take a breather

Posted: July 19, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Ever heard the term crazy busy? I’m living it right now. My eyeballs died last night and my butt lost all feeling as I sat in front of the computer reading page after page of editorial guidelines. I am about to sink back into that black hole to crank out some writing that I have to submit before Wednesday and continue to affiliate myself with the necessary info. It’s all part of the process.

After such a sedentary night last night, my life needed action this morning. Enter the best spin class I’ve been to in awhile. A perfect instructor, a dash of motivation, and the glorious feeling of movement combined to form a successful workout. If I could bottle that feeling, I could sell it for millions I tell you. Then we continued action for the day with a free Gymboree class.

P1140296P1140299

Movement feels good I tell you. And more of it will be able to come because Hallelujah…we have A/C!!! Which means I don’t have to avoid activity in my own house. It only took 9 months to commit to signing our lives away, but I can forget that when the sweet breeze of coolness flows across my body. I don’t know how I survived in GA heat as long as I did.

Today I experienced a bit of a life lesson reminder. I was running really late (in my mind) to meet up with my friend and totally frazzled by it. I was in the car driving like a mad woman and ugly grunts and comments kept emerging from my mouth. Suddenly, a song came on the radio to awaken me from my ridonkulousness. Ahem. That is 100% a word.

I don’t remember the song, but it made me slow down. Awareness enveloped me. Some things simply aren’t worth the energy to fret over. If something that seems insurmountable or overly important now won’t make a bit of difference or be remembered another month or two from now, give it up. Let it go. The “will it matter in X amount of time” question keeps me grounded and has done so many times. I am prone to stress and anxiety (and depression) thanks to some lovely family genes, but with awareness I will always persevere in those battles. It only takes time to think, removed from the emotion, to put it all in perspective.

On a lighter note, I am welcoming an old love back in my life tonight. Tofu! Don’t act surprised. I know I have been featuring some of my special eats in the form of Mexican food and ice-cream on the blog, but this chick is still noshing the healthy stuff all the time. I just don’t post everything I eat on a daily basis. Enter my Baked Tofu Broccoli Slaw.

P1120761 (Medium)

This time with minor adjustments like the ones I noted in the original post. I can’t wait to see what the changes do for the recipe.  I think I look forward to leftovers for lunch the rest of the week even more. Perhaps it will help me be yen-like and take a breather.

  • Do you get stressed easily over silly things? How do you get over it?
  • What is your favorite way to move your body?
  • Are you watching The Bachelorette tonight? Or, if viewing on Tuesday, did you watch it???

Tags: , ,

 
29 Comments to “take a breather”
  1. um, when do i NOT get stressed over silly things! but thankfully it only takes a bit for me to calm down and move on 🙂 i love walking SO MUCH…i am enjoying building up to running again, but walking is so easy, fun, and healthful. what’s not to love?! 🙂

  2. I always get stressed over small things. My mom has called me a ‘worry wart’ since I was little! But I have learned to deal with it – usually deep breaths, prayer (especially the prayed of serenity!) and relinquishing control help me.

  3. Hallie says:

    That tofu looks so good! And yeah…I get stressed out a lot, and I know grad school and planning a wedding on top of work is going to add to the stress tenfold. BUT, I’m going to try to balance it with yoga, exercise (but not being obsessive), planning (my go-to when I get stressed is to make a plan) and remembering that everything will turn out OK and stressing doesn’t really help any (Mitch says that to me ALL THE TIME and I listen to him about one out of ten times!).

  4. Lee says:

    Yup, I’m another person who stresses over silly things. Glad you were able to get past it. Looking forward to meeting you on Friday!

  5. Oh yes…I am really good in BIG situations but I tend to stress over the petty things. Which works well because my husband is much better in the day to day versus the big things! We match!

    • Tina says:

      That is the exact same as me. I only freak with the little stuff and Peter gets so worried in the big things. So nice to have that balance.

  6. tanyasdaily says:

    Exercise gets rid of stress for me!

  7. Kimberly says:

    My week is going to be crazy too!! I am constamtly having to remind myself to breath 🙂

    My favorite way to move is yoga or walking. I went for a walk this morning and got rained on but it felt really good.

    Tofu looks great! I crave tofu sometimes but never fix it because no one else will eat it. They don’t know what they’re missing!

  8. Can I just say how much I’ve loved getting to watch M grow up and change right before my eyes? It’s been amazing “knowing” her since she was a baby!

    Love your tofu–I’m saving this for the future!

    Some days nothing phases me–and other days if I get in the shower 2 minutes later than normal I get stressed. Usually I just have to take a few minutes to breath and think about something happy and it washes over me.

