Intermittent Fasting Lately

August 22nd, 2015 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (4 Comments)

gets_easier

The post I wrote on Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss back in March of 2011 is the post that drives the most amount of traffic from search engines to this site everyday.  Given it’s been more than 4 years since that post was originally published (I’ve updated and edited it for clarity a number of times over the years) a recent email from a reader with some questions inspired me to write an update and answer some of the questions about IF that I’m frequently asked.

I do still practice IF, but I don’t really think about it anymore.  Now it’s just the normal thing I do.

I taught my first yoga class today.  Not exactly my first class, but sort of.

My “first” classes were in teacher training to my fellow trainees, but those don’t really count.

Then I taught a restorative class a few weeks ago at the studio where I practice, and although that was a real class, it was just a few resting postures (have you ever been to a restorative yoga class? It’s awesome.) so I’m not sure that counts either.

Yoga Teacher Training, Part I

March 14th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (2 Comments)

I think I took my first yoga class in 2002.

I was 23.  I talked fast, I thought fast, I liked things fast.

Yoga was slow.  It was uncomfortable, it was kind of boring.

Did I mention yoga was slow and I liked things fast?  I did not really like yoga.

Yoga books for teacher training

Still, there was just something about yoga that kept me coming back to it.

(Just a heads up, this post is 2842 words long.)

Healthy living is a journey.  (Shocking, I know.)

Your Plan
photo credit: The Internet

This image is such a great reminder that progress toward any goal or habit change you’re working on is not going to be linear.  You’re not a failure when you hit some bumps along the way and are not getting it exactly right.  Ups and downs are totally normal and to be expected, we just have to keep on keepin’ on.

A New Chapter

November 9th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (12 Comments)

When I first started this blog, it was all about me.  I wrote day-to-day, journal style entries that documented my meals and workouts.  I had found my groove in what felt like a much healthier life than I’d ever lived before and I was very excited to share what I had learned and how I was working healthy habits into my life as a stay at home mom of two little girls.  I loved reading healthy living blogs and eventually decided to jump in on the fun, despite knowing how weird it was to take pictures of my meals and telling stories about my latest run, bike ride or nutritional experiment.

40 Days of Yoga, Teacher Training and Noticing Jealousy

October 25th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (Comments Off on 40 Days of Yoga, Teacher Training and Noticing Jealousy)

Today marks 28 days into my personal 40 Days of Yoga challenge and things are going well. Most days I try to get anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes of practice in at home, either as self guided practice (that means making it up as I go) or a class from yogadownload.com.  I’ve been getting to the studio once or twice a week for a 75 minute class, and then other days, like last Friday, it was a couple downward dogs and forward bends in my pajamas right before bed because the entire day slipped away before I had a chance to roll out my mat.

Zak’s been talking about doing a “40 Day Paleo Challenge” for a couple of weeks now and he’s invited all of his (Facebook) friends to join him.  He asked me to write up a brief guide to Paleo for anyone who wants to play along, and when I was putting it together I decided to extend the invite here to you too.  It’s not a contest or competition, just an opportunity to try the Paleo lifestyle for 40 days, to give it a fair shot and to see if it might make a difference for you.

Coconut Oil Coffee

April 7th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (43 Comments)

Coffee pot, blender, coconut oil, cream… what are we making today?

How to Make Coconut Oil Coffee

We’re making coconut oil coffee!

No, I have not lost my mind. Yes, I realize coconut oil in coffee might sound crazy, but it’s good!  You won’t believe it until you try it.  I sure didn’t.

I’d heard (read) about people putting coconut oil in coffee when I started reading about Intermittent Fasting a couple years ago.  I’ve been in love with coconut oil and all of its benefits for quite some time now, but the idea of putting coconut oil in coffee seemed a little extreme and frankly, sort of gross.

What a Salad Mess Can Teach Us

March 19th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Life - (8 Comments)

I love eating salad out of this big blue bowl.

Blue Salad Bowl

It was a GO! GO! GO! kind of day, one of those days that I was very appreciative of the stock pile of greens prepped and ready to go because it made a green lunch really easy.

My salad might not be very pretty, and it certainly wasn’t anything new or exciting.  So let’s dig for a deeper message in the bottom of that salad bowl today. Like a fortune cook or one of those thought provoking messages on a Yogi tea bag.  Except we’re going to read lettuce leaves instead of tea leaves.

A few days ago my dad (who is also a runner) asked if I was going to run the “Johnny’s Runnin’ of the Green” on Saturday, the annual St. Patrick’s Day race here in Rochester.

I said no, I was too busy with half marathon training – and besides, I’d rather be Eatin’ of the Green.

(I didn’t really say that last part.)

Fast forward to this morning, in the car and less than 2 minutes away from my yoga class, I discovered the road I was about to turn onto was closed – blockaded by cop cars with flashing lights and caution tape. It was then that I noticed all the runners dressed in green costumes, green shirts, hats and sparkly shamrock antennae.