Weekend Musings

Strawberry chia overnight oat parfait

I was just thinking the other day how long it’s been since I’ve had a cold… or any illness, really, and I felt inwardly smug.  I prided myself on how my super-healthy eating and workout routines obviously keep my immune system impervious to germs.

Well.

I’m sitting here this morning with my face completely blocked up with you-know-what, because you know what??  I occasionally need reminders that I can’t control everything with my (sometimes-over-) disciplined lifestyle.  And as much as I hate a cold, I appreciate these little reminders, because it takes the pressure off to make sure everything is “perfect” or even “as I planned” all the time.  Because there is also joy in letting go & living in the moment.  Anybody relate?

Tommy & Turbo
Turbo had to get in on this sprint

Most of my exercise is pretty regimented, what with teaching the bootcamps and all.  I want need to be very intentional about how I structure the classes, with safety, progress, and fun (in that order, ha!) as my goals for each one. (Ask my bootcamp girls if I always get #3 in!!)  That said, I always want to leave room in my life for spontaneous workouts and activities, such as the sprint training I’ve been doing with Tommy & Theda to help them prepare for track tryouts.  I never want to be so exhausted from my weekly workouts that I can’t go have fun with my kids.  Because the whole point of exercise is to have more energy in your life, not less, right??  It’s not the workouts themselves, but the energy you gain from them, that is the real benefit.

Thai food ingredients

The same principle can apply to eating and cooking.  I mean, we can’t be so regimented and “planned” in our eating that there is no room for deviation, right??  This week I hosted 2 cooking classes… same Thai food menu, but over 2 days because I had so many people wanting to attend- my dream!!  Each class was so much fun!

Papaya scraping toolWe shredded papaya with a tiny little tool that costs about p25 ($0.50,) and a lot of deltoid strength.  We threaded chicken & tofu satay onto bamboo skewers and turned our fingers positively orange from the turmeric in the marinade.  We cooled our palates with mango sorbet that hardly needed any sugar, the mangoes were so sweet…


Thai food cooking class

Mango sorbet

And the 2nd class turned into a birthday party…

Birthday cake

Two of the girls brought a glorious birthday cake, someone popped a bottle of Prosecco (it might have been the first of many, I’m not sure because I was cooking,) and while everyone participated in the food prep, the atmosphere was somewhat, um… less studious than in the first class.  But both classes were a complete joy… because cooking together and being together is a joy.  And that is the whole point.

So sometimes the point is not what we think it is, but rather just discovering joy in the given moment.   Maybe next time I’ll figure that out without the need for Kleenex first…

Happy weekend, everyone!

 

 

2 thoughts on “Weekend Musings”

  1. Isn’t it crazy how often that seems to happen, that we get hit with things right after we’ve expressed our pride at not having to deal with them?! It’s something I’ve noticed over and over again in my life and it really does serve as a reminder to stay humble and expect the unexpected. I truly love your philosophy on food and exercise and I’m so happy to have your influence in my life. The thai food looks incredible – it’s really no wonder you have so many takers for your classes!!

    1. Oh Jacklyn, your comment just made my day… thank you! Yup, I frequently need the little reminders to keep me humble & remind me I don’t control everything, ha! Thai food is definitely easier to make whilst living in Asia… how I wish we could make some together! 🙂

Leave a Reply to Jacklyn @ Jack's Balancing Act Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *