Time to Start Sweating

I’ve been recently getting super bored with my workout routine. I don’t think I can take another day at the gym hitting the treadmill or the elliptical, no matter how rockin my playlist is. I’m thinking about switching things up and considering getting back into Bikram yoga. I did Bikram for a summer a couple years ago, and I really liked it. Here are a few things I loved and didn’t love so much about Bikram:

Love:

You get a great work out. And you sweat out more toxins than you thought possible while also clearing your mind of everything. For those of you who have never done or heard of Bikram yoga, the class consists of 90 minutes of 26 poses in a 108 degree room. I know, it sounds crazy, but the benefits are amazing. If it’s your first time doing Bikram, I’m not going to lie, you probably won’t love it the first couple of classes. You’ll probably feel nauseous and/or really tired, but after that initial phase, you’ll start to feel refreshed and energized.

Not so Much Love:

The classes are pretty expensive, especially if you’re a student like me. When I first tried Bikram in Texas, the location I went to fortunately offered student discounts for their 10 class passes at about $85 with the discount. Now that I’m in New York, a 10 class pass runs about $150+. I think I’ll be lucky if I can find somewhere that gives student discounts. There’s also other packages out there including three month, six month and one year passes, but I can’t really afford to drop more than $150 at a time on yoga classes. And they say if you want the true benefits of Bikram, you should go at least three to four times a week, but with my budget, that’s definitely not going to happen. I went one to two times a week when I first tried it, and I felt like I was still able to get enough benefits. If you have the money, by all means, it’s worth it. But if funding is a little short, I still recommend trying it out even if you only start out going once a week. That’s my plan for this summer – Bikram one day a week and gym the rest of the week.

I was pretty proud of myself when I mastered
the toe stand pose for the first the time.

My advice is to try Bikram if you’ve never done it and are looking for something new in your workout routine. It’s probably different than any other workout or class you’ve tried and most places offer a discounted trial class or week of classes. Happy sweating!

The Jeans Mini Crisis

Alright, ladies. Let’s admit it. We’ve all had that morning(s) where we wake up, brush our teeth, wash our face, make our way sleepily over to the closet, grab our go-to jeans, and then, oh wait, scratch that – OH SHIT! They’re not fitting! Why are they so tight?! Why am I bulging over?! Well, it’s simple, really. Calories in must equal calories out if you want to keep fitting into those perfect jeans. Now, I know it doesn’t always seem that easy. But don’t fear! There are simple things you can do to slim down and be back in those jeans in no time. How do I know this? I’ve recently experienced this exact mini crisis. I say “mini” crisis because it’s a matter of getting yourself back on track for a week or two. No need for a major lifestyle change here. And I know, I know. How did I, the gym rat of the bunch, let my jeans get too tight? It happens. The calorie scale can still tip even when you’re working out. And I know there are others out there who have experienced this too!

So, what can you do?

1. Stop eating wasted calories. Do you really need a soda, even a diet one? Or cheese on your salad? Or the side of mediocre french fries that came with your meal? Or the 2% milk latte instead of the skim? By thinking about the little changes we can make in our day-to-day eating habits, the calories we can reduce from our diets will start to add up and make a difference.

2. Move…or move more. Even if you can’t make it to the gym, get in a little stretching or go for a walk. Any movement will help with the calories out part of the formula.

3. Create a new goal or incentive to stay disciplined and motivated once you’re back in your jeans. You don’t want to quickly find yourself in the same mini crisis all over again.

I’ve been in back-on-track mode for almost a week now. I think I need another week before I’ll be completely happy with where I am, but I can say that the jeans are definitely fitting better today than on Monday. Whew!

Oh stress, how I’ve NOT missed you

So far, so good with the bigger breakfast idea. Instead of just having a banana, I’ve been slicing my banana to mix with a plain cup of yogurt, blueberries and sliced almonds, all topped with a little honey. SO delicious, and it keeps me fuller longer.

