There is something irresistible about a rhyming title ..
First, thank you all for your well wishes, and I am feeling better today. I seem to be a very slow learner with easing back into a varied diet! But any who.. I hope you had a great Sunday! Mine was oddly like my Saturday, which is a darn good thing 
WORKOUT
I didn’t make it to Spin this morning because I’m still hobbling around with my extreme leg soreness, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s. I did however go to another yoga class. This one was a bit more advanced, called Flow. It’s suppose to be geared towards “Strengthen(ing) the mind/body connection by linking breath with a series of dynamic postures”. And again, I totally enjoyed it. I kept up pretty well, though certainly had to look around a lot for guidance, but I think after a couple more similar classes I’ll be good. They have a deal for new students where you can go to unlimited class for the first 2 weeks at a really good price. So I’m trying to test out as many different classes and teachers (? is that what you call them?) as I can. The membership packages are pretty expensive so I’m going to have to play with the budget to see if it’s manageable. But channeling my inner Tim Gunn, I’ll make it work somehow!
What’s really cool is that yoga seems to get exactly at my weak areas. After 12 years of gymnastics my hips are a wreck, tend to tighten up really easily and are not as flexible as other leg muscles. This has already proven to be troublesome and is an area I knew I had to improve upon in order to avoid injury moving forward. Even though overall I’m pretty flexible, a lot of the yoga holds get at stretching out hip flexors and glutes, so I’m really happy to be actively working on those trouble spot. Also, the people I’ve meant there so far have all been really cool. I actually ran into a girl right after class while shopping at a local farmers market. We got to chatting, she recommended her favorite classes, and I think we’ll probably end up getting together for coffee in the near future. It’s just so wonderful & refreshing to meet people with similar lifestyles and attitudes towards health & fitness.
I love my Fit Livin’ Community
I’m continually amazed, in a wonderful way, by how inspired and supported I am by the people I’ve met this last year as I’ve become more and more immersed in the health & fitness world. You all are absolutely amazing! Whether I met these people at the gym, at competitions, at camps, at the grocery store or virtually, I’ve found that surrounding one’s self with a group of people who have similar interests and understand & support your goals is the absolute best way to stay on track physically, mentally and emotionally. Everyone will have their bad days, but not getting too down on yourself, and instead making the decision to turn it around the next day is what separates those that succeed from those that don’t. Being a part of a community that support one another on bad days and congratulates on the good ones is what it’s all about. It’s what makes this journey (I always feel like that’s a super cheesy word but I suppose it’s still the best one :p) not just a path to physical change but an overall life changing experience resulting in a more balanced and happy life.
Wow, I didn’t start this blog expecting to go off like that, I guess I’m just feeling sentimental, so thankful for what I have, and so happy with where I am in life right now!
EATS
I didn’t want anything too heavy before yoga, so I had a hot & cold liquid breakfast: hot Coffee, cold Sugar Cook Sleigh Ride Protein Shake..
A Naturally Wonderful Addition
I was super hungry by the time I got home from yoga and was craving crabs. Instead of the standard oats, I went with a bowl of Pumpkin Quinoa Flakes. This also gave me a great opportunity to use Naturally More I’d just picked up. I’d seen floating around the blogosphere and was excited to try. If you haven’t heard about Naturally More, it’s peanut butter (or almond butter) fortified with Flax Seed and Flax Oil to add protein and as a result it has more fiber, more protein, fewer carbs and fewer calories. And perhaps the best news, it tastes great! Definitely a big fan of this product
What isn’t on there?!
After many cups of tea (I just could not warm up today) and a delicious Amazing Grass Peppermint Mocha Protein Shake (didn’t take a pic but will be making again soon and will post the recipe), I decided to have a little fun with dinner. I wanted to use up the rest of the TJ’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, so I scrounged through the fridge to see what could be used for toppings. What resulted was a beast of a fantastic “pizza”..
TJ’s Whole Wheat Dough
Spinach “pesto” (blended spinach, pinenuts, vegetable broth & spices)
leftover Roasted Butternut Squash & Garlic
Ham
sprinkles of leftover Cheeses (included Goat, Gouda & Parmesan)
And even though the diameter of the pizza was fairly modest, the stacked up toppings made 2 slices just the right serving size. Nutrition-wise, this was more cheese than would have been ideal, but I just couldn’t bring myself to let the gourmet cheeses my parents bought while they were here go to waste. I didn’t go crazy or anything (.. me making myself feel better :p) but there were 3 kinds after all
Sweetness
For “dessert” I heated up about 1/3 of a leftover Kabocha and tossed it with WF Maple Syrup and Cinnamon. So yum!
I’m excited for tomorrow’s workouts. I’m hitting Shoulders & Glutes in the AM before class, then have Spin & Yoga in the evening What a great way to start the week!
Do you ever find yourself guilt eating like I did with the cheese on my pizza? On multiple occasions I’ve ended up eating things that I felt too guilty to let go to waste, either because of how expensive it was or because of how good it tastes? What do you do to avoid &/or overcome this?
Fun Links
i completely agree with you. meeting other people that are like minded and on their way to a similar goal is HUGE. It has helped me SO much and it’s almost like i couldn’t thank the people around me enough. When i first got into this, i thought that there wouldn’t be any other people near me that would really understand, but it turns out there is a whole community and i’m SO glad that i have met people in it!
I love this post!
I love the online fitness community, especially since that little healthy niche does not exist in my part of the boonies. 
As far as guilt eating… *raises hand* Uhm, guilty. I haven’t tried quitting, though. LOL! Maybe I should! Thanks for putting it on my radar.
def. guilty of “guilt eating” :/ these past couple months have really made me evaluate my relationship with food.
also I am still trying to find that “fit community” here….Houston is 1 of the fattest cities of America :/ sad lol anyway great post!
Thanks for putting your thoughts on the fitness community out there. In our real world the number of people in the fitness community are small in numbers. I am always thrilled to meet more and just so thrilled that we all have a like mind. As for guilt eating…I seem to cave in at night, fatigue I suppose and just give in to the bad food, even if I’m not hungry. I have found recently that a cup of tea and a mandarin orange does wonders, sometimes a scoop of cottage cheese helps too.