The Vague Post

The Hubs told me about vaguebooking the other day when I was commenting on how I can't stand when people post vague status updates. How did he know something pop culture-y that I didn't know?!

Whelp. Here's your vague blog post after six months. I've been itching to write, but I can't say anything about anything because I've been in crazy limbo with so many things in my life since MARCH. That is so long, you guys. So long.

Anyway, I'm bringing back Tunes for Tuesday and posting about yoga and food and looking up lists of other things to write about. I might start Ann Dee Ellis' 8 Minute Memoir prompts. We'll see.

A Year of Thirty Days: Whole30 and Yoga Camp Halfway Point

Let's start with Yoga with Adriene's Yoga Camp. I'm on day forty-five days of non-stop yoga and I feel awesome. My back feels good, my joints feel good, and I even flew in crow pose for longer than five seconds. This thirty day Yoga Camp has been an amazing challenge so far! A new video every day this month gives me more of a reason to jump out of bed each morning. I post daily on instagram, so please check out @jheymossy for more details on how it's going. Here is one of my favorite posts from the last few weeks:

A year ago, I wasn't able to do this for very long because my hips are always tight. I'm very proud of this! Also, I do yoga in my pjs every day and not super cute yoga outfits. Just tryin' to be real! 

One thing I'm working on is putting in the time to meditate in savasana, or corpse pose. I've been extra anxious lately about a host of things, so this is an accurate portrayal of what my savasana turns into:

I'm working on it! 

Whole30 Check-In

My second Whole30 is going really well. I didn't jump too far off the deep end and into old habits after my first Whole30, so I didn't experience as many of the side effects of going off sugar this time. It's been pretty amazing this time around. I am really feeling the importance of making the right food choices this time. Here is my second Whole30 in a nutshell:

I look forward to cooking and prepping meals and most important, I'm not obsessing about if I'm losing weight or what my first meal after Whole30 will be this time around. I'm decidedly not weighing myself anymore. My clothes fit, I feel good, and I don't need the number to be lower to make me feel good about myself. It's freeing. It probably won't get me a lot of blog hits because I don't have before and after measurements or pictures. If you could scan my brain though, you'd see some vast changes! 

Also... I'm also thinking about buying a side of beef from an organic farm in the area. From Miss Vegetarian in college (who mostly subsisted on cheese and pasta and bread) to now... weird. We have a chest freezer, so it seems like a more economical way to get my grass fed beef. That ish is SO EXPENSIVE. 

Also, I tried the RX Bar Whole 30 pack this month:

I LOVE these bars! Although I'll always keep my favorite Cherry Pie Lara Bars on hand, the protein in these compliant bars can't be beat. I'm so busy that I love having these in my purse for emergency situations as opposed to the Lara Bars, which curb the hangry, but not enough. Highly recommended, despite the price. So far, I've had the pumpkin, apple, coconut, and sea salt chocolate. Coconut and sea salt chocolate win over the pumpkin and apple. They had kind of a potpourri taste to them, you know what I mean? However, I'd still eat the pumpkin or apple in an emergency. 

Other Whole 30 Things I Can't Live Without this Month:

Well Fed 2 (thanks again #teamreycer)

My stick blender

Chicken thighs

Bone broth

Lacroix, Lacroix, Lacroix (or the Target Brand Lacroix in mint cucumber. New fave)

Soups and stews of all kinds to beat the winter chill

Homemade mayo

Glass containers for storing all of the awesome food I'm making

My Whole30 support group chat with my friends and sister

Wholly Guacamole minis from Costco 

Pre hardboiled eggs from Costco

Costco. Period. 

What are some of your Whole30 staples?

Last thing... what does it mean when you say you're not drinking and everyone is shocked? It means everyone asks if you're pregnant. Hmmmm, what does that say about me?

I might go full paleo or paleo(ish) when this Whole30 is over. I'm really thinking about it. 

Tunes for Tuesday: Body Love

I've been spending way too much time on Spotify trying to catch up on every "Best of 2015" album. I'm all about 2016-- I just need the year to catch up on music from 2015. Too. Many. Albums. 

