Small changes - focusing on one goal at a time

Greetings my friends! Todays take home message is that small changes can make a big difference!

I've been reading this book called "The Power of Less', and in it the author suggests that we will be more productive in the long-run if we focus on one small, attainable goal per month. I've set my intentions about where I want to be in life, but to change everything all at once would be overwhelming. I think that in order to succeed, I need to keep my eye on the prize. However, I think focusing on one small goal at a time will be more sustainable in the long run than a complete overhaul.

My main career goal in life is to be an exercise and nutrition expert. I want to be a coach, directing people how to lose weight, look great, feel fantastic, but most of all BE HEALTHY. Crash diets are not the answer. I've been there. And it didn't end well. I was on an obsessive diet for a long time that has to do with cellular cleansing. I thought I knew everything there is to know about nutrition and how the body worked. Well, now that I am older, I question many of my past beliefs. I question many of my former gurus. I feel that the information I learned in those years is still valuable to me, but I think it needs to be incorporated into a broader spectrum of nutrition.

This particular lifestyle involved green vegetable juice until dinner, proper food combinations (don't mix proteins and starches), and as much raw food as possible. No nuts, no beans, no sweeteners except stevia, only organic free range meat (which doesn't apply to me because I am a vegetarian), no cows milk (only raw goat cheese), and only wild fish were allowed. The diet was basically all vegetables, and the more raw food the better.

This lifestyle also involved getting regular colonics. I have no quarrels with colonics. In fact, I actually really like them. Its good to feel so clean and pure afterwards. My energy and mood usually improve and I have a fresh start for eating healthy foods again. The case was with this diet, that I was consuming so much juice and so many raw vegetables (and killing so much candida... but thats a topic for another day) that I actually ended up feeling like crap most of the time. The process of detoxification really blows if you do it too fast. I had headaches, low energy, obsessive thinking about food and what I would eat next, swollen lymph nodes, and at one point I even broke out in a nasty rash. The toxins are trying to exit the body in any way possible. Getting a colonic would instantly relieve my symptoms, but they would return after a few days. It was an endless cycle, and I believe it was caused by doing too much, too soon.

This time, I am going to take it slow and move along more gradually. I have a long way to go, I have really fallen off the wagon since my raw foodist vegetable juicing until dinner regime. I eat pizza, french fries, bagels, cheese, and desserts. I am obsessed with desserts. Don't get me wrong, I eat a TON of healthy food too. But especially since going back to school and focusing on that, bad eating habits have creeped their way back into my life. Whether it be convenience or comfort (or finances),  I indulge a little bit more than I would like. For instance, I get a free meal after working for 3 consecutive hours at the ThinkTank. The catch is it expires after a half an hour, and I have a class directly after I get off work in the basement lecture hall underneath the ThinkTank. I am usually really hungry at 1pm, and its hard to turn down free food. When I don't have time to get anything from the Food Court (which is most of the time), I am limited to the items that are for sale at the coffee shop. Being a vegetarian, my options are limited. We do have... bagels and cream cheese. The funny thing is I hadn't eaten a bagel in 5 years or so since before I started working there. Stress and hunger won out in the end. We have a vast array of convenience foods, none of which are particularly healthy (mmmm zucchini bread). So inevitably I ended up eating some junk food on occasion.  But I also eat a lot of salads, homemade curries, and veggie stir-frys, so its not all bad!

The point of that story is that I am in a completely overwhelming part of my life right now, and I won't be able to make a successful total-life overhaul in a short amount of time. It took me awhile to get where I am now and it will take a long time to get to where I want to be. I don't want to be detoxing so hard that its coming out of every pore in my body and making me feel like death. I want to make very small changes and do them consistently for a month before moving on.

This month I picked a goal that has nothing to do with my eating habits, but will help me motivated to live healthier throughout the day. My goal is to exercise for ten minutes every morning. It may sound small, but it sounds manageable. I might end up exercising for longer than that. But my goal will be just ten simple minutes in the morning, EVERY SINGLE DAY NO EXCEPTIONS.

