Salads are exciting

Last week , I did a vegetable juice and vegetable soup fast for 5 days. The goal of the fast was to give my digestive system a break and to detoxify from the inside out. It was pretty tough and not something that I will do again- certainly not for that long. Perhaps 1 or 2 days, certainly not 5. By day 3 , I started to feel weak. I'm sure I needed to just drink more juice, but given that I could only juice enough for 2-3 servings at a time, it was tough to have as much as I needed. The instructions for the fast say that you are to have as much fresh vegetable juice as you would like. I was only able to get in roughly 2-3 servings per day. I think one day I may have gotten to 4. Bottom line - it didn't work for me, plus I broke my 15 year old juicer. On the other hand, I did feel like my digestive system was working better. I didn't have bloating or gas that usually accompanies my consumption of grains. Also - things were moving -- if you know what I mean. (I know oversharing again - but if you read this blog - you know that is my MO).

So this week , in transitioning to solid food, I'm trying to stick with 90% vegetables, 10% grains. That means lots of salads and fresh veggie dishes. Lucky for me (and thanks to Lois), I just bought a new cookbook "Vegan Soul Kitchen" . The book is full of great soul food inspired vegan dishes. Last night I had citrus collards, braised brussel sprouts and baby potatoes. It was delish... especially the collards. I am not a fan of collard greens normally, so this was quite a treat.
For lunch, I've been focusing on eating the most exciting salads I can make. I've been having lots of fun. Today I had a spinach salad with roasted leeks and fennel and lots of other veggies - topped with Tofu. I added a bit of sesame oil to the tofu to give it a little more flavor. Then I used a little bit of broth from a vegetable soup for the dressing. It was yummy.
Who said salads have to be boring.

Spin Therapy

Sometimes I get sad... probably sadder than most. And for no apparent reason. When this happens, it is difficult to talk myself out of my "mood". Call it what you want- the blues, PMS, depression etc, Whatever --- It is what it is and the fact remains ..it happens. What I have found is that exercise provides an immediate and lasting effect. Not just any exercise..but rigorous - challenging heart- pumping cardio. It happens a bit with Hot Yoga , but not at all as measurable as it is with hard cardio. For me ..Spinning always does the trick.

So this morning, I woke up around 2:45am to the taps of an adorable little boy - who was complaining about nightmares. I took him back to his room and assured him that God would always protect him. When that didn't work, I told him that he could defeat the bad guys by taking his light saber into his dream with him. When that didn't work, (yawn) I told him to count to 300 very slowly. Success at last. Success for him, but not for me. So I lay in the bed for the next 3 hours trying to go back to sleep and at the same time noticing that I was a little blue. I had already planned to go to the gym, but my inner sabateur was busy at work trying to convince me not to go. All sorts of negative thougths were running through my mind. All sorts of self flogging -- shoulda-woulda- couldas. I knew I needed to snap out of it , but just couldn't. Finally - I decided that the 1 thing I could do was to get up and get to the gym as they opened (5am). I could always rest when I came back home.
So off I went.

Today was "race day" - which is an extended spin class. It starts at 5:30 and goes until 7:30. My favorite instructor (Josh) leads the class. Since it has been a few weeks since I've taken a spin class, I was prepared to not go to the limit. I knew I might have to take it easy.

Well I didn't take it easy at all. I was able to "bring the fire" as Josh says. Boy it felt good. By minute 20, I felt great both physically and mentally. Positive energy running through my body and positive thoughts running through my mind. I felt powerful and confident and like the strong awesome woman that I know I am. Around minute 70 - when it was really tough and my quads and glutes were burning, I realized that I tried to be totally and completely present. I felt pain - but I could push through with energy and a bit of giddiness. With each pedal stroke, I knew I was getting stronger in body and mind . My self talk turned from negative and discouraging to positive and uplifting. With "you go girls" replacing the shoulda-woulda-couldas. It was in that moment of presence, that I realized that spinning is my therapy. It is good for my body and good for my mind.

Time to step it up...

So my first event is on 5/15 -- Tour de Cure bike ride. My plan is to do the 50 mile loop...(assuming it doesnt rain)... My last 6 weeks of training has been focuse don Hot Yoga and a bit of running and spinning. Now it it time to turn up the heat..
Next week I'm adding spinning and a weekend long bike ride. I will also begin running 2x a week.

So the schedule looks like this:
MWF - spin followed by run
Friday Swim/spin/run
Hot yoga on the weekend and 1 log bike ride either Saturday or Sunday.

If I could squeeze in hot yoga at 1 night during the week...that would complete it.

My only small concern is nutrition. Since i've gone vegan, I haven't worked out with the intensity of a full out training season. without that schedule, I've noticed that I've been feeling weak and have loss some muscle mass. I m anticipating the need to add back protein in a bigger way. I' will probably add fish 2x a week and be sure to get plenty of lentils/beans.

4 hot yoga sessions in 5 days in 4 cities...

