January Reflection and Appreciation

So, I am going to be trying a new thing, where I take a look at everything that has happened in the last 30/31 days and recognize what I am thankful for.  It's a good way to stay accountable, but also grateful for all the delightful things that do come our way, despite the way we seem to pronounce the negatives: yelling at the red lights, but never thankful for the greens, complaining about the weather, but never complimenting when it is lovely, yelling at a server for the 1 time you receive crappy service, but never tipping the other 99% of the time for the above and beyond service, etc.  You get the picture.  Anyhow, here are my thankfuls for the month of January!

Not Just for Volcanoes, My Friends

I have jumped onto the "No 'Poo" train and am thoroughly enjoying it!  No, this is not a fad in preventing pooping or a challenge in constipation, rather it is an effort to stop using shampoo and conditioner and instead, favor baking soda and vinegar.

When I first heard about this interesting little trick, all I picture was my head frothing over like the volcanoes we made in 6th grade.  To be honest, I was kind of excited to see if it would happen, but alas, there was no volcano explosion in my hair.  Instead, I now have some of the softest, manageable curls ever!  Seriously, I have only used the baking soda/vinegar concoctions twice and my hair is in a totally different state.  I actually enjoy wearing it down, I like brushing it, and I enjoy touching it.
I don't have to worry about the greasiness that I normally find with conditioners, or the dryness that I find with certain shampoos.  Every time I use a different type of shampoo and conditioner I am always uncertain as to how my crazy curls will respond and therefore I can be out tons of money.  So when it came to trying some random kitchen ingredients in my hair, I was incredibly happy to see the results!!

(See how excited I am??  I didn't think my eyes looked that crazy...but here they are and yes they do :P)

That being said there are a few things that take getting used to.  For example, smelling like a Greek salad after you get out of the shower and then continuing to smell like a large pickle thereafter.

  Until your hair dries, anyhow....then it just smells like....hair, I guess.  I have read that some people put essential oils into their concoctions, but I am not there yet...though if I had to choose, I would totally put in some rose oil :D  Maybe after a month. 

Secondly, my bathroom is looking more and more like my kitchen.  I currently have bottles of vinegar, baking soda, coconut oil, and almond oil, who knows what my next adventure will be!  I still use coconut oil 1 time a week to add in the extra moisture, especially because it is winter and this makes an incredible difference as well.  But seriously, considering how much hair I have, it has never felt so light!

 I think the coolest thing about going the "no poo" route is the fact that I have cut out another source of chemicals coming into my body!  Not going to lie, I do miss the smell of my Moroccan shampoo and conditioner, but hey, my hair is fab-o-lous.

If you want to find out more about the reasons behind baking soda and vinegar, check out this blog here.  It goes into detail:

http://lazygirlsguide2lookingood.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/do-you-poo/

But you can just google search or Pinterest search and you will come up with tons of options!

Anyhow, that is my go to trick of the week this week!  Give 'er a go!

The Never Ending Battle (s)

Any effort to change your lifestyle regardless of what the goal it is difficult.  You are always fighting against your old habits, cravings, and lifestyle because it has become what you know as "comfortable" even though it is not the best.  This is something that I myself, have been dealing with this week.  I have yet to go back to the gym, but have been sleeping in, saying it's too cold, keeping "busy" (I am pretty sure Facebook does not count), and not doing myself justice.  The fact that I am writing this post write now is to help motivate me to go to the gym today and while it will not be this morning (slept in and am going to my mummy's is my excuse) I WILL go at some point today...feel free to hold me accountable.

(I even neglected to post my mantra monday yesterday...ahhhh!! this winter is getting to me)

Speaking of never ending battles, however, I stumbled across this amazing article that someone had posted which shows 2 twins attempting weight loss through 2 very popular ideas: sugar VS. fat and see what the outcome was.  While the post is kind of wordy, it is extremely interesting.  My favorite quote from the article is:

"We interviewed some amazing scientists who showed us that a combination of fat and sugar (such as in milk chocolate or ice cream) has a similar effect on your brain to cocaine."