I will focus on adding that to my morning routine first, and I will post on my blog whether I did it or not along with other successes I experience.

Ten minutes.. that is all. I can do this! Run for ten minutes, jump on the rebounder for ten minutes, do yoga for ten minutes.. just do it. Right away after I have my cup of coffee. Coffee... followed by exercise. Every single day!!

Starting small, setting intentions

This post brought to you by PUSHEEN IN SPACE! playing the keys, of course :-)

Yesterday didn't turn out exactly like I'd hope, I was pretty depressed about the break up still and it was hard to find motivation. Hot yoga was definitely out of the question. But two good things happened:


1. I did manage to drag myself to the gym. Getting there is half the battle! I didn't go running or do any kind of intense training, I just did some yoga and practiced inversions (handstands, headstands, and shoulder stands) using a wall. I am happy to announce that for my handstands in particular, the need for the wall has become less and less. I am comfortable doing (extremely short holds) handstands in the middle of the room now. There is still much work to be done, but I was pretty happy with this accomplishment. My headstands and shoulder stands need serious work though.

I also took this "before" picture so I can track my progress.

I did practice with my hoops a bit yesterday, even though I really didn't feel like it. It's hard to force yourself to do things when you feel really sad. I am proud of the short amount of practice that I did do though.

One negative thing, my left hamstring hurts today. I have no idea how long its going to take my hamstrings and adductors to heal. Its been so long but still they give me problems after yoga and stretching. I take extra care to be very cautious too, it really didn't feel like I was pushing myself at all. The stretching is what I would consider to be gentle. I guess I will just have to be even MORE gentle. I am also going to warm my muscles up with some cardio first next time.

2. I made my coffee at home today instead of going to buy a latte. Yeah, I know it seems stupid but I have a serious problem haha. Just to prove it, heres a selfie of me in all my morning glory drinking my hemp milk "latte" (yes, I do own a milk frother... because I have a weird obsession with steamed milk).

Moving on...

Today I decided to set some intentions for myself. I think its best to write them down (and now.. type them up!).

And speaking of time management, this graphic took me sooooo long to make. I can't help it, I like doing such things, and I had a lot of adorable clip art to use up. Ooops! At least it looks super pretty on my wall!

They are some lofty intentions but I know that I can do them! I have printed them and posted them on my wall as a daily reminder of the things I want in life! To end this post here is a halloween selfie. I was Minnie Mouse!! I'm not ashamed of my selfies anymore. As a wise woman once said "Love and honor your self...ies" haha

Welp, I'm off to make some veggie browns and avocado toast for my Sunday Brunch.... mmmmmm

Have a fantastic day!!

<3 Kat

Coming back from my hiatus!

Today's theme is... PUSHEEN! I just bought a pusheenicorn stuffy off amazon as a present to myself. I guess I'm on a pusheen kick.

There have been some changes in my life recently, mainly that my boyfriend and I finally split up. It was a long time coming and it needed to happen. I feel really sad and lonely, its hard to be alone without having someone there all the time.

 At least now I feel like I can take some time to focus on myself and get my life a little bit more organized. I want to get fit and lose weight, since I've been back in school I've gained 5 pounds or so. I haven't been working out and my eating habits have been less than stellar. Well, I am ready to start turning that all around. I really lost myself there for a couple years, and I want to become the best possible version of myself that is possible.

My college education isn't really conducive to a healthy lifestyle. From stress, to late night studying, to working two jobs, to teaching yoga, to volunteering with a kids after-school program, to making time to perform, my life is crazy hectic. But I know that I can still figure out a way to eat healthy and make room for exercise, even amidst all the chaos. My philosophy is to go gentle on myself. Take baby steps. Don't try to change everything all at once. I have a long ways to go as far as personal development, my problem is that I always try to fix everything at once. Ultimately this results in a big disaster, I get overwhelmed and I give up. I tend to stress eat and the pressure to get straight A's in school is extremely stressful. Going to college for a bachelor of science is pretty difficult. Between anatomy, chemistry, organic and biochem, and biology, the material is pretty strenuous. I need to get straight A's so that I can get a dietetic internship when I graduate.

