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Saturday, February 8, 2014

What I eat after a heavy yoga day

This is an example of my food intake the day after a heavy yoga session. I felt the effects of the deep stretching deep in my hips and my caloric intake went straight up due to the intensity of the practice.

Morning: Reishi Espresso that definitely needs a touch of almond milk to soften the grounding bitterness.
 

Later on I had some cardamom tea- roasted chicory, dandelion, cardamom (I leave the green husk because I love chewing on it), stevia, almond milk. 

This is one of the best coffees I've ever had and it has the most mellow, light effect - green Organic Ethiopian, Lima Kaffa



green

half roasted

cooling off

Freshly Roasted Organic Ethiopian Lima Coffee

First meal around noon Dragon Well Green tea and A LOT of fresh dates. 


I brew the tea for 10-20 seconds 3 to 4 times.





 



























A few hours later a fresh farmers market Date meal again.  I really prefer the less common varieties of dates. I don't ever buy the famous and treasured Medjool dates. I find them a bit boring, sweet and basically no character at all. The Halawi (Halawy) are great -they taste like caramel. The Khadrawy Dates taste like brown sugar and even have a bit ot that sugary texture. Both varieties were amazing and I will be back for more.








Dinner: lettuce, cabbage,carrots with 2 dips.
Dip 1: Tofu, coconut milk, curry, carrots, red bell peppers, oyster mushrooms cooked in coconut milk and curry. Some sumac berry, savory and aleppo red pepper (turkish bright red pepper). I make sure to pack all the antioxidants I can in my dips.
 I made an oyster mushroom carrot coconut curry. Some of which went into dip. yum







Dip 2: Pumpkin, tomato paste, bell peppers, coconut,  carrots,  oregano, Korean young garlic, cilantro, sage, spices.

OK bundle up for Sofie's walk :)




I had somewhere between 2500-4000 cals mostly from the dates. YES! I did! And I felt great the next day so it was much needed after the intense yoga. (tracking the exact calorie count is quite difficult because I didn't weigh anything and these varieties of dates are less popular)
Basically intense short exercise routines are much less physically taxing than a deep yoga practice. I do deep yoga much less often than short intense practices because I feel this best suits my needs now. I am not one of the yoga teachers that practice for 3 hours a day. To me yoga is less of a physical discipline and more of a gentle understanding of life.

A flower on the walk

 
EVENING WALK



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11 comments:

  1. Michael BachFebruary 8, 2014 at 1:40 PM

    What a nice dinner & a lovely evening picture...and you always look sweet ;-)

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  2. UnknownFebruary 8, 2014 at 2:58 PM

    That's a ton of food. How do you brew your coffee?

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    1. UnknownFebruary 8, 2014 at 3:55 PM

      Tony yes, lots yoga requires lots of food haha. I brew it in a coffee machine- golden filter.

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    2. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2014 at 6:17 PM

      Tony, are we reading the same blog? I don't think that looks like any food, calorie-wise. It seems like one would need far more to support all the yoga and strength based workouts.

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    3. UnknownFebruary 8, 2014 at 9:45 PM

      3000-4000 calories is plenty for a female unless running marathons which i am not

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    4. UnknownFebruary 9, 2014 at 11:14 AM

      I have these big consumption days also where I can't seem to be able to fit enough food in my stomach but then I also have sometimes a week of a lulled appetite. One, tiny meal a day - I'm just not hungry. I understand it's called intermittently fasting and I wonder if you get a chance and have an opinion on the subject if you'd mind sharing your thoughts on it (fasting?) You're busy so no biggy, just curious.

      On topic, if 3-4k is plenty for a female in her early 20s what about when you get up in my age group (mid 30s, male obviously) working at maybe half or a quarter the intensity 4-5 days a week? I feel like I average ~2k Cal a day or so when you factor in the all the fasting and also factor my 5k calorie binges. I loathe counting calories and prefer to manage macros and let the gut decide the quantity. <3

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    5. UnknownFebruary 9, 2014 at 11:25 AM

      yes, totally agree with you. i am pro both - intermittent fasting and just eating fruit and veg. if you eat fruit and veg then intermittent is not necessary. if calories come from fats mostly then intermittent fasting is a must i think. also calorie / carbing phase- also necessary for active people. if not active it can be unhealthy. for active people it boosts leptin. 2 k for a male in 30s and 40s is about average. 1500 cals for a female. i also dont track it often -but its good to track every so often to make sure all the minerals, vitamins, amino acids and omega 3 to 6 ratios are good.
      one meal a day is great. its a yogic diet and its my most preferred thing. a smoothie or some dates during the day if needed. whats your take on all of this?

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    6. UnknownFebruary 9, 2014 at 1:41 PM

      I completely agree. My perfect scenario would be one big meal kinda midday and a shake or snack of some sort, maybe two whenever needed. Add the occasional eat everything in sight day when the body cries for it and it's more or less my eating current routine. I haven't yet mastered the ability to be within twenty feet of fruits and nuts and not attempt to live on them exclusively. I'm working on it, but im weak. Im lowering my body fat now so having the stuff around isn't conducive to said goals! Haha. It's like coffee. I have to keep telling myself not to make another one - just after this one.

      I'll be honest and say I haven't wrapped my brain around the micros yet. I supplement, because of my diet, but I don't know what or if I'm doing any good. A general sports style multi vitamin, omega pill, and d3 (2 in the winter cause I'm in a cold climate, 1 in spring and fall, none in the summer.)

      If you don't mind I'd love to know more about your macro ratios. Carbs fats and proteins, on your preferred, average, one meal a day with a snack type yogic diet. Even though you're in your early 20s and practice with the intensity you do, I suspect this style of eating (3k calories of dates at a time I mean, hahaha) isn't typical. You don't strike me as the overconsumption type. ♥

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    7. UnknownFebruary 19, 2014 at 2:24 PM

      haha did you say early 20s :) ? i don't overconsume calories at all. i have to do more calories for increased intensity in order to support my recovery. but i pretty much know what my body needs. if i do a lot of intense work 3 k is what the body needs. otherwise 1500-2000k - really depends. ratios are always high carb, low fat. i don't add oils to anything. fats come from greens, nuts, avocados, coconuts, maybe even olives (unfortunately too salty). hope that clarifies. i am doing a what i ate blog today so i will upload it later tomorrow maybe

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  3. UnknownFebruary 9, 2014 at 6:02 AM

    Hi Ali!

    Have You ever tried mate/yerba mate tea?

    I tried it yesterday, I read a lot of good things (contains antioxidants, B vitamins, vitamin C, polifenols...) about it. I made a mocha latte (brewed mate tea, almond milk, raw cacao, lucuma, coconut sugar and cinnamon). It was super delicious, but very strong and energizing :) It was so strong, so I really curious about the good portion and technique to making mate tea.

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    1. UnknownFebruary 9, 2014 at 11:27 AM

      yes i used to have yerba mate a while back. actually i have a mate straw cup i will post a photo if i remember in the next blog :) mate its lovely. lately i have been trying out the different green teas. so many to try :D your mocha sounds divine :D yum yum

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