Showing posts with label Balance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balance. Show all posts

Friday, June 21, 2013

The "8" Rules

{I'll expand upon each of these in separate articles.}

Rest {hibernate}

Sleep between the hours of 10 pm and 6 pm. The hours slept before 12 are the most important. When you stay awake late, especially after 12 you will become a more efficient fat storer (increasing fat storage by 30-40%). Also, you will tend to get hungry and eat to stay awake-FOOD IS FUEL and your body  needs it stay awake (energy). The food eaten at this time will primarily work itself into fat stores. Drink water instead, if you find yourself up at late hours. This is one of the few times I will encourage you to make yourself go hungry. There is no biological reason you need to eat to stay awake, unless you are a college student or a caveman. 

*8 hours of sleep, especially before 12. 





Drink Water {hydrate} 

Keep a glass of water everywhere-in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, studio, office, purse. Every time you pass by take a few sips-or the whole glass-and refill it for the next time you pass. Start your day with a full glass of water before anything else and end with one before bed.

*8-10 glasses of water all throughout your day, not all at once, for proper hydration. 





The Rule of Half {moderate}

  1. Look at your plate.
  2. Eat half.
  3. Rest, talk, drink.
*Repeat if hungry, up to 2 times

This will give your brain and stomach time to communicate-hunger receptors. You'll avoid overeating, since you are eating more slowly, and you'll never eat the whole plate. This accomplishes mindfulness, pacing, and portion control all at once-3 key factors in eating. I don't care if the last bite left on your plate is literally 1 bite, or large crumbs. Train yourself NOT to be a member of the clean plate club. 

*1/8 left on your plate.





Print this out and post on your fridge. Keep a copy on you in your purse or at your office. Retrain your brain how you should eat, sleep, and drink (or hibern8, hydr8, and moder8).  

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Is Yoga Supposed to Kick Your Butt?

Because, first and foremost, I am a #yogagirl. 

Great article on the benefits that yoga can bring to any workout routine. #balance #flexibility #strength

http://www.acefitness.org/blog/3364/is-yoga-supposed-to-kick-your-butt/


Friday, June 7, 2013

Falling off the {food} wagon...

Sorry for my absence. To say that life has been challenging lately is an understatement. And to say that my diet is less than ideal is an even bigger understatement. C'est la vie. Life is life, right?

The one advantage is that once I've eaten the "bad" food, it's done. I still won't buy "junk" to keep in my house. I force myself to have to go out and get it, every single time. It is an inconvenience to eat badly, so most of the time it passes and I move on. 




I stopped by a Sonic today and got an order of tater tots. And ate them all by myself. I'm not sorry. But I did confess to a friend, "Forgive me, Veronica, for I have sinned. I partook of the forbidden food.". I felt I needed to tell someone to keep myself accountable. She laughed, of course, but I know she will steer me in the right direction tomorrow when we are at the Farmer's Market (kind of hard to eat badly at a Farmer's Market. Of course, there are those homemade doughnuts the size of one's head and the pulled pork and the bread and the "flavored" popcorn.). You should always have someone you can talk to about your food struggles and who can guide you back to the light (no pun intended). Because we all struggle sometimes-we're human. And if you restrict too heavily (I don't encourage it), the fall is much more pronounced. 

So going back to the tater tots. I know I eat well. I know I take good care of myself. So one time is not anything to beat myself up about. It is rather fodder for a good laugh-I'm so stressed that.... I will not be doing it again anytime in the near future (I am most decidedly not an all-or-nothing type of person-I think it is unsustainable.). I'm only sharing it now because I want you to give yourself the permission to fall off of the food wagon, and get right back on. It doesn't have to be a slippery slope where you slide all the way down. It can be one time and be done with it. And by the way, if you are going to cheat, cheat well. My tater tots may not seem significant to you but they are epic to me. At least until the stomach ache hits (because it is not something that jives with my detoxed body anymore and then I really don't want to eat it again. Not. Worth. It.). So don't go for a Snickers, go for a deluxe artisinal chocolate like Vosges. Make it a really enjoyable experience so you can really soak up the deliciousness, eat slowly and enjoy the whole experience, and move on. And be done. 

And get back on the wagon. Wheeeee!!

Photo via Food Navigator