Catching up

Since starting my online Anatomy and Physiology course, I've had a lot less time for yoga, coffee, friends, the dog, and basically everything other than studying (including you, blog). On a good day, I spend 3 hours reading, reviewing and quizzing myself. Then I put on 1000000 layers to shovel my car out of the snow, and go to work.

Luckily, I get to learn cool things like why nicotine makes smokers cough, and less cool things like the fact that proteasomes contain numerous enzymes that break down denatured or damaged proteins. Woohoo!! Science!!!!

Hi dog... sorry I've been neglecting you...

On the Green Smoothie front, I've finally reached the point where I'm finally not hungry 20 minutes later. I've begun putting ground flax and some sort of nut butter in my smoothies, which really helps with the fullness factor. In fact, I'm usually not hungry until noon, which is a HUGE change for me! But with my tighter schedule, I'm really happy to be able to sit down and concentrate all morning without a growling stomach.

As for my evenings, I've suddenly had a lot more single-lady-eat-in-front-of-the-tv-nights. I was surprised that a lot of my meals were actually pretty delicious:

Roasted Eggplant and chickpea tomato sauce with spaghettini tossed in pesto.

Mashed potato with salad and leftover falafel.

Grilled eggplant, roasted green beans on a bed of mashed potatoes.

If you can't tell, I've been on a serious mashed potato kick these days. It must be the cold weather. I just bought another bag of potatoes to play with in the next few days, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Winter is here...

Winter is here, and I'm pretty sure I only like it because the cold only makes my daily Starbucks caramel brulee lattee taste SO much better.

Otherwise, my back and arms are getting the workout of a lifetime clearing the snow off my driveway. Snow is FREAKING heavy, people. HEAVY.

At least Two-Two is loving the weather. She jumps through the snow like a little rabbit. I guess that's what you gotta do when there's snow going up higher than you have leg for.

Because of the snow, I joined the rest of North Toronto at Canadian Tire to buy some salt for my walkway and winter windshield wipers so that I can drive and see at the same time. Look at me being all winter safe and responsible!

I saw this sign on the side of the salt tub and literally LOL'd.

I don't have any babies (just the canine one, whom I'm sure can manage to maneuver herself away from a bucket of salt), so I'm sorry for being insensitive, if this comes off as such. But this bucket came up to my KNEE. HOW CAN A BABY FALL INTO A KNEE-HIGH BUCKET?! If the baby is tall enough to climb up the bucket (and not tip it over), fall INTO the bucket (which is conveniently filled with salty drowny liquid), then it should have the capacity to either call for help or muscle itself out.

You've got to admit, the warning sign on the bucket is really REALLY funny. That baby just looks like it's grabbing salt to eat...

ANYWAY, SUBJECT CHANGE....

Green smoothie update?

Still rockin' the smoothe-a-day routine. Sometimes it's breakfast, sometimes it's lunch, and sometimes it's 1/3 of a dinner. But it always, ALWAYS still leaves me hungry about half an hour later.

Plus, that waking up with more energy in the morning thing? Gone.

I'm back to sleepy, reluctant, sore and lazy. Welcome back, my true self.

There's a deer in there!

Coming back to Toronto from nearly a year spent abroad, the jet lag has hit me hard this week. I've been waking up constantly at 4AM, wide awake, unable to fall back asleep.

Luckily, exercise is supposed to help with jet lag, so I went for a run this morning.

I didn't bring this little girl, though. It was still dark outside when I left, and she showed no interest leaving her warm bed.

I'm glad I didn't end up bringing her because I saw two deer on my run (she would've scared them away)! 

It doesn't look like it, but I swear there are deer in these pictures!!!

This one was a young male. I could see the beginning of antlers.

This was a female deer. She's quite deep among the trees, but she's there!

My stats: 

We're coming home, Toronto!

I cannot believe it's been 10 months since we've left home!

And I cannot believe it's time to go back! This last month around Asia has been an absolute whirlwind.

Our paws feet have been all over Asia; Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. And within each of those places, we've truly done our duty as good tourists and took massive amounts of transport/patience/lining up to get that perfect tourist picture. I'm officially DONE with living out of a backpack! DONE!!

