Update, Vacay to Portland, 7 1/2 weeks out
Hi fitness friends!! I didn’t realize how long it’s been since I made an update. I have a good excuse because I was in Portland, Oregon for 6 days last week and time just flew by! You’ll be happy to know I worked out 3 of those days, but my clean diet went totally out the window. That sent me on a downward spiral of eating more junk for the following week after I returned home. That’s how it happens for me. I can allow myself a treat or two, one restaurant meal a week, but if I go over that my body starts to want the junk and sugar all the time. Food can be an addiction. That’s obvious with the increase in diet related disease and illness, but we all have our personal struggles.
This brings me to my weekend at the Vida Vegan Con blogger conference. That is why I went to Portland but I also go there a few times a year to see my best friend. It’s probably my favorite city in the country (that I’ve visited so far). The green lush environment, the easy public transport, the friendly people, the hipsters, the amazing coffee and even MORE amazing vegan restaurants. If it wasn’t for the gloom and rain most the year I would totally move there.
My bestie took me to Breitenbush hot springs on Thursday before the conference started. I’ve been all over the world and this was one of the most magical, beautiful, meditative, relaxing places to visit. It’s deep in the forest making cell phone reception unavailable, giving you a chance to really “check out”. It was just what I needed. It’s 2 hours north of Portland so please go there on your next visit to the Pacific Northwest!! (We were all naked and stuff so I couldn’t get any photos but the one above is from their website and is one of the hot pools you dip in!)
I made us an amazing lunch to take to the springs. Pinto beans, black forbidden rice, steamed butternut squash, collard greens and red pepper with a coconut curry sauce. It was really good I must say. The following day I headed to PlantFit to workout with Ed Bauer, a vegan bodybuilder and rockstar. Someone had posted on the VVC FB page that they wanted to do CrossFit so I set up a class for everyone. Nine people came and that made me very happy!!
The conference was amazing and I got to meet all kinds of new inspirational vegans. I went to more of the deep discussion classes rather than the practical ones. My two faves were Ethics Beyond The Plate and Gena’s class on writing. I also went to many classes that discussed body image and trigger words because with this new blog I want to make sure I’m using language that doesn’t hurt anyone. I’m sharing my personal journey with you here. If I have or at anytime shared something you are not comfortable with feel free to let me know. Another takeaway from those classes was that it’s the reader’s responsibility to take care of themselves and not read blogs that trigger them. But from now on I will be more careful, putting a disclaimer for any posts that talk about numbers or show photos of my progression. Gena does a great job summing up some of the topics discussed.
Soooo, I’m back to training hard and eating healthy. I’ve added cardio back into my routine after going 5 weeks with only an hour or two. I had my first posing class with one of the judges and a woman that judged last year. It went well! Those heels are killer and I must practice practice practice so I don’t embarrass myself in front of thousands of people. I still have a lot of work to do and we are 7 1/2 weeks out from the show!
What exciting things have you incorporated into your workouts? What kinds of things would you like to see on this blog?
