Awesome lunch!

I used up a few things that were lying around in my fridge; an opened can of vegetarian refried beans, some sprouts that were about to go bad, slice of cheese, leftover avocado, sriracha, and the last tortilla I had, all to make this amazing “grilled” burrito.

I had an apple topped with cinnamon to go with it. Really good lunch for using up scraps!

And then I forced myself to chug down this whole glass of water over about 30 minutes.

I have never been a very thirsty person, and I want to believe that our bodies know what we need and therefore you don’t really need more water if you don’t feel thirsty, but I think I’m gonna try to drink a lot more for a while and see if I feel any better from it.

I haven’t been feeling poorly or anything, it’s just an experiment.

My new rules are:

• either drink a glass of water immediately upon waking or finish at least three cups of tea by noon.
• eat at least one hydrating fruit per day such as citrus or apples.
• full glass of water with any rigorous physical activity
• entire glass of water by myself with dinner (my husband and I always share one.)
• always request water when drinking alcohol, finish as much of it as possible.
• always carry a thermos of water with me in the car

I think employing these new rules will really force me to incorporate more fluids than I am currently. After one month, I’ll try to evaluate wether or not I see or feel a real difference. Hopefully, trying this will also help to forge some new healthy habits in me and I won’t have to think about wether or not I’m drinking enough anymore.

And no more feeling like I’m gonna pass out in my yoga class!

How much water do you think you realistically drink in a day? Do you have any more tips I can use to keep hydrated?

February 11, 2011 Alayna Discussion 7 comments

Ugh. I feel terrible today.

Why? Because of yoga. Yes, I feel like I’ve been run through a pasta machine because hot yoga kicked my butt last night.

I went back to Atlanta Hot Yoga with Lee, Laura, and Kristy again for essentially the same class we all took together last time. A few things were different though: we had a different instructor, the class was probably twice as packed as last time, and it felt so much hotter!

Last time I was never thinking about the heat, this time it was all I could think about. I got really dizzy and was having trouble breathing at one point so I had to sit down. I really pushed myself to at least try to do the poses even if I couldn’t do them very well, but any time we had to put our arms up for a pose I would feel like I was gonna hurk.

We all agreed that it was much harder this time. Still, I think that I had so much trouble mostly because I didn’t drink enough water yesterday. I know better now.

It felt so good to step out into the cold air outside the studio. Kristy surprised me with a Picky Bar, she was talking about them on her blog the other day and I thought they sounded interesting.

These are so good! This flavor tasted like peanut butter with chocolate chips and a fruity flavor in the background. I could only eat a bite or two when she gave it to me because I was feeling so run down, but I polished off the rest of it today and loved it!

This morning I tried to eat a banana and a carrot cake breakfast bar, but my body just said no.

Half of this is still in my fridge. My body just wants liquids like crazy today, further suggesting to me that all my troubles stem from dehydration.

Amazingly though, I really did still enjoy myself. I think I’m going to buy a package of 5 visits to my local Decatur Hot Yoga studio soon and try to turn this into a habit. I love how strong I feel the next day, like I’ve worked every tiny muscle in my body. My shoulders look rounded, my legs are more defined, and my butt is tight! Love that!

What is your favorite snack or meal replacement bar?

February 10, 2011 Alayna Discussion, Fitness 3 comments

The 6 of us, Jeff and I with our friends John, Emily, Marshall, and Kelly, arrived at Hashiguchi Jr. last night for a sushi explosion.

Jeff and I had a moment of pause when we, arriving at the restaurant first, noticed a sign on the door saying that they were unable to sell alcohol at that moment.

No sake! No shochu! No beer! No matter, we just gulped down like 5 or so cups of this great green tea each. It was nice and grassy and full of swirling matcha particles. Maybe that sounds gross, but that’s exactly how it should be and exactly how I like to drink it. Success!

First we ordered two plates of takoyaki for the table, fried balls of batter with a hidden piece of octopus lurking inside and covered with nori powder, sweet sauce, and bonito flake. Bonito is so weird-looking, it’s paper-thin so the steam from the takoyaki was causing it to curl and flail about like a living thing!

Then we had beef tataki. This had been slightly seared on the outside before slicing, so it had a nice contrast of cooked and raw textures.

Each couple ordered a bowl of noodle soup, ours being a ramen with pork and egg. The broth was very unusual in that it tasted heavily of sesame, it was almost like peanut butter in flavor!

And then the first round of sushi: In the very back is fatty tuna, followed by ikura (salmon eggs,) then 6 pieces of hamachi (yellowtail,) and tamago aka sweet egg omelet.

Samurai roll…

Samurai roll with eel sauce, mayo, and sriracha

Various maki rolls…

Maki of tuna, spicy tuna, yellowtail, and dragon roll with avocado

And a plate of freshwater eel nigiri in  a lot of eel sauce…

We started the next round off with a grilled dish…

Miso-glazed salmon cheek off the grill

And then ordered two special appetizers of ankimo, which is monkfish liver.  It tastes kind of nutty reminding me of a really bland peanut butter with a slightly salty oceanic flavor. Sounds weird, but it’s actually pretty good.

Even more sushi!

Uni, toro, salmon, octopus, salmon maki, salmon skin roll

I was so full by the end of all this, we always seem to order too much at sushi restaurants. I still managed to have dessert at home which was a box of strawberry Pocky.

Ahhh… a nice night of cracking jokes and stuffing our faces full of raw fish. That’s what I call a good time!

February 9, 2011 Alayna Discussion 4 comments