WHAT?  That is crazy, especially since that I have been so good to get through my life without the help of drugs...well, apparently traditional drugs.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2546975/One-twin-gave-sugar-gave-fat-Their-experiment-change-YOUR-life.html#ixzz2rhvLQR00

  

Anyhow, that was a great dose of information for my morning and makes a lot of sense.  So....like we all know, everything in moderation ;)

In other news, last night my brother came into the city so we spent the evening pouring over our old photo albums at my mom's house and we came across some real beauts.  We joked about my Halloween costumes always being designed to fit around my ample body.  I was a bucket of chicken, a rabbit in a hat, a Pepsi can, and a bucket of popcorn....I believe that 3 out of 4 of those speak loudly to what caused my "condition" as a child.  The word my brother described me as in the picture below is "defeated."  I think he may be right....

 

Not a Baby's Gym

I am off to the Fort Garry for my boudoir marathon, but I cannot help but repost this video I came across on my Facebook feed a few days ago!  So funny!

Re-Motivation

I recognize that I have not been posting as frequently and it is definitely having an impact on how I run my days.  If you are a frequent follower of Facebook, you may have seen my statuses in the last 3 days about my difficulty in getting my ass to the gym.  I still went, mind you, but it was just so difficult to get out of the house and I blame my traveling (and this frigid chill outside) for that.  I know I am not alone in this either.  It is probably at this time, that a lot of you that set your New Years Resolution to get your ass to the gym are starting to waver slightly, making excuses, "forgetting" things, etc.  NOW, is the time that if you dig your heels in and don't listen to those little naggers in your brain, you will become quite successful. 

Whether you are dieting, exercising, both (hopefully!) or attempting something new, I hope you make it over the hump and into the land of habits!  Once you are here everything is beautiful and natural.  There is no room for excuses, because your workout is just as scheduled as your work, preparing your food for the week is a normal course of action, and you get excited about the prospect of creating something new.

The other day I posted a status on Facebook that said:

"I'm sitting here at my desk wearing my workout gear and looking at health on Pinterest....this counts right? just kidding...I'm leaving .....soon"

 Prior to leaving on my vacation, I would not allow myself on the computer until I had come back form the gym because of the time suck that can occur on sites like Pinterest and Facebook.  And while, I try to tell myself I am just getting motivated, it's all a lie.  I simply enjoy exercising my eyes better because it is easier to look at beautiful things.

In other news, I have been wanting to write a post on the stereotypes at the gym because it is quite ridiculous the "types" of people that show up.  Seriously, if you are in need of some character study, head to your nearest workout facility because you will see all types.  

When I proposed this genius idea to my boyfriend he showed me this video from Dude Perfect and it could not have been more spot on.  In fact, yesterday was my leg's day and I had the pleasure of sharing it with The Screamer,  The Mirror Magnet, The Sweaty Guy, and The Hunter Gather-er....it was all the same person.  In addition to all of those (watch the video to see what they are about), he was also the Drop The Weights in an Effort to Show People How Heavy You Are Lifting Guy.  Every rep is followed by a bang loud enough to break your ear drums.  Anyhow, watch this video.  If anything, it may get you excited to venture to the gym to watch for your own local stereotypes!  If you are any of the people in this video....stop it.

Mantra Monday (and getting back into the game!)

Today was my first day back at the gym since getting home from my Kindersley, Regina, Seattle trip and I have to say it was both surprising and delightful!  I still have a bit of a cough, so I kept the cardio to a minimum (shucks, right?) but I did do my biceps and back workout today and it felt good to be moving again!  I've also increased my weights and amount of sets and this shocked me, because I was feeling not so strong since my time away from the gym.  The rest probably did my body good!  I chose this mantra for today because of that....I think a lot of times I want things to hurry up or if I don't see results immediately I feel the urge to do things on my own instead of just "going with the flow."

