Samantha Menzies

SamanthaMenzies.com
Sampling Something New

I mentioned in my last post that I was straying from my normal gym to train at GoodLife. I’m doing it as part of their Blogger Ambassador Program which is using the power of internet voices like mine to get the word out about their facilities and the importance of physical fitness to a healthy life. It’s not an idea I don’t promote already.

My first visit to one of their gyms (the Devonshire Mall location) was this weekend. It was a nice quiet Sunday morning and I was struggling to slide the rubber coated plates onto the barbell when a gentleman swooped in to help me. I am generally averse to white-knighters like this, but the weights were really stuck and I was keenly aware of how ridiculous I looked so I appreciated the help.

He turned out to be an off-duty personal trainer who introduced himself, shook my hand, and told me my deadlift form was “impeccable”. Take note gents, this boy sure knows how to compliment a lady

I was able to finish up my back workout without much other interruption aside from seeing and chatting with two acquaintances.

Post workout pump!

I’ve already returned to that GoodLife once, this time on a much busier weekday evening. Despite the crowd of weightlifters I was still able to get all my exercises in without having to sharpen my elbows and fight for a weight rack. Of course I saw yet two more people that I knew there… apparently everyone I know enough to say hello to works out at GoodLife. It could be a problem.

I’d like to try a couple more locations, though I’m not sure how I feel about the Women’s Only gyms. Not enough testosterone.

I also plan to try a class or two, especially the Jillian Michaels Body Shred class that my girlfriend Santina keeps raving about. Though I don’t think I can approach that one with an open mind given how much I dislike Jillian Michaels’ approach to anything.

More reviews to come. Stay tuned!

Related Posts:

• 5/3/1 Cycle 18
• 5/3/1 Cycle 11 Recap
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 10 Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com Links for a Sunday Morning

Russell Brand: My Life Without Drugs – The Guardian

Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution.

The Problem With DOVE – The Illusionists

Dove’s parent company is Unilever, maker of Axe, Fair & Lovely and Slim-Fast

Scientists create stem cells without embryos - The Globe and Mail

If it works in man, this could be the game changer that ultimately makes a wide range of cell therapies available using the patient’s own cells as starting material – the age of personalized medicine would have finally arrived.

Pump it up! Weightlifting ‘cuts diabetes risk in women’ - BBC News

They believe the explanation may be partly down to maintaining a greater muscle mass to act as a buffer against diabetes.

The Intersection Of Nutrition And Mental Health – KathEats

Not only does our society encourage us to eat when we feel emotions. . . but we also have psychological and physiological pathways that reinforce that eating certain foods when stressed makes us temporarily feel better.

What Happens to Your Body When You Do Yoga - Women’s Health

A regular yoga practice can lower your resting heart rate—in and after class.

Downward Facing Drones - The New Inquiry

After several years of intense practice, I became concerned about my increasing eagerness to look impressive and strong in classes, to show off my body’s capability instead of attending to the more nuanced aspects of asana, to hold certain poses for competition’s sake, to actually enjoy the inability of others to do what I was doing.

Can you guess the Sport by the Shape of the Olympian’s Body? - Daily Mail

Project by photographer Howard Schatz has laid bare the wide spectrum of body types belonging to 125 athletes

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SamanthaMenzies.com The French Baker Cookbook Review

The French Baker: Authentic Recipes for Traditional Breads, Desserts, and Dinners by Sebastien Boudet

I was really excited to review this book because I the only thing I love more than baking cookies is baking bread. And the only things I love more than baking bread is eating it.

What I Didn’t Like About the Book

There was a lot of detail that was left out of the recipes. It wasn’t challenging for me to put the pieces together because I have years of experience with baking a variety of breads, but someone new to baking would surely be confused. Even I had questions regarding re-feeding sourdough, shaping loaves, and kneading.

Bottom Line: when it comes to baking, this may not be the best book for beginners.

What I Liked About the Book

The book itself is gorgeous. The pillowy hardcover, the matte pages, the beautiful photos of rustic French food, markets, garden, and towns. The writing is romantic, describing the baking process passionately and painting an idealistic picture of French food culture. The author tells a story rather than just providing recipes; I like that.

I was expecting a tome on how to perfect sourdough, but the book contains more than that, more than just baked goods even. It is broken up into sections including sourdough bread, sweet bread, cookies, desserts, and hearty baker’s meals.

The recipes that I made came out awesome. I was skeptical about the baguette recipe while I was putting the starter together, but it came through and ended up being one of the best baguettes I’ve made.