Now, on to a new predicament. With finals only a week away, the end-of-semester stress has fully set in. So what does that mean? No sleep, crappy meals, coffee overload, brain fog and overall exhaustion. Well, at least that’s what it meant for me last semester. This time around, I’ve made eating healthy, getting a decent amount of sleep and maintaining, instead of increasing, my usual coffee intake a priority. Let’s be real though, I’m definitely still experiencing stress but not nearly to the degree of what I went through last semester. I realized that at the end of the day, it’s better to just close the computer or put down the book because you won’t retain any information or come up with anything brilliant when it comes to working into the wee hours of the morning anyway. This is at least what I’ve found to work for me, especially as I’ve gotten older. I can’t even tell you how many all nighters I pulled as a freshman and sophomore in my undergraduate years. I have no idea how I was able to do it. Now, as a graduate student, I’ll get to a point where I hit a wall and can’t keep going as much as I try. I need to at least catch a few hours of sleep, and then I can start again in the morning, with a healthy and filling breakfast of course. So, put down the slice of pizza and Red Bull and grab a salad topped with some lean protein as you step away from the study guides, final papers and presentations…before you fall asleep in your study cubicle.

Eating on the go

I did it. I made it a whole week without eating the free (and delicious) food at the office. Ok so I had ONE free beer Friday afternoon, but I’m willing to look past that. I think I can keep this up. But let’s get to the bigger picture. My daily routine during the week doesn’t support the best eating schedule. The second my alarm goes off at 7am, I’m constantly on the go until I get back to my apartment around 10pm. Long days, for sure. And maybe I don’t look as fabulous as Blake Lively eating on the go, but it’s something I’ve become very familiar with. I’ll usually eat a banana or piece of fruit for breakfast. Coffee is most definitely part of my morning too. Then, I usually don’t get a chance to eat again until 1 or 2 at which point I’ll eat a handful of almonds and maybe an apple. Then I’ll usually eat an energy bar (I’m a fan of the Clif bars) between 5 and 5:30 right before class. By the time I get home, I’m tired and hungry – NOT a good combination. And because I’m on the go from my apartment to school to work and back to school, I can’t really carry around anything that needs to be refrigerated, meaning less variety in what I have to choose from to eat during the day. And I don’t want to buy food every day because that can get ridiculously expensive. This week I’m going to try something new. I’m going to eat a bigger breakfast, so I can feel fuller longer, and then continue to snack throughout the day. I’m hoping by doing this, I won’t feel like I need to eat everything in sight by the time I get home. And I just went to the grocery store and bought all healthy options, so even if I do try to eat everything sight, it’ll be ok…right? :)

Did you say free?!

Eating less sweets has been going…relatively ok. I realized that a lot of the sweets, and generally unhealthy food for that matter, comes from free food at work. There are vendors in and out of the office all week who bring in anything from sandwiches, pizza and barbeque to cookies, brownies and beer.  And I’m not just talking about your regular deli sandwich. I mean, gourmet, delectable sandwiches and made-from-scratch cornbread and gigantic, irresistible cupcakes. Then, there are also the work happy hours where there is more free food on top of free booze. The happy hours haven’t been a problem for me because I usually have to leave for my evening classes before they begin, but with summer quickly approaching, this could be a problem. Roof tops and expensive cocktails. How could I say no? I think this week I’ll add in resisting the free food at the office along with my slow cutoff of sweets. Sometimes it’s just so hard when it’s sitting there right in front of me! I need to remember that just because it’s free, doesn’t mean I need to eat it.

On another note, I don’t know if this running thing is going to work. It’s just so…borrrrinnnngggg. And my headphones broke last week, and I haven’t had a chance to buy new ones. Now running is even more boring than ever. I think I might need to switch up my goal. The motivation is dwindling here.

Oye. Stay tuned.

Can’t I Just Work Out and Eat Whatever I Want?

Alright, so I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a “gym rat,” but you get the idea. I work out, but I have an obsession with food. I should also mention that I’m a full time grad student who works 30+ hours a week. Needless to say, living a healthy lifestyle given a crazy schedule doesn’t always work out. However, I will say that it’s much easier for me to get myself to the gym versus saying no to a slice of pizza or a chocolate chip cookie. So, I’m sure you can already imagine my dilemma. I work out, but I love food, meaning it’s a lot harder to see results when it comes to any type of weight loss. My plan, for now, is to work toward a fitness goal while slowly cutting out things I could stand to eat less. My fitness goal is to be able to run in a 10K at the beginning of June. You might think this isn’t a very ambitious goal, but I’ve never loved running, so this should be a challenge in and of itself. As far as the food I’ll start to cut out of my eating habits, I think for this first week, I’ll try to eat less sweets.