As for what I ate the last few days I had been doing pretty good up until yesterday.  I helped Cori with the Wedding show, and therefore was surrounded by cakes, cookies, and candies in addition to inconsistent eating.  So that was neat.  After that, we went to my mom's for dinner but didn't get there until about 7:30 and didn't eat until 8:00 at which time we consumed delicious burgers with cheese and bacon and onion rings.  For dessert, there was peach cobbler and frozen yogurt.  Needless to say, I was excited to get to the gym after that kind of eating haha!

(This is me being excited)

Today, however, I consumed a delightful salad, rice cakes with peanut butter and a banana, some hummus and sweet potato chips and lots of water.  I also made this amazing wrap the other day that consisted of eggs, turkey bacon, light mayonnaise, and a toasted whole wheat wrap.  So good.

Just when you think your day is going bad...just remember, you could be Tyson:

And if you are Tyson, well, AWWWWW!  

Happy Monday!!

Give It A Rest

Is literally what I have been doing for the last few days since I got home.  As soon as my course was over, my bronchitis went full force (I think it was because I held my cough in for the 3 days while we were filming.)  There is nothing I hate more (except for mushrooms....I really hate those) than doing nothing and resting is something that I have had to do.  Even then, my idea of resting still consisted of editing images on the computer, but little to no activity.  This means that I have not been to the gym in over a week or so and I feel smushy already.  It is probably in my mind, but I can't help but feel everything I worked for disappearing a little bit every day.  No fear, however, at least I am home and capable of eating healthy whilst I am "resting."

I must confess, during my trip to Seattle I ate less than prime as I was in a studio where they pump you full of sugar and caffeine so your energy stays high throughout the whole day.  I consumed M&Ms, cookies, chocolates, and delicious food.  Then there was pizza and drinks for dinner, chicken fingers, quesadillas and 2 days of sweet potato fries.  Overall, not great.  However, I have come to terms with my not so healthy weekend and am back on track!

 I did, however, indulge in some really healthy teas to keep my cough at bay, and I appreciated that all my tea tags had beautiful things to say.  It made me want to drink more...and I am going to see if I can track down some Good Earth tea:

Last night, we enjoyed green beans with walnuts and honey lemon grilled salmon.  Tonight featured lettuce wraps with ground turkey breast, shaved carrots, cashews, cumin, and cilantro.  They were absolutely delicious!

 

My original reason for writing this post was because 1)I didn't want to face what I had done and not done over the weekend and 2)I am bored of "resting" hahaha!  I wanted to also talk about the importance of resting the body when it truly requires it.   I actually googled whether or not I should be exercising while sick (even though I knew the answer...but this way I had "proof").  I found this website actually quite informative and was happy to see that certain symptoms actually suggest TO exercise to help get rid of it.  So, next time you have a tiny head cold, don't use it as an excuse to put off your workout.  Now, I just have to get over my fear of using saline spray....seriously, why can't it be in a little eye dropper instead of an aerosol situation?  Anyhow, I will look forward to getting back to exercising, as tomorrow I have ballet, so I certainly hope that my cough is gone.  There is nothing graceful about hacking my way across the dance floor.

Mantra Monday

Mantra: Today I am thankful that I am alive to see today

I figured this was a good one for a Monday, for many of us wake up grumbling and groaning.  Remember, the alternative to not having Mondays is far worse.

So, Tonight I Went to the Barre

I am currently sitting in the Maxwell Hotel in Seattle, WA and to be honest, I am surprised that my fingers are capable of typing at the moment.  I just finished a crazy intensive session at Pure Barre, a local fitness studio here in Seattle (Let me tell you, there was nothing pure about the thoughts that were going through my mind as I felt muscles that I didn't even know existed....)

 

So, first off, I have walked by this studio 3 times before going in to check it out.  To be honest, originally I thought it was ballet conditioning due to the name, however, when I went in a spoke to the lovely young lady at the desk, I soon found out that I was mistaken and that it was a conditioning style workout.  So, I signed up for the free drop in class to see what it was about.  

They were not joking.  It hurts to sit up at this moment.  I hate to see what tomorrow will bring.