In the meantime... 30 Days of Yoga Camp and Whole30 #2 are well under way. I'm only a few days in, but feeling good so far. So thankful for supportive communities. 

I'm part of an online kula, or yoga community. Someone posted this video on our Facebook page and I've watched it at least ten times because I love the song and the message:

The song was made specifically for the ad by Panjabi MC. The song and the ad are badass!

I'm not traditionally "plus size" but I've always considered myself curvy, or as some of my former students used to say with love, I'm thick. I've embraced that about myself over the last few years. All of this yoga has made my body love skyrocket, especially after years of yo-yo dieting and hating myself every time I ate an Oreo or a mozzarella stick. However, I still sass myself about some of the more difficult poses, like every inversion. "You're way too thick to hoist yourself up, girl. Don't even try." Videos like this make me feel like I'll get there if I keep practicing. 

The end of week one for both challenges is quickly approaching. I'm trying to come up with the best way to update everyone on my Year of Thirty Days, so I'll be playing with some different formats this month. 

2016: A Year of Thirty Days

I love a good challenge. In 2014, I tackled the challenge of cleaning out my junk room, which I called The Purge and you'll be happy to know the room is still fairly clean. I'm happy to know I can keep a room clean for longer than one day.  

Before The Purge, I did what remains one of my favorite blog and life projects thus far: My 30 Before 30.

In January of 2015, I did a 30 Days of Yoga challenge, which became almost 365 days of yoga. 

In September of 2015, I did a Whole30 challenge, which started changing the way I think about food. 

Are you seeing the trend here? I can commit to a challenge. And if the word "thirty" is in it? Psshhh, I'll commit to it so much harder. 

You'd never doubt this girl's commitment to Sparkle Motion. 

2016 means I've had this blog for ten years. I didn't start my blog with a purpose, which beginning blogger sites say is a no-no. I think ten years ago I was supposed to decide if this was a teaching blog, travel blog, lifestyle blog... and I never did it. I've had fun moving from topic to topic, from trip to trip, and creating my soundtrack along the way. I'm going to keep doing that.

This special anniversary calls for a new blog project, which is why I've decided to take on a year of thirty day challenges. I'm calling it A Year of Thirty Days-- creative, right? I'm sure other bloggers have tackled this task in the past--and after a Google search, I found one--but I "thought" of this challenge after a Pinterest binge, where I'd meant to go to sleep early so I could tackle the next day with abandon but instead fell into a Pinterest hole, pinning every 30 day challenge that sounded like it could make my life more sparkly and fun.

Before The Purge, I pinned so many 30 day declutter challenges and 30 day cleaning challenges that you'd think my house looks like it belongs in a magazine. It doesn't, because I never did those challenges.

Me, in a nutshell.

I wondered what would happen if someone just lived their whole life by thirty day challenges-- if they actually did the challenges they pinned. Would their lives improve? Would they gain new and amazing habits? Would they crumble under the pressure of doing something every day for thirty days? Would they give up because of laziness?

I've decided to be that person-- for one year.

Some of the challenges already have infographics and plans-- thanks Pinterest! Others, I'll have to put together on my own. Here's the plan so far:

January: Whole30 #2 and Yoga Camp

The holidays left me feeling very unhealthy and I'll be getting back into a routine with two challenges I've completed before. I didn't do them at the same time, so we'll see how this goes. I've got some great friends signing up for both of these challenges and I can't wait to talk about it with them! My main goal is to wake up early to complete my yoga for the day and make a delicious breakfast. When I was a teacher, I woke up at 5:00am every day-- now it's hard to get out of bed before 7:00am.

The Tentative Other Months: If you've heard of a great thirty day challenge, please send it my way and I will try it out. No fitness challenges, please! I like my yoga and triathlons. A plank-type challenge could be fun, but I want to go beyond the fitness challenges. 

February: Self-Love Challenge and a Spending Hiatus

The month is short and we're going to Washington in March on vacation, so it seems like a good month to save some money and assess my spending. The self-love part seems like an important follow-up for the month after a Whole30.

