What a beautiful Monday!
I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend as much as Phil & I. When I said we wanted to get back out on the mountain and prove ourselves (to ourselves), I wasn’t lying. We took it relatively easy Saturday and totally blew past where we thought we’d get to on Sunday…with a little help from our friends. After a lunch time pow wow we decided to join our them yet again and tackle some tougher runs. We dove in head first and went down some of the more challenging terrain – it felt great! 
I of course couldn’t have survived the 6hr ski days without my yoga practice – starting the morning with some mediation / light vinyasa and finishing the day with some yin to stretch things back out. Now, it’s back to the power yoga grind with 11 classes this week (2 advanced, 1 beginner, 8 all levels).
Obviously there is no shortage of physical activity here, haha, but the dietary routine is on point too…it has to be to stay happy/healthy! We’ve got 7 more weeks to make some real changes & it’s feeling great!
Week 9
“You’re off to great places. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way”
Exercise Routine
- weights/cardio 3x wk + yoga 2x wk (Phil)
- daily yoga + cycling/jogging 3xwk (Me)
Dietary Routine
Breakfast
- Banana Pecan Bread
- Multi-Grain Cereal w/banana & lowfat milk
- Scrambled eggs & veggies and sprouted toast
Lunch
- Vegetarian Taco Salad
- Tomato Soup w/parmesan crutons
- Grilled Chicken or Shrimp w/brown rice & veggies
Dinner
- Protein Shake
- Squid ink pasta w/garlic and herbs
- Mixed greens w/pumpkin seeds, almonds, dried cranberries, feta & homemade dressing
Snacks
- Popcorn
- Apple w/peanut butter
- Hummus w/cucumber & pita chips
’til next time, keep smiling! 🙂
This week is definitely a bit bumpy but we’re half way through and I am confident that things are smoothing themselves out. With my new transition of working for the studio there is a bit of a learning curve and I am finding some of it harder to navigate than I anticipated…similar to how I felt on the mountain this weekend.
While I mentioned Phil and I pushed past our comfort zone during our ski weekend, I didn’t include the fact ski patrol had to help me navigate a portion of one of our runs. We had been progressing to more and more challenging runs decided to take our friends up on a little guided tour through a run they felt we could handle. We went up for round 2 and our friends decided to take a detour to harder terrain and when we hit a fork in the trail and went the wrong way. We were doing okay until I ended up stopped. I was staring down at completely unknown terrain after only a few days on skiis and felt frozen. I was immediately aware of all the potential ways in which I could injure myself and ruin my career…not so motivating. A ski patrol dude happened to be riding by & stopped to see if I was okay. He noticed I clearly wasn’t and immediately began to start calming me down….He gave me the option of radioing in a sled to take me down but said he thought I could do it. So with a deep breath I turn my skis down mountain and made my way down. 
The point of the story and the theme of this Wellness Wednesday is listening to the voice inside and deciding where it’s coming from. There are so many fears, apprehensions, insecurities, etc… that can keep us from pushing past our comfort zone and while it’s important to listen to your body’s limits, its doubly important to decide when it’s fear. Taking a few deep breaths, reminding yourself of the basic facts, and evaluating what’s really going on can be hard but incredibly rewarding. In the end I was able to realize I have much more ability than I was giving myself credit for and I could make it down runs like that again.
Well, we survived the birthday weekend shenanigans in Tahoe and Phil & I really challenged ourselves on the slopes. I’m feeling motivated after the rush of pushing past my comfort zone on the mountain and hoping to carry that momentum into this week!
Neither Phil nor I are venturing near a scale until the beginning on March but we know we’re on the right track because we’re both feel good – indulged this weekend but didn’t go crazy, bumped up the intensity of our cardio a bit, and are trying to cut back on booze during the week. It’s a double boost of motivation because we’re officially in the
Lenten season & now more than ever we are supposed to work on being the best version of ourselves. We were both considering ‘giving up’ something for Lent but since we’re already on this healthy living grind we’re kicking it into high gear instead…we are half way through our ‘2016 healthiest year ever’ kick start and I
While some locals may say this is a bit of a tourist thing, I would disagree – from the food, to the service, to the view, everything was wonderful! Top of the Mark is located on the top floor of the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel in Nob Hill and boasts unparalleled views of San Francisco. Phil and I took our time and coursed out our meal, sipping some delicious California sparkling and taking in the city scape…talk about relaxing.
