Feel the Heat

I did it. I braved HOT YOGA this morning for the first time! I didn?t pass out, feel dizzy, nauseous OR fall flat on my face! I felt pretty darn proud of myself. One word though: sweaty. Whoa. I knew it would be sweaty but seriously, WHOA. I don?t think I?ve ever sweat that much, EVER. Once we were out of the class I felt like I had just got out of a pool.

It was pretty darn great though! For first timers there was a buy one get one free class if you go within the next week so my friend and I are planning to go to our free class sometime early next week. I?m looking forward to it! I might even possibly consider buying more classes, even though it?s pretty darn expensive? I?ll see how the next one goes and then think about it. What an experience though. The class wasn?t too full which was nice since it wasn?t too intimidating that way, and we were fully encouraged to sit out and rest at any point if needed. I totally didn?t need to though, I had it in the bag!

If you?re even considering hot/bikram yoga but slightly nervous about the idea, just DO it. I?d never done a yoga class of any kind in my life before today. You don?t need to be an experienced yogi to try it out. Seriously try it. It?s totally worth it.

The class I went to was at 9:30 this morning. The website of the studio recommended not eating 2-3 hours before attending class but there was no way I would be able to make it that long without some kind of breakfast so I ate these gems:

That would be finger-lickin good homemade almond butter. This seriously really truly is the best pre-workout food there is. It filled me up but didn?t sit heavy, didn?t make me at all nauseous during the class, and I didn?t feel any bit hungry until over three hours later. SUPERFOOD.

I was pretty darn hungry once I arrived home after my friend and I did a bit of post yoga shopping though so I threw together a nice big veggie-packed salad along with a side of crackers with some shrimp cream cheese dip I made yesterday that I?ll get to in a minute.

And then I had about half of a Lemon Larabar because I have this overflowing stash of bars sitting in my room that I just never seem to get around to eating. Suddenly today I was feeling in bar-eating mood so I figured I?d better jump at the opportunity.

This was my first try with the lemon. It was alright. I didn?t not enjoy it or anything but I wouldn?t go out of my way to get this flavour again.

Later on this aft I got my hair did. I?ve been hating my hair for a very long while and the colour was looking pretty darn pathetic so it was time for some new highlights with a new hairstylist. I?m pretty sure I quite like it. There are a couple spots that seem very bright and it seems to have a slight reddish tinge to it that I?m overanalyzing, but I overanalyze the crap out of my hair so I?m sure it?ll be just fine, especially after a couple washes when it?s not quite so bright. Overall it?s good though, and definitely better than it was so thumbs up to that!

Eventually I got home and was ready for some dinner. I was feeling something quick, easy and delicious. There are plenty of options that fit that bill but the one that seemed most fitting tonight was none other than the coveted ?crack wrap?. I don?t think this thing really needs any intro though. If you don?t know what it is by now you are clearly living under a rock. Alright alright just kidding, you?re living under a boulder.

Can?t you just hear its little cries, begging to be consumed in one giant mouth-stuffing bite? I did it the favour and put it out of its misery.

Then I cleaned out the last little bit of a peanut butter jar with some banana for good measure, ate some yogurt straight from the container, and chugged down a large and chilly iced coffee to cure my all-day caffeine deprived headache that developed since I didn?t have my morning Cup of Joe pre-yoga.

Now it?s Friday night and although I kind of feel like being a lameo and staying in since I?m feeling lazy and have to go to work tomorrow morning, I think I may instead allow myself to be dragged out and have fun for once since I haven?t been having a whole lot of fun with my life in general lately. I?m rutted and I?m not enjoying it. I guess I?m going to have to change things up a bit! Any ideas? What do you guys do when you?re feeling stuck, what kind of things do you do to get yourself away from the mundane? Do you push yourself outside of your comfort zone? Bikram was a start for me today. I need to keep going with the new, keep pushing myself right into the unknown. It?s scary though!

I didn?t post my eats from yesterday (Thursday) so here?s a quick recap:

Blended Instant Oats (reduced sugar apples + cinnamon) with flax, chocolate PB2 and banana for breakfast.

And iced coffee. My iced coffee is simple as a dimple (I know, worst rhyme ever but I just had to throw it in there. I was thinking of using pimple but that just seemed a bit too greasy) but people seem to take a special liking to the looks of it so I?ll try to remember to do an iced coffee step-by-step next post.

Here?s the shrimp cream cheese dip I referred to earlier in the post that I threw together yesterday:

Sorry it?s a covered in the fridge picture but the plastic crap wrap was ticking me off and I didn?t feel like fiddling with it again. My mom needed an appetizer for a dinner thing she went to so I threw this together. Light cream cheese, shrimp, cocktail sauce, parmesan cheese, green onions. Easy peasy.

The weather was fab yesterday so I spent some time sitting outside eating some food and watching some Hills back episodes. I used to watch The Hills all the time but I fell severely behind (aka stopped watching it) while school was in and I suddenly had a craving for some good diva rich kids drama so I decided to play a little catch up.

For dinner I was feeling refried beans. Who knows why but they were good. I ate them with a bowl of cabbage slaw, zucchini, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream.

Then I finished up half a mango (you bet I ate all of that lovely green skin) with a coconut date ball and a normal date.

Then I went back and ate a whole wackload of dates and a whole wackload of White Chocolate Wonderful and felt kind of crappy about it.

I felt crappy about my Thursday in general. I tried to tan. Fail. I tried to exercise. Fail. I tried to feel like a million bucks. Fail.  In the evening I watched She?s The Man while trying to run on the treadmill. But as I said, attempted exercise was a fail so I walked for most of the movie. Better than nothing. And this brought up my mood temporarily since the movie kind of rocks. Dare to disagree.

But since that?s a lame note to end on – even though Thursday was crappy, Today was improved because of: HOT Yoga and NEW hairdo. And now it?s a long weekend! Which would be more exciting if I were doing some typical long weekend activity such as camping but I?m not so it won?t be a whole lot different than any other weekend but still, long weekends just have some kind of extra special feeling to them so I dig it. Have a great one!