Meals, fitness, yoga on the beach
Hi guys! How’s your weekend going? We’re really enjoying our first official weekend here in San Diego. There is SO MUCH cool stuff to check out and explore.
Yesterday, I took a dontation-based yoga class on the beach led by Steve Hubbard aka NamaSteve.
[Edited to say: the photos from the yoga class were taken down. As a blogger, I try to post photos that help to illustrate whatever I’m talking about, and that includes little snapshots from my life and events. I almost never take pictures during yoga, but since it was a public event in a beautiful setting, I didn’t think it would be a prob to snap a quick pic, since many people were walking around taking photos with their phones. I realize it wasn’t the most flattering picture, but I only took that one since I went quickly back to my mat to continue practicing.]
There is something truly magical about practicing yoga outdoors with about 90 people, the gentle sun beating down on us and the cool ocean breeze. Since we were on a hill, it required some extra core stabilization during the practice to keep me from falling over and starting the yoga domino pile. It was a great practice -lots of twisting and balance- with wonderful energy, and during savasana with the waves lightly crashing in the background, I had a moment where I had to convince myself that it was indeed real life.
I never thought I’d love a place as much as Tucson, but SD, you’re getting pretty close 😉 If we could just transport the entire family, it would be perfection.
This week, I’m excited to check out more fitness classes and also have a couple of interviews at local studios for teaching/training positions. I’m stoked to get back in the swing of teaching and hopefully expand my repertoire with new formats. Fingers crossed that I’ll have a job sometime this week 😉
Here’s what the ol’ fitness plan is looking like:
Sunday: Runday (if it doesn’t rain; it looks pretty cloudy and dreary outside)
Monday: Barre3
Tuesday: Zumba!
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Orange Theory
Friday: Yoga or barre
Saturday: OFF
Even though we’re playing tourists for now -the restaurants here are INSANE- it has felt great to be cooking in a kitchen again. We grilled at the house last night and have some fun meals planned for this week.
(Using a new stove for the first time = overcooking everything. Oops)
On the menu: (some of these are pinned so I won’t forget them)
-Slow cooker butter chicken was basmati rice and grilled vegetables
-Quinoa pizzas (recipe comin’ atcha)
-Taco night (having friends over)
-Thai turkey meatballs with spring rolls + salad
+ all.the.acai.bowls. I can’t stay away.
Are you planning and prepping today?
Any fitness adventures from the weekend?
See ya later with lots of pics!
xoxo
Gina
Something to think:
Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more, no less. But keep in mind that your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next.
Everything is alive and changing all the time, so your best will sometimes be high quality, and other times it will not be as good.
When you wake up refreshed and energized in the morning, your best will be better than when you are tired at night. Your best will depend on whether you are feeling wonderful and happy, or upset, angry or jealous.
Regardless of the quality, keep doing your best. No more and no less than your best. If you do more than your best, you will spend more energy than is needed and in the end your best will not be enough.
When you overwork you deplete your body and go against your natural self, and it will ultimately take you longer to achieve your goal. But if you do less than your best, you subject yourself to a far greater punishment, the self punishment we all do so well.
There was a man who wanted to transcend his suffering so he went to a Buddhist Temple to find a Master to help him. He went to the Master and asked, ‘Master if I meditate four hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?’
The Master looked at him and said, ‘If you meditate four hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in ten years.’
Thinking he could do better, the man then said, ‘ Oh, Master, what if I meditated eight hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend?’
The Master looked at him and said, ‘If you meditate eight hours a day, perhaps you will transcend in twenty years.’
‘But why will it take me longer if I meditate more?’the man asked.
The Master replied, ‘ You are not here to sacrifice your joy or your life. You are here to live, to be happy, and to love. If you can do your best in two hours of meditation, but you spend eight hours instead, you will only grow tired, miss the point, and you won’t enjoy your life. Do your best, and perhaps you will learn that no matter how long you meditate, you can live, love, and be happy.’
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Gotta Love SD!
They also have donation based yoga classes Sunday at Balboa Park 11 am, the teacher is amazing and can’t beat the location. If you are looking for a great hike too, check out Cowles Mountain! Enjoy this beautiful city!
everything on your meal plan sounds SO GOOD! Wish I had access to a kitchen! (dorm room living 🙁 )
lol It’s ok, you can go run… We’ve been here 18 months and it’s rained 3 times 😉
I’ve always wanted to take an outdoor exercise class! I’m hoping to get to sometime this summer!
I was able to take a class at my old yoga studio while visiting my parents for Passover this weekend. It was pretty incredible to combine Zen and nostalgia. It made my heart happy. 🙂
Good luck on your interviews, Gina! I hope I can take a class from you when I’m visiting friends in San Diego this Summer! 🙂
i hope so, too!!
It looks so beautiful there! I’m glad that you guys are enjoying your time together.
I’m planning and prepping meals today with lean green salads, pancakes, and chicken breasts. I’m doing the Tone it up 7 day slim. Cardio + TIU workouts this week.
I know you will do great on the interviews!
Happy Weekend! Glad to hear that you’re settling in & enjoying the new city already 🙂
So glad you’re loving it!!
