(Re)Starting My Yoga Practice

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I've always wanted to be a yogi. They're so flexible and just seem so much more relaxed and down to earth. Not to mention that there are some bangin' yoga bodies out there.

Last year (around October) I was in a good place with yoga and was practicing almost every day. I saw a (much needed) increase in my flexibility and felt a sense of accomplishment for doing something good for myself every day.

Then I fell off the wagon. or should I say mat? I'm one of those inordinately inflexible people. My forward fold isn't even a half bend. Segue: Speaking of yoga, I heard a funny yoga-joke on The League last night. A yoga teacher was mad at one of the guys on the show and said,"Go do an inversion on your moon cycle!" - translation: "do a headstand on your period." Oh haha yoga jokes.

Anyway, I'm still sticking with my 365 Days of Yoga challenge (Day 7 / 365 I know I'm almost there!) and I wanted to ask you all how you stick with a yoga routine?

Right now I'm finishing up Erin Motz's 10 Day Yoga Ab Challenge, but I don't know where to go from there. I think I should work on getting my flexibility back up to at least that of a brittle rubber band.

So I guess my questions are:

• How can I make yoga a part of my everyday life? 
• Are there any yoga programs (for free) that work for you? 
• Are there any specific videos or websites that I should check out?

Let me know in the comments below! Also, as a side note, what do you think of the new site?

Sticking to Your Resolutions

Are you in full-on New Year's Resolution mode? Me too. My two main goals are to be more active and to eat better, so I've taken some of the most common resolutions and compiled some lists (of links) for us to help keep us motivated and on track! Don't fight it, just click on all the links; open all the tabs.

The Resolution: Eat Better

31 Healthy Versions of Your Favorite Comfort Foods- Buzzfeed

• It's not about giving up the things you love, it's about finding a better way to indulge.

27 Easy Ways to Eat Healthier- Buzzfeed

• A simple list of easy substitutions to make small, healthier choices like using avocado instead of mayo on a sandwich

21 Little Lifestyle Changes that Will Help You Be Healthier- Buzzfeed

• It's a proven fact, big changes rarely ever stick. Take things one small change at a time and build from there.

Healthy & Easy Chicken Sausage Frittata

I've been looking to make a frittata for about 2 years now. I know, weird goal. Nothing was really stopping me, I've just never made one. Anyway, I woke up Sunday morning and wanted to make something special and a frittata seemed like the perfect healthy breakfast. I altered a recipe from SkinnyTaste to fit the ingredients I already had in my fridge.

As Claire Robinson from the Food Network says: the great thing about a frittata is it's like an omelette, but you don't have to flip it. Well, I happen to not be able to flip omelettes (also I think they're gross; great in theory but usually gross in taste), so the frittata is a perfect fit for me!

One day I will take an appetizing picture of my food. But not today!

HealthySimpleSmart's Chicken Sausage Frittata (adapted from SkinnyTaste's Recipe)

4 Large Eggs

4 Egg Whites

1/2 white onion, sliced

1 link chicken sausage, diced (I used Trader Joe's Jalapeno Chicken Sausage)

3 cups fresh spinach (or 1 cup thawed frozen spinach)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

First, in an oven safe pan, saute the onions until soft (3-5 min). Add the chicken sausage and cook an additional 2-3 minutes to heat. Finally, add the spinach, saute until wilted.

While onions are cooking crack eggs and egg whites into a bowl and add Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. Add a little bit of water if you like your eggs fluffy. Mix well.

Pour egg mixture over onions, sausage, and spinach. Cook until sides start to firm up. Put the pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Let sit for 2-5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

I suggest serving the frittata with some sriracha. Next time I'd love to add some asparagus or something that will give it a little more crunch!

Five Favorites: The Perfect Snow Day

So if you're in the Northeast you may be aware of the snow storm that's happening as we speak. Outside it's snowy and cold; however, my work almost never closes due to inclement weather :-/ BUT that won't stop me from envisioning my perfect snow day. Here are my 5 tips for having the perfect snow day.