March: Read Books Every Day and Drink a Ton of Water

I'm going to set aside some time to read-- I'm hoping for an hour a day. When I was an English teacher I had to read everything new in YA to stay up on the trends. I also read and re-read the books I was teaching many times throughout the year. Now that I'm out of the classroom, I've fallen out of that important habit. Drinking more water is something I always vow to do-- maybe with a chart I'll actually do it.

April: Writing or Music  or Life History Interview Challenge

I will be traveling for work for two weeks in April, so I need something I can do on the road. I'm not married any of these April ideas, so if you have anything you want to throw my way that doesn't have to be done at home, please do.

May: Make Detox and Green Drinks

I heard a podcast about how drinking green smoothies every day can make you feel awesome, even if you don't do anything else. I'll try it and let y'all know how it goes.

June: Pinterest Cleaning Calendar

I suck at cleaning. Maybe I'll be better at it if I make it a challenge?

July: Some Kind of Relationship Challenge

I'm going to take other relationship challenges and create my list from those. Some of the ones that already exist are a little too saccharine for me--ie "Slow dance in the living room together to your wedding song." That's not our way. I usually don't involve the Hubs in my blog projects, but I'm going to try it this month.

August: Declutter Challenge

For the second anniversary of The Purge, I will spend this month purging even more stuff from my house.

September: Whole30 #3 and Piano Practice Challenge

September is a great month for Whole30, so even though I plan on going full Paleo this year, it will be a good time for a reset after a hectic summer. I'm also going to practice piano every damn day and relearn a few of my favorite songs. This goes back to a Thirty Before Thirty goal that I never completed.

October: Minimalism Challenge

Go off of social media for thirty days? I don't set myself up for failure. This challenge is just the right amount of minimalism for me!

November: NaNoWriMo
I WILL get to 50,000 words in 2016. I've attempted two National Novel Writing Months. This year, I'm tackling this with abandon. I'm going to join the NaNoWriMo community in my town and go crazy on this word count. 

December: Letter and Note Writing Challenge

I love getting letters and notes. When I was a teacher, I used to write a letter to every single one of my students at the end of the year. Sometimes, that was 120 letters. I've gotten out of the habit of writing letters and notes, so I commit to writing thirty-one of them in December and mailing them out. It will be a great way to end 2016. 

So there it is, my Year of Thirty Days. I'll try to create pretty infographics for the months that don't already have them. Wish me luck!

Inspiration:

Best. Montage. Evah.

Yoga (Almost) Every Damn Day

I've been doing yoga since I was diagnosed with PTSD my first year of college. The doctor at the health center on campus told me I had to take medication, which I told her was fine for a little while, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have to take it for a long time. We talked about what I did for stress and I told her about journaling and running. She told me to keep journaling and to try yoga and we'd check in after a few months. I practiced yoga and meditation a few times a week that year and was off of medication after six months. I knew this was the start of a beautiful friendship between yoga and me.

In the thirteen years that followed, I did yoga one to two times a week sporadically. I thought of it as one of my workouts, something I did in between running when it was time for a break. I always found comfort in yoga, especially this video, which I had on DVD from the sale rack at Barnes and Noble and used for years and years. 

Yolanda Pettinato's voice was my favorite and that one-piece leotard? Pulling. It. Off.

In September of 2014, I found Yoga with Adriene when I did a Google search for "morning yoga." I started doing this video a few times a week and then decided to tackle her 30 Days of Yoga Challenge in January of 2015. I wrote about it here and here. I went through some crazy job changes at work at the end of January 2015 and wasn't able to finish blogging about 30 Days of Yoga. 

Since January, I've attempted to do yoga every day and it--specifically Yoga with Adriene-- has changed my whole life. The longest I went without a video practice from YWA was about three days when things got too busy or I was sick. However, even on days where I couldn't find time to do a video, I did what Adriene always says--I tried to "find what feels good" for me that day... a forward fold in the shower, laying myself on the floor with my legs up on a wall, three deep breaths in the bathroom stall at work. I've done this every damn day this year. I just love that hashtag: #yogaeverydamnday

There are the things I can't do... yet. I can't do a handstand or twist my legs in cool directions. I'm not flying in crow pose for longer than five seconds. I can't touch my foot to my head while balancing on a rock in the ocean. I mean, I hope that maybe I'll be able to do that someday, but how about some baby steps? 