Gina, my girlfriend runs the gift shop at the beautiful new library in San Diego. On Saturdays (I think) they do yoga at the patio at the library. About 30 people show up and it is supposed to be a great time. You should check it out if looking for another yoga spot!
We live in Orange County and feel the same way; some days I have to pinch myself that I get to hang out in such a beautiful location! Today my 3 month old twins, myself and my parents met up at the Surf and Sand hotel in Laguna Beac for breakfast on the patio. It was a calm sunny day, we sat outside and watched the skim boarders at the beach while eating awesome breakfast burritos and bloody Mary’s! Doesn’t get better than that!
So glad you love California like we do!
i will definitely check it out. thank you!
and yes, that sounds like perfection 🙂 loving it here so much
Yoga on the beach – sounds wonderful!
I plan a trip to San Diego next year, hopefully you will still be there then 🙂
I have Crossfit twice and Yoga twice on the list – Eater will be spent in Prague (Czechoslovakia) where I know I can go to the gym and runs outdoors.
AND I prepared Sweet Potato Chicken Patties for the next 3 days and my new recipe Coconut Berry Oatmeal Bake – so easy and delicious for breakfast! http://fitswisschick.com/2014/04/08/coconut-berry-oatmeal-bake-glutenfree-balanced-healthy-cake/
Happy Sunday!!
Wow that yoga class outdoors looks amazing! Glad you are enjoying SD 🙂
Do you have different yoga mats for indoor and outdoor yoga? I took a beach yoga class and can’t seem to get the sand off!
i brought an old one with me to outdoor yoga because i knew it would get dirty. a lot of people practiced sans mat on the grass
Haha, ohhhh Gina. It will not rain. If it was going to rain you would have heard everyone talking about it. The clouds are a daily morning occurrence, it looks like it might last half the day today but by 4pm it will be sunny! It is called the Marine Layer and if you’re in coronado it will probably be a sure thing this time of year until July. It’s perfect for running actually! Don’t worry about the rain. Seriously don’t ever plan for rain unless it’s already raining. 🙂
hahah April So true! I came from Seattle Washington so I always thought that when I first moved to San Diego. But it rarely rains:)
“Seriously don’t ever plan for rain unless it’s already raining” <--- haha! perfect advice, thank you 🙂
Something you’ll learn about San Diego, even when it looks dreary its probably not going to rain. It almost never rains.
that’s good to know!
Yoga outside sounds amazing! SD is definitely one of my all time favorite cities…I wish I lived closer so I could visit more often. I’m hoping to make a trip there sometime this summer–maybe I’ll even get to take a class you’re teaching 😀
Man, that yoga practice sounds amazing! Glad you’re enjoying SD, and hoping the rain holds off so you can get in that run (maybe even on the beach!). 🙂
San Diego is so beautiful, I’m glad that you’re liking it there! Good luck on those job interviews, I’m sure you’ll do great 🙂
We’re PCSing to SD soon and you have me even more excited to move back to the Golden State! We will most likely be living out in Eastlake or Otay if we can’t get base housing, so yoga on the beach is out, but I’m looking forward to getting back to the food. I’m not sure what area you live in, but visit a place called South Beach (adults only) in Ocean Beach or Norte in Carlsbad if you love fish tacos.
amazing!! thank you for the recs, too
What a beautiful beach. That would have been a great experience.
Up on the menu this week, tacos, slow cooked bbq chicken, polenta with mushrooms, and already in the oven for our breakfast, Coconut Baked Oatmeal!
http://goodnessgrapevine.com/2014/04/13/i-was-an-angel-child/
Last week I took my first Pure Barre class- that was fun!
Have you every posted your Butter Chicken recipe? Loooove Butter Chicken.
Here’s my meal plan for the week! http://wp.me/p30jaF-2jK
You should try the acai bowls at Zanzibar! I know they for sure have a location in PB but I’m pretty sure they have one downtown as well. I used to live off those in college – soo good!!
i’ll check it out for sure!
Oh – I feel so bad for those people in the yoga photos unless got permission to post their photo? I realize there’s no faces but I would be so embarrassed if I were photographed during a class and that photo was placed on a public blog!
There are people in the world I feel “so bad” for. Healthy people practicing free yoga on the beach don’t fall into that category. I don’t see how it’s any different than the multiple people taking pictures for Instagram. If you’re at a public event, there is a chance your photo will be taken and posted somewhere.
I don’t participate in those types of practices as I work in a field where I often need to take photos at public events. My office works under a strict policy that, unless we obtain permission of everyone in the photo, that photo is not published. The problem ends up being that 1) there might be someone dealing with body issues that sees that photos and starts comparing to others (I’ve been on the receiving end of this before, it triggered a relapse in my ED) and 2) someone in that photo might be in the middle of a horrible breakup or trying to live a normal life while trying to keep their identity to themselves (there are also custody battle issues that are really insane – I’ve seen major legal action taken just from photos like these). These are just two examples of why it’s really important to be respectful of those around you when you post photos like that. You really don’t know what is going on with the people you encounter. I’m sorry, maybe I’m being overreactive and I usually love your blog, but I just can’t get on board with practices like that. I’ve seen too many bad things come of what you are seeing as innocent pictures in a public space.
