week 1: dogs, fitbooks and teaching

Quick recap: week 1 was all about walking the dogs daily; using my fitbook to help in the achievement of fitness and nutrition goals; and being aware of learnings I take away from teaching.  Here we go!

It seems I picked the coldest week of the winter to start daily dog walks - yikes!  Me and my dog-walker parka (thank you North Face) made it out almost every day with both dogs in tow (I'm not counting a couple of days simply because standing in the front yard with dogs on their leashes don't really count - the wind was just too bitter, even for them - and yes they are spoiled).  For the record, temperatures during walk times hovered (with the wind chill) around -30 degrees celsius (that's -22 degrees farenheit for my American friends) - in other words freakin' freezing, even by good old Canadian standards!  Oh, and it did get colder with -37 being the coldest I think.  Not sure who enjoyed it more though - the dogs or me.  Every question "want to go for a walk?" was met by the dogs with a level of excitement that could not be contained and there is simply no turning back at that point.  I honestly had forgotten that tails could wag that fast or that if you happened to catch one in the shin during said wagging that it really hurts.  They're happier, I'm happy that they're happier, so we're all happy!

My fitbook is coming along quite nicely!  I have diligently planned my workouts for the week and guess what - I DID THEM!  I also realized I was able to create a standard workout schedule for every week that eliminates doing any more planning BUT provides the flexibility to adjust individual workouts to facilitate inclusion of various forms of exercise.  It might not be perfect, but it's predictable and for me, that just means it's more likely to happen!  An example is that Monday, Wednesday & Saturday I focus on cardio for a minimum of 45 minutes; this can be treadmill running one day, piloxing another and spinning on the 3rd - SWEET!  I also managed to write down everything that I consumed.  A-ha moment - I don't eat enough food!  Glad we identified the next improvement to be made!

Last but certainly not least was being aware of what I'm learning through teaching.  I knew that I was learning "stuff" from teaching and from my students, but I hadn't really thought about what that was.  Here's a biggie learning for me - it's ok to make mistakes.  We all make mistakes on and off the mat and I have plenty of times teaching a class - forgotten which side we're on or where we're going next.  I realized my students don't care, they're not judging, sometimes don't even notice.  If they do notice, we laugh it off together and carry on.  Good life lesson if you ask me and one I'll have to ruminate on a little longer.

Next week's to-do's!

• Continue with week 1 items
• For healthy lifestyle : experiment with meal planning
• For time with fam, friends & dogs : gym time with my better half
• For yoga learnings : re-commit to my daily home practice 

here's the plan!

Ok, a couple of weeks ago I talked about the horrid tradition of new year's resolutions and my intention instead to focus on a few key commitments.  Now it's time to start putting things into action.

I thought about mapping out a plan for the while year, similar to the approach Gretchen Reuben took in The Happiness Project but quickly realized that approach likely wouldn't be fruitful for me.  You see, I tend to be quite spontaneous and have these "aha" moments that drive me in a particular direction (just ask Bryan or my parents or my brother how much fun that can be!).  So, I've decided instead to just embrace that part of me and let current circumstances influence the action items, but on a weekly basis, to keep these commitments front and centre.  I figure this will allow for small incremental shifts that align to each of them.  Sorry Bryan, Mom & Dad - you've got an experiment on your hands for the rest of the year; I guess that kind of makes you part of it?  Sorry for the short notice!

Ok, first things first - dealing with the thing that pre-occupies me and gets in the way of focusing on things that really matter - clutter and crap around our house (and therefore, in my brain).  Bought a shredder yesterday at Costco (my God, I love that place - never gets old!) to deal with the years of phone bills, hydro bills, etc that have piled up (side note: though I long ago signed up to get bills electronically, I am constantly amazed at the quantity of paper that shows up in our mailbox...). Next step will be filing documents that do need to be kept following David Bach's (that Automatic Millionaire guy) Find Your Stuff approach - simple, easy and ensures I can find things like the warranty for the new roof we had installed 2 years ago (which I can't now, in case you were wondering).  This might take me a while BUT will inevitably feel better.

Now onto my specific commitments.  Each week, I'll pick something to do differently or focus on for each commitment.  Here's to week 1!

I am committing to continuing the healthy lifestyle I've adopted and amp it up by trying new and different things (workouts and food included).  80/20 rule to allow for indulgences, such as cake once in a while :-)   Oh, and chocolate

• USE my fitbook.  Seriously, this is an incredible tool - it's not just for weight loss but is great for articulating any kind of health and fitness goals you have.  Have a look at it - I always get mine at Chapters here in Canada.  Why am I focusing on this?  Well, though I've gone through a couple of fitbooks already, I haven't been diligent about the planning or tracking part of using it.  Changing that now to achieve better results!  