La Baguette

The baguette is France’s most popular and most purchased bread- and it’s the worst f their selection of fine breads! The baguette you normally find in stores and bakeries is a fluffy white bread without crust or colour. But with the help of the poolish method you can create beautiful and tasty baguettes. The Polish people brought this leavening method to France at the end of the 1800s and it is based around letting three-fifths of the bread go through prolonged autolysis of 12 hours. The small amount of yeast creates a snowball effect which begins the whole leavening process and produces airy bread with simple but clear sourdough flavour. The method is perfect for making baguettes.

Makes 5 Baguettes

8 cups (1kg) wheat flour + 5 cups (600g) wheat flour
1g fresh yeast
4 cups (1kg) water
45g coarse sea salt

Day 1

Prepare the poolish by whisking the 8 cups of wheat flour, yeast, and water in a large bowl until you have the consistency of pancake batter.

Cover the bowl with a baking towel and let leaven at room temperature for 12-16 hours.

Day 2

After 12-16 hours of leavening the dough should be doubled in size and will smell really nice.

Pour the 5 cups of wheat flour onto a baking table. Create a dent in the middle and pour the poolish from the previous day into the dent along with the sea salt. Mix and knead the dough (there is no need for autolysis since 3/5 of the dough has already rested for 12 hours with the water) until it releases from the table. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest under a baking towel for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into five equal parts and shape each one into a small ball. Let rest for a couple of minutes under a baking towel.

Carefully shape the balls into baguettes. If you notice that the dough begins to tear, you can let it rest a little bit longer so it can recover.

Sprinkle flour liberally on the baking towel and place the first baguette on it. Create a fold in the towel as a barrier and place the next baguette alongside the fold.Alternate between fold and baguette until the towel is covered, that way the baguettes won’t touch each other but will support each other.

Sprinkle flour on top of the baguettes and cover them with another baking towel. Let the baguettes leaven at room temperature for 3-4 hours or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 500F with a baking stone if you have one.

If you have a baking stone, roll the baguettes from the baking towel onto a floured pizza peel (or to the back of a baking sheet that has been floured). Otherwise, you can place the baguettes carefully onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.

Score the flour dusted baguettes lengthwise (carefully and not too quickly as they can lose their structure). Note: never score baguettes straight across.

Bake the baguettes in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Let the baguettes cool down on a rack for at least 45 minutes.

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SamanthaMenzies.com 5/3/1 for Women – How To

I dig 5/3/1 so hard.

I have never had so much success with a weight training programme as I’ve had with this 5/3/1. I’ve been working through it for over a year now (which, in itself, is saying something) and with it I’ve seen tremendous strength gains and I’m never bored.

I got a facebook message from a reader asking me for some more detail on how the programme works so I figured it was high time for another update on the how-to’s of 5/3/1.

What is the 5/3/1 Programme?

It’s a weightlifting programme created by powerlifter Jim Wendler that focuses on building strength.

5/3/1 revolves around the basic multi-joint lifts: squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press.

The plan is based on a slow progression of reasonable and attainable strength over time.

You really have to be able to commit to several cycles to see results. It may seem slow going at first, but you are able work toward your goals while still seeing some motivating improvements that keep you going.

How does it work?

Find Your Base Loads

Figure out the maximum weight you can lift for one rep (or a good estimate of it) for the following lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press.

Take 90% of that number (eg. if your 1RM is 100lb, use 0.9*100=90lbs). This is your base load from which you will determine how much weight you will lift for every workout.

Plan Your Workout Days and Rest Days

Each Cycle of the plan is four weeks—three weeks of strength building and one week for de-loading and recovery.

The Cycle is based on 4 workouts per week—one of the four major lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, overhead press) each day. Figure out a way to spread out your workout days and rest days to fit everything in so that it works for you.

I like to workout two days back-to-back with one or two rest days in between, eg) Sun, Mon, Wed, Thu.

Week One – 5 Rep Week

You’re working in the 5 rep range this week. For each workout day, calculate your reps and weights as follows:

Warm up: As many reps as necessary at light weight.
Set 1: 5 reps at 75% of base load
Set 2: 5 reps at 80% of base load
Set 3: At least 5 reps at 85% of base load (if you can do more than 5, then do as many as you can)

Repeat the same structure for each of squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press day, using the appropriate base load for that exercise.

Week Two – 3 Rep Week

You’ll be working heavier for fewer reps this week. For each workout day, calculate your reps and weights as follows:

Warm up: As many reps as necessary at light weight.
Set 1: 3 reps at 80% of base load
Set 2: 3 reps at 85% of base load
Set 3: At least 3 reps at 90% of base load (as many reps as you can)

Repeat the same structure for each of squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press day using the appropriate base load for that exercise.