1. Sleep In

Getting enough sleep can help improve your memory, amp up your metabolism, help your body recover quicker, and lift your spirits. If you're one of those people who doesn't understand the value of sleeping in (I don't understand you). You can read all about how great sleep is here.



2. Watch a Good (or Guilty Pleasure) Show

One of my favorite things to do is have a lazy morning where I get to lay in bed and watch TV or read. May I suggest the new season of Community which just aired? They're trying to "re-pilot" the show since it went so off the rails last season. They credit last year's madness to a "gas leak."

3. Start off with Some Yoga

As I mentioned before, I'm doing Erin Motz's 10 Day Yoga Ab Challenge. Today is day 2! 

4. Cook Something Hearty

I made this chili in preparation for the snow. This sweet potato turkey chili from SkinnyTaste.com is failproof. Do yourself a favor and make it today!

Also, I wanted to share, I just recently subscribed to Clean Eating magazine. Holy smokes there are some good recipes to try in here! I love looking through healthy recipes and picking out which ones to make. This issue has a Fiesta Chicken Casserole that I know I'll be making sometime soon. Not to mention the Creamed Greens Mac N' Cheese.

5. Do Something Active

Whether you're the type to bundle up and go for a snowy hike (yeahhh not so much) or the type to stay cozy warm inside, do something active with your day to make sure you feel productive! Did I mention that Nike Training Club recently totally redid their app!?!?!?! You can see my opinion on the older version here (spoiler alert: I like it a lot).  

I'm super excited to see the new improvements! I was messing around on it the other night and you can now create 4-week programs along with make some minor customizations to the predesigned workouts like choosing between doing froggers or burpees.

Well, if you're one of the lucky few who has a snow day today tell me what your favorite part of it is!

Back to the Grind

Ooops! I took another holiday break without telling you guys. Sorry! But this just means that now that I'm back to my regular M-F blogging I'll have so much more to talk about.

First things first: Resolutions

Do you make resolutions? I always do, but I kinda think they're dumb. I don't understand why people always wait until the new year to start thinking about making changes in their lives, but that's exactly what I did this year. My resolutions are pretty much the same as everyone else's: be more active and eat better.

By "be more active" I mean choosing to do more outdoorsy things or taking a long walk or some yoga on a rest day. I workout about 4-6 times a week so I don't feel like I need to up my actual working out-ness, but I could definitely pepper in some more activity when I get home or with my friends. I can't wait for the weather to get warmer!

Eating better for me this mostly means listening to my body to tell me when I'm hungry vs. bored/tired/just want the taste of food. I want to start eating more intuitively. Eating only when I'm hungry and paying attention to portion sizes are the two big things that I really need to work on.

After reading Kris's (the Running Canadian Girl) blog entry about her interesting New Year's Day tradition, I thought it would be cool to do something with the idea of a year, so I decided to go for 365 days of yoga. To kick it off, I signed up for Erin Motz's 10 Day Ab Challenge. It starts today so sign up now! I already completed Day 1 (it's 11 minutes long) and it felt good to finally hit my mat again. I think Erin Motz is adorable and her whole "Bad Yogi" image is one I can embrace.

Also, I've been "treating myself" a little too much lately (what else is new?). Oops! Oh well. Anyway, to encourage myself to continue to kill it at Lithe Method, I bought myself an outfit from Fabletics. Have I told you guys I belong to that website? Anyway, you sign up and every month they release a collection of new workout gear. You can either pick out an outfit and get it shipped to you or you can opt out of getting anything for that month. I got an outfit from them before and the quality is really good for what you're paying. This is the outfit I picked out this month:

In other exciting news: I'm going to Florida in February! Which means I have a very tangible goal to work towards: bikini ready by 2/14! Time to amp up my routine and look amazing in a month and a half! 

What are some of your resolutions? How do you plan to accomplish them?