My issue is that I really have terrible time management skills. I get distracted easily and often. My living spaces get cluttered and I don't plan ahead sometimes. I wait until the last minute to study and then cram for a few stressful days. I need to learn to spread out my studying into smaller blocks of time, so that I don't get distracted. Then when the test comes around, I won't be freaking out.

As far as working out and eating well goes, I need to just take it one step at a time. I made a list of my goals for where I would like to be at in three months. To get myself there, I am just going to take it slow. For instance, today I finally had a night to myself. I just got done with two exams this week and nothing is really due soon coming up so I wanted to take the night off from school. I cleaned my room. Like, I mean I really cleaned it. Compared to what it was like in here before, the place looks amazing. It feels really good to be in here. And I think having clean spaces is vital to keeping a clear, clutter-free head as well. This was an important first step in making some changes and I feel really good about it.

Although I didn't eat great tonight, I decided to be happy about the things that I did accomplish today and forgive myself for eating pizza. I really did enjoy the pizza. It was Annie's broccoli spinach pesto pizza and I put black olives on it and dipped it in marinara sauce. Throughout the night, I ate the whole thing haha. I don't care either. Life is too short without pizza. For time time being. Today, I felt the strong desire to have some and so I did. Perhaps in the future, I will decide to cut cheese out of my diet completely.

But honestly, I am focused on my fitness first and foremost. Which is why I will be attending hot yoga tomorrow and going to soak in the hot tub at the womens club too. I am going to do some hula hooping and yoga as well. I think if I do that much tomorrow, I will feel pretty good about it. Its not too much to ask, and once I make my exercise habits stick in my brain, I will switch over to focus on food. I just want to feel good and get through my day without feeling tired. But I want to eat good food. I want to spend less money on food. I am going to try and make more meals at home, including desserts! I have some cute aprons that need to be worn!

My first nutrition related goal is going to be to drink much more water. I need to be drinking more water, I feel like I am chronically dehydrated all the time. No bueno! I am going to make a conscious effort to drink a little less coffee and drink more water.

So to sum it up, my short-term goals for this week are:
1. get more exercise. do a little more yoga, more hula hooping, and maybe try running once this week
2. drink more water
3. drink less coffee
4. do my homework and reading throughout the week instead of all at once
5. Spend less money on food, cook more meals at home and make my own healthy desserts

I think that will be enough to start off. Wish me luck!!

<3 Kat

Burning man preparations!

I am super stoked to be going back to the Burn this year, this is going to be my first year truly going it alone. I am going to be camping with a big group of strangers basically, but they are going to be hella rad people.

I bought myself a soulpad 4000 hybrid for the burn this year, I am pretty damn excited about it! This year is going to be my most comfortable year yet, I definitely want to make some kind of swamp cooler so I don't get crazy hot.

I am feeling very creative lately, I am inspired to make yarn/fake dread headresses or "dreadresses" as  I like to call them. I just can't wait until I have dreads of my own!

Goals this week: I need to get back on track and start training more.

GOAL 1: hula hooping 30 minutes per day minimum

GOAL 2: go running for 20-30 minutes

GOAL 3: go hiking somewhere for 1-2 hours, hike UPHILL

GOAL 4: hot yoga twice per week

GOAL 5: do my pole dance workout one time this week

GOAL 6: Drink green juice! Try for everyday!

Finally... a day off!!!