So, I have to admit I was greatly humbled when I walked in and saw that they set out 2lb and 3lb weights for me, and I thought to myself "ppphhhht, I can lift heavier than this..." Within 2 minutes of just the warm up, I thought my biceps had literally separated from my arm.  Essentially the workout never stopped, taking us working minor muscles with small movements that hurt like hell.  Seriously, normally I NEVER sweat during workouts, but by the end of this one I was drenched. 

We started the session off in the middle of the room, using the ball and weights to tense and pulse our muscles continually, then we moved to the barre where we would lift our legs off the floor and keep one lifted at a time, for what was probably 1 or 2 minutes (but felt like forever) and bent it, straightened it, pulsed it, and tucked it.  It hurt like a bitch.  Pardon my language...but it did.

 

The 2 ladies that worked at the studio tonight were both extremely helpful (and forgiving for my lack of grace and skill) and definitely kept everyone motivated to keep going, reminding us that the poses were not to be held forever, so go hard while you could.  As you can see in the picture above, we use a variety of exercise tools: the ball, the weights, and a variety of resistance bands, but the main exercise tool we use....is our bodies.  Our core (which you will soon discover whether or not you actually have one.) 

Anyhow, considering that I have been sitting down every day for the last 2 days for my amazing CreativeLive workshop, I was happy to get in a great workout and this class actually made me think of something that I want to do.  When I get back to Winnipeg, I am going to try to attend a variety of different exercise studios, give them a go and then give them a review on my blog!  I have never done anything like this particular exercise, nor did I know it existed, now that I do, it is something I would definitely recommend to people if it is in their area.  If it isn't, that is okay as well!!  In addition to some aching muscles and stretched ligaments, I walked away with a cute tank top and magnet in a stellar bag with a variety of the exercises on the back of it, so you can give these a try.  But I think a group setting would make it A) more difficult and B) more fun!

So, yes, you can keep an eye on this blog for my lovely adventures in attempting new workouts/health oriented classes to benefit myself, but also you!  :D  I am looking forward to learning new things.
And this brings me to one last thing, tonight I probably gave myself every excuse NOT to go to that class.  I could just walk around Seattle Center and get my exercise, I don't have time, I'd rather hang out with Ryan, etc.  The reason why I tried NOT to go is because I had the feeling of fear in my gut.  You know the one I am talking about....its the feeling that makes you doubt every capability you have: I am too fat, I am too slow, I am not strong enough, I am not coordinated enough, I'll make a fool of myself, I don't know what I am doing.....these are literally the thoughts that I told myself ALL day today.  But then something funny happened at the creativeLive studio today.  Heather, the PA for the show asked for a volunteer to go on camera and show what we learned and without thinking I stuck up my hand before I realized I did it.  My dad always taught me to take every opportunity that is offered to you.  And so I did it...for the next 5 minutes, I had those same thoughts: What if I screw it up?  what if I am wrong?  What if people laugh at me?  What if I trip on the way?  etc. etc.  But I had already said I would do it, so I couldn't exactly back down.  So I did it.  It went fine.  I was fine.  And I felt better for it.  The second thing that happened at the studio, was that my tea talked to me and confirmed all those silly little fears my brain gave me:

 

Being the person to ignore those negative voices, is something that has always worked for me and I recognize the "fake" conscience talking me out of things as opposed to the one that tells me to get out of a dangerous situation.  Today I had the epiphany that should I experience that feeling, I should do the opposite of it because it is good for me.  I will learn more, achieve more, and do more....it is the feeling of LIVING!!  So, I urge all of you reading this to do something that you fear this month!  Then tell me about it!  Get over that hump and push yourself to do it!  You will not regret it, I promise you :D

To check out more about Pure Barre, head to their website!  If you are ever in a city that they have this is, go try it out, I swear you won't regret it! 

Just a Bit of Catch Up

Tonight's post will be relatively short and more so to play catch up!  First off, I took my measurements for the second time during this journey (why I waited until December to do the 1st ones, I am not sure...) and from December until now I am down 10.5".  Mind you, most of that has come off of my legs and hips instead of my midsection, but hey, I'll take it!