I'm looking forward to driving a car again, walking on real sidewalks, practicing yoga daily in a real yoga space (basically, anywhere except a hotel room) and having some good vegetarian home cooked meals.

I'm also beyond excited to see this little lady:

Remember that face? Yup! She'll soon be back regularly on the blog!

Also, running! I can't wait to begin running regularly, along my favourite paths and trails. Add in Two-Two and running all together and I'm probably going to explode with happiness!

See you soon, Toronto!

Oh JEEZ what HAPPENED last night?!

No. No, I didn't get trashed and have to be rescued from the bathroom (where I passed out), carried out of the club, eventually collapsed on the dirty sidewalk in a pile of disgust and humiliation while my friends called a cab.

That never happened to me.

ANYWAY, those days are OVER and I'm trying to figure out this healthy living stuff, right? Because it makes me feel better, more capable, stronger, and generally like a ninja kicking ass at life. So this week I cut sugary treats and desserts out of my diet. 

The results had been GREAT (especially since I have had NO knee pain, not even a bit)!

Then, last night happened....

Steven and I had tickets to see the Australian Ballet perform Vanguard. After work, we got takeaway Thai food from a restaurant down the road. We had to chow down pretty quickly before we rushed to the Sydney Opera House for the ballet.

It was a stunning performance and I loved every minute of it!

It made me want to do this:

But when I woke up this morning, I felt more or less like a truck hit me.

During my morning Ashtanga practice, my concentration was off, my hamstrings were stiff as ice, and my arms felt wobbly nearly throughout. By the time I got to Marichiyasana C, I was FINALLY feeling more like my regular self, but not as flexible or strong. (Drop backs were hellish)

It's hard to pick out what made such a big difference in my practice this morning, as a whole lot of factors were at play last night.

1) I ate take-out Thai, which probably had lots of added sugar, salt, and oil.
2) I spent much of my Friday work day sitting at my desk.
3) I wore a dress to the ballet, so I had to sit like a lady for the 3 hours of the show.
4) I had a glass of wine during intermission.

I know I've said it before, but it really does bear repeating: food is the single largest effector of change in your body. I'm surrounded by people preaching on about how you must fuel your body for your activities, and you can't expect to build muscle and strength without proper food. This week, I guess the message is FINALLY hitting home.

I'm no longer a young, limber 22 year old who can eat whatever she wants with no consequences, especially if I want to enjoy my yoga practice and run injury-free for the rest of my life.

I'm not too sure where I'm going with all of this--after all, I've already cut out meat and sugary treats. When I figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know.

Sorry for being such a downer on your Saturday morning!

Here is a picture of my dog to cheer you up:

Works every time!

Aaand, No, I shouldn't run

After my post this morning, I went off to Ashtanga, did my practice all the way to my last pose, Garbha Pindasana, which has been my last pose FOREVER.

David Robson looked at me and asked, "Do you still run?"

I'm pretty sure I never told him that I started running.

I nodded. It's been about 2 1/2 weeks since the last time I technically ran, but I've done lots of walking since. (Yes, walking up and down hills until you break a sweat still counts! Especially when you do it for 45+ mins and your hips are sore the day after.)

After backbends, he pressed on my back and said, "You're at an edge. You have to choose whether or not to give up what's tightening your hips, and choose something less stressful for your legs."

"So it's the running that's the problem?"

"Yes. You start opening the hips one day, and the next day they tighten back up again," he explained.

So it's confirmed. What I've guessed for weeks now, since I've upped my mileage to 10K+ a week.

Running makes Ashtanga hurt, hard, impossible.

For my hips at least, especially with my bum knee. (friggin half-lotus impossibleness)

I'm bummed. So I took a longing-for-the-outdoors picture with the Two-Bum.

Pizza night and the Mysore morning after

This morning, I woke up groggy and tired. I didn't want to sleep any more, but nothing in my body wanted to bend, stretch or push either.

I'm ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN this feeling had nothing to do with the activities of the previous night.

PIZZA PARTY DEUX: 

Spinach, red onions, roasted eggplant, mush-a-rooms, cherry tomatoes, peppers, tomato sauce (with about 8 cloves of garlic).

1) Crust

2) Toppings

3) Bake

4) Attempt to peel the cheese-glue off the tin foil and free the pizza!