Wow I am so tired today! Dianne, Alex, and I spun some fire at the park last night, it was pretty fun. We ran into some cool cats down there, it was nice to be with other fire spinners! We ended up staying up a bit late though, and we met up for breakfast this morning around 9am. I was soooo tired  but breakfast was yummy and I was able to say goodbye to Dianne before she left back home.  It was a good week! Here are some photos from our adventure:

                                                                      Flathead Lake

House of Vortex

House of Vortex

Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park

Today, I ate some yummy veggie browns at burns street bistro made with brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli and potatoes. After that, I basically went to go teach kids to hula hoop for an hour and then I fell asleep when I got home because I was so exhausted! So, just now, I treated myself to an almond milk frappe from Nitro with just a tiny bit of white chocolate so its not too sweet. YUM!

For Dinner, I NEED to make use of some of this zucchini from the garden so I think I will make pesto zoodles. I will post the recipe later! Ciao for now!

Enjoy Life

I haven't written for about 4 days, which doesn't mean that I have fallen off the wagon I have just been busy and not focused on my diet. My friend Dianne is here from southern california and so we have been hanging out with the Masc crew and doing fun stuff. We did alot of hanging out, flow arts, and we took a trip to Glacier and stopped at Flathead Lake and the House of Vortex... it was pretty amazing!!

My food choices have been pretty good, but I have decided today that I am ready to kick it up a notch and incorporate juice back into my diet. I have plenty of veggies in the garden that need harvesting and now would be a perfect time to start. I am going to the garden right after I write this post to water and check things out. I would also like to plant carrots and beets, maybe not today but maybe tomorrow.

I have been struggling with extreme fatigue lately. My moods have been subpar, I feel irritated, angry, and anxious a lot lately. I feel the stress of my job piling up and I feel like I really need a new job. I am going to work on my resume and apply at some local restaurants like the James Bar. I'm also considering not working this semester and focusing on school. The one great thing about the Cracker Barrel is the flexible scheduling. It was nice to only have to work like 10 hours a week during the winter.

I am planning on doing a few things to combat the fatigue. First of all, incorporating a cleansing diet with green juice and green smoothies. Secondly, I would like to quit smoking. Thirdly, I would like to eliminate coffee, at least for a few weeks or a month. And lastly, I would like to do more cardio exercise like hiking, running, jumping on a trampoline, etc.

I need to get more into teaching yoga. I need to develop my voice as a teacher. About focusing on the breath and such. I would like to memorize a script and use that until I am comfortable without it. I am going to call my class Yoga for Aerialists. I would also like to develop a restorative yoga class and call it Yoga Recovery for Athletes. I am going to be attending a lot more yoga classes and start writing down ideas after class about things I liked and didn't like. I need to start keeping a journal.

I am considering taking a semester off and taking part in Selena's 300 hour yoga teacher training in Thailand. Not only would I love to go to Thailand, I would have some friends with me and the familiarity of my teacher. My focus will be on yoga alignment and cross training with drills.

Fitness needs to become the center of my life. I am wondering if I can find a fitness-related job. For now, I am just asking the universe to provide me with the perfect job. I plan to spend some time by myself manifesting my perfect job/ boyfriend/ life.

All in all, I am confident about my future and excited about my year!!

Day 11

My eating habits were pretty good yesterday, I had my hemp milk/ cacao/ banana/ maca smoothie and it was YUM!! And then I picked up my friend Dianne from the airport and we made more smoothie and curry with basmati rice and naan, it was sooo good! But it was really HOT outside plus the curry was spicy and the stove heats up the house so I was sweating when I ate it haha.

Then I had a drink of tequila or two with my friends at Masc and we hula hooped, juggled, did yoga, and generally played around in the gym all silly-like. I love circus people so much!

I need to be around people, I need to be social or I get depressed.

So my plan for today is go to work (11-2... so awesome only 3-4 hours of work!) and when I get home, I am going to hit up my friends and go over to the studio to play with flow toys and I will probably go to aerial fitness.


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Day 8 9 and 10.. fall... get back on the horse!!!

If day 7 was a day of getting things done, day 8 was a day of messing things up.

