7 Quick Takes #47

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This is going to be really fast because I need to go nap. I'm teaching at 6:30am 3 mornings a week now instead of only 2, and it's really hard for me to get up at 5am 3 days a week if I don't get enough sleep somehow. Naps have really been standing in lieu of going to bed early since we have so much going on most evenings.

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Speaking of teaching Pilates, if you are in the Plano area and would like to try out our Megaformer Pilates classes, we are running a great special on VOICE Daily Deals here. I recommend the 3-pack deal. Come see us!

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vIf you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you know that I dyed my hair pink. Here's a quick pick I took just now wearing very little makeup.

I have discovered that this haircolor really looks better if I wear some kind of color on my lips but, oops, I wasn't doing that in this picture.

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Hopefully this will be invisible to you, the readers, but I'll probably be migrating this blog to WordPress (it's on Blogger now) some time in the next few months. I am worried and reluctant to make this move, but there are reasons bigger than my personal preference that are involved. Some of the primary goals are to make the site much more usable for my readers, and make commenting easier.

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Everyone here is freaked out about the flu, how about where you are? My friend EcoKaren did a great post today about natural ways to prevent the flu, aside from or in addition to vaccination. I highly recommend checking it out! As for handwashing, remember that last week I blogged about how to make your own antibacterial hand soap from essential oils and castille soap.

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It's January 11 and I have already completed one of the items on my To Do List: making our family blog books for 2011 and 2012. They take about 2 weeks to arrive from the publisher. Can't wait to see how they turned out!

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Have to give one last shout-out to my sponsor, Happy Feet, Healthy Body! Along the lines of flu prevention, remember that she has hand sanitizer pens made from essential oils. If you've just started a New Year's workout routine (or you take one of my classes, haha!), I highly recommend her Lavender bath salts - lavender soothes sore muscles and will help you sleep at night.


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Well that's all for this week, be sure to visit Conversion Diary for links to more 7 Quick Takes Fridays.

To Do List 2012: How did I do?

Oh look, it's almost 2013! Time to look back at my To Do List from 2012 and see if I accomplished any of it.

1. Eat better.
To make this a little more measurable, I'll just say that I want to get back to eating at least 5-7 whole fruits and veggies per day.
Sort of done. I have been doing a lot better as far as cutting out the extra sugar and carbs but I'm probably still not up to 5-7 veggies a day. Mostly because I give all the fruits and veggies in the house to my kids, and there are rarely any left for me. Those things are expensive! But I am still drinking my NingXia Red, which is packed with antioxidants, so I think that helps.

2. Resume meal planning.
I did pretty good with this probably 6 months out of the year, off and on.  At one point, I got depressed about how much money we spend on groceries and stopped even trying. Then we found out that Little Sir is dairy and soy intolerant and that threw another wrench in the planning because I can't use Food On The Table or eMeals since they all contain dairy ingredients that I can't always substitute. I am currently off the wagon. This is going to show up on the 2013 list again, dang it.

3. Regular exercise.
I want to aim for 3 days a week.
Oh thank God, one that I can actually cross off the list. Thanks to becoming a Lagree Fitness instructor at Ultimate Pilates Plano, I am now in better shape than I was before the kids. I actually do have six-pack abs, not lying. I would love to take pictures but that seems really indecent for a family-friendly blog. OK, I did take pictures in the mirror once but I haven't shown anyone. However, this is not bragging because it is very hard work and continues to be very challenging. It's not like I am saying "oh look, I have magically great abs! Whee! Be jealous!". Nooooo, I write routines that are specifically heavy on moves targeting my transverse abdominal muscles and my obliques, and I do those routines for 50 minutes, at least 3 times a week. And I must mention, I teach these routines in my classes so if you want to work on your post-baby body like I did...you know where I am!

4. Attempt monetization of this blog
"Attempt monetization" is not a very measurable goal, but let's just say I'll research and apply for some ad networks and work on ways that I could increase my readership. Such as participating in blogger link-ups.
First of all, I would like to give yet another shout-out to my wonderful sponsor Tanya of Happy Feet, Healthy Body who has an Etsy shop selling handmade bath and health products that are completely free of toxins but also provide the natural healing powers of essential oils. Please consider supporting this blog by purchasing her products! She has an excellent headache remedy and an amazing lavender lip balm that I use every night. And if you are in the Dallas area, she can even arrange for local delivery rather than paying for shipping.

