing, so "happily" goes without saying.) Run (or walk, or golf) while you can. I live in Wisconsin. Within a few months, it will get dark around 3:30 PM. It will stay dark until around 9:30 AM. Temperatures will drop to below freezing, then plummet below zero -- during the day. The roads will disappear beneath mounds of snow only to reappear slick with ice. Even my Antarctica marathon friend will disavow outdoor running. Run while you can.

What up girl! I'm glad one of my goals can help you -- and actually, I chose it for a similar reason, so I know where you're coming from. Starting slow (read: short) has really helped me stick with it so far, and so has not beating myself up when my brain drifts. Just keep returning to your breath, and all things will be well. :] I know! It's such a great and unique addition to the song. I actually saw Florence + the Machine (the band) live at Milwaukee's Summerfest last year, and my friends and I were unbelievably thrilled when they rolled the harp onto the stage. Also, Florence live sounds exactly like Florence recorded, it turns out.

Teaching seems like it would be so much fun! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and that it went well. And I bet your students were thanking you for the murder-by-workout at the end... or at least they will be by a few days from now, after the soreness has faded a bit. :] I hope you have a great time camping, and I hope it doesn't snow on you :]

Sooooo hi! How are you all? I'm wonderful and jetlagged! I've been traveling a lot the past few weeks, for work and for pleasure. I work at a technology company, and we often send employees out to support our software go-lives. At the moment, we've got a lot of customers going live... and we're about to release the newest version of our software, which means the number of people currently available to support go-lives is significantly smaller than the number of go-live support slots available. And that means they asked for last-minute volunteers to spend the month of May out of office. And I like Marriott points and frequent flyer miles as much as the next girl, so I figured what the hey? My recent and upcoming travel schedule: 5/12 - 5/16: Ohio (for work) 5/17 - 5/20: Tennessee (for a friend's wedding hooray!) 5/20 - 5/23: Texas (for work) As of 5/24: Back in Madison for a bit! 6/5 - 6/9: California (for work) Upsides to all this travel include that I got to meet a whole bunch of people (both from our company and from our customers' teams), see some cool places (San Antonio and San Francisco), have my flights to TN covered (BALLER), and learn a heck of a lot about how people use the product I help make. Also did I mention Marriott points and frequent flyer miles? Downsides, of course, include excessive time spent in airplanes/ports and the fact that I lived out of a carry-on bag for a while. Yech. But I know what you're all dying to know: DID I KEEP UP WITH DRUIDIC AWESOMENESS? And the answer is YES mostly. I kept up meditation every day (I bumped it up to seven minutes), and I brought a notebook so I could still write. Turns out, airports/planes? Really good for those things. Also good for reading. I burned through a significant chunk of my reading list on this trip. I did bodyweight workouts a couple times a week, either in my hotel room or in the hotel's gym. I ran! I kept up my running schedule -- mostly thanks to my work running buddy, who kept sending me her workout times. She's training for a half Ironman, so it was a lot of fun to try to meet her challenges. :] The exception was my actual vacation in Tennessee. We were in the Smoky Mountains, so I declared a moratorium on running in favor of hiking with all my friends who had also come for the wedding. I am okay with this. The things that had to fall by the wayside? Sadly, yoga and rock climbing. The hours I kept during travel completely ruled those two things out -- I was working 10 hour support shifts, then coming home to work for another four hours on my own stuff before bed. /sigh The results? I just (literally just) finished a 10k here in Madtown -- in about an hour. Yay! Bonus video: A friend of mine knows how much I love mashups, so he suggested I check out the Super Mash Bros (great name!). He played the song below to convince me... it's Beyonce/Lady Gaga's "Telephone" mashed up with Ratatat's "Wildcat". So wonderful. <3

@Stareyedgirl: I actually just recently had someone else suggest I read The Bloggess. She's been on my to-read list for a while -- I'm definitely going to bump her up.

ALSO. How do you get the image in your signature? I cannot figure it out. Please help. Lurve, icfasntw

I have my priorities screwed on straight. So far this week, I've meditated and written every day. I ran on Tuesday and I plan to run again tomorrow night. I've skipped my usual yoga practice, but I'm going to hit the studio for early practice tomorrow morning if it kills me -- gotta get those bonus points from Druid Challenge Numero Uno! I've been having a bit of a rough week personally, and it's definitely impacting my eating and workout schedule (which makes me feel crappy, which impacts my eating and working out, which makes me feel crappy, which...). I've struggled with anxiety and eating issues for a few years. Writing and mediation help, which is why I'm using this challenge to get back into those habits, but they aren't foolproof. Sometimes I come crashing down. Like this week. To get myself out of my funk today, I pulled up my "Music I Love" playlist to jam to until my roommates got home. First song? Funk: effectively killed. Dancing like a fool: accomplished.

I'm glad the strap is helping! I always forget about them until an instructor mentions using them, but they're a really good way to get into some poses without Elastigirl-like flexibility. For example, standing extended leg stretch. :] The homemade salt and sugar scrubs sound delicious. I've been using a brown sugar scrub on my scalp since I shaved my head, and feels so great that I wish I had enough for my entire body.

That's basically what my yoga instructor suggested for headstand prep, although the arm configuration is different since it's headstand (not handstand)! He calls the headstand one "headless L" -- he insists that you shouldn't put any weight on your head until you can completely control your weight distribution. Either way, it's definitely a great way to work on arm strength, especially given that you're partially upside-down, haha.

