Friday Five

I am so happy the weekend is here.  It's always nice to spend extra time with my family.  I do have several things planned for this weekend, but they will be fun.  Tomorrow I am going to do a Yoga class at a spring retreat.  I always like getting to introduce Yoga or Pilates to new faces.  For many it will be their first experience with it.  I will let you know how it goes.  Mid-day I am off to see the Hunger Games, like everyone else!  On Sunday, brunch with a few friends.
Here are the 5 things that are on my mind this Friday:


5.  Despite trying to drink aloe juice/aloe water several times, I am still not a huge fan.  I bought my third bottle this week and was determined to finish it.  The last two I have bought ended up being thrown away still half-full.  The taste isn't too bad, sort of blandish-fruity.  It's more the consistency.  It's like liquid jello with bits of gummy bears.  This latest bottle was alo enliven.  Its aloe + a blend of 12 fruits and veggies, including cabbage, passion fruit and spinach.  I love getting a variety of fruits and veggies, so I was excited to try this one.  Well, the consistency and taste were still the same, but I drank about 6 ounces each day, Tuesday through Thursday.  I would drink it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.  I definitely got a boost of energy after drinking it.  I have also noticed, even just after 3 days, that my skin looks better.  Despite not being a huge fan of actually drinking it, I plan on buying a bottle each week and continuing with a few ounces each day.  Have you tried aloe juice before?  How do you like it?

4.  In order to be a good instructor, it is essential to practice the work.  After teaching 10 Reformer classes this week and seeing less-than-perfect form, which I need to keep a good eye for, I was craving to get on the Reformer myself.  I didn't do an entire workout because I was short on time, but I did Hundred, Short Spine Massage, Coordination, part of the Rowing series, the Long Stretch Series, Running and Front Splits.  It felt SO good to feel the exercises in my body, correct my own movements, and to do a mental review of what I have been teaching all week.  It is so very easy to ignore your own Pilates practice when you become busy as a teacher, but the busier I am, the more I find it necessary to work out myself.  


3.  Monkey Muffins are my new go-to snack/breakfast.  I love this recipe from alittleinsanity.com  I found the recipe a few weeks ago when I was looking for banana bread using no refined sugar.  This recipe uses honey instead of sugar and flax instead of oil.  So cool!  I have already made them twice.  It's great if you buy bananas and they are slowly wasting away.  The more brown, the better for this recipe, so I like it!  I have a variation I made using pumpkin that I can post.  Who's interested?

2.  "Crack a Walnut" between your shoulder blades is a great imagery cue for posture.  I use it in Pilates and Yoga after hearing it in my PPS-II training last fall.  Saying it automatically causes the student to stand (or sit) with their shoulders down and in.  I still use it because it works, but I feel like I don't use it as often as I did because it's becoming cliche.  Do you have anything like that with your job?


1.  Counting calories and keeping track of your exercise really DOES help with weight loss and motivation.  I have been using the MyFitnessPal app for several months now.  When I think I had a really bad day calorie wise, I will enter everything in and sometimes it's not so bad.  Other times, maybe I think I did pretty good and it helps me realize that, oops, I had 34 M&M's and a handful of Goldfish too many.  It's also really nice for tracking workouts.  Even though it's just an approximate value of calories burned, it's nice to see in print!  You can also enter things like house cleaning and food preparation, which is really nice because that does burn more than just sitting on the couch watching 30 Rock.  You can get the app for iPhones but you can also do everything online.  If you are on there, find me!  I am SeeSallyRun.  If you aren't on there, check it out!






***As of right now I have absolutely no one sending me free things or handing me a wad of cash to promote their products.  I am hoping this happens some day soon, but, for now, any products or websites I mention are just because I like them, dislike them, or want to share my experiences***


Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend,

Sally