Guest post: One Healthy Apple!

Hi Everyone! Andy and I will be leaving for Kauai tomorrow afternoon so I have a few guest posts lined up. Today's comes from Yelena at One Healthy Apple! Enjoy and check out her blog if you haven't already. She is super cute and lives in one of my favorite cities. We briefly met at the Foodbuzz Festival and I'm hoping to actually hang out next time!



Hi All! I’m Yelena from One Healthy Apple and I’m honored to be guest posting at Amanda’s blog while she is off in Kauai celebrating her wedding anniversary. We once shared an elevator ride at the Foodbuzz Food Festival in San Francisco, but of course I was too busy being awkward to have a conversation - but that’s another story for another post.

When Amanda put up a message requesting guest posts, I raised my kid like the annoying kid who sits in front of the class but had no idea what to write about. After a prompt suggesting I write about my summer vacation, I was more than happy to talk about myself!

Although I am not going on vacation until December, I have decided to spend the month of July taking yoga classes as my primary form of exercise, so this is somewhat of a vacation for my body. For a little background, I am not a yoga person. I don’t know what a yoga person is, but it’s not me. Ever since I got my first gym membership at the age of 12, my primary purpose was to burn as many calories as possible and to finally lose the weight I carried as an overweight kid. Fourteen years later, I admittedly found myself in the same cycle of working out hard, eating a little more, and doing it again the next day to keep up. My body was getting tired of all the cardio, and while I was lifting as well, my primary focus has always been high intensity, high impact activity. When I had to have emergency surgery on my toe leaving me unable to place any weight on my foot, it forced me to completely stop and evaluate things, whether I wanted to or not. I felt like a fraud in the healthy blog community since I wasn’t working out at all with the exception of a pilates DVD a couple of times a week while everyone else was running what seemed like marathons.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and sign up for a yoga studio membership for the month of July. I figure while I still can’t wear shoes, I can do yoga. I know yoga has tons of benefits and I am determined to find them. Although it has only been two days into my challenge, I am already enjoying it and loving the classes. I am also learning new dimensions in what health and fitness means while recovering from an injury and I would love to share them with you.

**Of course I have to leave the disclaimer that I am not an exercise or nutrition professional, nor am I a doctor. Please see a professional for your own health concerns.**

Here is what worked for me:

Working out hard makes us hungry. I don’t know about you, but a run used to make me raid the fridge. I’m not saying to stop working out, but I know many of us, including myself, fall into the workout hard, eat hard mentality. I promise that if you have to ease up on your workouts, you won’t gain all your weight back. You might even become more conscious of what goes in your mouth. Don’t be too hard on yourself and listen to the body- it’s pretty smart!

Focus on what you CAN do physically, not on what you can’t. Um…I can’t do much, but I can work on my core and flexibility while my body recovers. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t lift 15 pounds, lift 10. I promise you will get there as long as your listen to your body.
Control what you can. Make a commitment to yourself to get enough sleep, eat fresh produce, take your vitamins, and try to reduce stress in other ways. For me, that included calming my mind with yoga or reading a book. Other times, it’s waking up on time and making sure I get a good, satisfying breakfast. Little things count.

Channel your energy into other things. I have spent a lot of time otherwise spent at the gym working on my grad school homework, spending time with my family, and distracting myself. I know we love to blog and share workout ideas, but sometimes it’s good to get our minds to focus on other things. There is a giant, fabulous world outside of health blogs! Enjoy!

Take time to rest. Losing sleep messes with our hunger hormones. Depriving one’s body of the rest it needs to recover from an injury can harm you in the long-run. Listen to your body and give it a rest. I know guilt can get in the way, but remember a little rest now is a lifetime of fabulous exercise later.

I hope these points help you on your journey, whether you are working your way through an injury, or trying to refocus your current exercise program. I’m really looking forward to getting my zen on and learning even more! Thanks again to Amanda for letting me post!

Questions for you: What do you do to relieve stress? Are you a yoga person?