Hello friends!  Welcome to another edition of Friday’s Food and Fitness.  It looks like it is going to be a rainy weekend over here but at least the temperatures are getting slightly warmer!

Well, now that my secret food source is out, you know what I’ve been making for eats!

I also managed to do a lot of meal prep over the weekend and came up with some delicious eats like these homemade huevos rancheros.  I like to think they are a healthier version of the real deal!  So yum! 

These bbq chicken pizzas were another gem from Cooking Light.  I’ve made them in the past but felt like I needed to break them out again!  I used a whole wheat pizza crust and topped it with bbq sauce, grilled chicken, yellow peppers, red onion, plum tomato slices and some blue cheese.  Amazing combo!

This week I tried Workout 1 of Jillian Michael’s Hardbody DVD (affiliate link).  I won this DVD through Shape Magazine somehow (cannot remember entering anything but not complaining).  The DVD is tough just like her other DVDs.  It was a full-body workout and although there were cardio intervals, I would classify this as a strength DVD rather than a cardio DVD.  Workout 1 was pretty challenging so I’m a little scared of Workout 2…!

After taking some time off, I was back at my lunchtime yoga class this week with Mang’Oh!  Yay!  Love a vinyasa break.  The only thing was that we had a sub this week and he spent like 10 minutes at the beginning of class telling us all about himself.  The point of the story was to set an intention for your practice but I was kind of annoyed.  I only take an hour for lunch so I can’t stay for the entire hour of class and I kind of want to just get moving.  At least he was a sub!

Speaking of yoga, last week when I reviewed the Best Online Workouts, I got a lot of responses about how much you enjoy YogaGlo.  So I decided to give it a go this week and signed up for a free trial.  So far I’ve done a restorative class, which helped me fall asleep and I’m looking forward to trying out some of their other classes.  There are so many different types of yoga out there and I don’t pretend to know everything about all of them but here is a little bit of info I picked up from YogaGlo’s website and my own experience:

–       Hatha- a slower moving yoga that emphasizes breath (pranayama breathing) and has less flow than other classes.  Poses are sometimes held for longer periods of time to promote relaxation into the pose.

–       Vinyasa- Often referred to as power yoga, this class links postures together using the breath.  Traditional sun salutations are usually done in this class with one breath per movement. Vinyasa classes can get the heart rate up and are often seen as good for promoting weight loss.

–       Ashtanga- Similar to vinyasa classes, ashtanga links movement to breath.  The ashtanga primary series is a set of yoga poses that are flowed through in each class.

–       Anusara- A form of hatha yoga, anusara focuses on heart opening poses and alignment.

–       Ivengar- Ivengar yoga is based on the teachings of yogi BKS Ivengar. Ivegnar focuses on precision and form with a mix of strength, flexibility and relaxation. Props are often used in this class.

–       Kundalini- Kundalini uses movement, sound, breath and meditation to relax and restore the mind while improving strength and flexibility.  The breathing and movement techniques in this class often differ from a traditional yoga practice and are meant to help your body restore balance.

–       Yin- While Ashtanga or Vinyasa may be considered “yang” yoga, yin is the opposite.  Poses are held for longer periods of time (3-10 minutes per side) to lengthen connective tissue and help promote flexibility and elasticity.

–       Meditation- Usually paired with no or minimal movement.  Meditation teaches techniques to relax the mind and in turn focus on relaxing the body.  Principles like being mindful are emphasized.

–       Restorative- Easy poses that promote passive stretching are held for long periods of time to initiate deep relaxation of the mind and body.

Readers, what is your favorite type of yoga?  What kind of yoga would you like to try?  Have you ever had a fitness instructor talk endlessly about themselves?