I feel like I have done some positive work in this direction. I have also joined up with a number of other green bloggers via The Green Sisterhood and some closed Facebook groups. I actually don't participate in a ton of link-ups, but that is because I am very picky about my topics and I don't do a lot of giveaways. I feel like I am heading in the right direction and I'm looking forward to 2013!

5. Start potty learning with my son
This is pretty much done! Now that we've addressed the stomach issues of dairy and soy intolerance and provided both negative and positive incentives (positive alone did not inspire him), he has very few pee or poop accidents. Well, thank goodness that only took about 7 months.

6. Decorate the kids' rooms
I think they look a lot less bare now. I put the animal and letter decals up in my son's room and hung his name picture and handprints, and he accumulated a number of additional toys and books to fill up some of the extra space. I put up a lovely tree decal in my daughter's room and bought some curtains. She also got a bookcase with bins like brother's and a bureau for her clothes. I am sure I could do more but there's not a ton of space. I like what we have right now!

7. Plant a garden
Hahaha, that was pretty much a failure except for the bell peppers, but there is a good reason that I didn't specify that it had to be a successful garden. I ended up getting enough bell peppers that, when chopped, fill up a plastic baggie (I know, PLASTIC, I lose my green cred yet again) in the freezer. That is a significant crop considering how small they were. But they died in the snow on Christmas Day, so that's done. Since we have such a nice raised bed setup now, I'll try again next year.

On group fitness and motivation

It's been almost 5 months now since I became a certified Lagree Fitness Instructor and things are a little slow-going at the studio. As much as I am addicted to Pilates on the Megaformer and I LOVE what the workout has done for me physically, my morale was beginning to sag as I came into an empty studio every day and did my own routines...alone. When it comes to a workout as intense as the Lagree Megaformer workout, it becomes difficult to stay motivated to complete the workout alone, with no one urging you on. Music, however pumped-up it might be, can only take you so far.

In the past, I was never much of a fan of group fitness classes. For years when I was single, I worked out alone on the elliptical machines at the gym, or rollerbladed by myself, eventually working up to cycling with my husband. The closest I got to group fitness was yoga. As you might be aware, yoga is a very internal practice. The instructor motivates, but not in a harsh way. Practicing at your own level is always encouraged and discomfort is seen as a sign that modifications are needed. You can "plateau" in yoga if you want to, and it's kind of OK unless you decide to take it further of your own initiative.

Pilates on the Megaformer is completely different than all that. Have I mentioned the word "intense" 50 times yet? It is. In order to make it through 50 minutes of this workout, you need serious encouragement. This comes not only from the instructor and the tempo of the music, but also from the energy in the class atmosphere. I've found that I really NEED to be able to look over at the person next to me and think, "If she can do it, I can do it!", or I will give up from the pain. Sometimes, know that someone else is doing this too is all that keeps me going even though my legs, stomach, and arms are shaking from fatigue. And that, my friends, is how the workout is designed. Reaching that level is what causes this form of exercise to keep burning calories for 24-38 hours after you leave the studio. It's what keeps producing results as you go back. I love it!!

But, it's difficult to maintain alone.

I was feeling a little down and burnt out this weekend, when I heard that Sebastien Lagree would be teaching 4 special classes at the new Pilates Barre studio location at Preston and Forest in Dallas. Only 10 minutes from my house! I did some serious schedule rearranging and made it there to the 5:30pm class last night. I was like a great big geek meeting Sebastien, creator of Lagree Fitness and the Megaformer machine.

Me and Sebastien Lagree!!
I'm sure he doesn't know who I am aside from a weird geeky instructor fan :-)

Of course, there is no one like Sebastien to completely kick it into gear. The energy in that PACKED class was amazing and encouraging. My muscles were shaking probably 15 minutes into the 50 minute class but it was awesome. I came away very encouraged about this workout and what I do.