I agree, and it’s just bad form to take pictures of strangers with their booties in the air without their permission! It doesn’t make it okay if the subjects in the pictures are healthy or have good bodies.
By the way, I should have mentioned, since someone was talking lawyers below, when I said “legal action”, I meant that a ex-spouse took legal action against their ex to obtain custody of their child or use it as grounds in divorce court, not legal action towards the person who posted the photo. Sorry, I didn’t want my point to be taken out of context.
I don’t see a problem with it. You can’t see any faces or recognize anybody. With camera phones these days if you step out in public you’re putting yourself at “risk” for being in the background of a photo. Who cares? There are bigger problems in the world…
I get your point, but when you’re supposed to be participating in a class and instead taking pics of unsuspecting people who are just trying to get their sweat on, it’s bound to make at least a few of them uncomfortable. Sure it’s not the end of the world, but it IS bad etiquette.
Agreed, it is just bad etiquette. What the hell would even possess you to take pictures of people’ asses in the air? FFS.
Please see my response above. If one of these people are using this free (as in, you do not need to provide your name and are anonymous) yoga event (as in, relaxing) as a way to get an hour away from a bad situation, this might be the biggest thing going on in your world. You really have zero idea what is going on in other people’s lives. You, personally, might be able to focus on the world’s bigger problems but if you are on the verge of losing your children in a custody battle or are just getting out of a bad (read: abusive) relationship, your current problems are more important than what is going on in Russia or the Malaysian airline. Additionally, the photo that people are riled up about doesn’t really seem to serve a purpose. Couldn’t taking a photo of a yoga mat and the grass beneath (or your feet or whatever) serve the same purpose? I did not mean to start an attack on Gina here and some of the reader’s responses are particularly rude. I just wanted to point out that we need to respect other people’s privacy or, at the very least, not show completely unflattering photos of people in a public space.
I think this is a really well thought out and eloquent response, and hopefully others will see the real issue with using these types of photos on a for profit blog without permission.
I agree that there are much bigger problems in the world. But I am an extremely private person and it takes a lot for me to participate in group settings. It would make me really uncomfortable to have my picture taken, especially in that position, without being told of it first. And I also think its pretty crappy to tell people that just because camera phones exist we have to expect or be okay with invasions of privacy in public. I think it would be better if those with camera phones practiced tact and good manners instead of expecting everyone else to expect it to happen and just deal with it.
You’re so private yet you are sharing your face with the world in a public avatar on a public blog. Riiiight.
“You’re so private yet you are sharing your face with the world in a public avatar on a public blog. Riiiight.”
Yes, indeed. Its a picture I chose, that I like and am comfortable with sharing. That’s quite a bit different than someone randomly taking a picture of my booty while I completely unaware of it.
Wow, what an ignorant and defensive response – not to mention unprofessional. This is your “job” and so the difference is you are using their pictures on a blog you make money off of. Someone could, and should, take legal action. You posted pictures of unsuspecting people in compromising positions and are, as I said, profiting from them. I’m not sure if that’s unlawful, but if I was one of those people I’d be on the phone with my lawyer right now finding out.
I hope your day gets better <3
I also think the picture is in bad taste. Like someone mentioned, what possessed you to take that picture of the ladies is that position?? And when I’m exercising, I’m exercising…I’m not taking pics of people’s butts. Maybe since you are at an exercise class, you should stick to why you are there, and that is exercising…
You guys need to chill the eff out!! If a newspaper had included this photo as part of an online article on the event it would have been a great example of people coming together for fitness. Gina does it and you jump all over her. You guys need to find hobbies other than harassing bloggers.
Completely agree, Ali.
Outdoor yoga is pretty awesome! There is something about it that feels so amazing nothing like being in a studio.
I’m going to be in San Diego next week! I’m going to need your recommendations on what to do/eat when I’m there. More specifically – acai bowls (because I do love them. Thanks, Hawaii!)! Where in San Diego do you now live?
Looks like a beautiful weekend! We had sunny 86 degree weather on Saturday and now it’s snowing here in KC, crazy!!
wow. all this debate over a flippin snapshot of an unrecognizable person on a public beach.
Gina, don’t worry about it. YOU. ARE. FINE>
I love namasteve!! I hope you met his pot bellied pig 🙂 I’m glad he still has his practice at the park. The cops were trying to shut him down for a while.
i didn’t, but i’ve heard about the pig!
I can’t even imagine waves crashing during savasana!
I agree – waves during savasana would maybe get me to enjoy it! My mind wanders too much. 🙂
I live in San Diego and have taken this yoga class before and I would be horrified if I came to your blog and saw my butt in the air. When I’m in the middle of my yoga practice, I am not thinking that someone is taking a picture of me to put on their public blog. I know you have to include photos to make your blog more exciting to read but you’re not thinking of this from these people’s perspective.
Thank you Gina.
Thanks for that last part, Gina.
<3