Intentions

In my pre-baby days I was involved in a number of athletic endeavors.  I played on an indoor and outdoor soccer team, did yoga, rode my bike multiple times a week with Flick, ran, swam, skied, hiked, and occasionally even rock climbed.  Many of those activities had to take a back seat while I was sporting a very protuberant midsection.  In the months following Ellie's birth, it was easy to say "well, I am not doing (insert activity here) right now because I just had a baby".  In my opinion, this is extremely legit.  You birthed another human...you deserve some time off from having to do anything but take care of that little person.  I am reaching the limit of my "just had a baby" response.  I think it is different for everyone, but for my own personal baby experience, I feel like it is time to get back into some of those old habits that I miss so dearly.

Last camping trip before Ellie!

As a step in this direction, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:20 two mornings this week to go to a yoga class...a real yoga class.  Not my beloved prenatal classes where we talked about how we were feeling, swapped stories, and spent an hour and a half limbering up (might I recommend, Yo Mama Yoga to any pregnant Boulderites out there?  LOVE this place).  This was a legs and arms shaking, sweat dripping, Ujai breathing, mind centering yoga class (well, it was for me at least...thank you Radiance Power Yoga!).  It was difficult and really great all at the same time.  For the first time in about a year, I set an intention for myself to focus on during the class - being gentle and understanding of the new post-baby "me".  It is too easy to set high expectations and be disappointed or frustrated when we don't meet them.  When you are just starting out, or getting back into something after a long hiatus, give yourself a break!

This goes for cooking as well.  If you are a take-out kind of family and want to turn the corner and get into the kitchen, start small.  Maybe 2 nights a week you do a home cooked meal.  It is much easier to stick with something when it is reasonable and attainable.  Think of how good it feels to accomplish something and to be able to move on to the next level.  If you start too big and have to scale back, it is still 100% fine but can be a little self defeating.  Give it some thought, set your intention, and get after it!  I hope you enjoy the meals this week:

Coconut Curried Pork, Snow Pea, and Mango Stir Fry

                                   Cornmeal Crusted Catfish

Enchilada Casserole













Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta









Grilled Veggie and Hummus Wraps (again, no photo...I didn't realize I was missing this many!)