I ended up drinking a whole bottle of cab sav on thursday night. I had like two bars of symphony chocolate.

and then i woke up and ate cheesy scrambled eggs with hash browns and wheat toast from pauls pancake parlor. I had an almond milk latte that was way too sweet from nitro. And I had a piece of pizza from wordens and a a frappe from the break. I also had some popcorn from Ace.

The next few days were filled with Big Dipper ice cream (yum!), pesto sticks from the bridge (hey but i also ate a salad lol), and strawberry rhubarb pie with more big dipper ice cream

And salads. So i guess the salads make up for the rest? hahaha i was running around at work all day too. Get back on the horse!!

Day 7 - Do it NOW

I woke up feeling very depressed today. I don't know why. I went over to Mikes house for a bit and after that, I decided that even though I didn't feel good, I was going to accomplish things.

So I started off by cleaning the shower in my bathroom. It was disgusting and it really needed it. I was on a cleaning kick so I did the dishes upstairs and cleaned the kitchen.

I then had some leftover curry from  yesterday, I did SUCH an amazing job! And I ate the naan yesterday but not today, just the curry and a quinoa patty. And hot sauce.. of course. I put some of this zucchini in my curry as well, I just harvested it from my garden that very same day! For dessert I had a whole lotta banana, almond butter, cacao, maca, hemp milk smoothie. It was so good, and it has been so hot around here lately it was nice to have something cold.

Yesterday when I was cooking curry I was also eating carrot sticks with jalapeno hummus. I had some again today when I got home from washing my car. I feel accomplished, I also went to the recycling center and to the ...dun dun dun... dreaded Wal Mart. I bought a vacuum and some other cleaning supplies, sponges, a pink tupperware bin, and leopard print seat covers. After I cleaned up my car and washed it, I put a hello kitty decal on my car that I have literally been trying to do for like 3 or 4 years. I can't remember when I bought it except I bought it because it had hello kitty hula hooping. I am pretty stoked to finally have that on my car.

     

I made a smoothie for dinner that was my favorite combo of banana, almond butter, hemp milk, maca, cacao, and I also put it some of my vegan protein powder since it was for a meal. It was really yummy!!

I'm doing laundry now, it feels really really good to have my room clean. I feel pretty accomplished even though I woke up feeling depressed. It just goes to show, that if you start doing stuff you will probably feel better in the long run, even if you don't feel like it. Just do it. Do it NOW!!! That was my motto today... Do it NOW!!!

Day 6

Woohoo! I am off work for the day and I have off the next two days! I have a lot of things I want to get done and I am pretty excited.

First things first, I need to record my yoga class and run through it. I will be recording that today. I need to get paper for my printer, apparently I can't find the paper I had before. I should get nail polish remover too, because I got ink on my hands yesterday when I was replacing the ink cartridges. I also need to pick up my medicine.

I am going to make curry tonight, I have all the ingredients. I also need to water all the gardens. I would like to make chocolate almond butter cups later too.

Aside from that, tomorrow I have to get my independent contractor's license fixed and notarized and mailed. I also need to deposit money in the bank. I am going to do my laundry, and maybe buy a lawnmower if my roommates will pitch in on it.

I will be training the next couple days too. I can't get crazy sweaty but I can go to aerial fitness and go on hikes. I can also do some yoga as long as it doesn't affect my tattoo at all. I can definitely do handstands. I will be hula hooping a lot too, and running drills. I am going to practice splits with the hoops (with hoops on the knee, stomach, foot, and hand or hoops on the knees, stomach, ribs, hands. I will also practice some quad hooping. I should really bring my computer with me to Masc so that I can look at some of the tutorials I have saved on my computer.

Mike wants to pick huckleberries on Friday so I guess I will be doing that. I will also be cleaning and organizing my room.

Last night I ended up making some oven fries with ketchup instead of making curry. I was too lazy and it was getting late anyway. I also ate that brownie.

