Going Up

Despite getting up earlier yesterday and having a long, full day without a lunch break, I made it through with flying colors.  I didn't even hit my usualy 7:30pm slump where, while doing meaningless things on my phone, I start to doze off.  I went straight on through until 9pm before I felt myself nodding, then I decided to finish up my nightly tasks so I could get to bed a little earlier.  I could tell that extra sleep was very rejuvenating this morning and I am grateful for that! 
I did want to mention what happened yesterday because it gave me pause. My department is on the basement level of our clinic and our work meeting was on the 3rd floor.  Sure, I could have taken the elevator, but I am Yoga Goddess now, so I can take the stairs.  I walked up with a coworker who is roughly 15 years older than me.  She is slim, but she does nothing to care for herself; she can be seen drinking energy drinks or other caffeinated beverages throughout the day, barely drinks any water, eats all kinds of junk, etc.  She also has a pacemaker, high blood pressure and all kinds of thyroid issues.  On the second flight of steps (there were 8 flights to get to the meeting) she started to complain about the steps, I was still doing OK.  By the 4 flight I was feeling the burn and it made me realize that even though yoga is strengthening me in some ways, there is always room for improvement.  By the time we got to the top we were both breathing hard and couldn't wait to plop down in that cushy office chair!  This could be something that makes me feel bad about myself, but it didn't.  Instead it inspires me to stay the course.  I started thinking about the next time we have a meeting maybe I would feel less wiped out climbing those stairs, and 6 months from now I might not get the burn until the 5th or 6th flight, and maybe a year from now I will glide up those 8 flights with grace and ease and not even think about it as a challenge.  Maybe. 
Today was day 26 of the yoga challenge, a 23 minute, total body "Earth" yoga.  There was less heavy core work today but we did hold a few poses that woke those muscles up anyway.  There were no complicated moves that I needed to modify today so it felt like a nice, smooth flow.  I knew I wanted to figure out what I am going to do after this 30-day challenge was up, and as luck would have it, Adriene has 3 more series of 30-day courses (well, one is 31 days) and they are all free.  Search up Yoga with Adriene on YouTube if you are interested.  So I am going to pick one of the other series and continue with the morning yoga.  My long term plan is to work through all 4 of them (that will be 121 days of yoga!) and then I can free-style it from there.  I did watch a review of another YouTuber reviewing how 170 consecutive days of Yoga with Adriene made her feel and she was gushing/glowing about all the benefits.  Then I realized that if I do all 4 30-day videos I am only one and a half months shy of 170 days.  That sounds totally doable.  Then my mind went even further and I wondered if I could do yoga every day for an entire year and see what the results are.  It made me regret not taking "before" photos when I started my challenge because I can tell I am firming up already.  But, I can certainly take some photos now because I imagine I will continue to tighten and tone up from here if I stick with the yoga and good food.
Speaking of, can I tell you a really simple, yummy recipe I am having for breakfast this week?  This might be nothing new, but I am enjoying it so much that I thought I'd share. 

I do not own the rights to this photo

I do not own the rights to this photo

I do not own the rights to this photo

I do not own the rights to this photo

 

I cut up two eggs, mix in one guacamole mini, microwave 3 strips of bacon (fake-on) for 80 seconds so it gets all crispy (this is the best fake bacon I have ever tasted) then crumble the bacon into the egg/guac mix and spoon it onto the Wasa crackers.  These crackers have a nice profile with no added sugars and only 10g carbs for 2 crackers.  It is such a delicious meal that I will probably eat the same thing for breakfast next week.  And bonus, it is super quick to make, 5 minutes or less. 
So I think that's about enough news for one day.  I'm so happy it's almost the weekend and I will get so much more free time this weekend!  Happy Friday everyone!