Plan 12/28/15 - 1/3/16

Holy Moley, it's a new year this week!

I'm starting off 2016 with delicious, healthy vegan food, exercise, and a little me time.

This week I'm using recipes from Lisa Ryan, and will be working on strength training with a series by Ashley Galvin.

And, as always, I'm running and yoga-ing almost daily. Starting JAN 1, look for my daily posts about my journey to learning inversions this year!

Monday
Run 5
Toned Core Workout
Breakfast: Harvest Smoothie 
Mid-Morning snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: Autumn Spinach Salad
Mid-Afternoon snack: carrots and green pepper sticks with Spicy White Bean Dip
Dinner: Fall Lentils with Leeks

Tuesday
Walk 3
Toned Legs Workout
Breakfast: Coconut Pumpkin Quinoa
Mid-Morning snack: grapes with handful raw nuts and seeds
Lunch: Liver Lover Salad
Mid-Afternoon snack: “Bloody Mary“ Juice 
Dinner: Sweet Potato Soup with Greens

Wednesday
Run 5
Toned Arms Workout
Breakfast: Warm and Toasty Millet
Mid-Morning snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: Brussels Sprouts with Carrots
Mid-Afternoon snack: cucumber and celery sticks with Hummus
Dinner: Millet Stuffed Mushrooms

Thursday
Walk 3
Toned Booty Workout
Breakfast: Apple Crisp GF Oatmeal
Mid-Morning snack: “Bloody Mary“ Juice
Lunch: Squash with Spice Salad
Mid-Afternoon snack: carrots and green pepper sticks with Spicy White Bean Dip
Dinner: Creamy Kale and Bean Soup

Friday
Run 6
Toned Body Workout
Handstands day 1!
Breakfast: Groovy Smoothie
Mid-Morning snack: cucumber and celery sticks with Hummus
Lunch: Spicy Broccoli and Chickpea Stew
Mid-Afternoon snack: grapes with handful raw nuts and seeds
Dinner: Quinoa and Butternut Squash

Saturday
Walk
Yoga
Breakfast: Harvest Smoothie
Mid-Morning snack: apple with almond butter
Lunch: Autumn Spinach Salad 
Mid-Afternoon snack: carrots and green pepper sticks with Spicy White Bean Dip
Dinner: Fall Lentils with Leeks

Sunday
Walk
Yoga
Breakfast: Coconut Pumpkin Quinoa
Mid-morning snack: grapes with handful raw nuts and seeds
Appetizer Party: I'm bringing vegan crab balls, a vegan cheese ball wit veggies and magic cookies

On 100 days of crowing

100 days ago, I was doing a yoga session, a brief 30 minute practice, with a youtube video from Adriene. In her video, she said that even if she only practiced mountain pose each day for 100 days, she would feel amazing. I thought I would attempt a pose every day for 100 days and see what happened. I chose crow because it was a pose that I could do (most of the time), but struggled with. My goal in 2015 was to be able to handstand/headstand, but I'm not there yet, so working on this arm balance seemed like a good idea. I also liked the idea of doing something that made me happy for 100 days.

Here is what I've learned/gained from this journey:

I've been to the mat every day since I started, whether for 5 minutes or for 50. This is amazing. While I am no accomplished yogi, I feel yoga in my soul. But I've never before had this kind of consistency in my practice. It is beautiful. And really, this challenge to myself has kept me accountable to that. Sure, it helped that I knew you were watching, rooting me on. But in the end, it was my own soul that wanted to be consistent. In my education classes, I teach that intrinsic motivation is more powerful than extrinsic. This is true in learning math or practicing yoga.

I am strong.  My core strength has improved.  My arm strength has improved.  My leg strength has improved. After I finished my PhD program, lots of people asked me what I was going to do with my free time. I responded that I wanted to get strong. I've played a bit with my pull-up bar. I've bought a 12 pound medicine ball. But nothing has improved my strength like crow. Now that I know I am strong, I want to be a superhero. I can do anything. I can fly! Of course I can, I can crow!

My balance has improved.At the beginning, I was able to hold the pose for only a few seconds, now I can hold it for at least a minute.  I understand dristé better. By sliding my gaze focus forward, my body naturally assumes balance. Not just in crowpose, though. While attending a yoga workshop last week, I noticed that my warriors were better balanced, my lunges smooth. 