Today I had my usual breakfast : 1 cup gluten free hot cereal with sliced banana, blackberries, honey, and ghee.

At work today I ate some hashbrowns with ketchup that were a screw up from the kitchen,  I was pretty stoked. I have also been drinking coffee.

Tonights food will be curry and rice with naan and chocolate almond butter cups for dessert
Its gonna be gooooood

Day 4 and day 5

I forgot to write yesterday, I had the day off but I completely forgot!
I went up in the Rattlesnake and went on a little walk until I found a quaint little spot down the creek where I could be alone and journal. I wrote some lyrics as well. I taped a hoop (rather poorly) for my students, I need to make about ten more for beginners. I will be teaching at the Salvation Army Teen Center next weekend or I might be teaching yoga. I will also be teaching my first yoga class at the jail!! I am really excited, this yoga class is something I will be good at - easy, gentle yoga poses.

 I still need to record my script for yoga teacher training, but the good news is I wrote the rest of my script yesterday and now I just need to record it! I am going to do my own class once I record it so that I know it works well and is easy to follow. I feel very happy that I am getting back into my yoga practice. It sucks that I bought that hot yoga membership and then got this tattoo. I wasn't thinking about that, I'm not supposed to get it wet and I sweat A LOT in hot yoga. I swear I am the sweatiest person in there. But I also usually get there just in the nick of time and then the only open spots are right next to the heaters.

I felt kind of off yesterday, I felt nauseous and exhausted. Probably from working too much last weekend, I worked my first double on Sunday. I served from 7-3:30 and then I was the Server Assistant from 4-8:30. It was a really long day. I was kind of down in the dumps yesterday, I can't really pinpoint why. I did manage to water my garden plot and all of Haley's plants too, as well as do my laundry and use the sprinkler to water the lawn. Which remind me, I need to water my plot today, as well as finish watering the lawn. We also need to start thinking about buying a lawnmower. I might go to Wal Mart later and check them out, I might buy printer ink as well, so I can print out my yoga script.

I did a little bit of hula hooping yesterday but I really wasn't feeling well so I didn't do as much as I would have liked. I felt proud that I did any hooping at all.

Yesterdays food intake: almond milk latte, some leftover pesto pasta, small salad from the GFS with lemon tahini dressing, veggie burger on whole wheat bun with lots of ketchup, one vegan brownie

Today I woke up late and I wasn't able to eat breakfast, I pretty much just went straight to work. I had some coffee while I was there, I brought some hemp milk/coconut milk creamer. I didn't have any time to eat yet, I wasn't very hungry when I was so busy. I was thinking I can warm up some of the pesto pasta and have that. And later I was thinking I could buy some groceries and make curry with basmati rice. I would really like the naan but I am trying not to eat white bread, but it sooo hard not to eat naan!

I will probably have another vegan brownie for dessert, considering that I already have one sitting on my desk that I bought yesterday.

My planned activities include watering my garden and Haleys garden, going to wal mart to get printer ink, watering the lawn, hula hooping at the park.

Its hard to train when I work so much, I am going to focus on hula hooping for now and I think I might go for a run later, if I can find my other running shoe.

I might do some strength training exercises and drills as well.

I will keep this updated on what I actually do! To be continued....



Update: 7:42pm
I just got home from the good food store. I ate the leftover pesto pasta and then went to wal mart to buy ink for my printer. I was originally going to go to Natural Grocery but I found out they were closed for the 4th of July so I went to the Good Food Store instead. I only planned on buying a few things, but of course I always end up spending more somehow. I bought a chocolate banana almond butter smoothie and it was soooo good and refreshing that I bought the ingredients to make another one at home. Of course raw almond butter is like $15. And I needed to buy cacao, which was another $10 in itself. I also bought some stuff for curry, and I ended up buying the Naan. Whatever. I love Naan and it makes me pretty damn happy so i'll be damned if I am not gonna eat it with my Indian food.

