Bellydance

Bellydance

I had no idea how much a part of my life bellydance would become when I set out for my first class. I saw paint on a storefront window – the kind of paint you would use to write “for sale” on the front windshield of a used car – advertising a class. I don’t remember the exact wording now, but I do remember that it had “belly” and “mama” and “bellydance” included. I thought to myself…I have a belly, and I’m a mom, I’ll give bellydance a try. That was about 9 years ago and I haven’t stopped dancing.

I love this art form. It enables me to spend time in my body in true bliss. This is quite a feat given the years and years of body image and self esteem issues I’ve racked up! When I’m bellydancing I’m able to lose myself in the music and the movement – like I said, bliss.

As I’ve taken on teaching and choreographing over the years I’ve seen my relationship with bellydance change a bit. Being in front of a classroom keeps me grounded, and my focus isn’t on how the movements make me feel – it shifts to being about how to describe the movements and transfer the knowledge of how to make them happen. It becomes about helping other women find that bliss and that self-acceptance and love of the dance.

When this post publishes, I’ll be immersing myself in bellydance as a student, studying with the incomparable Rachel Brice. Her teaching style is a good fit for me, and I ADORE watching her dance – she is one of the few dancers who brings me to that bliss place from my seat in the audience. I’ve been looking forward to this trip since taking the plunge and registering back in July and it’s hard to believe the time has finally come.

I will post on the other side of the week of learning, but from where I sit right now I am 100% excited. I’ve left the stages of fear and nervousness behind and will head into the first day of Initiation with the open mind of a student ready to learn. I am ready for the hard work that will be required, and I’m looking forward to some bliss moments along the way.

Bellydance, how I do love thee!

Anemia

I am, for the most part, a very healthy person.  I get well over the recommended amount of physical activity in per week, I eat a balanced diet focusing on proteins and vegetables, I have healthy relationships with both family and friends.  I avoid processed foods and empty calories.  I read food labels and shop conscientiously. 

And, as I discovered this month, I am anemic.

After feeling run down and generally unwell I FINALLY went to the doctor.  Well, a student clinic (no health insurance here) at our somewhat local Naturapathic college.  The lovely student interns led by two wonderful docs have, so far, diagnosed me with iron-deficient anemia.  The full fun is yet to come as we try to figure out why I am anemic, but that will be a story for another day.

The result of my anemia is that it is a bit harder for me to make it through my active days unscathed.  Zumba takes more out of me than it should, and Moxie Boxing pushes me to my limit.  Sundays, when I teach from 8 am - 5 pm, require buckets of resolve.  It’s hard, but in some ways it feels good.

Yes – it feels good to struggle a bit.  To push past that little voice in my head that’s trying to tell me I can’t do a class…that feels good.  It reminds me of all the benefits I’m getting from that workout, of all the other things that seem hard but are awesome from the other side, and of the simple fact that I’m human.

We all have barriers that keep us from working out and taking care of ourselves.  For some it’s time, or all the other people we need to tend to first, or fear of being welcomed, or the weather, or work stress, or whatever.  Pushing past those barriers make us that much stronger on the other side of the workout, don’t you think?  It feels good to step away from that never-ending pile of to-dos to sweat and focus on ourselves for 30 – 75 minutes, both because of the benefits of the workout AND because we’ve overcome a barrier.

What’s getting in the way of your quest for wellness, and what are you going to do to push past that barrier this week?

Love Your Body?

Wednesday, October 17th was Love Your Body Day.  Did you know?  I did, thanks to a Facebook (and real life) friend Stephanie.  Seeing this got me thinking about myself, the studio, and the women who frequent our classes.  Do we love our bodies?  How do we show that?

I have struggled with self esteem issues for pretty much as long as I can remember.  I was one of the few "mixed" kids in school, so my hair didn't behave the same as my friends' which, at the time, left me feeling unattractive.  I was one of those "early developers" in middle school which, at the time, just left me feeling big.  I had issues with my knees and ankles which kept me from fully participating in sports and gym which, at the time, left me feeling galumphy and uncoordinated.  Not a pretty picture overall, huh?

I held on to all the yuck in my head and really let it get to me as I grew up.  Now, did any of that yuck keep me from finding a wonderful mate to share my life with?  Miraculously, no.  Did the yuck keep me from following a winding career path to where I've landed in my whodathunkit dream job?  No.  What the yuck has done is keep me from fully enjoying and trusting in myself and my accomplishments along the way.

Love Your Body...hmm.

I am pleased to say that, today, I have the best relationship with my body I've ever had.  I know that I'm strong, and fit, and I'm thankful for everything my body does for me on a daily basis.  It's not all sunshine and roses in my head, but I'm working on that.  I am also thrilled to see the positive body changes happening for the women at the studio.  Getting healthy and moving your body is, I think, the first step to a positive body relationship.  When women are coming to the studio looking forward to their 30 - 85 minute workouts I know good things are happening inside and out.

