Call me a creature of habit. I like to wake up and go to bed early and for the past eight years or so, I’ve been getting up at the crack of dawn to practice Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga. In Chicago, I practiced with a tight-knit group of about 15 people, and we came rain, shine, snow or 100 degree weather, every morning for years. Mysore-style yoga is so different from other types of yoga for many reasons but the most fascinating aspect is that you barely know these people at all (because you can’t and don’t talk), and here you are sharing an intimate part of your day, life, space and energy on a daily basis. It’s an incredible feeling until you move away and then it’s gone.

I went from practicing in a room full of friends, sweaty bodies with loud ujjayi breath and adjustments to practicing in my kitchen or porch with Corduroy and Sugar by my side, usually ringing the bell on my shavasana. No other yogis around. No breath except my own. No inspiring practices to let my dristi wonder off to, no teacher adjusting me deeper and helping me drop-back from standing. All by myself… don’t wanna be all by myself, anymore!

So, I changed things up a bit. I still wake up at the crack of dawn every morning, but now I mix it up and don’t always start the day with my practice. I know. Horrible Ashtangi. Doing Mysore at all different times of the day and GASP! not every single day anymore! And I’m not afraid to admit it but sometimes, I start my day off at the GYM!! Double GASP!

I’m addicted to circuit training. Think eight stations of one-minute exercises that raise the heart rate and are intense and fat burning. Think box jumps, jump rope, push-ups, ball throws, jump lunges and I could go on but I won’t. Since January I’ve been taking this circuit class on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at 6 a.m. called Move Your Ass! Our/my trainer Amy Harper is one-of-a-kind. She’s this little cutie who is currently eight months pregnant with more energy than a five-year-old at Chucky Cheese’s. No joke. Even with her big belly, she still motivates and inspires me to work harder and in return, I ask the same out of my students, on the mat.

But she’s on maternity leave starting today and good for her!  Bittersweet for me. But in the meantime, I’ve bought almost all the equipment we use (at Marshall’s and TJ Maxx, who knew?) and have set up my own circuit workout on my porch. Like Amy says, “No excuses.” I’m about to involve Andy in all of this (he has no clue) but it’ll be good for him since his idea of a workout is golfing 18 holes, while driving a cart and sipping IPA’s!

Oh! And I got a whole bunch of cool ideas on Pinterest for different circuit workouts. Follow me here!

That’s our circuit group. I’m the youngest one in the gang, and the women who I workout with are in their 50’s, and are buff, strong and beautiful! And competitive!!! But it’s all in good fun! Since this here is my platform, I may brag a little about my muscles! It’s my goal to see my abdominal muscles by my 34th birthday, while my previous goal was to develop some type of bicep and some good-lookin’ triceps. And by using weights, resistance bands, med balls and doing strength training, not just a million chatarungas, it worked! Woo hoo! Next stop, abdominals!

Okay, no more bragging in that form… onto bragging about how great my skin and hair look, and feel after I started drinking BRAGG apple cigar vinegar (ACV) on a daily basis. Yum! Have you heard of it? I hadn’t and of course Amy drinks it, so I wanted in too! Turns out like half of my friends and students drink it everyday. It must be a California thing! It tastes a little like Kombucha, which I am obsessed with too!!!

It’s raw, organic, un-filtered and contains the amazing “mother” of vinegar. And it’s highly regarded throughout history, dating back to 400 B.C. Wow!!! 

All of my weight loss started when I gave up my daily habit of a Venti Chai Tea Soy Latte (340 calories) from Starbucks and replaced it with one Kombucha (60 calories) in the afternoon to give me that extra boost and energy to teach my evening yoga classes. Now I’m addicted. And my wallet is happy because I’m saving a bunch and I haven’t gotten sick in over a year-and-a-half, knock on wood. So BRAGG’s is like Kombucha but you only put 2 capfuls of the stuff in an 8-once glass of water when you wake up and/or put it in your water bottle for the day.

So this stuff is AMAZE-BALLS for a bunch of reasons… you can cook with it, add it to salad dressings, it’s good for sore throats, digestion, it supports a healthy immune system, helps to control weight, promotes youthful bodies, skin, hair and the list goes on!!! So what are you waiting for? Go grab some now! It’s available almost everywhere! Beware: if your pores are super clogged you will smell like AVC when you sweat sometimes. It smells sweet though! Speaking of sweating, did I mention I made the easiest muffins as a treat for our last circuit class yesterday? Gluten free, flour-less and yummy, of course!

Strawberry Banana Muffins- makes 15 muffins 

Ingredients:

-2 bananas

-1 cup of strawberries, quartered

-1 cup almond butter

-1 T  vanilla

-2 T honey

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp nutmeg

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-toasted coconut for garnish.

Directions: Set oven to 350 degrees, and spray muffins tins with coconut spray or other non-stick spray. Blend all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, except the strawberries. Fold strawberries in last and fill muffin tins 3/4 half full. Bake for 15 minutes and check if done by inserting a toothpick in a muffin until it comes out clean. Enjoy!!

Tonight is girls night at the Nelson house, it’s something my two friends Lynn, Tamara and I do often. We all make a snack and bring a bottle of wine and do a little tapas/wine taste. The girls don’t know it yet but along with my famous cheese plate (picture and ideas for charcuterie board to be posted soon!) I’ve made a German dessert called Kuchen. Traditionally, this is made with just plums but my friend Lori just gave me 10 pluots from her tree, a cross between an apricot and a plum, so I improvised. It’s in the oven now and I am dying out here with the smells of brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg wafting through the house!

Pluot Kuchen- makes eight large pieces

Ingredients:

-3 cups of pulots, quartered.

-1 1/2 cup almond flour

-3 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 cup brown sugar, divided.

-1/2 cup melted coconut oil

-1 egg

-3/4 coconut or almond milk

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp nutmeg

                                    

Directions: Heat oven to 375. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with coconut oil non-stick spray. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 cup sugar. Add in melted coconut oil and blend until it gets crumbly. In a separate bowl, beat together milk and egg and stir into flour mixture. Blend well. Pour the batter into your pan. Layer on the pluots. Mix the remaining sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon together and sprinkle on top. Cook for 35 minutes, or until bubbling.

 Well, that about wraps it up for now. This weekend is the Stone Soup festival in Grover Beach where I live. There will be a ton of hippie vendors, cool bands and good beer.. I’ve got friends coming over tomorrow to pre-fest and I’m making my favorite Mango and Papaya Salsa. I’ll post the recipe next week! I’m off to teach at Harmony House now, where today we’ll be working on Ghandu Bherudasana, or Locust Scorpion as our apex pose! Can’t wait! Here’s one of my student’s, Molly, popping up into it this afternoon in my power flow class!