I came home and made a duplicate smoothie with banana, hemp milk, cacao, raw almond butter, and a tiny bit of honey. Wow.. soooooooo goood!!! It was better than the one I bought from the GFS. I have a feeling this smoothie will be making an appearance in my diet quite a bit this summer.

So I am planning on making the curry later after I water the garden plots. Then I am going to record my yoga sequence. I plan on hula hooping when I go out to water the garden, at least run some drills.

I will keep you posted...

Days 2 and 3

So I didn't have time to write the last couple days because I had an INSANE weekend at work and I had no time or energy for much else. I worked 22 hours altogether, which was super draining on me and I am still recovering. Thank God I have off today!! Being a waitress can be super stressful. As an introverted empath, I may be happier at a different job.. although the money is really good right now. But the question is, what is more important? My money or my life? I was wanting to keep my job because I wanted to have at least one year experience before I quit. That will roll around in July. Right now I need to tough it out and save some money for myself. I might have to quit before Burning Man because I don't know if they will give me the time off.

However, I did take the time to plan ahead my meals so I didn't end up eating junk food. I had a green smoothie and hot gluten-free cereal with banana and blackberries and honey.

Then I brought a small salad to work from the GFS, but I didn't have time to eat it until close to midnight. I didn't finish it either, It had 2 green garbanzo cakes and tahini dressing.

The next day I had to wake up and go to work by 7am but I managed to make some steel cut oats with banana, berries, and honey for breakfast anyway. I didn't have a chance to eat again until 3:30 when I ate a big salad from the GFS with tahini dressing, avocado, and 3 garbanzo cakes.

When I got home, I ate a cashew cookie lara bar. I made pesto pasta a little bit later with whole grain noodles, pesto, tomatoes, and broccoli. I was only able to eat a little bit and then I went downstairs to pass out.

I don't like eating so close to bedtime but with how late I have been working, its been difficult to avoid.


Today I ate some leftover pesto pasta so far, its abut 1:17pm. I plan on hula hooping today, working on handstands, yoga homework, and maybe some strength training. I want to develop a routine.

I would also like to go for a walk/hike around town or in the rattlesnake.

So I think I will go about my day and give an update later. PEACE!

Day One

Day One

It was a good day today! I had the day off work, which was really nice. I was pretty bummed at first that I had to miss Harvest Fusion Festival this weekend, but I lightened up when I realized I would have a little bit of time to organize my life. It was nice to press pause for a second.

Eating-wise, I didn't get off to a great start. I had two grilled cheese sandwiches (tillamook sharp cheddar cheese, birdman bread, and butter mmmm) I also ate some organic tomato soup.

I don't feel bad about eating those sandwiches at all. First of all, the ingredients were about to go bad and needed to be used up. From now on I can avoid buying those items. Plus it was really good and I was happy and I am still happy about it.

Mike went off to work around 2pm, and on my way to my house I stopped at Nitro to get a Frappe. I got a 16oz almond milk frappe with 1 pump of white chocolate.. when I really should have asked for a half of a pump because it was waaaaay too sweet. I felt a little sick about halfway through and then I stopped drinking it.

I feel good about getting some logistical things done. I went to Walgreens and exchanged lotions so that I had the unscented kind. I then went to the Salvation Army and returned a backpack that I bought last week and didn't end up using in the performance. It was ten dollars so I got a gift card with store credit. I browsed for a few minutes but then I decided I didn't feel like shopping and headed over to the community garden.

I am really happy about going to the community garden and watering my plants. My plants and I listened to the Grateful Dead Radio while I weeded and then I watered. I still have much weeding to do, but my arm was starting to sweat so I didn't want to mess up my tattoo.

I am extremely happy about what I did next, which was go to the park and practice hula hooping underneath the trees in the shade. I made a list of drills that I will try to run everyday or at least areas to focus on. It felt good to hoop and practice new skills. My hoop juggling is getting better all the time! I really do feel like a performance artist today. I can't wait to keep learning new things! I had fun listening to music and lying on my tapestry reading books and writing in my journal.

I made a smart food choice for dinner, which was a salad from the good food store with beets and spinach and peas and lemon tahini dressing and 3 garbanzo bean cakes. I want to make my own falafel that is a little healthier and it will probably be cheaper too. I would love to learn how to make the lemon tahini dressing but it just doesn't come out the same.

I need to start experimenting with salad dressings though, I bought a food processor and I barely ever use it. I would like to start utilizing my kitchen equipment including my juicer and Mike's crock pot.

Next, I worked on my blog and made a meal plan for tomorrow. I am going to have a green smoothie for breakfast and then I am going to the good food store to get a salad for lunch. I am going to bring carrot sticks with jalapeno hummus to work too. And I also need to buy broccoli and hemp milk. I either want to make pesto pasta with broccoli for dinner tomorrow night, or order a salad from the bridge.

I have no idea what I am going to eat for lunch on Sunday because I work a really long shift.  I'll need to bring something with me or else I will have to eat the Cracker Barrell. I am thinking I will get stuff to make a sandwich and have a sandwich for lunch? I wish I could get a sandwich from Market on Front. I am going to make a lot of money this weekend!

I think I will buy myself a set of Doodle Fans!

So I guess tomorrow at the good food store I will need to buy 1-2 salads, lara bars, hemp milk, dark chocolate, vegan brownies if they have them, avocado, tomato, cucumber, bread, and cheese. I think I will grill the sandwich before I pack it in my lunch for Sunday. It would be nice to have a salad for that day too, I have some dressing still. Salad and salad galore!!

Yes I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I just ate two carrot cake muffins. And some dark chocolate with almonds. My favorite! I am working on that. Right now I am focusing on all the GOOD things I did today. I think I did a pretty darn good job.

For instance, I am doing my laundry! AND I cleaned my room! Its not perfect but its 300% better than it was. I really do need to take out the trash though!

Yes, it was a very good day. A very good day indeed!

Cool Cats Hula Hoop!

This just in... breaking news!!

The Journey Begins

Greetings Earthlings! My name is Kat, welcome to my blog! This blog is an informal space for me to share my progress in fitness and health, as well as alternative lifestyle choices. I am aiming to lose about ten pounds, but really what I care about it being toned and strong for aerial fabrics and pole dancing. I am using this blog as a way to motivate myself and record my personal victories, pitfalls, and lessons learned. I have a few main goals for the rest of the summer, which I will obtain gradually as not to overwhelm myself.

First of all...

   So.. get over it I guess? And get used to it

For the rest of the summer and beyond, I am challenging myself to hula hoop for at least 30 minutes every single day. This is one of the most vital aspects of my training and I need to be running drills and learning combos. I also want to work on hoop juggling, fans, double staff and fire eating.

As far as conditioning for aerial fabrics, I want to be doing yoga six times per week for at least 20-30 minutes, even if I can't make it to a class. I am going to be attending aerial fitness whenever I can, as well as Barre and Pilates. I would like to get time on the fabrics two days a week and time working on pole work at least two days per week.

I will be putting together some exercises for training that I will be doing on alternate days, including yoga drills and lots of ab and arm work (and legs and glutes on  different days). I will share this routine on this blog when I have it all written up!

 I need to work on my cardio as well... like bad. I can't use my hamstring as an excuse anymore. I will be running and hiking at least 4 times per week. I want my heart rate to be UP! And more cartwheels! And more handstands! And more Dancing!!

Finally, I want to work on my teaching skills and teach yoga every single week. I also want to put together a hula hoop curriculum and start making choreographed dances for us to perform.

As for my eating habits and nutrition, I will be eating a whole foods diet as best as I can. I will record my progress on this blog to keep me accountable! I will also record my workouts and my flow practice. I most certainly want to be drinking more green juice.

So who is with me ?? Are you ready for a health and fitness overhaul??