And now I'd like to draw a parallel to a life lesson about how having people around you who know you to encourage you is important in life as well as in fitness. When I was younger I never had that, but now I do and it has made all the difference in all areas of my life. I guess you could say that I've converted to being a big fan of group fitness, when before I was a fan of solitary workouts.

What about you? Have you noticed a difference in your motivation when you are surrounded with others who can encourage you?

6 Things I have Learned from HipHop music

Being a fitness instructor who teaches class to songs between 120-140 bpm, I hear a lot of hip-hop dance music nowadays. As I have been exposed to many more hours of hip-hop dance music than ever before in my life, I have learned a few things that I feel compelled to share with you.

1. One wears a Speedo in order to "tan [the] cheeks". I had no idea this is why fellows wore the tiny suits, but now that I think about it, it does make sense. I mean, how else are you going to tan that area? Still, it's unfortunate that they have to do it where I am forced to see them.


2. "My girl has a big ol' booty, Your girl has a little booty". In this scenario, the big booty is preferred. When the singer points out that your girl has a little booty, that's not a compliment to her, as one might originally think. Please do not tell my clients this, as they are paying money to make their bootys smaller.


3. The singer believes that you should prefer him as a suitor over his competitor because he has more money. Regardless of the fact that he is addressing a woman as a "ho" and already talking about the other women he is simultaneously entertaining, the money really will make up for all that. Girl.


4. If you want a man to go crazy, drop it down low. I am not 100% sure how this is done, but it's clear that it's typically done on a dance floor. One day I should be capable of a move like this since I've really been working on my thigh and glute strength, right? I believe I could find examples of how in music videos.


5. Mick Jagger is an icon of sexiness even though he looks like this:
   
   

   

   photo from 102.3Bob

   
   I know this because MULTIPLE songs refer to him as such. I never would have guessed.


6. Personal responsibility is overrated. Many of the songs refer to waking up not know where you are, who this person is, where various articles of clothing and electronics are...NO BIG DEAL. Let's do it again tomorrow night!! On the other hand, it sounds like if you followed one of these singers around, throughout the evening you could accumulate a good deal of expensive cast-off items that they'll never miss.

I know there are more than just these nuggets of wisdom buried in hip-hop dance music. I'll let you know what else I find out as the weeks go by.

What am I missing? Have you learned valuable life lessons from hip-hop dance music?

The Olympics and our fitness goals

Olympic preliminaries by R Schofield, on Flickr

Although I wasn't glued to the set during the Olympics (there was a little thing called BlogHer going on for 5 days...), we did tend to have the TV on in the evening to watch events that were replayed after our kids went to bed.

As a new Pilates instructor, I was particularly impressed at the physical fitness levels of the athletes. Of course, they're going to be in top shape because they're the top athletes in the world, right? But I could just not take my eyes off how amazing their abs, arms, legs were! Why was it so unusual and fascinating? I think it is probably at least partially because I live here in Dallas, one of the fattest cities in the U.S.

I think it's difficult sometimes to describe to my green friends and readers in other states and cities the kind of environment we live in here in North Texas, with the over-consumption of food, the constant junk beverages, the driving-everywhere and walking-never. It's not that there's a lack of awareness as much as the status quo is lower. We're not comparing ourselves to Olympic athletes, we're comparing ourselves to someone else who is fatter than us. That might be why it's been tricky to fill our classes at Ultimate Pilates. We must rely on the word spreading to the near-underground world of fitness enthusiasts in the area. The fitness community is here, it's just a little isolated unto itself.

Most of my friends are what you would call the regular mainstream, and I know you guys think I'm a little nuts sometimes with my eating habits, my green cleaning and homeopathic remedies, and now my recent fitness enthusiasm. And I'm OK with that, because I don't really do these things for anyone else's approval.

What I have enjoyed about the Olympics being on TV over the last few weeks is that it has helped me realize that I'm not as crazy as I feel sometimes. These athletes had to say "no" to a lot of things, they had to really focus on their own goals and discipline their bodies to reach the level of fitness that would get them to London in 2012.