5) Pizza cheers because you can't wait for the rest of the dinner party it smells so good! (Sorry about my face. Gawds...)

6) "Traffic was horrible!"

7) "Would Sandy notice if I stole her dogs?"

By 10 PM, us girls were glued to TLC's Breaking Amish while the boys held their heads in their hands and pretended not to fall asleep.

Understandably, the next morning was tough on my old creaky bones.

It took a great deal of determination to drag myself off to Mysore.

I made it to Ardha Padma Paschimottanasana and wanted to give up. Every jump back hurt. I felt nauseous, dizzy and tired. I wanted to give up.

I forced myself through to backbends.

I've been able to comfortably drop back (fall back, catch myself on my hands, Thanks, Gravity!) for a few days now.

But coming back up is another story failure.

I push.

I fall.

Push.

Fall.

Repeat, repeat, repeat until my arms feel jello-y from catching myself.

Today was even worse. I was nearly ready to give up, so I sat up and watched the room around me.

A girl in the front row dropped back, pushed herself back up, and did it again. And again. And again.

Something clicked. Something about the way she pushed her legs down, something about the way her body floated up...

My favourite yoga teacher always says, "We learn by watching," and it was never more true than today.

I tried it again, and lifted up as high up as I've ever gone.

And fell back down.

I tried it again, and again, until I was frustrated and exhausted. I thought to myself, "No more falling back, GET ALL THE WAY UP."

And it worked.

So I did it again.

And again.

And by the time I was done, I forgot how tired I was when I came in. I couldn't even really comprehend that I had lifted up from a drop back all by myself.

I finished the closing sequence and lay down for rest.

Leaving the studio, Jill, the girl at front desk asked me, "Did you get up?"

"What do you mean?"

"From the backbends," she explained. "I was watching you. You lifted so high up, and fell back down. After a while I couldn't bear to watch anymore."

I laughed. "Yeah, I got up eventually."

She beamed. "Congratulations! That's huge!"

In a way, it is. My body achieved something it hadn't done before.

But facing that fear of falling back? Pushing through that fear and trusting in my instincts?

A surfboard and some waves taught me that years ago.

Gifts galore!

This month has been hard on the wallet.

It's not only a month of birthdays, but in a few weeks, Steven and I will be on an airplane to Australia for a year.

That's a long time.

That's a Christmas, a New Years, a whole year of birthdays and weddings and things we'll miss.

So I got my sister this:

She's already run with it a couple of times. She says the GPS is really, really slow to load, so she hasn't actually used the GPS function of it yet (WHICH WAS THE WHOLE POINT AGGHHHH GARMIN!!!)

I got Steven a bunch of stuff for his birthday yesterday.

It started with a travel pack: Visine, floss, lip balm, toilet seat covers, hand wipes.

Then, sunscreen for his delicate baby's bottom skin, and underwear.

Because all of that makes sense together. Right?

The piece de resistance:

A waterproof camera! 

Steven was surprised. When he first brought up the idea of a waterproof camera, I played it really cool.

Steven: I think a waterproof camera is a good idea! We'll be in and out of water, traveling, you know. It might be good to have a camera that can take the abuse.

Me: Nooo, it's too expensive. I have a waterproof casing for one of my film cameras. We can just use that.

Steven: But I'm sure we can find it for cheap on kijiji or something.

Me: Bad idea. Don't waste your money.

Steven got the most badass cake for his birthday ever.

Those cupcakes are glued onto the mini cake with frosting.

Whomever thought of this is genius.

In other news, Two-Two got a hair cut:

Big Brown Eyes.

:)

My new favourite hobby

Forget running.

I'm taking up roller skating so I can be as rad as the old timers I saw a few nights ago:

The picture doesn't do justice to the rockin' rollers out there, jammin' to the tunes while spinning around on their skates, doing cross steps and hops. Simply put, kicking our young asses out of the park completely!

Although we didn't dance nor skate the part, we looked it!

The night before that, we decided to have a pizza party.

Steven and I got started first because we got hungry.

We made The Perfect Pizza on our first try. This mini 5-or-6-bite baby:

It had the perfect blend of cheeses, mushrooms, sauce, and garlic. The cornmeal at the bottom of the crust gave it such a beautiful, fresh crunch.