Week Three – 1 Rep Week

You’ll be repeating some of the loads from the last two weeks for sets 1 and 2 then you’ll go for as many reps as possible at 95% of your base load for your final set.

For each workout day, calculate your reps and weights as follows:

Warm up: As many reps as necessary at light weight.
Set 1: 5 reps at75% of base load
Set 2: 3 reps at 85% of base load
Set 3: At least 1 rep at 95% of base load (as many reps as you can)

Repeat the same structure for each of squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press day using the appropriate base load for that exercise.

Week Four – De-load Week

This is your deload week for recovery. You will perform exactly 5 reps in each set with lighter weights, never pushing yourself to failure. For each workout day, calculate your reps and weights as follows:

Warm up: As many reps as necessary at light weight.
Set 1: 5 reps at 60% of base load
Set 2: 5 reps at 65% of base load
Set 3: 5 reps at 70% of base load

Repeat the same structure for each of squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press day using the appropriate base load for that exercise.

I’m done a Cycle, now what?

When you’ve completed a 4 week cycle, it is time to progress your loads.

Add the following weights to the one rep maximum that you determined at the beginning of the 4 weeks:

Squat + 10lb
Deadlift + 10lb
Bench Press + 5lb
Overhead Press + 5lb

(eg. if your 1RM for bench press was 100lbs, your new 1RM is 105lb)

Using these new numbers, recalculate your Base Loads for each exercise, and start a new cycle!

You can do as many cycles of the programme as you like. You could practically cycle this programme forever.

What if I didn’t hit my targets?

If you don’t make the calculated load in any of the exercises, go back and re-calculate your 1 rep max and start over.

I generally step back 2 cycles which drops my 1RM by 20lbs for squat and deadlift and 10lbs for bench and push press.

What else do I do besides the 4 main lifts?

That’s up to you.

Wendler recommends adding additional exercises called ‘assistance work’ to each workout day to supplement your 4 major lifts and assist you with your goals. These are some of the plans that he recommends:

Assistance Plans

Boring But Big. Main lift, the main lift again for 5 sets x 10 reps (50% 1RM), and another accessory exercise for 5 sets.

The Triumvirate. Main lift, and two assistance exercises – 5 sets each.

I’m Not Doing Jack Shit. Main lift, and nothing else.

Periodization Bible by Dave Tate. Main lift, and 3 exercises – 5 x 10-20 reps each.

Bodyweight. Main lift, and 2 bodyweight exercises such as the pull up, sit ups, dips, etc.

This post from Muscle & Strength gives some good examples of accessory work.

This All Sounds like a Lot of Math, Lunks don’t do Math

Errr…sure they do?

But, if you want to keep it brainless anyway then lucky for you I’m an Excel Wizard by day and came up with this 5-3-1 Training Calculator.

No calculations needed (not even the base load!). You just have to know your one rep maximum for squats, deadlifts, bench press, and push press. The calculator will figure out the rest.

Just pop in your one rep max for each exercise into the calculator where the red arrow is and it will spew out the loads that you’ll be using for the next 3 full cycles of the programme.

Easy like Sunday morning.

Click here to download the Calculator Spreadsheet

How’s it working for you?

I love it so much. I love knowing exactly how much I have to lift each day. It pushes me to work harder every single week.

Since November 2012 I’ve made some pretty big improvements in my lifts.

Squats: 185lb to 235lb (27% improvement)
Bench: 135lb to 150lb (11% improvement)
Deadlift: 225lb to 250lb (11% improvement)
Push Press: 105lb to 130lb (24% improvement)

On paper they may not look like much, but it is extremely challenging to make modest improvements when it comes to strength training, so I’m really proud.

I had a few setbacks during the year (as a result of a 3 week yoga teacher training and a 2 week vacation) and I had to step back a few cycles in order to regain my strength. Overall, though, it’s been awesome and I’m going to keep on keeping on.

I’ve already set some new goals for myself and plan on using 5/3/1 to attain them:

-165lb bench press (ie. a body weight bench press)
-275lb deadlift

Resources:

If you want to know more about how the programme works, check out this post on Muscle and Strength. It’s super comprehensive.

Related Posts:

• 5/3/1 Cycle 11 Recap
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 10 Recap
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 9 Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com Arches National Park – Favourite Places

This is part of my series on Visiting Utah in November including Zion National Park and Moab.

Arches National Park is absolutely gorgeous. The landscape is so varying that you can see ‘petrified’ sand dunes, snow capped mountains, hoodoos, buttes, desert brush, and rock fins all in one sweeping vista. Oh, and arches too.