I am committing to continuing to learn and grow through my personal yoga practice and to learn from those that I teach as well as other teachers.

• I love teaching, absolutely love it!  I currently teach 2 nights every week (except when I get stuck in traffic and have to find someone to sub - that makes me very un-zen) and love every minute of it.  BUT, I want to be able to actually articulate what I learn from those teaching times.  So, my intention is to notice and reflect on exactly what I learn in the classes I teach. 

I am committing to continuing to protect my time with my family, friends and dogs.

• Our dogs need more walks.  Confession: our fenced backyard has become an all too convenient alternative for daily walks.  Today I change this and they get daily walks, no matter the weather (gulp).  I know they love regular walks; they also deserve and need them for optimal health and wellness.    Mea culpa. 

So that's it - that's the plan for this week!   Stay tuned for next week's plan and to see how these ones turned out.  PS - these are not intended to be "to-do's" for just a week, rather things that I develop into habit.  

ya mon, everything's irie!

Ok, so I might still be living in Jamaica in my head, but WOW what an awesome week-long vacation!  Jamaican patties, jerk chicken, rice and peas, coconut shrimp, snapper (my new favourite fish!), callaloo, roti, ackee & salt fish...  *sigh*

Bryan and I just got back from a week in beautiful Ocho Rios, Jamaica having stayed at the Sandals Grande Riviera Resort.   If you're ever looking to live in the lap of luxury for a week with the absolute best in hospitality, this is the place to go.  I had been to all-inclusives before, but this one was, well... I don't even have the words! 

Confession time - I had every intention of working out, doing some yoga, eating well... FAIL!   Instead, I had the laziest of lazy weeks lying in the sun, lounging around reading books, some spa time, enjoying bacon every day for breakfast with a plate full of fruit (at least I ate some fruit!) and just generally moving slower than a turtle.  I happen to know the last part is true because there were turtles on the resort and they were like speedy gonzales compared to me!

The upside to all this laziness?   I had an opportunity to totally check out and relax, not worrying about anything and I didn't get fussed AT ALL about not working out.  We took the kayak out, swam around (ok, maybe more floating than swimming), took the trikes out (and let me tell you my quads were screaming on that thing!) and walked and walked and walked.  On a resort of 110 acres, you can do a lot of walking, though it takes a while to get anywhere when you're moving at a turtle's pace!  (oh and FYI, a week of walking around in flip flops makes for a rather painful return to Sunday morning lunges and warriors in warm yoga... holy cramps in the feet batman!) 

The other great aspect of checking out for a week is taking the time to think about what's important.  I talked in my last post about my commitments for the year and this gave me the time to really think hard about how I was going to fulfil those commitments. I coincidentally (PS - I don't believe in coincidences) started reading the book The Happiness Project - oh how some things are ringing true and I'm only on chapter 3!!!   Thank you Gretchen Reuben for writing this book!  The content of this book has my mind going a million miles a minute, crystallizing a lot of the "hows" for fulfilling my commitments and just generally living a happier, more fulfilling existence. 

Over the next couple of weeks, my plan/ideas will start to take shape.  I promise to share it, be transparent and share my experiences as I go.  

This vacation was a good reminder of the need to evaluate & re-evaluate where I am and where I want to go.  And it was an even more important reminder to do it regularly.  

Here are some pics from our oh-so-awesome vacation (another PS - I absolutely love the Camera+ app - fun to play around with). 

Soon come back :-) 

resolutions.... bah humbug

I hate new years resolutions.  They're always lofty statements, usually starting with " THIS is the year I will..."     lose 20 pounds, get healthy, eat better, be a better person, be more organized... and the list goes on.

Why do I hate new years resolutions?  Because we start off a brand new, glorious year by selling ourselves short, by focusing on a perceived flaw and "plan" to fix it in one short year.  Bring on the fun!!  And we all know that the majority of resolutions are doomed to fail, at which point we give ourselves another slap on the wrist for having failed at fixing our flaws!  Vicious circle if you ask me.

So this year, no new years resolutions for me!

I am however making 3 commitments to myself (well, and all of you) for 2013.

• I am committing to continuing the healthy lifestyle I've adopted and amp it up by trying new and different things (workouts and food included).  80/20 rule to allow for indulgences, such as cake once in a while :-)   Oh, and chocolate

• I am committing to continuing to learn and grow through my personal yoga practice and to learn from those that I teach as well as other teachers. 

• I am committing to continuing to protect my time with my family, friends and dogs.  

I like this approach much better; it just feels right.  It helps me recognize and acknowledge things I've already achieved, no matter how small and allows for an opportunity to grow those achievements.

And seriously, new years resolutions be damned.

Happy New Year!  Here's to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2013.

Namaste