These are things I did in 2015 because of yoga:

-I spent nearly every morning with Hannah the dog in the first part of 2015. She loved being on my yoga mat with me and I'll never forget our precious time together before we lost her in April. Now I have an awesome and relaxing morning routine with our dogs.

Nipsy preferred her bed, but she still hangs out during yoga. 

-I made it through a stressful job transition, breathing deeply all along the way. 

-I stopped making excuses about not being able to find time for yoga. I've done yoga in hotel rooms (and lobbies) and Airbnbs all over the United States. :)

-I became okay with my giant feet. They are strong as hell and I don't care if they are out for everyone to see!

Takin' the dogs out for a walk. 

-I found a way to deal with my anxiety about the future-- again, the breathing thing.

-I lost weight, but I don't know how much because I stopped weighing myself in 2015. It didn't feel good to always rely on the scale to tell me whether I was going to have a good day or not. 

-I got to know our new addition, Louis, through yoga. 

He likes the mat too. Nipsy still chills in her bed.

-I tried a new way of eating with the Whole30 challenge. I knew I felt awesome from doing all of the yoga, but my stomach wasn't feeling great. I pushed myself to try strict Paleo eating and found that it is the best way for me to eat. I wouldn't have done it without the discipline of daily yoga practice.

-I tried new yoga-related things, like an event in town called Pedal to the Mat, where we rode bikes and did yoga outside. I was too self-conscious about doing something like this before 2015. 

Yoga with live music-- definitely something I'd do again.

-I did 30 days of power yoga with Adriene through her Empower program in August. Most days, I can now lower myself into chaturanga without flopping onto my belly. I also have a nice little line where my tricep is. I sang this song to myself whenever I struggled with chaturanga... hehehe

But the best thing I haven't done because of #yogaeverydamnday?

I haven't had a debilitating back spasm since February 2015. I usually have these 3-4 times a year and it is a painful few days full of muscle relaxers, pain pills, and sometimes visits to the walk-in for numbing shots into my back. My lower back still hurts almost daily-- yoga isn't pure magic, y'all--but now some days are less noticeable than others. This is what keeps me coming back to my mat every day. In the summer of 2014, I broke down during a particularly horrible spasm because I worried that when we decided to try for kids my pregnancy would be terrible because of the spasms. I worried that once we had kids, I wouldn't be able to pick said kids up because of the dang spasms. Now I have some hope that maybe one day the spasms will be completely gone and maybe this future pregnancy won't be so horrible and the future kids won't be so hard to carry. 

Don't get too excited guys... I'm still just carrying the dogs around. 

I never thought I'd get so much from an online person, but Adriene Mishler has been one of the best teachers I've ever had. The community she has created online is one of the most inspiring groups I've ever been a part of. I even got to take a live class with her in Chicago and I felt like a total fan girl. 

It's been a great year of yoga. Looking forward to Adriene's free online yoga camp in January. I'll be blowing up Instagram (@jheymossy) every day tracking my January yoga camp adventures. Please join me!

Some inspiration for ya...

My Favorite Podcasts for Morning Dog Walks

I've been working to get my morning routine down before the depressing gray of winter hits me. There are two things I look forward to each morning: Yoga with Adriene (more on that sometime soon) and walking the dogs while listening to podcasts.

I switch my podcasts up every few months depending on what's being updated on a regular basis. These are the five podcasts I'm diggin' on these fall mornings:

All Songs Considered

I've been listening to All Songs Considered since my undergrad (lots of years ago now). I used to go to the computer lab on campus, work on a paper, and stream the show so I had good study music. The podcast is fun-- sometimes they have artists take over as DJs, the music always keeps my attention, and Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are a genuine music nerds, always looking for gems to share with listeners. Recently, they interviewed Carrie Brownstein about her memoir and the reason it was awesome is because it was two music lovers sitting down with a musician who isn't afraid to talk about her love of music. Ya dig?