There are a lot of times when my classes are empty and I do my own workouts in the empty studios. In those hours, I admit that sometimes I take the easy way out. Instead of pushing through 2 minutes of a move, I let myself go on to the next move after 1 minute and 48 seconds. I stop and take little breaks for water or "to look at my notes". But when I do workouts with a full class, like I did at SLT in New York, or when I take a class with other instructors, like I did last night, I push through the pain and I'm stronger than I think.  There is actually a point in muscle exhaustion where the burning turns to numb - did you know that? You just have to push through the pain until you get that warm numb feeling.

It's something I want to remember when I feel like giving up on conscientious living because "no one else is doing it". I think about the athletes and how they pushed through the pain over and over. How I get so much better results in my own workouts when I push through the pain. And how I honestly believe this applies to our everyday life.

Have you ever pushed through the pain and had it be worthwhile?

BlogHer 2012: Part 2 of recap

I'm officially BlogHer exhausted! Still sharing the love on Twitter and reading about people traveling home, seeing their kids, and unpacking swag. I got a moderate amount of swag but I was so busy this year that I actually didn't make it to the Expo hall until the last day about 2 hours before it closed. Many vendors were completely out of handouts by then. Which is fine because really, many of the vendors I wouldn't work with anyway (I am looking at you, LYSOL). The only one I was really sad to miss was SoDelicious, who makes my son's favorite coconut milk. I heard they had coupons, but I never found them in the Expo hall.

We are going to power through a review of the rest of BlogHer 2012 because you and I are both anxious to get back to our regularly scheduled blogging topics, right?

Despite all the parties and socializing this year, I did attend sessions! A few were not my personal choice because I was Mic Wrangling, but I still enjoyed them. The first of the day was Advocacy: Blogging Across Issues and Borders. I am not an advocacy blogger or a Latina but it was interesting to hear women who were so passionate. Takeaway: This panel was a good reminder not to give up on blogging when it gets difficult, but to surround ourselves with others who encourage us to keep going.



Of course, the big deal on Friday was Martha Stewart speaking at the lunch keynote. I am not going to lie, I stayed for about 5 minutes and then left. I really do respect Martha and all she's done - she's a powerhouse and soooo talented! But the lunch was so crowded and people were literally pushing each other out of chairs in the ballroom. I'm not a craft blogger, and I don't do Martha-type stuff, so when I got claustrophobic I just left. I ate lunch next to this adorable baby right outside the ballroom!



I was excited to see another Room Of Your Own about small blogs this year, since I am definitely considered a small blog by anyone who looks at size. Takeaway: In the Celebrate Your Small Blog session I was encouraged to keep doing what I'm doing and not be influenced to change my topic/convictions just to make more money or gain more followers. I was also reminded that I could probably work harder on ways to allow my followers to comment on the blog posts more easily from mobile devices.

Me, Carrie, and Alex from LateEnough (I was starstruck!)

After that session, I walked a few blocks and took a class at SLT NYC, a Megaformer Pilates class just like the ones I teach here in Plano. I love taking classes from other instructors because it gives me great ideas for new moves or moves I've forgotten. Of course, the class kicked my butt (in a good way)!



I arrived at the annual Voices Of The Year keynote all sweaty and wearing workout clothes, but it was a beautiful and inspirational experience, as always. A big shout-out to my fave Fearless Formula Feeder who did a great presentation of her manifesto about feminism and formula feeding. If you were part of the Twitter fiasco following this keynote but did not actually get a chance to hear the reading, I'd encourage you to read it for yourself before taking a stance. I saw several people on Twitter misquoting things that Suzanne read in her post. It's important to take this post in the context of its entirety.

After the keynote, it was up to my room to shower. I had several parties that night that I ultimately decided to skip so I could spend time with my friend Mica from MayBooks, who was in town for BlogHer as a vendor. We skipped the super crowded line for Hasbro and went to a cute Italian place with my roommate Jenn from Punky And The City.

All 3 of us spend dinner on our mobile devices ;-)

It was 10pm when I got back to the hotel but Sparklecorn was just getting started!! I might have had a lil more to drink that usual, and danced way too late into the night.

The dark, thumping dance blob that is Sparklecorn

Calley and her husband gettin' down on the dance floor!

Rock on, Calley, Chris, Julie, Amanda, Alex, Carrie, and Blessing!

I was up super early the next morning for absolutely no good reason. Oh well. I do have to say that the food at BlogHer was not as good as previous years, and there was a lot less of it. I had to actually purchase food, which I've really never had to do before.

