Monthly Archives: January 2014

21 Day Sugar Detox Update and Why I Had One Cheat Meal

I can’t believe I’m on day 16 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox!  I’m feeling great overall.  Physically I feel like I have been less bloated than normal these past couple of weeks.  Changing my diet along with practicing yoga more has led me to feel a little bit slimmer.  I didn’t weigh myself before the detox because I’m really not too concerned with a number on the scale.  As long as I’m feeling good, then I’m happy with the results!

I was going to title this post, “It’s okay to slip – up” or “I get knocked down, but get up again”, but I realized that would be lying.  I didn’t accidentally slip…I intentionally decided ‘I am going to cheat tonight.’  So here is why I had one cheat meal:

It was Saturday night.  I just got out of my very first day of Yoga Teacher Training and I was feeling amazing.  I was in the best mood and so happy!  Andy told me that our friends were coming to town to go to Capital Grille for dinner.  Now Capital Grille isn’t just any restaurant, it’s one of the best steak houses in the country!

This is when I decided that I was going to have a cheat night.  I figured it was an overall pretty fantastic day and not to mention one that I will probably remember forever…so steak, cheese, and wine it was!

We had prosciutto wrapped mozzarella drizzled with balsamic.

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For dinner I had a dry aged steak over a truffle (something) puree.  That’s pretty awful that I already forget what exactly it was huh?  All I know it that it tasted delicious!

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For sides I ate lots of grilled asparagus!

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I had a few glasses of red wine!

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And most importantly had a great night with great people.

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So yes, I cheated for one meal on the 21 Day Sugar Detox.  I am okay with that, because I am a person who can get right back to business the next morning.  Everyone is different.  Some people may slip up and it may lead to more and more “cheating.”  We have to remember we are human and not perfect.  Yes I did make this 21 day commitment but I was okay with taking a night to enjoy myself and time with good friends to celebrate just absolutely amazing life can be in certain moments.

How easily do you get back on track after “cheating”?

 

 

Yoga Teacher Training – Weekend One

I can’t believe my first weekend of yoga teacher training is here and gone.  It was honestly an amazing weekend full of smiles, making new friends, and “aha” moments.  It fed my soul and I left on Sunday knowing I made the right choice to go on this journey.

photo 1 (4)The loft we practice in.

Yes, there are still questions and curiosities of wow will I actually be able to teach this to others?  Is there really that much that goes into the simple standing pose of tadasana?  But I have to believe that this is a process and trust this process.

I am writing this post because I know when I was researching Yoga Teacher Trainings for myself, I wanted as much information as possible. What do you learn, what does the day to day look like, etc.  So I present to you Yoga Teacher Training – Weekend One.

Saturday

Introductions: We all went around and introduced ourselves and said what we were most excited for.  I’m awful when it comes to this type of thing.  I said I am most excited to deepen my practice and learn how to teach that to others (duh Kelsey that’s what the entire training is intended to do).

Manual: We also received our manuals which are awesome.  Mitchell and Tracey (our amazing teachers) created this 150+ manual over the years but told us this year it is by far the most detailed and elaborate.  It has pictures of every yoga pose we are going to learn – so cool!

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Practice: We started with an hour long practice to get our bodies warm and moving.

Alignment:  We learned about the spine, the different parts to it, and the natural curve that we are always trying to maintain through yoga practice.  Mitchell and Tracy broke down tadasana, urdvha hastasana, uttanasana (the beginning of Sun A) and demonstrated correct alignment (and also incorrect alignment).  It’s crazy how much goes into correctly standing in this pose – there are four pages of it in the manual!

Discussion: What is Yoga?  We had a great discussion about the history of Yoga and what is has transformed in to today and even how that can be different for everyone.  I am excited to learn where Yoga originated from and how it’s evolved.  I feel like there is SO much to learn.  Did you know that Yoga is 3500 years old, but the physical hatha practice didn’t come to be until about 600 years ago?

Pranayama:  Pranayama is the practice of consciously breathing.  Many yogi’s know the one most popular pranayama, the ujjayi breath.  Ujjayi is when you breathe in and out of your nose, narrowing the back of the throat.  You’ve probably heard Yoga instructors refer to this breath as if you are fogging a mirror.  We practiced this towards the end of our Saturday.

Sunday

Meditation: Tracy led us through a meditation.  At the end she told us it was 15 minutes!  It definitely didn’t feel that long.  I hope every time we practice mediation it feels that way!  I know I’ve heard stories of people really finding meditation challenging.  So far so good!

Practice:  We had an awesome 90 minute practice to start our Sunday.  It felt awesome.

Sun Salutation Alignment:  This was one of my favorite learning parts of the weekend.  Mitchell and Tracy broke down caturanga, upward dog, cobra, down dog, and all of the transitions in between.  Learning the correct alignment of all of these poses has been so eye opening. You realize that you can easily do poses incorrectly for years.  Until I started coming to this studio I was basically doing caturanga wrong. Sometimes you really have to un-learn bad habits!

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Mythical Interpretation:  We learned the story of Ganesha, one of the Hindu Gods.  This was a part of the weekend that I probably wasn’t expecting but really enjoyed.  Mitchel told us two different stories.  They’re playful and entertaining stories that he translates and completely relates back to life, even modern every day life.

Reflection

This first weekend and introduction into Yoga Teacher Training was amazing.  It’s so refreshing to learn familiar things, unfamiliar things, and put yourself in a position to be open to it all.  It’s hard to put in to words how excited I am for the next five months but I look forward to sharing the journey!

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Chorizo and Eggs with Heirloom Tomato Salsa

I don’t think I am a very self observant person…if that’s a thing.  I’m very observant of things around me, but not of myself.  In simple terms….I’m on day nine of the 21 Day Sugar Detox and I’m not sure what differences I see.

I was pretty tired the first week, and just trying to get used to cutting out dairy, some sugar, and alcohol.  Now that I’m on week 2 I’m feeling fine with my new eating habits just don’t think I see much changes.  I still have annoying breakouts on my chin and have been a little bit moody from time to time.  Maybe it’s just the time of the month 🙂

Anyways, what I do know is that this detox has made me cook some great new recipes!  Most of them have been from Diane’s 21 Day Sugar Detox book but I came up with this one all on my own!  It’s simple and has made a great dinner for the past few nights.  I think I need recipe naming tips though…Chorizo and Eggs with Heirloom Tomato Salsa…needs work.

Chorizo and Eggs with Heirloom Tomato Salsa 

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  • 1 lb Ground Chorizo
  • 2 Eggs
  • Organic Mini Heirloom Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Lime
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro

First prepare your heirloom tomato salsa.  Cut the tomatoes into fourths and throw in a bowl.  Once they are all cut up squeeze your lime over them.  Cut up your cilantro and add along with salt, pepper, and garlic to taste.

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Now take your chorizo and put it in a pan over medium heat.  Cook for 7-10 minutes or until brown and cooked through.  Make two spots for your eggs and crack them into the pan.  I got this idea from Juli at PaleOMG.  Cook the eggs over easy.  Once the eggs are done scoop a serving of chorizo onto a plate with your eggs on top.  Add your salsa on top of the eggs.  I also added some avocado!

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It may not look pretty, but it tastes very pretty!

Are you doing any type of detox or diet right now?  Are you seeing differences?

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