Because I now have a better grasp of dristé, I'm now working towards more funky crow variations: the flying crow, one-legged, EPk2.... it's exciting to challenge myself, and while I get frustrated when I can't do it, I know that I am strong, and I can balance. So, I just need to keep trying. Every day.

I've gotten creative with my pictures. You may not know this, but I take most of my own pictures. I have a 10 second timer on my tablet, so I set it, then hustle into position. There have been lots of dog-butt outtakes! But I also have developed a more discerning eye for my pictures. There's better lighting outside. I like color. And I've gotten into looking around and asking myself "Can I crow on that?"

Speaking of dog-butts, the dogs have LOVED this practice. All the critters like yoga, they think it it playtime. But they love that I'm down everyday. Lily likes to check out my hands, she's sure I'm staring at something good to eat on the ground. (Which may be true, she's a beagle. To her, everything on the ground is good to eat.) Copper thinks that anytime I have my face near the ground I must need 100 kisses, and she takes her quotas very seriously. Jack is a big fan of my yoga mat. And he's a pro at both up and down dog poses.

Doing this for 100 days, I know I have become a better yoga practitioner. But I won't stop now. 

Don't worry.

Here's my progress. Taking pictures every day has really helped me to notice my improvements. Look at that! After 50 days, my feet were much higher off the ground. By 100 days, my back is straighter and my butt is way up there! Just imagine how great my crow could be if I KEEP practicing it!

Several people have asked "What now?" What will I be doing now that I've done 100 crows? Well, here's what I'm thinking... 

First of all, I want to encourage all of you to crow with me today. If you're not there yet, practice!

Secondly, I will be finishing out 2015 with more crows. So it won't just be 100 days of crow. It'll be 116 days of crow! Whoo!

I'm going to next be working towards more funky crows and arm balances.

Starting Jan 1, I'm going to begin my journey to inversions. I want to headstand,  handstand, scorpion, pincha. So, my daily pics will be a little more varied. But my goal will be to hit the mat every day in 2016.

Or my driveway. Or the trail. Or some weird rock that calls to me. Because I can crow anywhere!

Happy Crowing, Friends!

Plan December 12-17

So, I didn't stick to my plan last week. Life got in the way....
Rather than shopping again, here's my recipies shifted a bit.

Saturday
Run 1-2
180 squats
Corefit
Day 97 crowpose
Coffee & grits
Baked mac & "cheese" (ELYGAD)

Sunday
Run 1-2
Day 98 crowpose
Smoothie
Baked mac & "cheese"
Smoky zucchini cakes (HHmp)

Monday
Run 4
180 squats
Corefit
day 99 crowpose
Smoothie
Smoky zucchini cakes
Veggie pot pie (ELYGAD)

Tuesday
Run 1-2
190 squats
Corefit
day 100 crowpose!
Smoothie
Veggie pot pie
Almond broccoli pasta (HHmp)

Wednesday
Run 4
200 squats
Corefit
Smoothie
Almond broccoli pasta
Creamy potato curry (fok)

Thursday
Run 4
200 squats
Corefit
Smoothie
Creamy potato curry
Asian falafels (HHmp)

Plan Dec 7-13

Monday
Run 4
150 squats
Corefit
Muffin/banana/tofu
Leftovers 
Potato latkes (baked) (HH)

Tuesday
Run 1-2 miles
160 squats
Corefit
Muffin/banana/tofu
Latkes leftovers
Asian falafels (HHMP)

Wednesday
Run 4 miles
170 squats
Muffin/banana/tofu
Asian falafels
Baked mac & "cheese" (ELYGAD)

Thursday
Run 1-2 miles
180 squats
Corefit
Muffin/banana/tofu
Baked mac & "cheese"
Smoky zucchini cakes (HHMP)

Friday
Run 6 miles
Corefit
Muffin/banana/tofu
Smoky zucchini cakes
Veggie pot pie (ELYGAD)

Saturday
Run 1-2 miles
Corefit
180 squats
Muffin/banana/tofu
Veggie pot pie
Creamy potato curry (foK)

Sunday
Run 1-2 miles
Muffin/banana/tofu
Leftovers
Almond broccoli pasta (HHMP)