What I'm trying to promote at the studio isn't weight-loss though that often happens along the way, but health & wellness.  Love Your Body?  Yes, that's the goal.

How are YOU working towards Love Your Body status?  I'd love to hear (read) your thoughts!

Back To Reality

I know I'm finding this fall transition to be a bit stressful! I've got one child starting his first year of high school (stressful for him and us), 5 disparate schedules to juggle, and a business to run.  Yikes!  It feels like, even if you don't have kids, there's a certain heightened level of activity or tension in the air as this season kicks off, doesn't it?  When I get bogged down I notice a few things:

 

I don't eat as well

I want to sit when I can

I crave opportunities for slowness

 

Not the best recipe for a healthy life!  I'm busy, so I forget to pack a lunch or take time for a good breakfast.  I'm busy for so much of the day that when I have a moment I want to spend it sitting.  I'm busy and have so very much to work through in not quite enough time so, if I find a window of opportunity I want to spend it moving as slowly as possible.  Or at least I think I do. 

 

What I'm finding this year, amidst all the stress and busy, is that taking those precious free moments to do the opposite of my inclination makes me feel so very much better!  

Pack a lunch (10 minutes)

Do some yoga/dance for myself (30 minutes)

Go for a walk (20 minutes)

No one of these fixes take more than 30 minutes.  30 minutes.  We all have that much time to spare, no matter how busy we feel, to take care of ourselves.  So very much can be done (or not done, depending on your perspective) in half an hour!  

• We leave for school at 7:30 or 7:45 am depending on the before school activities on the books.  If I step (pull myself) away from the computer in the morning at 7:15 am I can pack up some food (almonds & raisins, 3 oz of turkey breast, and some goldfish crackers) and be able to stave off hunger until I return home with my boys from school at 4:45 pm.  
• I teach until noon and, as mentioned above, start the after-school driving circles at 3:30 pm.  That leaves me 3.5 solid hours of work time to burn through my to-do list.  If I go into a classroom at 2 pm and do 30 minutes of yoga or bellydance, I can come back to The List refreshed and ready to go at 2:30 pm and still have a good hour of (higher) productivity.
• My evening of teaching generally starts at around 6 pm, and at this time of year the sun is still up until about 7 pm.  Squeezing in a 30 minute walk before class (perhaps with the family) is a great way to get more a mile under my feet and clear my head before diving back into teaching.  If homework stress is high, this is good for everyone!

 It may be counter-intuitive in the moment, but taking the time to take care of ourselves in a healthy way has such a strong, beneficial impact on our day, our brain, and the people around us that it would be a shame to let those impulses of sitting, doing nothing, and eating yuck (or not eating at all) to take over.  

Busy is, as they say, a state of mind.  In choosing to reserve some time for intentionally un-busying ourselves we can fully transform that chaotic feeling into something calm and productive.  Try it, and tell me how it goes!

Detox, Life after the Cleanse

It's been almost a full week since I finished the cleanse by adding back my "typical" foods slowly.  I still feel really good, and I've (so far) made some significant changes to my eating habits.  Like?

Gluten-less -
I added gluten back in at the tail end of the cleanse by having a cupcake made by one dear friend to celebrate my other dear friend's birthday.  Complete with icing.  And a glass of wine (not at the same time).  Go big or go home, right?  Well, the cupcake made me a bit wonky, and I experienced quite the crash from my sugar "high".  Not to be defeated, I had home-made challa for Shabbat dinner the following night, as well as made-from-scratch apple pie (have I mentioned how much I love my husband?  He made both).  I was feeling pretty good, didn't have the spike and fall I'd experienced the night before, and went to bed thinking my diet was almost 100% back to normal.  But...I woke up with a stuffy nose.  No other cold/flu symptoms, just a stuffy nose.  A quick text conversation with Mishra confirmed my fear - the stuffy nose was likely a reaction to the gluten.

I've been playing around with this all week and seem to find that bread is the most significant trigger.  I tried some goldfish crackers and only had mild stuffiness that didn't last (whereas bread leaves me sniffling for a good 4 - 6 hours).  I will continue to eat bread at Shabbat dinner, and the occasional cupcake/cake/pie when there's a special occasion, but beyond that I'm currently avoiding gluten.  So, not gluten-free but gluten-less.  :-)

Caffeine
Ah, coffee.  I've been drinking coffee since those late-night trips to iHop and other cafes started back when I was in high school.  It wasn't something I drank at home until moving in with Bill back in 1992 (ouch - old!), since coffee is his main source of fuel.  Well, I guess I didn't start drinking it daily until after we had Forest in June of 93 since I avoided caffeine during my pregnancy.  In fact, pregnancy was the only time I *have* cut coffee out for any extended period of time.  Until now.  I'm 6 days past the end of my cleanse and I still haven't had a sip.  I don't intend for this to be a life-long farewell, but I just don't *need* it now!  I am still working my crazy, 16 hour days full of activity.  I'm still only getting maybe 6 hours of sleep a night.  But I don't need it!  I am enjoying the freedom this gives me, and, I'll admit, I'm a little afraid of what the caffeine might do to me (see cupcake experience above), so I'll have to time out my reintroduction very carefully.  I'm imagining breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, or a date night at Cafe SelMarie.  These seem like good coffee moments.