Most of the hikes in Arches aren’t overly strenuous. There are the ‘Devil’s Garden’ hike which is a day-long hike with steep inclines and declines and lots of scrambling as well as the ‘Fiery Furnace’ which is a challenging ranger-guided hike, but aside from those the other hikes are pretty tame.
So hike here for the views and not necessarily for the challenge.

Park Avenue

Park Avenue

A simple and easy stroll, this was surprisingly my favourite. It’s only about 3km (out and back) from the Park Avenue parking area with little change in elevation overall but the views make it worthwhile.

Park Avenue

The trail takes you through a canyon with sheer, towering rock structures that are imposing and awe-inspiring and give you a sense of the grandeur of nature. I’d walk here over the real Park Avenue any day.

Sand Dune Arch

Sand Dune Arch

A flat, easy trail from Sand Dune Arch parking area only about half a kilometre from the parking lot. I liked this one because the arch was located basically in a sand pit that was secluded by sandstone fins. It felt like a secret place (although I’m sure during the busy season it doesn’t quite feel this way).

Delicate Arch

Delicate Arch

This is probably the most popular arch in the park; it certainly photographs well. The 5km out-and-back trail and the arch itself were very busy with people of all capabilities which surprised me considering that the path to the arch is nearly entirely uphill, which can be strenuous, and the last 100m or so are along a steep rock ledge.
Seeing the arch standing alone and surrounded by nothing but sky, makes it worth the hike.

Partition Arch

Partition Arch

This is just a stopping point on the trail to Double O Arch, but for me it was a destination in itself. I thought it was the most perfect place, a window to the beautiful landscapes beyond. I wish that we had brought some food to picnic here because I felt like I could just sit under this arch all day and soak in the views. We didn’t stay for long, but this was by far my favourite place that we visited in the park.

The trail to Double O Arch is 6.4km round trip and takes you past Landscape Arch, the widest in the park, and then becomes more challenging as it takes you up steep rock before leveling off. There are small side trails that lead to Partition Arch and Navajo Arch (also worth seeing). Then the trail to Double O crosses narrow rock fins. If you’re okay with heights the views are amazing.

Because of the snow and frost on the slickrock, we had to turn around just before making it to Double O but what we did experience was fantastic.

Landscape Arch

Rock Fins

Related Posts:

• Moab in November
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SamanthaMenzies.com All the Cookbooks

I was fortunate to receive so many awesome gifts this Christmas from my husband, my family, and my friends, many of which were cookbooks. I’m up to my ears in cookbooks right now, baking books to be more specific, and I like it.

500 Desserts

My mother-in-law bought me 500 Desserts which has a recipe for pretty much every dessert that you can imagine. This will be a good reference when I need a dessert idea on a whim, since there are so many to choose from.

Recipes I’m Eyeing: Layered Lime Sponge Cake with Lemon Frosting, Rich Chocolate Pots de Creme with Coffee Cream.

The French Baker

Just before Christmas I received a review copy of The French Baker from which I’ve so far made one recipe. The book is full of recipes for classic French breads and pastries and even some hearty French meals. I’ll do a full review soon and post a recipe.
Between this and the Bouchon Bakery cookbook I foresee my kitchen pumping out a lot of French baked goods in the near future.

Recipes in Progress: Sourdough starter. The author is a proponent of sourdough breads so many of the bread recipes are based on homegrown natural yeast (ie. sourdough).

Recipes I’m Eyeing: Bouillabaise, Death by Chocolate, Croissants

The Great Scandinavian Baking Book

I also received The Great Scandinavian Baking Book from my Secret Santa Micaela which has been on my must have list for a while. There are even more recipes in this book than I expected including recipes for breads, both savoury and sweet, cookies, and cakes. Each recipe is introduced with a little cultural information about the food and how or when it is eaten, and I like having that kind of background. I’ll be sure to post as soon as I try a recipe.

Recipes I’m Eyeing: Norwegian Browned Butter Cookies, Icelandic Jewish Cakes, Swedish Soft Spice Cake, Swedish Ham Pie with Mushroom Sauce

Bouchon Bakery

Matt splurged on the Bouchon Bakery cookbook for me which I have been talking about for the last year. I’ve already made the oreos in the past and I’m looking forward to making a few more cookies from this book. But it’s not all cookies; there are recipes in the book for cakes and tarts and macarons and breads (yay!) and quite a few extraordinarily-complicated-looking treats which I am looking forward to making over the next little long while. I like that the instructions are very detailed and the authors tell you why you’re doing something, which means you actually learn the significance of the recipe steps and don’t just follow recipes blindly, hoping for the best.