Especially since we moved to San Francisco we try to make our dining out experiences special…back home we went out to eat 5-6 times a month but with the higher cost of living out here, we’ve cut that back to about 1-2 a month. Since we don’t do it as much we try to go places we haven’t tried, make each experience unique, and use food as a way to get to know our new city a little better. If you’re an SF local or if you’re just visiting, you’ve got to check out brunch at Top of the Mark or even just pop into their bar – you won’t be disappointed!
The fun of the weekend spills over into today for Phil and I since he has off from work and I have a few more weeks until I start teaching regularly Monday mornings! We’re starting the morning with protein shakes and a jog, followed by some rooftop yoga, and some spring cleaning! With the weather improving day by day we’re taking this time to do a little head to toe cleaning of our mini home.
The indulgence from this weekend definitely takes the cake! Phil and I shared an amazing brunch at Top of the Mark around the corner Sunday, we ate an amazing dinner Saturday night (prepared by yours truly), and indulged in lots of bubbles! It was GLORIOUS…but after I finished teaching my yoga class last night I felt like a big tub of lard, hahaha! I am fairly confident I put back on 2 of the 5+ pounds but I’m not worried: I am taking probiotics for the next couple of days, drinking apple cider vinegar & lemon tea, and being more conscious of my dairy intake (cheese is my weakness 
)! 
We’re in week 7 which means we’re almost half way through and it hasn’t really felt like a struggle to be honest…maybe at the half way mark we need to kick it up a notch!
pe everyone is excited for a romantic weekend, haha!! Of course, I am kicking things off with a lovely evening of FREE yoga and exclusive shopping! That’s right, tonight is the night I teach at HAVEN collective yoga’s trunk show hosted by the beautiful & talented Jacqueline Palmer. I am so excited to slip into their amazing contour leggings and share my offering with the Bay Area beauties in attendance. But enough about that, today’s Foodie Friday is sort of a Valentine’s themed because I made this recipe specially for my handsome husband. He asked me to pick up some zucchini bread ingredients earlier this week and they sort of just sat there. So I took the hit, haha, and got to work concocting a healthy but still delicious zucchini muffin for us both to enjoy this weekend & coming week.
Just like everything I make, this still needs some tweaking, but certainly good enough to share as is…I present:
I was definitely skeptical at first but I must admit, I could become addicted to these moist, delicious, little wonders!! I hope you and yours find yourselves inspired to get creative with some of your favorite treats this weekend!!
We’re half way through the week and I hit a bit of a road block today. Well, at first I thought it was but then I realized it was just another opportunity to practice…practice putting my ego in check. I had planned to post something else today but after this morning’s experience, I had to make this week’s Wellness Wednesday about putting your ego in check. 
Soooo, I subbed a class for one of our veteran teachers who happens to be leaving at the end of the week. She has quite a loyal following and we’re all very happy for her but sad to see her go…ANYWAY: one of our students came into class this morning, looked at me, and said “you’re teaching?!?!” sighing as I confirmed what seemed to be her greatest disappointment to date. Oh course I immediately made it about myself, texting Phil and my family about how shitty it felt to have a student say that to you right before you have to teach a class. Realizing I obviously needed to get out of that mindset I took a deep breath and told myself, it’s not about you, and really, it wasn’t. This student was looking forward to saying goodbye to her teacher today and that was why she was disappointed NOT because I was teaching…we in fact had an awesome class (her words)!
I’m excited to share this weekly dose of motivation because we’re both starting to see differences. As I have been sharing we’re still enjoying our lives, indulging in moderation, and we’re both down 5+ pounds. More than that, we’re both noticing a bit more muscle definition and feeling great! 
We had a wonderful weekend in Tahoe skiing and enjoying the amazing views! This week, in addition to my studio classes at 
But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. Here’s what we have lined up for this week to keep us motivated and making positive changes. It’s week 6 of 16 and we’re feeling like we could do this forever!
Livingleen 