A lot of people are fearful of their "numbers" whether it be on the scale or the tape measure, but I can tell you that AFTER taking my measurements and seeing the progress thus far, I made it through the day more successfully than if I hadn't taken my measurements.  Sure it is scary, but you cannot know where you are going until you know where you have been!  So just knuckle down and do it.

I did go out for supper with my friend Darla, who is also on her own journey to achieving her ultimate self, so it was great to bond over that and we even talked about possibly getting together to do the Spartan Race in BC this year.  It seems like quite the lofty goal, but heck, who knows....for me it will be more a case of "Do I have the money?"

(Not the best choice, but it was freaking amazing!!  The cheese, however, did not bode so well afterwards :P)
This week as well, I have been getting up to go to the gym with Bobbie which has been good for both of us.  Definitely, if you are not a self motivated person (especially when it is absolutely frigid outside!) then it helps to have someone waiting for you at the other end.  The accountability is definitely there.

I have to say I have been feeling stronger these days and even though I will be missing my ballet lesson this week, I have been working on my positions and what not and I can definitely stand on my toes a lot longer without wobbling all over the place.  So perhaps the gracefulness is coming along!  I still have a ways to go, but I love the feeling of strength.  Nothing can beat it!

Anyhow, I just wanted to play a bit of catch up prior to me leaving for Seattle tomorrow morning!  I am so absolutely excited about meeting one of my photography idols and better yet, learning from her!  This will be one amazing weekend I am absolutely certain of that!
On a somewhat related note, last night we went out for Chinese food (of which I ate relatively well....lots of veggies and sauteed chicken) and the fortune I got at the end of the night could not have been more perfect for me at this point in my life:

One of my rules has always been to give everything ago, never say no to an opportunity just because you are scared.  Do what makes you happy and whatever happens, happens.  But talk to most people who follow their hearts, and they will tell you that the outcome is standardly for the best!

Goodnight, my friends and I shall report back once in the Seattle!

Utterly pH-antastic

Today's blog topic is going to be about a book that I have recently read in my endeavors to learn more about the alkaline/ayurvedic way of life.  The book I have finished reading is called: Joshi's Alkaline Diet and I picked it up at Chapters in Winnipeg.  While the book itself is a diet programme for 21 days to detox the liver, I pursued the task of reading it in an effort to further my understanding of how certain foods/activities will affect way our bodies function.

The book starts off explaining the importance of the liver and its role in our digestive health.  For those of you that are already educated in this department, feel free to skip ahead but for those of you that aren't, I am going to attempt to put it in "real people" language to help you understand how our liver works and how we are helping/hindering its productivity.  As we all know, the liver is the filter of our system which I spoke about during my learning talk on the cruise, but the cool thing is that everybody's liver digests food differently depending on where they live, what the eat, and what their family members ate before them.  Essentially, our bodies have adapted to processing certain types of food and in the book, Joshi uses the example of how the Japanese are much more capable of digesting raw fish/seafood, but not meat protein, because their diet is and always has been primarily vegetables and seafood.  The Western countries, however, are taking advantage of this fact and we are continually loading up our liver with fatty foods full of chemicals and these things are not capable of being processed and thus, produce tons of toxins which in turn create fat!  Yay.

The thing is, we need to give our livers a break, but unfortunately for most, this is something that they are not willing to do.  Nobody wants to sacrifice the deliciousness that is pizza, pop, beer, or cigarettes.  Every time I mention to someone about my lifestyle change to eating cleaner or healthier, I am always met with a defensive: "I don't think you should restrict yourself from all the good things.  Life is for living!"  Like, what I am doing is a bad thing.  Little do those people know, their life will be cut short as a result of wanting to eat "all good things."  The other unfortunate thing about people who feel that eating "healthy" is restrictive, is that they are addicted without even knowing it.  The dyes, the sugars, the salt, etc. are all designed to keep us coming back for more because it is a quick fix and eventually our bodies require it.

Another problem our poor livers face is that a lot of the chemicals that we take in will not dissolve in water and therefore will not be able to break down.  Because of this, they are then sent to the fat stores where they will not be used up until the body requires them for energy.  Unfortunately, however, those types of food make us lethargic and therefore we do not do the exercise required to need the energy and therefore those fat stores get more and more swollen.  Our lack of physical activity plus the toxic foods create puffy cells, which in turn make us squishy and fat.