The Rest
My skin is apparently glowing, my eyes are sparkling (though that might be the switch to contacts), and I feel really good.  I'm still seeking out more veggies, and am making good food choices for protein and carbs in general.  My weight is slowly moving down (I'm not weighing myself daily anymore, but my last check put me at 177), and I won't check my body fat % until the end of the month (last check was at 34.4).  I really enjoyed the experience and would recommend it (even with the shakes).  It really gave me perspective on what I eat vs what my body needs.

Oh, and I still haven't had processed stuff, AND we bought hormone-free meat for the family for the first time.  Pretty cool!

Thanks for reading!  I hope to continue blogging on a weekly (daily was just too much!) basis, and would love to know what you'd like to read about.  Other health "fads" you'd like me to test out?  Topics of interest?  Throw a comment on here, and follow if you'd like.  :-)

Detox, day 10

11:50 pm...Ah, Day 10, how lovely to see you!  I've decided to retrace my steps in terms of how I'm reintroducing foods to my diet, so today brought the addition of grains like wheat and corn.  Functionally this only added 28 grams of corn chips to my day because wheat is hard to come by without it being wrapped up with dairy and sugar, and we're not quite at corn-on-the-cob season.

Even though I didn't get to add much new to my day I really feel like what I'm eating is fairly sustainable.  I had almonds, raisins, and a banana for breakfast, lentil soup for lunch, hummus and celery for my pre-teaching meal, and stir-fried veggies over white rice for dinner.  AND NOT A SINGLE SHAKE!

I am looking forward to tomorrow's additions of eggs and dairy!  I hope hope HOPE that my body reacts favorably to the addition as I'd hate to learn that I shouldn't eat eggs and  cheese.  I love both on their own and together as a pair.  Fingers crossed!

I'll have to report my stats tomorrow as I left the notes at the studio.  Sorry!

It is nice to be shake-free today.  I feel much more "normal", have an appetite, and haven't had to visit the bathroom every 15 minutes.  All good things.

I got a couple of comments/compliments today that I look good and seem to be full of energy.  At the moment I feel SO tired.  Perhaps that's because I taught 4 classes today (2 of them being Zumba).

Tired.  Going to bed - I'll write moe tomorrow

Detox, Day 9

11:50...I just drank my last shake.  Ah, what a nice sound that has!  It is the perfect end to a solidly good day, punctuated by foods like almonds, celery & hummus, lentil soup, veggie stir fry over white rice, and an organic banana.  Oh, and an apple (gotta get back on the horse).

The reintroduction of these foods (today brought legumes back onto the scene) doesn't seem to be having any sort of negative effect.  I am going to retrace my steps in terms of adding foods back into my diet in the order I removed them even though the official plan doesn't give me guidelines past today.  That means I'll add wheat and other grains back in tomorrow, followed by dairy and eggs the next day, and will finish with meats, sugars, and possibly caffeine after that.

A trip to the grocery today (I was out of organic apple juice and bananas) showed me that I won't have to give up as much as I thought for the long haul.  I mentioned before that I want to continue to keep artificial colors/sweeteners out of my diet, right?  Well, I thought for sure that meant saying goodbye to Goldfish crackers.  Not so!  Despite their vibrant orange color there's nothing artificial in there!  Wahoo!

Today I did start to miss eggs and cheese.  I'm really hoping my body handles them both as I'd hate to learn that they shouldn't be a part of my diet long-term.  That said, the way I ate today feels totally manageable.  I know I'm getting my protein in the shakes and that I need to replace that somehow - I just mean that I didn't feel deprived today or like I had to make crazy food choices.  Good to know.

I didn't end up in the studio with time to do my body fat analysis today, so my daily stats are incomplete, but here they are:

Weight: 179.7 (down 3.5 from day 1)
BMI: 28.8 (down .7 from day 1)

We're coming close to a significant amount of weight lost, but I expect it will return as my diet returns to "normal" as water weight is typically in the 5-pound range.  No worries - weight loss was just a possible side effect, not my intention for doing this.  Now, if I hold onto some of the changes I've made AND take advantage of this new-found relationship with food I just might be able to do something in the weight loss challenge.  That'd be cool.

Goodnight, Day 9.  You've treated me well.