My sugar purge is amazing! Less cravings, better skin, less belly fat and definitely slimmer overall. My clothes fit me differently and I’m starting to show some muscle definition in my abs. I have a great core and I’m really excited that its no longer going to be covered in fat. The negative to all this is that I can no longer drink coffee. For some people this might seem silly, but for others this will definitely seem like the end of the world. I’m sort of in between. I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but I do enjoy a good cup from time to time. Coffee doesn’t wake me up or give me the buzz people seem to need in the morning to make it through the work day, but I like how it smells and how it tastes. I made myself a cup today and couldn’t finish it. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a k-cup, a bit of creamer and a spoonful of sugar. 1/3 of the way through the cup I had such a headache I had to throw it out. Bittersweet ending to what could have been a terrible addiction…

Its pretty amazing how life can change in the blink of an eye. You are finding me now sitting in a new room with a new life ahead of me. Yes, I moved. I was contacted by a real estate broker who is in charge of the selling of the house I was in asking everyone to move out asap. Not only that, we were given the incentive of $1000 to move out by the end of July. So I took it. $1000 is a good amount of money, especially when you are only renting a room and not a whole apartment. It was heartbreaking leaving a home I was comfortable in, but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given. I moved in with Gavin and his family (both parents and his older brother). I have my own room and access to everything in the house. Not all of my belongings fit here so a good amount are now being stored at my parents house an hour away, too far to live and commute from. The room is small, but cozy and sunny, and I really do have everything I need. Plus, I have the added bonus of seeing Gavin everyday 🙂 I would like to think that this is just temporary, but I really hate moving and I really could get used to living here…

Woohoo! I am officially a certified makeup artist. I went into the city and took a professional certification course. It was really neat seeing how you can use different products to enhance someone’s beauty and the techniques behind using all of these products. It wasn’t too difficult either. Most things I knew how to do already, but it was great having some extra tips added to my repertoire. Now I just need to practice on people and start building up a portfolio. This could be the start of something fun and new for me.

I love teaching. I love teaching new students just as much as more seasoned students. Each one brings something different to the table and helps to shape each of my classes. I happened to have a new student in my class this morning, along with two more advanced students with some back issues. Because of these known pains I kept the class very light and focused on keeping everyone’s backs relaxed and comfortable. At the end of class, the new girl came up to me and asked me what kind of yoga I was teaching. I explained to her that I teach Hatha yoga, a very traditional style, mixed with some more alignment based practices, sports and dance stretching, and some Pilates. My class is a bit eclectic in terms of content, but it flows really nicely. She then made the comment that she liked it because it felt really good and coordinating her breathing with the movements only added to that. Her comments left me thinking about my teaching style, my own practice, and what a physical yoga practice really includes the rest of the day. Yoga should be strengthening, healing, and enlightening. We as teachers should always strive to have those properties in our classes, for our own sakes as well as for our students. How we share our practice can deeply impact others, and we need to be mindful of that in every class we lead.

So I found this post on the Mind, Body, Green website a couple weeks and it really got me interested in changing my diet. All you have to do is look at the people around you everyday to see the effects diet can have on us. In my experience, when you walk into a fast food restaurant like McDonald’s or Burger King a good majority of the people there will not be skinny. There are tons of studies on the effects of sugar on the body, brain and even skin and none of them are positive. My dad was diagnosed years ago with type 2 diabetes and it drives me crazy that he isn’t doing more to help himself and reverse this terrible disease. So I decided I needed to do it for myself. Being vegetarian, it is often way too easy to get stuck in the carb rut. I want to be a healthy vegetarian and a good eater, and I don’t want to be addicted to sugar. As of today, I am 3 weeks with no caffeine, 2 weeks with no sugary drinks including soda, juice, and sweetened iced tea, and 1 week with no cookies, cake, candy, crackers, pretzels, chips, cereal or bread except for one pita encasing a falafel, a bit of 85% dark cacao (Lindt, yum!), and a s’more at a friend’s backyard bonfire. I feel lighter, more alert, and definitely more aware of the effects of sugar on my body (holy headache after that s’more!) I can’t wait to get more sugar out of my life so I can be my best vibrant self.