In an effort to make our lives more efficient, we are creating more lifestyle products that add more chemicals to our air, our water, our homes, and our food.  At what point will we determine that our health is worth more than our convenience?

The book, obviously, goes into much more detail about specific food items, specific chemicals, etc. but I don't think its necessary for this post.  If are interested in knowing more, definitely let me know in the comments section below and I will do my best to answer you!

The next section of the book talks about the Top Ten Detox Rules which I have posted below.  It is pretty self explanatory and the general rules that we should all be following.

In an effort to determine how alkaline/acidic your body is, they suggest getting pH test strips and testing your saliva.  I picked some up in the fish aisle at Wal-Mart.  As I go through changing my diet in a more alkaline direction, I will be checking my pH balance on a weekly basis. (We all know I like to do things in the name of science!)  I checked online and apparently I am capable of using the same test strips as for aquariums.  The foamy bit that tests the pH balance is the one lowest on the strip (dark orange in the middle picture), after adding my saliva to it for about 30 seconds, it turned an even lesser color of orange, which doesn't even have a color on the chart, leaving me to believe that I am further in the acidic range than a pH of 6.2.  My goal, then, will be to get it over 7!

The important thing when determining which foods are alkaline and which are acidic, we need to examine the fact that there are 2 different types of acidic and alkaline foods.

"The first are those that actually contain acids or alkalis (soluble salts).  The second group consists of acid or alkaline-forming foods.  This term refers to what happens after these foods have been combined with digestive juices in the body...It is the alkaline-forming foods that are the most relevent to the job of changing the body's pH to its slightly alkaline 'neutral'." 

 For example, we think of a lemon as an extremely acidic fruit, however it turns alkaline when its combined with the digestive juices in the body.  Neat, right?  In the book, Joshi lists the acid-forming foods and the alkaline-forming foods and I have included a few examples below for you:

Now, I am not going to bore you with the fact that junk food is bad for you because, well, we all know it.  We know why processed food and refined sugars wreck havoc on our bodies, BUT what I didn't know was the exact reason why coffee was bad for you.  This book cleared it up for me.  I assumed it was because it was acidic, but that is not the only reason!  Caffeine affects our natural stimulants, like the thyroid and adrenal glands, by making them useless and lazy.  They are not required when we drink coffee and therefore, they stop working properly and as a result slow down our metabolism.  Now that I know this, I am definitely cutting back on the coffee consumption.  Perhaps 1/week.  I don't need it in my life, I just enjoy the process and smell.

Another section of the book focuses on the good habits to get into and I believe that these are habits that should be applied to anyone, regardless of their diet plan/health goals, etc.  I have created a small image below providing you with these basic habits that are easy to remember:

There is also a whole chapter dedicate to talking about water and its importance in any detox effort.  Of course, we all know, that in order to get rid of anything in our system we have to eliminate it and that can be done through perspiration, respiration, urination, or elimination (pooping :P).  We all have been told over and over again to drink at least 2L of water or half your body weight in ounces of water....but while the quantity is important, the quality is also a huge factor in how our bodies will remove the toxins.  It does us no good to remove the toxins from our body with toxic water, so it is important to utilize a filtering system and drink hard water whenever possible.  Tossing a lemon into your tap water will make it alkaline, but drinking filtered water is your best bet.

In the book, he also recommends juicing and lists a bunch of different juice mixtures to heal certain ailments.  I created a lovely little chart to help you out if you are just getting into juicing OR you experience any of the below!  Try it out!

Once Joshi is done talking about foods and their effects on the body, he then talks about ways to diagnose general conditions with non-invasive methods.  The method that he mentions first is that of the tongue analysis and now when I think of it, when I went to the naturopath, she asked me to stick out my tongue and commented on the color and texture of it.  Now I know why.  Below are the different types of tongue descriptions, grab a mirror and stick your tongue out:

Then we get into the good stuff, the section titled The Ayurvedic Way.  I was so excited when I saw this part because when I purchased the book I had no idea this was going to be mentioned, but if you recall my post from the cruise, I had mentioned that I thought they were both linked.  It appears I was right!  And you all know, I love to be right.