Recipes I’ve Made:

Pear Feuilletés. This recipe involved so many steps and components (including homemade puff pastry) that it was a several day process. I made them for a New Year’s Eve dinner party but I forewarned my friends not to ask questions if, in the end, I showed up without them.

Luckily, they were a success, although I wish I had a larger cookie cutter to make big ones that could hold more of the delicious filling.

Bran Muffins. Probably not the first recipe people jump to when they open this cookbook, but because they use a small amount of the pear filling from the aforementioned feuilletés I decided to make them.

They’re good. Matt liked them and he hardly likes muffins, let alone bran ones.

Recipes I’m Eyeing: Better Nutters, Pain Palladin, Tropezienne, Caramel Nut Tart, Croissants

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SamanthaMenzies.com 2013–A Year in Photos

Click photos for related blog posts

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Cheers to a great 2013!

Letting life move us ever forward…

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SamanthaMenzies.com Christmas with Samantha

Typically my sister and I host an appetizer party on Christmas Eve at my dad’s house for all of our aunts and uncles and cousins. It’s a lot of work– a few days of cooking at least– and always exhausting but I love it. It gives me something to do (I feel incomplete when I’m not busy) and it makes me happy to cook for people.

It was quite a change this year when my uncle and aunt decided to host the Christmas Eve festivities. A welcome change, since my sister is currently pre-occupied with a 6 week old baby and not entirely willing to simultaneously nurse her child and roll sushi for 25 people. And, of course, it would have been a lot of work for me to take on myself.

Christmas Eve

So I find myself with nothing to do on Christmas Eve day. It is actually pretty nice to spend the morning lifting weights and shopping for things I plan to buy on Boxing Day and spending the afternoon drinking coffee and watching British television until it is time to get dressed and leave.

Christmas Eve is my favourite celebration because all 20 of us dress to the nines, drink, shout, and nosh informally on enough appetizers to feed 100 people. This year is like every other until shit gets extraordinarily depressing as we learn of an unexpected death in my cousin’s family that puts a dark cloud over all of us. So there’s that.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is perfectly relaxing for Matt and I. With no children or family to speak of we wake up late and exchange presents (more on those later) while watching Muppets Christmas Carol, my favourite Christmas movie. Later we get dressed and stop by my dad’s house for coffee and a rum cake that’s more rum than cake (Merry Christmas indeed!). He gives us our presents (which is dad-speak for “envelope of money”).

Christmas Night

Later in the day we head to Matt’s aunt’s house for Christmas dinner. Here I’m required to drink half a bottle of prosecco and/or practice my meditation skills as the conversation trails from the ‘damn socialist government’ to the ‘damn gays’ to <insert controversial, socially conservative opinion here> while Matt does his best to try and steer us toward lighter yet equally upsetting topics like the Detroit Lions.

We leave relatively early, partly to avoid being roped into watching The Trailer Park Boys Christmas Special but mostly to open presents at my in-laws’ house. I use the term “open” loosely since Matt’s mother is overly generous and there are far too many gifts for her to bother wrapping any of them. Our presents are put on display like raffle prizes at a church bazaar, and you’re never quite sure which is yours. We take all of our loot home in garbage bags (we really have that much stuff) and hide the chocolate and cookies from our voracious sweettooths in the deep recesses of our kitchen cupboards.

Boxing Day

I head to the mall just after it opens so I can pick up the clothes that I had already scoped out for myself on the 24th. I impulse buy a pair of skinny pants from The Gap even though I still don’t know how I feel about the “skinny” style on myself. It might look weird. Of course I buy a cardigan too. I spend most of my time at SportChek picking out a spring/fall coat and then trying to decide which of the funky workout tights to buy (they’re one of the things on my wishlist). I leave the crowds after an hour of shopping with my purchases.

After returning home Matt and I take down the Christmas tree and box away the decorations. That’s why it’s called ‘boxing day’ amiright?

And then the rest of Boxing Day becomes a repeat of Christmas Eve– hot beverages and British television. Matt asks me if I want to watch Star Wars and I’m so bored that I oblige, but only agreeing to watch it in one hour intervals.

How was your Christmas?

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SamanthaMenzies.com Moab in November

This is part of my series on Visiting Utah in November including Zion National Park and Arches National Park.

Driving

Moab seems like one of those places that would please everyone. Even if you’re not the hemp-wearing, granola-eating, tree-hugging outdoorsy type you can just pile into your gas-guzzling vehicle and drive around to see some pretty world-class vistas.

Arches National Park has an extensive scenic drive that can take you 4 hours if you stop at each scenic viewpoint. And why wouldn’t you? The views here are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Matt and I had to do the drive a few times to make sure we hit all the overlooks.