Unfortunately, we were never able to replicate perfection.

Pizza #2 in a cast iron:

For some reason, we messed up All Important Sauce-to-Cheese ratio and it didn't taste the same.

How do people do it?!

In doggie news, the new kid is enjoying our longer afternoon walks as much as the Two.

They plop down at my side upon coming home, all tired and cuddly.

However, Fu-Fu is a little disaster when he's feeling rebellious.

He got into the garbage one morning, and got a big a-scolding when I got home. He's done this 2 or 3 times now, and we're thinking he needs to be tied up when we leave the house in the mornings.

How do you teach your dog not to get into the garbage?

Two-Two had never really messed with it. She is so sensitive to criticism that she stays by Fu's side while he's in time out, clearly ashamed of herself while Fu looks like he's the king of the world. Grr...

Yoga Burnout?

I woke up yesterday and I didn't want to do yoga.

For me, that is weird.

WEIRD. 

I almost always want to do yoga--I love it as much as I love eating.

More and more often, I'm second guessing what I'm doing with my life. There is no job security with teaching yoga, no benefits, no ladders to climb or advance. You work to be a better and better teacher, but you don't really know if you're doing "life" right.

Luckily, I came downstairs and I saw this:

So I felt better about my life.

Yoga is really the only job that lets me spend tons of time with her, with my running, with my yoga, with all the people I love and all the activities I can't bear to live without.

And it gives me tons of time to do my second favourite thing in the whole wide world...

Eat:

Tonight, we went to one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants. 

Everything is vegetarian, even the sushi!

It's Buddhist vegetarian, which means everything is garlic and onion-free.

I don't get it either, so don't ask me.

After dinner, we went to Yogen Fruz, the classic "mall-frozen-yogurt-place".  I found one north of the city that's eat-in, so we had to visit, especially with the warm days of summer nearly behind us.

Bad news, they were closing when we walked in.

Good news, Randy, the nicest owner ever, said he'd make us froyo anyway.

FROYO FTW!

Bad news, he ran out of mochi balls.

This is Steven's sad face. Zero mochi balls.

My "no-mochi-ball" face was more like "falling-to-my-knees-screaming-WHYYY-DO-YOU-HATE-ME-WORLD" face.

Dramatic? ME? Nevah.

Yogen Fruz has superior yogurt. Hands down.

Real fruit.

No ice chunks.

And it doesn't melt into pools of sweetened water.

Now if only we had mochi balls.

Randy, make the mochi balls happen.

Piriformis pain in the A$$!

My right butt cheek is getting a lot of attention these days.

I woke up the other day with a pretty severe piriformis pain, coming up from my hip and into my lower back. While lying flat, I could feel the tension singing through my hip, like a bee buzzing in my ear.

IT'S ANNOYING! AND IT HURTS!

So I tried all the stretches I know for the piriformis, and nothing worked!

Then, at the yoga studio, I asked some crazy lady to put her knee in my bum. She put me on a foam roller instead.

And it was good.

It was very good.

The next day, I woke up with much less pain. Already it felt like it was getting better.

So, I tried to replicate it at home with a yoga block.

*grunt* *shuffle* *grunt* *shimmy* *grunt*

"AGGHHHH I GOT IT I FOUND IT I FOUUUNDDD ITT UUGGGHHH"

Two-Two got worried.


She decided that I needed a donut to make my piriformis feel better.

Take a good look at this bad boy. Because I ate two.

Two.

Two-Two wanted a romp before dinner, so she lead the way.

When we got home, I spent some more time digging the edge of my yoga block into my hip.

All this self-treatment is starting to create some weird bruises on my bum.

So, to make me feel better, the strawberry-jam-loving boy took me for Soon Tofu. If you've never had Soon Tofu, here's what it looks like.

Like all Korean food, it starts with appetizers.

Then, you get a steamy pot of melty tofu in a luscious soup filled with green veggies.

The rice comes in a stone pot (see below).

Then, your server pours water into the hot stone pot to make a rice porridge to consume after the tofu. I never finish this part.

I find it bland compared to the yumminess of the previous parts of the meal.

And now I'm eating cereal and watching home reno shows. And possibly definitely digging a yoga block into my hip.