  9. Yay on the great class. I do tend to get stressed far too easily and over things that are simply too trivial. I do recognize this and have been trying very hard to work on that. Right now I’m totally digging kickboxing. My favorite movement tends to change. At one point it was step, then I loved spin, then running (well, sort of) and now kickboxing.

  10. Great point about silly stressing – I always feel kind of goofy once I snap out of it. Like how did I get spun up so fast?! haha My favorite way to move my body is dancing! I’m not watching the bachelorette – I’m not too huge on reality TV. I used to LOVE the bachelor though – hilarious!

  11. I am also an easily-stressed, easily-flustered person, so I can definitely commiserate. It can be hard to maintain the broader perspective when the little frustrations of life are driving me up the wall. But you’re totally right that asking myself, “will this matter next year? next month? tomorrow?” really helps!

  12. homecookedem says:

    Um, yes, I most definitely get stressed over silly things… like all the time. And I always feel ridiculous after the fact. I definitely need to slow down and not take things so seriously. I’m super sensitive and let people and things get to me way too much.

    My favorite way to move my body used to be running, but these days I’d say walking. I love walking and talking with friends (like you!). 🙂

    Your tofu looks great!! Seriously, it looks cooked perfectly, like something from a restaurant, yum!!

  13. I don’t stress too much, but when I do, I gotta move! Walk… deep breaths… get out on the water… those things always help 🙂

    PS- Of course I’m watching the Bachelorette… Go Roberto!

    Thanks so much for the comments about C25K… I hope it works for me!!

  14. I get stressed all the time over little things, and it drives me nuts! I need to take moments to breathe and remember the little things in life aren’t always worth stressing over.

  15. Nichole says:

    It’s little things that get me. Big things, not so much. I am praying daily for more patience, especially with certain people. Change your attitude, change your day. You either choose to be upset or choose to get over it.

  16. Ameena says:

    I get stressed out over everything and the only way I feel better is to hit the streets for a good run or some yoga. I definitely need to find more patience somehow, it is my biggest weakness!

  17. Sarah says:

    I do get easily stressed! I get over it by talking with someone who knows me well.
    And my favorite ways to move my body are yoga and dancing, which also help relieve some of that stress.

  18. so many times I have FREAKED out about teh smallest things, but I just make them so much bigger than they need to be. This is when I take a step back and remember taht I have my healthy, family, friends and how lucky I am. This always makes me calm down and be a little less stressed 🙂

  19. My favorite ways to move my body are Body Pump and Body Combat classes at my gym. So much more fun than a standard solitary work out!

  20. Erica says:

    Isn’t it amazing the things that make you slow down/smell the roses? I think we all need those reminders every now and again. Your tofu looks fabulous. After my tofu fail the other day, I haven’t been wanting to try again! Maybe I finally will!

    * Do you get stressed easily over silly things? How do you get over it? Yes! I take a few minutes to just think and breath and I got to the gym!
    * What is your favorite way to move your body? oww Body Attack <3
    * Are you watching The Bachelorette tonight? Or, if viewing on Tuesday, did you watch it??? Nopers….I've never been able to get into this??

  21. yes, I definitely stress over stupid stuff, all the time! I think I probably function on some level of stress all the time. It is a very bad way to live, but I work on it by thinking more about the big picture, not just the moment. Taking things in perspective, it’s hard but I find it does keep me more grounded.

  22. Yup, I often stress about silly stuff, and I try not to, but I think a lot of people realize it’s easier said than done! At the moment it’s school and job stuff that I’m stressing over (as in finishing school and finding a job), and I’ve learned that I certainly don’t cope with uncertainty well! But I’m trying to keep telling myself that whatever’s meant to happen will happen.

    And as far as my favourite way to move, running and spinning for sure! I especially love spin because I teach it and get to inspire other people around me (well I try anyway!) so it’s like a double dose of happiness! 🙂

  23. I definitely stress more then I should and probably more then I need to. I think reminding yourself of the big picture is a great way to keep stress levels in perspective.

  24. Awww, love the pics of the little ones! And your baked tofu looks PERFECT– so crisp!

  25. Surprisingly I tend to mostly worry abouy the big things… finance being a big one. I really like what you had to share about taking a step back and really thinking if the worry is worth it. Your tofu looks nice and crispy! Yum!

Leave a Reply to Tina

(required)

(required)


 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

88 CommentsRead more →

Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

24 CommentsRead more →

Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

14 CommentsRead more →
 

Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

21 CommentsRead more →

Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

79 CommentsRead more →

From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

55 CommentsRead more →