Canyonlands National Park has its own scenic drive which looks gorgeous in photos but unfortunately we never made it there because we were so wrapped up in seeing Arches! In the late fall and winter when the days are shorter it can be hard to fit in all that you want to see during daylight hours. Something I sort of forgot about when planning the vacation.

If you’re slightly more adventurous you can take your vehicle off-road which is also pretty popular, especially among the Jeep crowd, but you don’t even need an off-road vehicle (not that I would ever attempt such a thing without one).

If you are the hemp-wearing, granola-eating, tree-hugging outdoorsy type like me, then there’s even more to do. Unfortunately, we hardly put a dent in the long list of things to do in and around Moab.

Mountain Biking

Mountain biking is huge here. Huge. Apparently Moab has some of the best mountain biking in the world, or so I was told by the locals, and hosts lots of races like this endurance race which looks like it could be fun if you’re not terrified of falling off your bike.

I’m barely stable on a bicycle (I blame my parents’ prohibition from letting my bike leave the driveway as a child) let alone on this kind of terrain, so we skipped out on any sort of mountain biking.

Hit the Rocks

Rock climbing and rappelling are both popular activities as well, and you can even climb up some of the towers and hoodoos.

Matt and I opted for a 1/2 day canyoneering trip with the outfitter ‘Moab Cliffs & Canyons’ at Ephedra’s Grotto.

It was fun and gorgeous, but it was basically just 2 rappels and a bit of hiking– not nearly as exciting as canyoning in Switzerland (but that’t a whole different story for a whole different day).

Boating

The town of Moab is located on the Colorado River so there are plenty of boat tours to be had.

But I hate boats, so I have nothing to suggest to you here. You’ll have to google it yourself if you want to take a boat tour. I’m sure it’s nice, but I still have yet to grow a pair of sea legs.

Hiking

Hiking here is pretty good too; at least it is in the nearby national parks, particularly Canyonlands which has some remarkable backcountry hiking, especially in the Needles area of the park (which, like I mentioned, we didn’t get to)

We did do some hiking in Arches which was great. I love hiking here at this time of year because (in spite of the shortened days) the weather is perfect for spending an entire day hitting different trails (or one big one). Because of the desert environment– the low vegetation, lack of shade, and dry heat– I can imagine it being torturous to hike here during summer. Late autumn however was perfect.

We did run into a snag when we tried to hike the Devil’s Garden. Because of the cold temperatures and the (unseasonal) snow that the area experienced before we got there, the rock was icy and frost covered in some areas and we had to turn back. It’s called slickrock for a reason and in spite of my awesome hiking boots I was still too chicken shit to venture out onto steep, icy rock.

…stay tuned for my next installment in the Utah vacation series where I point out all my favourite places in Arches National Park.

Related Posts:

• Zion in November – Other Hikes
• Zion in November – Hike The Narrows
• Tips for Visiting Zion National Park in November

SamanthaMenzies.com All I Want for Christmas 2013

My 2013 Christmas Wish List:

1) Books – Harvest by Jim Crace, The Orenda by Joseph Boyden, and The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond are topping my list right now, but I’m open reading to others.

2) Flannel - I like this flannel shirt from L.L. Bean. Actually, anything from L.L. Bean is acceptable.

3) Minnetonka Moccasins - again, I will put some variation of moccasins on my Christmas list every year until I get them.

4) A Kitchen Scale – I just can’t bake properly without an accurate scale.

5) The Iron Islands – I can wear this necklace as I anticipate the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Plus it’ll look awesome with my direwolf t-shirt.

6) An Agenda – it’s suddenly becoming necessary in my life to keep track of what I’m doing and when. These agendas are super cute, plus my friend’s girlfriend makes them.

7) Yoga Pants – I like the long, fitted variety and I certainly would not be opposed to these awesome samurai yoga pants.

8) Yoga – Some passes to local yoga studios would be awesome. I love to practice in the community.

My Christmas Wish List looks a lot like last year’s and I’d still accept anything from my 2012 list. I guess my tastes change little from year to year and I rarely buy things that I want.

What do YOU want for Christmas this year? Maybe I’ll buy it for you!*

*Under no circumstances am I obliged to buy you anything for Christmas.

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• All I Want for Christmas 2012
• Christmas with Samantha
• The 2012 Holidays Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com Zion in November – Other Hikes

This is part of my series on visiting Zion National Park in November.

I have already mentioned the grand hike that is The Narrows but here are a couple of other hikes that we did while we were in Zion.

