Bikram Yoga Lisa

This week, this has been making the rounds on the interwebs.
 
Click Here
 
And you wanna know the sad thing? Multiple friends posted this on my facebook wall. That’s what I’m known for. I’m the crazy one that does Bikram Yoga.
 
Of all the things to be known for, I think I’m pretty ok with that one. 

Radishes Anyone?

This weekend included another trip to the farmer’s market. I mentioned before that the farmer’s market is my favorite lunch time errand. I would like to add to that. I also like it a whole lot more when it’s a lunch time errand. When I go on Saturday’s, it feels more like a chore, rather than a nice break from the day. And there are so many people there. I still got some good stuff.

I stocked up on sweet potatoes and radishes. They’re pretty huh?

Now I must admit, I’d never in my life purchased either of these. Sweet potatoes were easy. Anything you can do with a regular potato, you can do with a sweet potato. But the radish was different. I wasn’t even exactly sure what a radish tasted like. But they were so darn pretty and at only $1 a bunch, I couldn’t help trying them. I think Josh described it best. They’re kind of like biting into a garden. Some people say they might taste “healthy.” Either way, I bought them and now I’m trying to find interesting ways to use them. Adding them to my salad was easy, but I also added them to my grilled cheese sandwich for a little extra crunch and I must say. It wasn’t bad. But then again, anything covered in cheese is good in my book.

So, how about it? Does anyone have any interesting radish uses?

Ch-ch-changes

I don’t usually talk about food here. Obviously, food and fitness go together as part of a healthy lifestyle, but there are a lot of blogs out there that talk about food and fitness. Like A LOT. I didn’t want to be white noise. And honestly, I always felt like I don’t really know that much about food and nutrition. If you want to know the truth, I didn’t really WANT to know. I thought if I learned more about food in this country, how it’s produced, what’s in it, etc, that I might not want it any more. But recently my curiosity got the best of me. Well, I guess it was really the Kindle daily deal that got my attention. They recently had Food Inc on sale for just $1.99. Food Inc is a book based on the documentary that talks about the food industry in America and what we as consumers can do about it. There was nothing too disturbing, but some of it definitely made me feel less than comfortable about the foods I’ve been putting into my body. So I’ve been making some changes.

1. Eat less meat. I started doing this during the summer, just because lots of meat was leaving me feeling heavy and slow. Not something you want as a runner. I’ve been having lots of fun exploring new kinds of protein.


2. Go to the farmer’s market more for locally grown, in season produce. This has become my favorite lunchtime errand. Compare the farmer’s market to the grocery store and they’re totally opposite experiences. The farmer’s market is such a happy place. The air is getting crisp and wandering around looking at everything is actually fun. There are beautiful fresh flowers and food everywhere. I don’t know what the hell I would do with a radish, all I know is they’re so freaking pretty I want one. I want lots of them. And everyone looks so happy. Compare that to the grocery store where you have long lines, rude cashiers and screaming kids, and it’s night and day. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do when winter rolls around, and there’s nothing to harvest, but right now, I’m really loving this change.

I’m not going to call myself an expert on the food industry and I’m definitely not going to preach to anyone about why exactly I’m making these changes. You can always find out for yourself. But I know for me, I feel a lot better about how I’m spending my money and what I’m consuming. I still don’t think I know a whole lot about nutrition itself. Maybe Kindle will help me out with another awesome and informative daily deal.

Roll with it - UPDATE

Did I mention that body rolling your legs is also a really good arm and ab workout? After basically holding myself up on my arms while balancing on two bouncy balls, I’m still sore. Two days later. Who woulda thunk?

Roll with it

If you’re a runner, I’m sure you’re very well acquainted with the dreaded foam roller. I got news for you. There’s a better option out there. During last year’s marathon training, I had all sorts of aches and pains and somehow found myself at a body rolling class. Body rolling is exactly how it sounds- you roll your body on these little bouncy balls to help release and lengthen your tight muscles.

Image source

It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as the foam roller and, at least in my opinion, the results are a whole lot better. It’s like giving yourself a massage.