So I had to travel to NY and LA for business. Although I arrived in NJ a day early to spend time with family, it was still an incredibly short trip (1 day in each city). I knew that my new favorite sweat session (Bikram Yoga) was located in states all over the country. I decided that I would try and make a hot yoga session in each city. Because Bikram Yoga is a Franchise and as such it is practiced exactly the same all over the world (the same 26 poses done in a heated room with the very same instruction given ), I knew that it would be pretty low risk .

Friday am: The day before my flight to the East coast, I took at 6am Hot Yoga class at my regular studio in Redmond Wa.. Since the studio is relatively new.. it is very fresh and manicured . The room has cedar walls and wood floor. The main room can hold roughly 50 people, but I've never taken a class there with more than 20. In fact my first class was just me and another person. The class was as expected, wonderful. The teacher was awesome as usual. She always has really good coaching and correction. She also takes time to say everyone's name and to acknowledge that you are doing well. There was really good energy in the class. I'm starting to get really strong in some of my poses and after this class, I felt like my practice was definitely getting better.

Saturday travel.

Sunday : Day 1 in NJ. I took a class at the Westfield Bikram studio. This studio is roughly 1 year old and still feels new. The teacher was exactly the same as what I was used to - without the encouragement and acknoledgement. I could tell she was a new instructor. As I looked around the class , I could tell there were a few veterans and several newbies. Generally speaking the newbies are in the back of the room and the veterans (or near veterans) perch themselves in front. I was appropriately positioned in the middle.

There were two women in the back who caught my eye. Two sisters who were dressed in long sleeve tee and heavy sweat pants. I figured they must know what they were doing because why else would someone show up to a hot yoga class with artic wear. The teacher eventually pointed out that it was their first day. I expected them to stop the class at some point, especially given their attire. They stuck out the entire class and even did most of the poses. I felt great after this class and so glad I went. In fact I felt like I could have taken a double class.

Monday NY: So the midtown Bikram studios have been around for 10 years and are very well established. I decided to attend the first class (6:45) on Monday ..before my 10 meeting. The class fee included towels and a mat- which was a nice touch. The lobby is large and filled with products to buy and member contest information.
When I walked into the yoga studio, I almost choked from the smell. It smelled like 10 years of sweat had built up in the carpet - which is probably not far from the truth. I felt good in the class.. strong in my poses and focused on proper technique. There were obviously people in the class who were veterans.. probably teachers.. but I was unfettered - i just did the very best that I could. I felt great afterward - especially happy to be in fresh air.

Tuesday LA:
So LA is the home of Bikram World Headquarters. It is where it all began..in fact Bikram himself, still teaches a class once a week.
So I arrive after a 20 minute ride in a cab- that should have been 10.( Driver didn't know La Cienega S from N). This delay put me dangerously close to being late. In most Bikram classes, the doors are locked at the exact start time. There was lots of drama around my arrival. I had to run across La Cienega dodging in between cars. only then to try to get in to the front door ...which was really the back door and was locked. I then ran around the corner to the back (which was really the front). I ran in .. asking if I could still take the class - even though I was about 3 minutes late. Once I got the ok, I quickly put my stuff away and walked in.

The room was cavernous. I think perhaps 350 people could fit, possibly more. I found a spot in the middle of the room. The room was so big, that I really couldn't see my eyes in the mirror. Seeing my eyes in the mirror is my way of staying focused and allowing myself to be truly in the moment. This made me a little distracted. The real reason I was distracted, was that there were so many beautiful bodies in the class...with perfect form. It was hard not to look and say "oh that is how it is supposed to look." Being distracted during hot yoga makes me wobble and struggle to nail the poses. So this is what happened the entire class. You would think it was my first class. I was so focused in NY and NJ, but for some reason I just couldn't get it together in LA. In any event I was super happy that I went. I even picked up a bit of shwag..(hat and bag):)

Protein Protein .. where for art thou

After almost 2 months of being a vegan, I feel better overall and that I am doing more to keep my body healthy. However, the one thing I've not feeling so great about is that I know without a doubt, that my muscle mass has decreased. Not only can I feel it in my arms and legs, but I have confirmed it with my fat monitoring scale. ...+3% body fat.:0

So from what I've read, if you body doesn't get enough protein, it starts to use existing protein from muscles. So in effect, my body is feeding off of my muscles.

I've been working hard to make sure I eat complete proteins (beans/rice, Peanut butter with wheat bread). But not enough. I have tofu with rice for lunch or tomato soup with tofu. For dinner it is usually stir fry and I usually have a protein shake or a wheat toast (sprout bread). The snacks are a bit of a problem. Lately, I've been eating girl scout cookies...but I try to focus on fruits..

So what I am going to do... This loss of muscle mass is not something I'm willing to accept. So I am going to reintroduce limited seafood - but refrain from any cow/pig /poultry products. And I will also focus on including 3-4 servings of fresh juices ..as well as a juice fast at least once a week.

Well, Anything worth doing is worth doing well -- however difficult it is.