Snap Judgment

Snap Judgment has replaced This American Life for me. I first loved Snap Judgment because of their Spooked episodes. I like scary stories all year long. It's not just the Spooked episodes though. The stories are edgy and cause driveway moments. Over the last few years, I've heard every episode and now I just listen to the new ones-- those are coming out every few weeks. Sometimes, the episodes are hit or miss, especially when there is a fictional story thrown in the mix. It's still one of my consistent favorites. 

Popaganda

Popaganda is Bitch Media's "feminist response to pop culture" and it releases two types of episodes: Backtalk, in which Sarah Mirk and Amy Lam review what's happening in pop culture that week and what they're diggin' on in pop culture. These are my favorite episodes because they keep me posted on what's happening with pop culture through a feminist lens and because Sarah and Amy are funny. Amy does a white feminist siren that cracks me up every time-- very similar to the misogyny siren I used to play in my classroom when we had discussions about hip hop. I feel like we'd be friends if they lived in the Midwest. Other episodes dive deeper into pop culture topics-- a recent (to me) favorite of mine is about YA books. 

Nom Nom Paleo

I started listening to this podcast when I did the Whole30 in September. I love that the whole family is behind this quirky podcast--Michelle, Henry, and their kids are really cute. I'm learning so much about eating paleo, especially when you're busy or think you're too busy to focus on eating what's good for you. When I first started Whole30, I thought people who live a paleo lifestyle were missing something (like bread and cheese, obviously). However, now that I know living paleo makes my body feel good, I need tips and this podcast has some good ones. 

Risk

Risk is like an uncensored Moth. Depending on the day, the host Kevin Allison's voice either grates on my nerves or makes me laugh, but the stories on this podcast always hold my attention. Big props to Kevin Allison for that! These are real people taking a risk by sharing stories they never thought they could. It's definitely not something to play in the car around your kids, but it's a great one for walking your dogs by yourself.

I'm glad my motivation to walk the dogs is as simple as good podcasts. Fer reals. 

Whole30: One Week Later and Still Cookin'

Let's check in on life post Whole30.

If you're just stopping by, here is my Whole30 journey:
Prepping for Whole30
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four

It's not so different from life on Whole30. My body feels so good that I've stuck to Whole30 since my last day except for last weekend with the Hubs. 

I decided to reintroduce grains and it all went well. I haven't really reintroduced anything else, except for the cheese I went crazy on the other day.

I guess I was testing it out even though I already know that I'm lactose intolerant. I thought maybe the Whole30 had cleared up the lactose intolerance. Just kidding, I know it didn't. It just tasted good. It fed my soul, definitely not my body, and my soul is full. Of cheese and farts.

Thank GOD grains don't make me feel sick! I don't know what I would have done with a gluten intolerance. Now onto my first non-Whole30 sips and bites...

Cranker's Coconut Porter, be still my heart.

Anything Pretzel. 

Beer and a pretzel. My insides felt like the Herbal Essences commercials of the late 1990s: 

What I've noticed the most since ending my Whole30 is that my clothes all fit much better. They were getting a little tight and some of them didn't even fit anymore. I didn't weigh myself or measure any part of my body pre and post Whole30, but let me tell you something. My favorite dress from Senegal (I call it my fertility dress because it highlights my uteral--that's a word I just made up--area) fits me again! It hasn't fit since before I switched careers and started eating all of my feelings. 

Attractive, no? I was just really excited that it fit.

I'm still cooking up a storm from the Well Fed blog. I'm dropping hints that I want both volumes for Christmas. I'd like to cook my way through those. It would also be nice to not have my laptop or phone out when I'm cooking and trying to refer to the recipes. I always feel like I'm going to drip liquid or meat juice onto the screen. 

My next step is figuring out how to be a foodie without hurting my gut. I'm trying to find balance with my eating and calorie tracking and constant yo-yo weight due to the stress levels in my life. I'm trying to get away from dieting for awhile. I've already found one solution for pizza:

Pizza sweatshirt. Boom.

I vow to keep working on this before my whole wardrobe fills up with food themed items! 

Whoops. I took it too far.

Planning for Whole 30

I have the day off today, so I'm doing some planning for Whole 30. I plan to start this thirty days of super-duper clean eating after Labor Day.

