Last night was one of those nights where I was exhausted around 7:30 pm, struggling to keep my eyes open yet made myself stay awake so that I would be able to go to bed at a decent hour. At 9:45 pm, I crawled into bed, tired, read my book for 25 minutes, still tired, turned off the light but couldn’t turn off my brain. I don’t know what the deal was last night but I was thinking of everything under the sun and could not put my mind to rest. Usually I can read my book for 20 minutes and then be out, but last night was a casualty.

The book I’m reading is about healing your body through meditation. I like a lot of it, but I don’t like the idea of having to sit and do nothing accept focus on myself for 45 minutes. They do mention that meditation time can be done during yoga, which makes sense. I like that idea better.

The book talks a lot about focusing on your breathing, not only when you’re in mediation, but throughout the day. It is a reminder to live in the moment and grab a hold of yourself when daily activities become too chaotic. Why am I talking about this book so much? To put it into context, I tried focusing on my breathing last night to get me to fall asleep, and I think that may have been what helped me. I’m not quite sure, though.

But all in all I didn’t get enough sleep for my personal sleep needs last night. I am one of those people who needs a solid 8+ hours for highest functioning ability, and last night I probably only got 6. However looking on the bright side, I am fortunate to have a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in, a roof over my head, and clean water to have at the bedside. I will try and focus on the positives to get through the day!

How about a quick little run down of my eats yesterday? I have a smooth concoction to share with you all…

Anyone care for a Piña Colada for breakfast? Virgin of course.

I did my best to measure it out yesterday when I made it in the morning (the above photo was from my first trial a couple of days ago, it’s actually more voluminous than that), so that I could share it with you all.

Piña Colada Breakfast Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen pineapple, cubed
• 1 small banana
• 1/2 cup coconut almond milk
• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup (or small handful) of crushed ice

Work was very busy and I came home exhausted. We had intentions of running errands after work but I put a big ol’ red x on that idea.

I knew I should be hungry for dinner but nothing was sounding too appetizing. I also knew I needed to increase my veggie intake for the day (mind you I did have some carrots with my lunch that I didn’t mention), so I threw a hodge-podge salad together.

In the mix: romaine lettuce (leftover lettuce still from last Saturday–we usually buy the dark greens for more vitamins and nutrients), tomato, green olives, muenster cheese, sunflower seeds, lima beans, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard dressing. Very random but pretty tasty. I always enjoy a sweet and salty salad. Olives always add a nice touch of salt.

After dinner we watched Modern Family which is definitely my favorite show on television right now, and I I stayed hunkered down on the couch until bed time.

I munched on some of these too…

I declared yesterday a rest day from working out. If only I could have actually “slept” on “rest” day. Oh well, I’ll get after it tonight.

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It is rainy here in Minnesota today and only 40° F as I write this morning. Yikes! That’s the kind of weather that makes you want to stay in and bake cookies. Anyone agree with that?

Have a fabulous day my friends. Let’s focus on the positives today!

Question of the Day: If you could stay home and inside on a rainy cold day, what would YOU want to do?

I would want to sleep in, drink coffee, catch up on blogs, do some yoga, bake cookies, and watch cooking shows all afternoon. 🙂