Please tell me!

A long time ago, now, I worked as a coordinator of a service-learning program.  Service-learning combines cognitive components with real-world experience, which allows each to enrich the other.  Doing community service is certainly always valuable; reflecting on the underlying problems, seeking to understand the people involved, soliciting input and feedback, and applying all that stuff to the service can really change the world.

When I recently decided to open the studio for meditation and to offer free mat Pilates on Friday, I forgot one of the things I used to know when I was actively involved in service-learning:  the community needs input.  So:  What can I or should I offer to you, my community, from my studio?  Do you want free mat class?  Do you want access to meditation space?  What times and days do you feel the need?  Is there a need?

Please let me know so I can spend my resources wisely!

Why?

Sometimes I forget.  Working out is not just about working out.  While sometimes the process itself is fun, the point is that working out gives us stuff in the rest of our lives.  I remembered when I was out on my bike.

Technically, riding my bike counts as working out.  In real life, it is just joy.  It is being in the sun, feeling the wind, seeing the birds and dogs and people and trees and water.  Without working out, I would not be able to enjoy that feeling, or I would have to be limited by my body’s capability.  With working out, it’s all play.

Let’s remember what we work out for.

Monday Workout: TRX

Time for a TRX workout!  Do two or three rounds.  Cardio of your choice between sets.

TRX workout
kneeling roll out	mid calf
sprinter start with pause	long
1 arm row	short
2 min cardio
TY deltoid fly	mid
1 leg squat	mid
chest press with abducted leg	long
2 min cardio
oblique crunch	mid calf
plank	mid calf
hamstring curl	mid calf
2 min cardio

Friday Sort-of Book Report

I am reading slower than I would like these days because I have a lot of other stuff I'm trying to get done.  That means I'm not done reading the book I intended to write about today, so instead I'm offering a list of some of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks.

The Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen are two that I use often.  Unlike many vegetarian cookbooks, they have some quick recipes.  Family favorites include potato leek soup and brownies.

Fields of Greens  by Annie Somerville is also a great resource, but the recipes take longer to make.  On the other hand, they can be "fancier" for company.  I bought the book because I loved the winter vegetable curry, but I have liked every recipe I have tried.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison is a tome.  Almost all of the recipes take approximately forever to make, but they are worth it.  When I am at my most organized, I make batches of the various stocks ahead and can them, which makes the recipes take half of forever to make instead.

You are a Jewel!

Welcome to December!  Santa wants to know if we have been naughty or nice.

Tell the man to mind his own business.  Politely.

We spend a lot of time criticizing ourselves.  We do not need Santa’s, or anyone else’s help.

Let’s celebrate this particular day by being nice to ourselves.  Assume we have the best motivations, that we are trying our best, that we are getting it right, that we can do it.  Let’s appreciate all our shiny facets.

Design and Build

I have the luxury of wearing workout clothes all day, every day, except for special occasions.  This means I am always ready to hit the gym.  Also, it means that I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what would be best to wear while sweating.  I’m going to talk about it anyway, because not everyone gets to go to work in play clothes.

On some level, it doesn’t really matter what we wear to work out.  If we can move and we can avoid revealing parts we would rather not show, all good.  However, a few tweaks can make a big difference.

We have to wear shoes that work for us.  Some of us have bodies that prefer barefoot-type shoes.  Some of us need more support.  We need to figure out which kind of body we have and plan accordingly because foot problems (ask me how I know!) travel up the body and impede our ability to work out at all.

In general, I am not a fan of specialized things.  That said, the specialized fabrics that workout clothes now come in are awesome.  I’m not just talking about the magic stretching power of Lycra.  I mean the shirts and pants that breathe and don’t turn into cottony water weights that chafe and drag on us.  It doesn’t need to cost a lot to get workout clothes that suit the purpose better than the old t-shirt from the bottom of the drawer.

And it is not bad to have workout clothes that make us feel good.  If we can look in the mirror and see ourselves in something becoming while we are becoming stronger and more powerful, so much the better!  It’s all part of taking care of ourselves.

The After-Holiday Plan

Not that anyone I know might have this problem, but what do we do to get back on track if we happen to have spent the holiday weekend, well, celebrating?

First, as The Hitchhiker’s Guide says, don’t panic.  Panic will only cause a surge in stress hormones, which, among other things, tell our bodies to keep All The Calories.  This will not help.  If we are tempted to panic, we should perhaps keep in mind the other important advice from the Guide:  know where our towel is.  That is, take a hot bath, or a swim, or do some other thing that is both calming and foodless.

Second, we need to do our cardio.  It burns calories.  That is what it is for.  It also improves our mood, our brain function, and our ability to sleep.

Third, we need to lift some weights.  Not all the weights.  Not all in one day and never again.  But we do need to do it in order to change our body composition and to ramp up our metabolisms.

Finally, we need to eat the good foods, the ones that help us love our bodies, the ones that help us keep a clear head, a good digestion, and a healthy heart. 

If we really really over-celebrated, it might take a week or so for the new plan to get us feeling better, but we can do this.

(The photo is advice from a sidewalk in Berkeley, which is not necessarily a reputable source, but I think the advice is pretty good anyway.)