Weeping Rock

I wouldn’t really call it a hike, per se. It’s an extremely short trail (it may take you 30 minutes round trip, tops) to the Weeping Rock lookout. Getting there is entirely uphill, but since it’s an out-and-back that means it’s as easy going down as it is strenuous going up.
The Weeping Rock is probably more fun to check out on a dry day because you’ll be able to see how the porous rock is seeping water. On a dreary, rainy day like the one we had when all the rocks in the canyon are weeping, well, it’s not so impressive. Another cool part of this hike is the ability to see ‘hanging gardens’ as ferns and other plants grow right out of the moist rock.

Angel’s Landing

Ahh…Angel’s Landing. Everyone wants to do this one to prove themselves. Everyone except people afraid of heights.
The first 2 mile portion of the hike is almost entirely uphill, beginning with a series of steep switchbacks. . .

then a more gradual climb. . .

. . . followed by even more switchbacks called “Walter’s Wiggles”.

This takes you to Scout’s Lookout which offers gorgeous views of the canyon and marks the beginning of the challenge.

The last portion 1/2 mile of the trail is made up of narrow paths along the steep cliffs of a rock fin. There are anchored chains available to hold onto to keep yourself from falling off the rock face to your death, nearly 6000 feet below you.

Note the chains in the background

I’d like to say that I did it, because I really wanted to, but alas I did not. With the harsh rain we experienced the combination of the cold, wet chains and the very slippery rock held me back. I began the trail and then reconsidered.

Oh well, maybe next time.

Emerald Pools

Aside from The Narrows this 3 mile hike was my favourite because it is one of the most scenic.

In this case the rain worked in our favour as we were able to see waterfalls that aren’t flowing most times of the year.

There are three parts to this trail: Lower, Middle, and Upper Emerald pools. The trail to Lower pools is paved and not overly challenging. Beyond that the trail is unpaved and more rugged but never gets too strenuous. I usually prefer a really tough climb, but the views on this trail definitely make it worthwhile.

Who doesn’t love waterfalls?

Related Posts:

• Zion in November – Hike The Narrows
• Tips for Visiting Zion National Park in November
• Moab in November

SamanthaMenzies.com You Look Like You’ve Lost Weight!

This week at the gym I was a bit startled when someone stopped me on my way to the water fountain for this conversation:

Guy: You look like you’ve lost weight!

Me: Uh..what?

Guy: You lost weight, haven’t you?

Okay, Sam, what do you say to this guy? You’ve lost weight since when exactly? I mean, yeah, you lost some weight from Yoga Teacher Training that you haven’t exactly gained back but that was a while ago. You actually look kind of bloated today; you’ve looked slimmer before today. Maybe it’s just this tight tank top you’re wearing?
. . . Just think of something. Say words, any words. . .
But you’re not even trying to lose weight. You don’t want him to think that every girl who works out is trying to be a size 0, do you?
. . .Shit, just say something. . .

Me: Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really weigh myself.

You liar.

Guy: Well, I’ve seen you working out pretty hard the last few years and you look like you’ve lost some weight. You look great! Keep it up!

Few years?! You’ve definitely put on nearly 20lbs in the last few years (Remember the 147lb bikini me? Now you’re closer to 170lb). But your clothes fit just as well so maybe a lot of that mass was muscle. Maybe you do look like you’ve lost weight.

…but wait a minute! You looked pretty great a few years ago too. Or so you thought. So, what’s this guy saying? You looked like shit all the while?

Couldn’t he have just said “You’re working out hard! Keep it up!” instead?

Me: Thanks! Have a great workout!!

I really do feel confused about the whole experience. I know the guy was trying to pay me a compliment and I love that he acknowledged my tough workouts (because, I tell you what, they are damn tough) however, I think it’s generally NOT a good idea to bring up someone’s weight loss at all, unless they mention it first.

A comparison between my body, past and present, can be a bit hard to take. I quite liked my body ‘then’ even if it (unbeknownst to me until Guy pointed it out) didn’t look as good as it does now. It feels offensive, as if I’m somehow better now than I was in a chubbier body.

And of course, if I happen to regain my fat and look the way I did a few year ago. . . then what? Am I going to go into a downward emotional spiral, thinking badly about my body because it doesn’t look as good as it once did, according to some random Guy’s opinion?

In the end I know Guy had the best of intentions and I’m going to walk away feeling positive about the experience.

That said, I would like to get the message out that there are other ways to pay someone a compliment than to focus on their size. Body size varies a lot through someone’s life and when you put value on a certain appearance, then the inevitable fluctuations in weight can be much harder, emotionally, for that person to bear.

