Recovering from Time Travel

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about whether or not I will continue to blog now that I am back in the USA.  The answer is YES!  Admittedly, from now on most of my posts will be themed around wellness rather than life in NZ.  They also might need to be less frequent, especially when school starts again, and they will definitely be less personal.  Now that my life is back to “normal” I don’t feel the need to share every detail anymore.  But I will still share anything influential in my life, because wellness is about so much more than just health and fitness. (And I can promise a new little daily feature of the blog I have a-brewing.  Be on the lookout for that )

Today I want to chat about recovering my wellness from a 24+ hour journey of time-travel around the world.  The aftermath that has caused me to feel quite out of sorts.

Sleeping

Proof of my restless nights...

I have been waking up in the middle of the night (3:30am), which has caused me to suffer from sleepiness so severe that it resembles narcolepsy!  (I fell asleep in the waiting room before a doctor’s appointment.)  I have imposed strict bedtime rules for the past few nights.  I have to be in bed between 10:30pm and 8:30am whether or not I actually sleep during that time.  No napping!  A few sleepy days are inevitable, and this has helped me quickly get used to this time zone.  Last night marks the first night this week that I slept through the night!

Eating

Mom-bought favorites of mine: dates and almond milk!

I am finally eating well consistently, but it’s not sitting well.  My digestive track has been all in a tizzy, which is definitely a result of lack of sleep and the erratic, excessive diet of fat and sugar I’ve been eating for more than 2 weeks straight!  I feel better eating clean, and my digestive system will regulate in time…as long as I stick to eating well!

Exercising

Reunited with both my Klean Kanteen and yoga mat!

It’s all I have to cling to right now!  I have jumped right back into my religious exercise habits with at least an hour of activity every day.  I’ve been running and spinning, doing pilates and yoga, and I have even done a smidgen of strength training!  It feels really good and feel really right, but it’s been really tiring!  I fell out of shape pretty significantly because of travel and my hip injury, so I’ve been pretty sore. That means lots of yoga for me, and not to wimp out on my cardio!

Mental Functioning

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit psycho lately!  Once again, my life has done a complete 180 and I’m trying to readjust.  For example, I almost had a nervous breakdown in the produce section at Wegmans…it was so overwhelming!  Also, I keep almost driving on the wrong side of the road.  And EVERYTHING reminds me of something NZ-related.

Organizing

Logged 3 loads already

My time not spent eating, exercising, or sleeping has been spent organizing my life: responding to emails, doing laundry, unpacking, and organizing my room.  Getting my life back to normal has felt very strange, but each little thing I accomplish makes me feel more and more at ease.

Nearly organized!

I have learned that there is not that much you can do to feel healthy again right after something like that.  Just honor your body and things will get better in time.  As per my mother’s advice, I’m actually RELAXING!!!!  Though I’ve been feeling icky and sad to have left New Zealand, the comforts of home make feel better, better, better.

There is just one thing I desperately need to feel all better…

Dominique!  (Did you know she has a blog, too???)  Typical to the history of our friendship, when I’m home she’s not!  She’s on vacation with her family this week.

And, as she is my best friend, I REALLY NEED TO SEE HER!!!!

How have you dealt with jetlag?

Namaste.

Free Yoga! and 59-Cent Meals!

I think Mother Earth is personally offended by my morning workouts or something.  Because this morning, icy roads kept me at home YET AGAIN.  But it turned out to be for the best because my sister joined me in my yoga practice! We did an online class from Yoga Today.  It’s a really fantastic website that offers a weekly free yoga class!  And it’s not just a 5-minute clip.  They are legit, full-length, and challenging classes! This week’s was called Build Consonance with Power and Grace.  After a grounding warmup, there was a killer strengthening sequence, followed by a grace sequence that was quite fun!  The instructors on this site are so likable, real, and educated, and they are always joined by another yogi and a beginner to demonstrate both advanced and modified versions of the postures.  Plus, they are filmed outside in Sedona, California!  You will feel transported from your chilly Philadelphia basement to the serene, beautiful, natural setting. And all that fo’ free!  Every week!

Hungry?…..

One of the cheapest, healthiest things you can pick up at any grocery store is canned beans!  And there are so many delicious varieties: Black, Kidney, Navy, Garbanzo (just to name a few!) and the recipe possibilities are ENDLESS!! I got a can of Wegmans Black Beans for 59cents!

Don’t they look so joyous in the bright yellow colander?  I decided to make something seasonal and warming with them for dinner last night.  I found great recipe for Warm Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad from Oh She Glows!!!!  Hot dinner? Check!  Seasonal sweet potatoes? Check! Cheapo Black Beans? Check!

I would love to tell you that I put it all together in a jiffy, but that wouldn’t be the exact truth.  The most time-consuming (and laborious!) part of the recipe was chopping the sweet potatoes.  I would suggest buying the skinniest sweet potatoes you can find because the more narrow they are, the easier it is to cut through the center.  You could certainly chop them up beforehand to save time, though! They would keep in the fridge for a few days, for sure.

But the rest of the recipe is very simple!  All you have to do is toss the chopped sweet potato and onion in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast them for 30 minutes (twirling them around a bit halfway through to make sure they cook evenly).

Hard part is over!  While the veggies are roasting, you can very speedily (honestly!) whisk up the dressing.  Just combine olive oil, lime juice, cumin, garlic and cilantro.

Then toss in the rinsed and drained black beans.  It smells soooooo good.

Plus you’ll start smelling those scrumptious veggies roasting!! They would be divine as is….

But the combination of flavors is to die for!!  (Let us all laugh at how orange the sweet potatoes look with the flash–they way they look in real life, by the way!–and how yellow they look without the flash.  Bahahahaha!  Must figure out how to work my camera….)

I served it to my family as a side dish to my mom’s famous pasta with homemade sauce.  Two very different flavors, but both so mouth-watering that it didn’t matter!

5 of us had some last night, but there were still plenty of leftovers!  You know what that means! Quick and easy and healthy lunch for the next few days!  I could hardly wait to have more….    It was fabulous on its own, but I decided to sprinkle it with a bit of cheese and zap it in the microwave.

Then I put it on a warm tortilla with some salsa on top.

Do I even have to tell you how yummy it was?

I have so many ideas for the rest of the leftovers!  On top of salad greens, on a whole wheat naan, with chips, mixed with brown rice, straight out of the Rubbermaid….mmm mmmm mmmmm MMMMM!