I suck...

Work has been INSANE, my stress has been through the roof! Things have slowed down a bit now though and I am still here.

I will definitely continue to blog, but I may not post everyday. My goal is to post every other day instead.

I got this great book, Clean Food, A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source. I will start to implement one day a week of clean eating... baby steps Jade, baby steps... (although the book so far seems to be meat free, most of the recipes could easily be tweaked a bit to include some)

The funny thing is I really enjoy eating clean, it's just that breaking the habit of buying the same old groceries and stopping at the same fast food places cuz you forgot to make your lunch, is really hard to break. It seems so overwhelming to change my eating habits all at once. So once a week of completely clean eating, while we continue our usually (halfway clean-eating lifestyle) will slowly become two days, then three and so on...

I love the way my body looks and feels since doing yoga regularly, but I must be careful that I get enough calories, because I have a tendency to forget to eat and can start to wither away... Not good.

So, I'm still here... still chugging along through my busy little life... till next time!

Hump day, the day of least effort

I was SUPER sick most of last week. No work, no Yoga.

Started back on track today, feeling great! Really enjoyed class, my body felt great, my attidude was great!

A friend of ours, Mani, moved in recently. He'll be staying till summer. He's an accupuncturist and deals in Chinese herbal remedies. Basically, he is a wealth of knowledge and we're excited to have him with us. We will all learn so much from each other.

Last night Mani and I decided we would go through "Healing with Whole Foods" together so I can figure out the correct way that I should be eating with my physical and daily activities in mind.

This season of my life has become so exciting and I feel refreshed and ready to move forward and get happy and healthy.

I may have some big news soon, but just in case "certain people" read this, I will wait until I know more... PS, I'm not preggo... since I know that's the first thing everyone thinks of when I say I have news.

My handsome hubby and me on NYE, obviously.

Catch up, Days 8-12

SO like I said, the past two weeks has been my busiest at work, so not a lot of action on the ole blog. I decided that nstead of going through each day I'm just gonna update on how I felt over the last week and start again with my day-by-days next week :).

I felt AMAZING!

lol nice update huh?, Ok I'll break it down a little bit more...

Last week I missed a day but made it up on Sunday. We had a company meeting at our studio that included a class taught by our awesome regional manager Heather.

Actually something really interesting and exciting happened in class; we were in horse(only pic I can find) while holding one heel lifted. It kills the quads and I usually have to release out and give my legs a break. This time, just before I was about to give up... heat (literally thats what it felt like) filled my quad and I was able to hold till the end. It was THE coolest thing I've ever felt (yoga-wise). Then when I got to the next side I waited past the point I would normally release from the posture and it happened AGAIN! So exciting!

Anyway, this past week I went to class every day except Wednesday because I needed to give my hips a break. I will try to take a class this weekend to make it up.

I felt really strong all week, and it's definately been easier to get to bed early.

Looking foward to a great weekend!

Day Seven

Thursday, January 14th.

Couldn't take class today, will make up on Saturday so I can still get my 5 a week.
It was nice to sleep in a bit, I think I needed the rest. I need to make more of an effort to get to bed earlier. It is hard when there are two people though cuz the hubby may want to stay up, so then I want to stay up with him...

Taught class tonight, my ipod died (literally, it ceased to exist). Had a great class, lots of brand new people so I did a bit more of the postures than usual. Lots of chaturangas, felt solid and aligned.


Friday, January 15th.

HPF, David taught

Felt really good, strong. Felt like I came to a new peace about my practice. I could focus and wasn't worried about anything or anyone around me. Really cool...

TGIF, so happy for the weekend.

Day Six - Feeling stronger

*For Wednesday, January 13th.

- HPF this morning, Jeri taught

Starting to feel stronger in class, able to focus on breath more. In balancing we switch from posture to posture on one foot while never placing the other foot down. I have been able to stay on the one foot almost the entire time, and not too much cramping in the left foot today. Core is getting stonger, more stable in balancing.

Day Five

*This is a little late, but this is the post for Tuesday, January 12.

- Took C2 today, Monica taught.

I felt really nauseous halfway through and had to rest and catch my breath. Also, in runners lunge, my right hip felt like it was popping out. All in all is was humbling and I felt great all day.

Short posts for the rest of the week as it is "year end" at work and I have been SWAMPED.

I can't wait for the weekend...

Day four - a new week

- Out of bed at 5:40 (almost didn't make it!), slept 6 hours.

- HPF, David taught

Felt great, still cramping in my feet! UGH! Becoming frustrated, I think it is just my feet getting re accustomed. I will ask my acupuncturist friend, see what he thinks and if he can help. Not too comfortable with standing back bends, I will gladly take my time with this, I don't want to cause injury trying to push it.


- Major cramps today! Can barely even focus at work because of them. They're really bad every other cycle.

- Hubby and Italian friends brought delicious pasta to my office today, so sweet. Too many starches the past few days though, ugh.

- Feeling pretty good after a weekend break, was SO tired all weekend.

*Side note - the earl gray tea latte from Peet's is SO good, I got it with steamed half and half and vanilla, treated myself after not having any coffee or tea at work for a few days.

