Yoga by the Beach & a Tool to Stayed Fuelled

So yesterday was my daughter's and my first time at Yoga by the Beach! Being a new mommy, time has a tendency of escaping me. I was sitting down early morning enjoying my coffee while my baby girl played. She drifted off to sleep. So, I decided to get some light cleaning and blogging done. When all of a sudden, it was time to leave! Now for any of you who have young ones, you know, it is never just as simple as getting dressed and out the door. Additionally, my mom was joining us and didn't have a yoga mat. As quickly as humanly possible, I gathered baby blankets, sunscreen, pacifiers, yoga mats and mat bags, organized everything in my jogging stroller, and was off! Because my husband uses our car during the week, my plan was to walk. With time against me, I had to RUN and RUN FAST!!! What made things ever the more interesting was the juggle of yoga mats and baby paraphernalia. The unplanned 4 km dash to yoga in the 30°C (86°F) weather made for an excellent warm-up. Though next time, I will definitely allow myself for more time to leisurely run rather than almost sprint!!!

Yoga by the Beach was great! Though it wasn't as vigorous as some power (Ashtanga) classes I've attended, it combined enough strength poses with stretching to leave me feeling both exercised and refreshed! I love yoga in general because it builds lean muscle, improves my balance (great for preventing injury while running), posture, and back health.

Due to my impromptu race to yoga, my walk/ hike back home (we live up a bit of a steep hill), and the long walk my family took to & from dinner that night, I burned more energy than I normally do in a day. In situations where I am working out intensely, my weight is creeping up, or I am finding my blood sugar drops leaving me unexpectedly famished, I like to use "The Daily Plate" (a calorie & workout calculator). The site takes into account your age, height, weight, general activity level, and weight goals. It then establishes an amount of calories you should be consuming to attain that goal. While I do not like the idea of anyone stressing over calorie counting, religiously measuring their food and/or not listening to their body when it's hungry, I love features of this site. It has an app for smart phones, promotes sustainable weight loss (it only has the option to lose up to 2 lbs. / week), and has a vast inventory of foods and work outs. In using this tool yesterday, I figured out had burned over 800 calories. As a result, I needed to eat MUCH more than usual. 

NB: Nursing mommies, you cannot rely on the site's projected calories; we need more! A good projection can be found at Calorie Counter: Breastfeeding and then put into "The Daily Plate". This tool should only be used to ensure you are getting ENOUGH calories, not to cut back or ignore hunger cues.

That's all for now! 'Til next time, Namaste.