Before I go into a plan I think I can stick with, let me address a question that has already run through my mind: Why Whole 30--why not just eat clean? 

I'm tired of being a slave to sugar. Whole 30 is about making conscious decisions about what you eat. Maybe thirty days of really focusing on being conscious about what I eat will help me get my issues with sugar under control.

I want to see what happens when I make deliberate and conscious decisions about what I eat. I want to think about where it comes from and why I'm eating it when I eat it. I'll miss dark chocolate, honey, and alcohol for thirty days, but it's only thirty days. I think I can do.

Plus, I've never been one of those people who don't think about food. I love food SO MUCH. And loving food is all right, but sometimes I'll eat something, not because I'm hungry, but because it's interesting and it's there. Sometimes I feel like food controls me-- like the 4 Rice Krispie treats I downed in ten minutes because... I don't know... they were there. I'd like to see what thirty days of not doing that looks like.

Shopping Lists

This plan asks that you eat a lot of meat. I'm going to eat meat, but keep the veg list on hand. 

I'm busy and my work schedule can get crazy. I've been going out to eat an insane amount over the last six months. I think my best bet for this will be routine: Same(ish) breakfast every day, lunch being leftovers or salad, and dinners being made in big batches because I love leftovers.

Resources I'm using as my guide for recipes and tips:
Lazy Girl's Guide to the Whole 30
40 Simple Whole 30 Recipes
Too Busy for Whole 30?
Whole 30 Tips from a Busy Person

I'm out of town for the next few days and I'm going to read It Starts With Food, which is the basis for the Whole 30. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself and NOT do the "I'm about to start eating better in a week, so I'm going to eat everything fun to say goodbye to these fun foods."

The Writing Itch

I've got the itch to blog again. It's been hitting me hard over the last few weeks. Maybe this marks my return to my dusty blog!

I think this itch is coming from the place that made me redo my whole office last year-- I'm not a teacher anymore, but this time of the year makes me want to start fresh, just like I did whenever I redid my whole syllabus and classroom over the month of August. By the way, I've kept up the cleanliness of my office, although a few piles are carefully placed around the room. However, it is exponentially better in this room this year versus the last seven years.

I've got a few new projects I'm going to tackle over the next few months. I need new blog-writing fodder. If my life improves because of these projects, I won't complain.

1. I'm tackling the Whole 30 Program starting the day after Labor Day (in between business trips). I travel quite a bit for work now and I work odd hours-- my eating patterns have turned to complete poo. Like I feel like poo because of my poopy eating patterns. I want to see if I can do this program for 30 days. Plus, I think I have a serious issue with sugar and maybe this will break me of it. It doesn't seem that difficult. I kid, I kid, it seems impossible. I mostly want to learn some stuff about my body. How does it operate when it's being treated like an award winning race horse as opposed to the penny horse at Meijer?

This doesn't look fun, but I feel like a challenge!

2. I'm forcing myself to learn how to balance my crazy busy schedule with self-care. How will I attempt this? I don't know. I'm getting a new planner that might help me... it's not just a planner-- it's an ACTION planner. This means that I will learn to utilize every minute of my work day, right?  I just have to write in it. I'm down to try! I don't want to establish the same unhealthy workaholic habits in my new career as I did when I was a teacher.

[source]

3. Speaking of self-care, I'm going to continue doing yoga with my role model, Adriene Mishler. Despite the crazy changes in my life since January, doing yoga with my girl Adriene has remained a constant in my life-- almost every day since January started. Actually practicing yoga daily has made me more aware and appreciative of my body, has built my back into a stronger and more flexible one, and has calmed my anxiety. I lurve it.

My virtual BFF. I see her every morning. 

4. I've got to figure out how to clean my house in bits in pieces instead of spending my whole freakin' Saturday or Sunday cleaning. I'm going to try one of these home cleaning schedules that fancy women who probably have sparkling clean homes that smell like lemongrass (and sparkling white teeth that they've whitened on their own with their own homemade whitener) post on their blogs. Specifically this one:

Lemongrass-smellin' house here I come!

I suppose you could say that this year's not-going-back-to-school redo project is focusing on upping my quality of life.

We'll see how it goes...