If you're looking for a good warm-up to your sun salutations, a few cycles of Cat/Cow is a good way to link up your body and breath. It won't help loosen your hamstrings any, unfortunately, but it can be a really good way to put your brain in yoga mode -- especially if you start with those poses really consistently. And I definitely agree with what unicornassassin said. Flexibility, strength, and balance aren't necessarily consistent between days, and that's fine because constant growth isn't the goal of yoga, really.

There are a bunch of girls who do hooping (who hoop? Verbs!) that live down the street from me. The "hypnotic" connection is a pretty good one -- it's really hard not to stare at them while they're being all awesome and floaty with these rings spinning around them. I'm pretty sure they also dance with fire, but they don't do that in the yard. It's more of a paved-area pastime. That video was amazing. The things we can do...

I skipped my usual class this afternoon, but I'm going to get up for the early class tomorrow morning if it kills me (which it might).

Glad you had a good week, lady! Heartburn is the worst. I don't get it super often -- usually only when I've eaten something super spicy or oily -- but my mom is really sensitive and has the same approach to medication you have. I hope your diet changes help in the long run. Having someone to walk with can help walking a lot, too, although that doesn't help so much with the treadmill problem. Do you have any audiobooks, or any podcasts that you listen to/interest you? I used those to get me through treadmill walking sessions in college (not to mention tedious shelving shifts while I worked at the library). Using audiobooks can help chip away your reading list, and there are some really awesome podcasts -- TEDTalks, for example. Brain food!

The best kind of days.

OMG Avengers was so awesome. Giving Joss Whedon the chance to write dialogue for Tony Stark/Ironman was clearly the best idea anyone has had in a long time. And nice job getting your yoga in! Are you doing any specific prep for handstand? Like dolphin or dog-up-the-wall?

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

I covered some of this in my last recap, but whatever. :] Based on this recap, this week I really need to focus on getting my strength and sprinting workouts in. I have plenty of practice getting to yoga and making time to run, but now that it's nice out, heading to the gym is a much harder sell. (Turns out January is okay for SOMETHING.) I had a good week for yoga -- I took an awesome two-hour elements-themed workshop on Sunday. It was two hours of hot yoga punctuated by some mediation/rest poses. The theme was oriented around earth/water/air/fire/space, and it was interesting to see how the instructor grouped poses and how taking different variations changed the focus of a pose to a different element. Earth was hip-focused, water flow-focused, fire core-focused, and air was heart- and balance-focused. Space was meditation and the longest and most delicious savasana ever.... :] Also, during the water section, we did a move that was pulled from Katara and Aang's waterbending handbook. ------------------------ Thursday: Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. I ran in the evening -- 3.27 miles in 45 minutes. That's way longer than I want my times to be, but I at least know the reason - summer decided to show up in all its humid, sticky glory that afternoon. I tend to have a rough time adjusting to running in the heat, and typically try to avoid the issue entirely by running really early in the morning or really late at night. I had to walk a lot on Thursday, but I had plans after 7 PM (had to watch Thor and Captain America to get ready for The Avengers!!), so whatever. Friday: Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. I didn't do anything extra on Friday, which is fine because rest days are nice. :] Saturday: Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. I tried to run 5 miles, but my lower legs started hurting me about 2.5 miles in and I had to stop. I finished my route walking, but I definitely noticed that my feet hurt. Fortuitously, I happened to find this article on my reading list later that day, and I've been doing the "minor" exercise in the mornings. I think I've been landing wrong in my Vibrams, and since I've been running a lot more often than I used to my legs are just letting me know that I should do better. Planning to sprint tonight and run tomorrow, so we'll see! Sunday: Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. The yoga elements workshop was this day.

Hehe, I love T-Rex's chaturanga :] One of my favorite meditations is just Satnam ("I am"). The yoga studio I used to go to had it (and an aum) written on the wall right in front of my usual spot. I always found it to be a really good way to center myself on my mat, especially when I was stressin' about something and it was breaking my flow. Mel from theclothesmakethegirl talks about the same thing in this post... and I love the picture she uses. :]

Try making kale chips! They're a great way to get some leafy greens in. :]

Since I didn't get started until Thursday or something. Monday Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. WORKED ALL DAY. Like, really. Came home, read for an hour, sleep. Tuesday Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. I ran at lunch with a coworker. She's a crazy runner (she's run more marathons than I've run races ever), but right now she's working on her half marathon time in preparation for the half Ironman (!!) she's running in the fall. We ran 3 miles in 28:48... including one of the biggest hills on any of my running routes. Which naturally we did last. BUT I KEPT RUNNING, which made me feel accomplished. Wednesday Meditation: Check. Writing: Check. I went to a yoga class taught by one of my favorite instructors. He integrates the spirituality and physicality parts of yoga really smoothly -- without overdosing on one or the other. So I don't feel like I'm in a "workout class," and I don't feel like I'm in a cult. Yesterday we started with a lot of backbendy, twisty work, then we did some of the most vicious core work I've ever done. Really, these were plank variations you need a masochistic streak to dream up. It hurts to laugh. (In a good way.)

Combat badminton sounds like an amazingly hilarious version of the balloon game! Adding in the dog is a pretty serious bonus, too, haha. As far as getting your hands closer together in cow face, try holding a strap in both hands and inching your hands together (slowly!) until they can reach. I have to use a strap when my right arm is on the bottom -- for some reason, my right shoulder really doesn't like twisting that direction. Straps are also really helpful for hamstring stretches, especially ones that involve lying down and sticking your leg(s) in the air. You can snag a strap for pretty cheap at Target -- although it sounds like you might have stuff around the house you could use instead. :]