So essentially the body is broken up into 3 doshas:

"According to the Ayurvedic principle our health and wellbeing are findamentally dependent on the balance of these three doshas.  All three doshas are present through the body but each one is predominant in different places and therefore they perform different, specific, functions."  

The nifty thing is that everyone has all 3 doshas, but it is the proportion that will vary according to an individual.  Our diet, environment, and lifestyle are the 3 things that impact our proportions, so while you are responsible for your current (probably imbalanced, if you are like me) doshas, you also have the ability to straighten them out to achieve your optimal health!  As Joshi states, "When you have achieved balance between the three doshas you will experience health on all levels: mental, physical, and spiritual.  This is what makes Ayurveda so special: it maximises the body's full potential, taking it to new heights of well being.  It is about so much more than the mere prevention and absence of disease."

(photo courtesy of consciouslifenews.com)

Joshi then provides his readers with a self-diagnosis chart, which will help determine dosha balance.  While it is not concrete, it gives a general idea of how to change your lifestyle.  If you are interested in receiving this self diagnosis chart, then click this link. Once you have opened the link, save a copy of the file and then you can enter in your answers in the far right column and it will tally your results at the bottom, letting you know the proportions of doshas in your body. After you have determined your predominant dosha, click on the links below to find out more about your particular metabolic dosha.  Once you are able to understand your metabolic type you can then move on to consider the best way to balance it.

VATA
KAPHA
PITTA

At the end of the book, Joshi then goes through various complimentary therapies which can help the body such as acupuncture, massage, yoga, and meditation.  All of these things, if you notice are meant to slow you down and clear your mind, which I always think is the key to achieving the best health possible.

(photocourtesy of www.lowdensitylifestyle.com)

Lastly, Joshi lists a few alkaline recipes at the back of his book.  Once I get back to Winnipeg (January 13) I will be creating them and then posting the recipes, so keep coming back for those!

If the above information has caused you to be interested in learning more about the alkaline diet, I would suggest picking up the book.  Like, I said you can get it from Chapters, but can also get it online!  It is a quick read and pretty easy to get through!  Perhaps, I will even do a giveaway in the next few weeks to give my copy away!

Oh Man...

...I came across this and thought it was hilarious so I am sharing it with all of you!

Speaking of Asses....

So, I've been toying around with the idea of going for a colonic hydrotherapy session.  One part because I am curious to see what all the fuss is about and would give me good fodder for this blog, the second part because I have heard some good things from people that have experienced it.  However, that being said, having a hose shoved up my bum, shooting water into my intestines is not something I am going to take lightly, and thus decided to embark on some research last night to see what the common consensus was.

While I came across a number of medical sites that give me the ins and outs, the hows and whys, the pros and cons, my favorite site I came across was a blog post written on http://www.xojane.com.

Of course, I decided to embark upon this research at 11pm last night and so I was in the bedroom giggling to myself over one woman's attempt to clear up her bowel situation with colonic hydrotherapy.  I swear to God, if you have a fun sense of humour you will laugh a lot at this post.  It is written fantastically and with great wording and definitely gives you the ultimate experience...almost like you are in the room watching it happen. (Sitting in the spectator's chair as she puts it).  Seriously, read this chick's blog post.  There are some pretty amazing drawings to give you the full idea of what went on!

http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/colonic-hydrotherapy-what-happens

So, I haven't decided for myself if this is something I want to invest in, but if any of you guys have embarked on this fun adventure, please let me know what you thought.  Would you do it again?  Was it beneficial?  Did you notice results as far as improved digestion and decreased bloating?

In other news, I woke up at the ugly hour of 5:30 to go to the gym with my friend, Bobbie and her sister and it was totally worth it!  While she may think differently of me after our workout, I know I feel a lot better having done something in the last few days!  So good on Bobbie for motivating me to get my ass to the gym!!