Oh hi there! I just got back from my noon yoga class at Kennedy Club Fitness or KFC, as I like to call it for fun… it makes the members laugh! I focused my Vinyasa class around oblique work and everyone said their sides felt great after class. It’s fun to target one specific area, and today we did like 56 oblique-like asanas, or so it seemed like from the huffing and puffing in class! The obliques are the largest and the most outermost of the three flat muscles of the lateral anterior abdomen. I’ve included this handy picture so you can see if you’re not an anatomy nerd like me.
I had the class in side-plank and forearm-plank. They were doing Dolphin Pushups and Chair Pose crunches. Boat pose to the sides, and lowering half way down. I even added in some hip drops just for fun! Change it up, make it fresh! You can add these asanas and “moves” into any yoga practice or you can bust out a mat and do them by themselves. I had fun doing these this afternoon along with my Ab Roller, the ultimate workout for your core. My lower back used to be so stiff it was painful to practice the Second Series of Ashtanga daily because I would feel pain the rest of the day. That’s when I decided I needed more than just a daily yoga practice to become stronger. I’m not saying everyone does… look at Kino MacGregor for God sake! But I needed it badly so I enrolled in a circuit class and started building core strength inside and outside of the class. So much so that I actually enjoy doing core work by myself now… alone!
This Ab Roller cost me $7 at Target and I use it almost everyday! Try to get as low to the ground as you can!
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Why the ab/oblique workout today? Well, I had an amazing weekend that included a tasting of over 80 wines at Tastes of the Valley with my girlfriends, followed by bowling later that night, and then yesterday my lovely husband and I went to our friend Brian’s new restaurant called Ember located in Arroyo Grande. Just what the Nickel Cities needed! What a great experience for a restaurant open less than a week! I heard they did 400 covers on Saturday alone. Wow! We really indulged last night on an avocado salad, an Abalone and Ani Tuna dish, followed by two pizzas, one of which had a fried egg on top.. my favorite way of garnishing a pie! We put ourselves into a food/wine coma and then came home to watch the Olympics.
Lea, Sara, Myself and Elizabeth!
Ember!
You know what rhymes with obliques? LEEKS! Gosh I love leeks. The perfect cross between an onion and garlic, my two staple ingredients in most of my dishes. They are an excellent source of magnesium, Vitamins K and B and they have like no fat or calories since they are mostly made of water! I’m housesitting for my yoga student/friend Ann this week and her two pooches Taxi and Limo. Lucky for me she forgot to cancel her Talley Harvest Box this week and she left me with a big bag of veggies and a note to eat em’ up! She is literally going to feed me for a week… I was left with five tomatoes, a bag of oranges, a bunch of carrots, two heads of lettuce, big radishes, Brussel sprouts, and this gorgeous bundle of leeks! Can you believe my fortune?! So today, I made a yummy Leek Salad with some of the above and a Light Citrus Dressing for on top. This is an easy peesy recipe and will take you like five minutes to prepare!
Leek-a-Deek Salad with Light Citrus Dressing- serves one or two
Ingredients:
-2 cups lettuce (I used a variety of Boston and spring mix)
-1 large carrot, shredded
– 4 radishes, sliced finely
– 1 leek stalk, chopped finely
-1 bag of Oh! My Omega nut mix from Trader Joe’s
Dressing:
-1 T olive oil
-dash of sugar, salt and pepper
-2 T rice vinegar
-2 T apple cider vinegar
-3 key limes, juice of
Directions:
1. Wash the lettuce and other vegetables and chop. I used a cheese grater for the carrots.
2. Add everything to a large bowl and toss well. Prepare dressing and serve!
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I’m leaving you with my favorite afternoon snack that I make myself and is low in calories and fat! Just take one cup of organic non-fat yogurt and sprinkle some homemade Apple Cinnamon Granola on top and stir! I enjoyed some while I wrote Yummy Yogini today! You try!
