Intense yoga & Near East Pilaf

I created a page dedicated to yoga and my recommendations – check it out if you’d like

I haven’t had a good sweaty yoga session in a while.  The “power yoga” podcasts I’ve been listening to are not cutting it.  I went back to something that I knew I would love – Sadie Nardini’s YouTube videos.  I did two of her routines.  I made up some playlists on my YouTube account so you can view my favorites.

First I did Sadie’s Personal Practice: Advanced Arm and Core Flow: an intermediate/advanced flow that lasted about 20 minutes.  This is an intense yoga practice.  Some highlights (remember this is all in 20 minutes): warmup (this gets your heart going), side plank opening up to a back bend, eka pada koundinyasana (chaturanga with legs lifted to the side), fan to tripod headstand to crow to fan, side plank flipped to wheel, handstand (yikes! can’t do this – but she does it gracefully), and core work.  Please let me know if you try it.  It is really awesome.

If you have no idea what I was talking about in that last paragraph, watch her video anyway.  Sadie’s yoga is beautiful to watch and I promise, you will appreciate what yoga can do for a body after you see her practice.  Sadie focuses a lot more on the core than any other yoga class I have ever taken.  I love this.

After the advanced practice I did Sadie’s Power Half Hour, which I have done before.  This is a routine that a beginner can follow, but she adds in a lot of movement that ups the intensity of the yoga workout.  Instead of holding a pose static, she incorporates some flow into everything.  In Warrior 2 she floats up and down, humble warrior waterfalls up and down, etc…  If you want a yoga practice that gives you cardio and sweat, this is for you.  Sadie says that this kind of yoga will burn about 500 calories per hour – how’s that for motivation?

To fuel this yoga body, I need whole, hearty foods.  Last night I made Near East’s Wheat Pilaf with our dinner. It was simple to prepare (boil water, add wheat, spice mix, and some oil, cook on low for 20 more minutes). It filled the house with a lovely aroma and when Bobby walked in the door he said, “Ooh, I’m really hungry now.”

The nutritionals rock:

I loved this – it had 8 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, and only 2 grams of sugar per serving.  The ingredient list is short, and free of any weird items.  I mixed my serving (Bobby got the other 2) with a chopped tomato, some pineapple chunks, and a bit of Asian pear.  I put a little Sriracha chili sauce on top too.  So good!  Bobby had his with chicken sausage and some peppers.

The other night I made a tofu scramble, and I added turmeric to keep with the theme of the Weekly Food Challenge.  It was quite good as well – I liked how the turmeric turned it yellow.

I’m off to the post office to pick up my POM samples!  Stay tuned for a review.  I have some other reviews piling up as well  Enjoy your Friday!  What are your weekend plans?  I am pretty open.  I think there’s a poker night tonight, and I plan on getting in some quality Bobby-time too.  He’s been very busy at work and I feel like I haven’t seen him all week.  He needs some rest.

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