Celebrating the small things

I just got back from a wonderful yoga class at my new gym! I’ve only ever done Iyengar classes before, so I was curious as to what it would be like. It was a class unique to our gym (rather than the pre-choreographed “Bodyflow” class). It was mostly Hatha style. Very light with a few tough holds and pretzel poses ;) Our instructor was awesome, very real and not intimidating in any way. We’ve got another winner at the new gym! :D

This was the view of the river from my new place when I got out of bed this morning:

Just the inspiration I needed to make Belgian waffles. Yup! I splurged on a Belgian waffle press. Not one of the fancy spinning ones, but it gets the job done ;)

I used my protein pancake recipe. In the blender went:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• cinnamon

I topped them with fresh blueberries and a fake syrup/maple syrup mix.

They came out so fluffy! The belgian press also works much faster than the small rectangular one my old roommie had. Makes having these on a workday much easier :)

I had more delicious food for supper…

Another reason why I love my new place! Unlike my old top-floor apartment, it’s in a basement. So even though it was 28 C today, I could still use the oven! Those aren’t fries, but an Yves veggie chicken burger cut into slices for fun dipping into plum sauce. That corn you see up there was the best I’ve had all season. I baked it in the husk for close to 30 minutes. I don’t have any salt or pepper (got lost in the move somewhere) so I just ate it straight up. So good! Corn is so sweet and juicy, there’s no reason to dress it up. I’ve learned my lesson.

I’m also all out of dark chocolate, so dessert was another great bite-sized sweet.

Dates! Stuffed with almond butter. I buy small soft dates because they’re cheaper. The big medjool ones are $12 a carton!!!

And look what the lovely (hilarious, inspiring, smarty pants, etc) Janetha sent me!!!

Made. My. Day Week. It should come as no surprise that the way to my heart is with food. Especially when that food is protein packed ;)

Most excited to try the cinnamon flavour!!

Thanks JB!! You’re the bestest!! :D

 

You may notice a huge chunk of my workday is missing from this post. That’s because I was busy as hell. My boss had me covering four events between 9am and noon. Sometimes I get the feeling he does this just to see if I can actually get to them all. Instead of being annoyed by this though, I get inspired. I am totally up to the challenge.

Taking on challenges and stepping out of comfort zones is something I talk about a lot. I’ve been very open about my history with social anxiety and agoraphobia. I truly believe that what has allowed me to overcome my anxiety disorder is learning to challenge it on a daily basis. If I haven’t done something that sends a surge of panic through my body, then I haven’t tried hard enough for the day.

My love for exercise definitely stems from this desire to challenge myself. I love putting my body through the wringer and seeing exactly what it can do.

Part of challenging yourself though, is recognizing your accomplishments. You have to remember to celebrate the small things. Today, I made it to all four events before noon, and ended up with a million great stories for my radio station. I was proud that I accomplished something that almost seemed impossible.

So how did I celebrate? I went to a yoga class and challenged myself in a room full of strangers. For the record, people with social anxiety disorders do not tangle their bodies up while surrounded by people they don’t know. But this is just one of the many things I force myself to do on a regular basis, because in the end, I never regret it.

So in celebration of my small accomplishments today, I’m asking you to do the same! Tell me one thing you’re proud of that you’ve done recently. Something that challenged you and you overcame, no matter how big or small!

 

And to finish it all off, I want to give a shout-out to Brie. She’s one of the many wonderful people I’ve met on the internet through my weight loss process. She just started her own blog: The Fit Bride. She’s planning her wedding and loves weight lifting as much as I do! :D (and is damn strong to boot)

Okay, I’m off to get all my stuff ready before my long run tomorrow. Seventy minutes planned! Night night!