First session in the morning (after opening keynote) was the one I was most excited about: Pro Tips: Branding and Blogging Professionally. I was stoked because my friends Jill and Gina were leading this panel!! It was a great panel, as expected - lots of laughs but lots of practical advice. Takeaway: Do not drink so much at Sparklecorn next time or you will forget what you learned in the panel your friends led.

Next I was back to Mic Wrangling for When It's Time To Spend Money To Market Your Work. I am not going to lie, by this time my energy was draining fast. It was a good session but about 3/4 of the way through I almost fell asleep. Takeaway: When is it time to start spending money to market your work? Probably not yet, for me. All the panelists assumed you make money at all - hahahahaha....I don't.

Although I dearly wanted to go up to my room and nap, I was also hungry so I went to lunch and the lunch keynote with Katie Couric. Surprisingly, this lunch was less packed than the Martha Stewart lunch. Huh? I thought Katie was amazing - very personable and her upcoming show sounds really interesting.

I met up briefly with Stephanie from City Moms Blog, who is the umbrella organization for Dallas Moms Blog (you know I write there too, right?). I would like to apologize to Stephanie for my zombie-like state. I was literally about to fall over. I barely crawled up to the 42nd floor where there were free massages being offered by RosaceaFacts.com. Then I oozed back down to the 26th floor and took a good long nap. Unfortunately, I was forced to get up so I could stop by the Expo Hall before it was time to Mic Wrangle the closing keynote. This is why I didn't get much sponsor swag - it was so late in the conference that many of them were packing up. Oh well, I still got Beth Terry to autograph my copy of Plastic Free: How I Kicked The Plastic Habit And How You Can Too, which I have already started reading and IT IS AMAZING.

The closing keynote revealed that next year, BlogHer 2013 will be in Chicago and it will be in July (2-27) instead of August. So excited!

For dinner, I got to eat at a local Asian fusion place with all the wonderful women I met and some who I just totally admire/stalk like Gina The Feminist Breeder and her husband.

The Feminist Breeder and Hyphenated Husband (!)

Powerhouse of feminist blogging: Think Feminist, The Feminist Breeder, and Danielle Elwood

When we got back to the hotel, I packed up for a super early exit (6am!) in the morning. I was so sad to leave my friends, old and new.

Saying "bye" to Calley for another year - our third BlogHer together!

Overall, this BlogHer was another new and great experience. I am exhausted more than I've ever been in past years, but I'm also seeing even more opportunities on the horizon.

If I met you at BlogHer and you have any great pictures or would like to say "hi", please do! I miss you all already!

Whole food workout snacks at Pilates training

As I mentioned previously in one of my 7 Quick Takes Friday posts, I'm currently training to teach at Ultimate Pilates Plano! All of us new trainers had the opportunity to do 3 days of training this weekend, working on the machines off and on the entire time. That is a LOT of working out, especially with the butt-kicking capacity of the Megaformer machine. A lot of calories I would burn! So obviously, I would need to bring snacks.

I am not a huge fan of nutrition bars because they tend to have a lot of really long unpronounceable ingredients, including corn syrups and sometimes even trans fats. I prefer to stick to ingredients I can recognize as much as possible - close to the natural state of food. I also wanted to keep the disposable packaging to a minimum, although I did have to use some plastic bags and wrap.

I thought about it all week and this is the variety of less processed snacks that I ended up putting together for a full day of working out:

Here's the breakdown:

1. OK so this is the most processed food - crackers. I needed them because I typically need some carbs in the mornings. These are whole wheat without corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. You can find crackers like this without engineered ingredients at natural food stores. If you really want to be natural, you can go with seed crackers but I have found that actually those do not fill me up enough.
2. Organic grapes and snap peas
3. Carrot slices and hummus
4. A seed, oat, and dried fruit "energy bar". I buy these at Costco, actually. All the ingredients are things you could find in your pantry.
5. Hard boiled egg
6. Little piece of cheese
7. Peanut butter oat protein balls (recipe here)
8. Honey roasted peanuts (to combine both sweet and salty!)

This variety of snacks kept me going all day long! 

What are your favorite whole food workout snacks?