Day Three - feeling GREAT...and sore

- Out of bed at 5:35 - slept 6.5 hours

- HPF today, David taught class

Still getting cramping in my left foot, David says to try putting more weight on my heel since I have already been focusing on pressing through the four corners of my foot and it hasn't seemed to help. Abs are DYING, almost made it through the entire core workout though. Hamstrings are so tight, I can't lay on my back and straighten my legs with feet toward the ceiling. I really hope I can get my hamstrings to loosen up, this is my biggest challenge.

- Feeling great, the hubby dropped me off at work so he could use the car today. He asked if I had any coffee and when I said no he was surprised because I was so awake and bright.

- I am going to try tea today if I start feeling tired in the afternoon, I would like to get to a place where I don't drink coffee or tea for the caffeine but for the taste and experience. Hopefully my lunch today will keep me from hitting a wall.

*Will update after work.

- Felt great through the whole day, a little tired around 2pm but didn't have coffee or tea.

- Lunch was Ahi and Quinuoa, I cooked the quinuoa in vegetable broth then sauteed zuchini and onions in olive oil and minced garlic. Mixed the veggies with the quinuoa added salt and paprika to taste... yummy! I normally don't like quinuoa but knowing that I made it from scratch helped a bit.

- The italians made us a very authentic italian dinner tonight, lot's of pasta! Delicious, but very filling. I'll add a picture later. They brought us some pastas, sweet wine and biscotti and are going to teach me to make pasta from scratch tomorrow. I love to cook.

- So tired, bed at 10:30. No yoga till Monday morning.

Ciao Bella!

Day Two

- Out of Bed 5:35, slept 7 hours, hard to get out of bed if you're cuddling

- Met Nicole for C2(description of class in the side bar <--)

Love how Monica teaches, she has such high energy and really made her sequencing fun, lots of new positions today(didn't try to get into them yet, but still so fun to see and prep for them). Having trouble with my left foot cramping up during balancing? Not fun. Abs were definitely a challenge since they're still sore from yesterday. Lots of lunges, quads will be angry tomorrow, ha ha.

- Another post shower convo today, this time I got some great encouragement about my future and advice on how to plan for the things I want to do, like teaching more.

- No coffee this morning, had a cliff bar and lots of water.

- To work at 8:15 (oops)

*I'll update in the morning, I'm interested to see how today goes; I have work, teach class at 7:30pm and our friends from Italy arrive today to stay for a week.

**Update**

-Felt energetic until about 2pm - tried snacking on almonds and a pear, gave in and got a small iced coffee

- Dinner was great; ahi cooked in a little butter and a lot of lemon, sprinkled with capers and quinuoa(which I normally dont like) on the side, I'll put the recipe in tomorrows post as I'm having it for lunch as well. (maybe this will give me energy and I won't need coffee.)

- Taught class at 7:30, after a two week break for the holidays. Felt great to be teaching.

- Spent some time with my Italian friends, Chiara and Graziano and went to sleep around 11:15

Day one; Get out of bed Jade!

-Crawled out of bed at 5:30am - slept 5 hours

-Met my bff Nicole at the studio.

-Took the HPF class (description in the side bar <---)

-Felt pretty good, flexibility is nowhere near where it was, had trouble even touching the mat in forward fold. Once I was warmed up I felt great and remembered how much I like Jeri's class. Couldn't do camel today, back bending was a challenge. I love that there are no Chaturangas (yoga push ups) in HPF, makes for a nice break.

-Showered and had some great conversation with a fellow instructor about snorkeling, and how being healthy doesn't necessarily mean being skinny.

- Forgot a bra! Won't be taking off my sweatshirt all day... haha

-Started work at 8:05 - feeling great and super energized

-Food break - Cliff bar and raw almonds and a cup of coffee, I haven't decided whether to give it up completely or just cut back, but don't worry I'll keep you posted...

That's all for now I'll update again when I get off work!

**UPDATE**

-Hit a wall at about 12:30. Ate some almonds, a sandwhich and an asian pear.

-Felt great all day until about 8pm and was struggling to stay awake.

- Bed at 10:30 - grumpy before bed, my poor hubby :(

Jade, yoga, food and a blog...let's see how this goes

Me in Honduras, January 2nd 2010 (Full Pigeon pose)

I have practiced yoga for over a year and teach a beginner class in a beautiful studio in Southern California. I am 25 years old, and work a full time job as an office manager. I have been married for 3 1/2 years and my husband is a full time student.

I fell in love with yoga during my first class and knew immediately that it was something I wanted to practice for the rest of my life. With a lot of encouragement from some instructors and my husband, I decided to get certified to teach.

For a while I managed to teach three classes a week while working full time and was even able to sneak a few classes in for myself. Unfortunately though the last year my practice has slowly dwindled away, as well as any healthy eating habits. I now teach once a week so I have more time to practice.

I would like to start teaching a more challenging class soon, however I don't feel that my practice is where it should be to do so. Thus leads to the reason for this blog...

My goals for this year are;


1) Take a class every weekday at 6am


2) Change my eating habits


3) Chronicle the changes in my body, mind and soul throughout my journey






...Starting now...