Have you ever stepped back and just laughed at yourself for everything going on in your life? Sometimes the things you do everyday can be pretty humorous. This week has been full of Memorial Day bbq’s, complete with a ton of veggie dogs since I’m vegetarian, home tanning in preparation for next weekend’s dance competition, looking for a a couple new yoga classes to teach, marathoning Game of Thrones (Gavin got me hooked), and wondering if I’ll actually look good in the costume my boss has let me borrow. Gavin asked me if I had lost weight, but the scale hasn’t moved, so I wonder if I am actually thinner or if it is just the tanner. This article sums up my entire life in terms of thinking about my weight. And right now I want pizza… but vegan pizza with good non-dairy cheese, because that’s a totally normal craving. Yeah, I think I’ll just laugh a little bit more 😉

I came home the other night to a notice on the fridge that the house I’m renting a room in is in foreclosure. At first I didn’t think much of it, but then realized my entire life could be changing yet again. I have this awesome, oddly shaped 3rd floor attic room in an old house. The ceilings are severely sloped leaving me crawling when I need something near the side walls. My “closet” is a bar and shelf over the only window in the room in-between two chimneys. The floor is carpeted, but not level. It has a certain charm and coziness to it. My furniture and belongings fit perfectly in all the nooks. My rent is low and includes all utilities, laundry, cable and internet. Its in a safe town with a  ton of places to go and easy access to anything I want or need outside of the area. And its only 2.5 miles from Gavin. I couldn’t ask for much more… but I guess I need to start looking at what else is available in the area because I don’t really know how long I will be able to stay here.

My dance partner lost 15 pounds and is super proud of himself and how he looks now, but he isn’t totally happy with how I look. I understand body image issues. I have struggles with them for years, especially being in the dance world. It seems like you can never be thin enough, pretty enough or glamorous enough. Sometimes the things he says are hurtful and make me look at myself in a way that isn’t positive. I love my body… until someone criticizes it. I am strong and flexible. I can dress myself so that I am well put together. I feel good about how I look and how my body is shaped. I am not perfect, but no one is. I came across two videos that I’d like to share. One that shows just how much can be digitally changed to create the “perfect image”, to the point people don’t look like themselves anymore, and one that is encouraging women to love themselves as they are and to embrace their differences. I hope you see what you are truly after watching them.

Embrace

Perfection

I’m on a quest to lose a few pounds, much like most of America. I’ve decided to go back to what I know works for me and use SparkPeople. The site is awesome. It lets you track everything! Weight, measurements and goals, no problem. Food, meal plans, flexible menus and the ability to enter absolutely anything you eat, absolutely. A community of profiles and support groups to help you achieve your goals, teams galore. Exercise programs to fit everyone, got it. For me, the most helpful tool is where I can track my foods for the day. It gives a range for healthy weight loss that includes calories, carbs, fats and proteins with the option of including other vitamins and nutrients. Totally customizable. Because of my schedule and how active I am, I tend to go a little higher in each category, but I’ve still been able to lose almost 2 pounds per week doing that. The best part is that I’m finding delicious whole foods that satisfy me and reduce cravings for junk. (Quinoa and broccoli rabe are my best friends at the moment.) Eating a cookie gives me a headache now! Healthy never tasted so good 🙂

At work we have been doing some training on sex appeal, and one of the things that makes someone attractive according to a study my boss read is having a healthy mind and being able to hold an intelligent conversation. We have been practicing talking to each other about random topics, some more familiar to us than others, in hopes of being able to connect better with our students. Looking at this training, it makes me realize how disconnected we really are from each other and from the world. I have been put into the category of dumb blonde at the studio because I’m a fabulous dancer, pretty and well dressed but really quiet. I have trouble starting and sometimes holding conversations because I just never know what to say. Sometimes I feel socially inept. But I’m actually really smart. I was always a good student. I graduated high school in the top 10% of my class. My SAT scores, by the old scale, were 1300. I had academic scholarships in college and grad school. I have had experiences that none of my coworkers have ever had, yet I’m the dumb one because I don’t speak up. I don’t mind sometimes because they expect less of me and I can actually enjoy what I do, but I know it also means I don’t carry the full weight I should. It also means that my boss and coworkers don’t really know me… and maybe I haven’t let them know me enough.

I found this video that I think everyone needs to see before they put down their phones and tablets and step away from their computers.  It is bad enough that we are historically, geographically and emotionally illiterate, but adding the social disconnect because of the technology that is supposed to bring us together just makes it worse. The video made me cry because of how real it is and how close to home it comes. Watch it, and then turn off whatever device you used to watch it, and go hug someone. Value your relationships as much as you value yourself.