Well I had forgotten all about the wonderfulness that is body rolling until I got an email from my favorite body roller/yoga teacher/acupuncturist. She was holding a workshop for runners and it was all about the legs. That sounds like exactly what I needed. After 2 hours of rolling around on these little bouncy balls, my legs felt completely relaxed and longer. It was amazing. Intense body rolling also makes me feel a little high, so that’s a very pleasant side effect. Now I have a new tool to make this hamstring 100%. I know that if I want to increase my flexibility and work out all the kinks in my legs, I need to body roll more. Note to my friends: If you come over to my apartment, you’ll probably find me sitting on some bouncy balls. It might be weird, but you’ve been forewarned.

Ok people. I know I’ve been kind of bad with keeping up with my blog. I’m just having a crisis in motivation lately. The weather’s getting cooler, the NYC marathon is approaching and everyone is out running. Everyone except me. And I’m kind of jealous. My hamstring feels a lot better, and I suppose I could try to go for a run, but I’m really afraid of hurting myself badly and not being benched for longer. So I’m just going to sit on the sidelines and watch and cheer everyone on. Whenever I see someone run by, especially if I can tell they’re on a long run, I silently cheer them on in my head. Would I sound crazy if I started actually cheering for random runners?

The good news is, with my hamstring feeling better, I’m enjoying yoga more. Even my yoga wasn’t making me as happy with a lame hamstring. I felt like I couldn't do anything but my flexibility is increasing and I don’t feel like I hate yoga. I’ve had many teachers tell me I look angry in class, so I’m trying really hard to look like I’m enjoying it. So far, I think it’s working. I guess it’s all a work in progress.

What a Chicken- Update!

As Seen On My Run: Update

Remember when I said I found this lost chicken?

Well turns out the chicken is not lost. She lives there. And she belongs to a very nice little old lady. Now, when I make the trek to the grocery store, I always make sure to stop and talk to the chicken. It's kind of cool. We live in a city. How many of us get to watch chickens scratch around and peck at things? And as far as chickens go, I think she's a very pretty chicken.

In other news, I went to a New York Sports Club to ask them about personal training. I went to them first, because you can buy a 30 day pass. I still don't really like gyms, and I don't want to buy an actual membership anywhere. Especially because in the city, most of them are around $70 or $80 a month. The personal trainer seemed really cool, but the manager did exactly what I thought he would: he tried to sell me on way more than I actually needed. I don't want to get a pack of 20 classes, Mr Manager. I just want to try out 3 or 4.

I think I'll keep looking for now.

So blah

Sorry I’ve been a little absent lately. I’ve been in a bit of a funk. I never realized how much running kept me motivated. Since I’ve stopped running, I feel so blah. Sometimes I feel like if I’m not constantly moving forward, I’m floundering. What is running if not simply moving forward? Running gave me goals. Something to always strive and work towards. Now that I’ve stepped away from that, it feels like I’m goal-less. What am I working towards? I’ve always kept the Chicago marathon in the back of my mind, which I fully intend on doing in 2012, but it’s too far away. I need something to work on now. I’ll have to find another challenge to take on while I’m letting this hamstring do its thing. I wish it would hurry up already. I’m tired of sitting around like a bump on a log. Not only do I feel blah. I feel like I look more blah. There’s more squish where I swear there used to be muscles. So here’s my immediate plan:

1. Start swimming again. I’m not the best swimmer. I can swim, but I’ve never really understood the breathing while doing strokes. I’m sure there’s a YouTube video or something on that.
2. Find a personal trainer. At least if I’m working on weights, maybe some of the squish can be replaced my muscles again.

Of course, I’m not sure if I should do any of these while the hamstring is still healing, or if I should wait. It doesn’t really hurt any more, more like something is off. A constant ache and stiffness. It only hurts if I move it really quickly in any weird, jerky movements. Any thoughts? Am I ok to do something more than just yoga?

Here’s all the other news:

I went to the eye doctor. There was nothing wrong. This guy tried to sell me on laser surgery. So now I wasted my time (and money) on doctor’s appointments that I didn’t even need. Argh.

Summer is now over. I ended the summer with some Dinosaur BBQ, swimming, drinking, oysters and lobster mac and cheese at Mermaid Oyster Bar (YUM!) and more drinking. Maybe that’s the real reason I feel so flabby lately.

I have an eye appointment with the cornea specialist this morning. I'm a little nervous. Both of the last doctors told me there were "unusual changes." I'm going to be positive and hope that those changes are something cool. Maybe X-ray vision? Ot shooting laser beams from my eyes? That would sure help when I try to navigate Times Square during rush hour. Slow people, beware!