I Want That And I Want It Now

Howdy All. Is anyone still out there waiting for me to update this languishing blog?

It's been ages since I've posted, I know. No excuses other than I haven't really had much to say.  But I do have something to ponder.

Grab your tea and sit for a spell. If you have a minute, can we talk a moment about cravings?  Cravings, not habits.

To me, a habit is something that you do regularly like exercise, brush you teeth, shower, coffee and something sweet around 3pm.

That was my habit from January through March-April every working day. I hit that 3pm slump and wanted coffee with a pastry. That was a habit I had to break because it was adding unnecessary calories into my diet. I broke the habit by substituting tea and yogurt at 3pm instead (not an easy swap, but a necessary one) and now I usually skip right over the snack break or make sure to have something healthy on hand.

The debate today is about cravings. I WANT CHIPS. And it will come at odd times, normally late evening or weekends when I'm home doing absolutely nothing. I know the easy answer to that is - don't have chips in the house. Well, The Fella lives with me so we have chips and at times cookies. I can go for stretches and the chips won't call my name at 1am, but then there are times like now where I wake up and want chips for breakfast. We could try the out of sight, out of mind technique, but I'm running out of pantry space.

I am thinking of pulling the popcorn out of the cabinet so it sits in plain view like the chips and let that be my substitute. However, a good friend of mine thinks that subbing only continues to feed the craving. I have determined this is truly a specific craving for chips, not a salty, crunchy craving so I'm a little torn as to what to do about the issue.

If you have any thoughts, feel free to share in the comments below.

Photo from: NASA.gov

Dependable

There are two things really important to me in a relationship: honesty and dependability. These two components equal one HUGE quality: Trust.  If either of the two smaller components are missing, then trust is broken.

At the moment, I am being honest with myself and depending on my knowledge and training. So you can trust that I can remain on the right path to happiness in my health and spirituality. The key to this is there is only 1 person who can control this - ME. It's a relationship with myself.

Ok, ok, enough babbling because that is starting to sound like some psycho-babble BS.

Personal crap aside, I have to say I finally did hot yoga. Well, not Bikram Yoga like everyone else I know, but infrared yoga. Sunday, I met up with a friend at Blue Tree Yoga located in an industrial building in an art district of town (I really should have snapped some photos). Of course being me, I was there EARLY (even after making a pit stop at Tar-jay for water) because I wanted to get a good spot. Hey, it's donation yoga and that could mean swarms of people. Luckily for me, it only meant 5 people and I had a spot near the door incase I needed a quick escape.

Our Yogi was young, tiny girl who apparently just gave birth approximately 2 months ago and was performing what looked like what we called airplane as kids.

Photo: www.TheSecretsofYoga.com

You'd swear this girl just turned 18. Big ups to yoga!  She introduced herself and mentioned that our class would be infrared. Um, excuse but what the heck does that mean?  It means she was planning to turn up the heat. As I began to panic and think of the quickest way back to my car, she reassured us first-timers that it wouldn't get much hotter than it already was in the room (currently at 75) and that your body would make most of the heat - not the room, so I stayed.

Bikram yoga studios are steamy hot the moment you walk in the room, this yoga room was bearable, comfortable. Of course, I felt as if I was having my own personal summer from the moment I entered the room (but that's been happening often) so I didn't realize there was a difference in the room temp once she adjusted the thermostat.

Unlike my one and only experience with Bikram (I lasted 2 seconds and then had to bolt because it was stifling hot and that excess heat lowers my BP), infrared yoga was enjoyable. The flow was perfect for not having been to yoga regularly since May. My warm body temp made getting into pigeon easy right off. The warrior poses were a challenge, but more because of my tight legs. I was even able to jump from downward dog to the forward fold - I've never been able to do that - I usually end up walking to that pose.

All-in-all, I thoroughly enjoyed the warm (dare I say, hot) yoga class and I'm looking forward to next Sunday (dependable). The big plus, it's a donation studio so on the days when I don't have $10 to pay, I can pay $5. I can also afford to bring my friend who is struggling a bit financially while she attends school. The yoga seemed to have her more balanced and I know she likes the practice.

Do you practice yoga? Do you find it centering? Do you feel that it helps with your daily life? Do you find it helps with your running goals or other exercise goals?

Gobble Gobble

I'm a bit late with my TXU Energy Turkey Trot update and I figured out why...I didn't snap a single photo! Nope, no pre-race pictures, nothing along the route, not even post-race. However, not playing around during this race (as per my usual), I PR'd this 10K and shaved 10mins off my time.  Hot Dawg! 1 hour, 15mins. I had my fastest mile time at 11:26mins.

This made for my 2nd Turkey Trot, the first being in Sacramento in the cold and rain (what a nasty race) and running with over 26K people. This one was a bit more sedate at 14K people and it was ok weather (sunny, not too humid, not too hot). I stuck to my plan of running a mile and walking a quarter mile. I did start out running with a girl from my running club, but she had to slow her roll due to numbness in her feet. Normally, I would say: No Girl Left Behind (BGR motto) and that I will walk with you, but something clicked again (like at Rock n Roll) and I didn't want to slow down. I made sure she was ok to walk (this is a normal thing with her feet) and I kept on running. She finished around 1 hour and 26 mins, which is my usual time.

I am finding that races are fun when you start out with your friends. It would make for even more fun to see familiar faces cheering you on, but I am learning that running, although social at times, you have to be your own cheer squad. So I turn up my headphones and sing along as I cross the finish line.

I am looking forward to my race line-up whether it be with a group, a single friend or solo.  Here's what's on my schedule:

Date	Run	Supports	Location
12/9/2012	Jingle Bell Run (10K)	Houston YMCA	Houston - Downtown
1/5/2013	Friends of Galveston Island State Park Fun Run (10K)	Galveston State Park	Galveston
1/27/2013	Keep on Truckin’ Half	Brazos State Park	Brazos State Park
2/9/2013	TX Med Center 5K	Harris County Hospital District	Houston – Medical Center
2/17/2013	Sugar & Spice Half		Clear Lake, TX
3/23/2013	Zooma Women’s Half		Bastrop
4/13/2013	Blue Bell Fun Run (5K or 10K)		Brenham
4/27/2013	Wildflower Run		Fredericksburg
5/11/2013	TX Flower Country Women’s 5K or 10K		Wildseed Farm, Fredericksburg

Which races are on your upcoming running calendar?