Related Posts:

• 2012 Weight Goals
• Stop telling your daughter she’s fat
• Black Women are Heavier and Happier

SamanthaMenzies.com Links for a Sunday Morning

Dinner Rituals Correlate With Child, Adult Weight - Science Daily

The higher the BMI of parents, the more frequent they indicated to eat with the TV on. Eating at the table in the dining room or kitchen was linked to lower BMIs for both children and parents. 

Mystery Solved: The Etymology of Dude - Slate

So where does dude come from? Evidence points to “doodle,” as in “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” He’s the fellow who, as the song has it, “stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni.”

Chicago Marathon Cheaters: Why Do They Do It – Chicago Tribune

There’s a small percentage of people who feel compelled to do it but don’t need to. It’s like a wealthy person who needs to shoplift. . . There are people who say, ‘I’ll give it my best and prepare as well as I can’ and realize there’s a degree of chance of how they’ll do that day. Then there’s another group with a win-at-all-costs type of policy.

Rob Ford and the triumph of the new hosers – Globe and Mail

A total hoser, Ford talks hoser and acts the hoser lifestyle. He even leads a hoser community, one that’s hardcore suburban, scorns urban sophistication and is well-pleased when Rob Ford and his brother Doug do an achingly close simulation of Bob and Doug McKenzie, on their weekly radio show. “I shouldn’t have got hammered,” as Ford said, is hoserdom defined.

Yoga Anatomist Paul Grilley Responds to the NY Times article on Women’s Flexibility – Teachasana

It doesn’t matter how “flexible” one’s ligaments are if the range of movement in the exercise is not enough to create compression.

A Wandering Mind is Not a Happy Mind – Harvard

A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.

Related Posts:

• Links for a Snowy Afternoon
• Links for a Sunday Morning
• Links for a Sunday Morning

SamanthaMenzies.com Four Things

I don’t know why I bother reading Dan Brown books. We’re not talking about literary masterpieces here. To his credit, they’re so damn suspenseful that I find them hard to put down, but when I finally finish my reaction is a resounding. . . (ellipsis for suspense)

“Meh”.

The Lost Symbol, which I just finished reading, wasn’t any different.

I hit 250lb deadlifts for 2 reps last night. That’s 1.5x my body weight! (I’ll save you the calculation. I weigh 165lbs) I was really stoked because I was not well-fed before attempting it and I was recovering from a cold. Next milestone: 275lb.

The Global Table Adventure is almost complete.  Global Table Adventure has been my favourite blog for years now. Sasha talks about regional foods and cooks meals from every country in the world from A-Z. I love the writing, the pictures, and the recipes and I love learning about cultural differences and similarities in our dining choices. I hope she continues to share global recipes because I’m going to keep making them.
Some of my favourites? Irish Boxty, Grenadian Oil Down, Trini Stew Chicken, and Sudanese Peanut, Beef, and Spinach Stew

I have a love hate relationship with the Keurig. We have one in my office at work and it’s so damn convenient that I’m having a hard time restricting myself to one coffee a day. I suspect a caffeine addiction will develop very, very soon.

Related Posts:

• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 10 Recap
• Four Things
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 6 & 7 Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com This body wasn’t built for asana

I got an e-mail today congratulating me on my new yoga website and asking me about my practice.

“Seems like your build differs from other yoga instructors, as you’re much more muscular + stronger than the norm. Are you trying to change your physique in that direction?”

Let’s be honest. When it comes purely to physiques I’m not cut out to be a yoga instructor. During yoga teacher training I became the poster child for joint compression in our anatomy discourse, wowing everyone with the pathetic range of motion in my extremities. Our anatomy instructor took one look at my shoulders and said (and I’m not making this up):

“Look at you! It’s like you’re wearing a suit of armour!”

Thanks. That’s exactly what every young lady wants to hear. o_O

In the past it would have concerned me to be reminded by another human being that I have the bone structure of an armadillo. I’m already reminded by the mirror every time I try on a cute strapless dress and see the reflection of a linebacker… in a cute strapless dress. (I’m lying. I don’t even try on strapless dresses any more.) But these days I’m much happier with my body as it is.

So no, I’m not trying to change my physique because I can’t change my bones or where I carry my body fat or the length of my arms (which, fyi, are not long enough for yoga). This body is all I’ve got so this is what I’m going to have to work with. This body will give me a greater appreciation for what I can do.

Yoga, or the practice of asanas as we think of it today, was made for men with long limbs and short torsos accustomed to sitting in lotus pose just for fun. The people who can best master the poses without props or variations have the bodies for it to begin with and, the thing is, most people don’t have those bodies.

But that’s okay because the awesome thing about yoga is that it’s about self-acceptance and self-awareness. It’s about breathing. It’s about creating a moving meditation. Anyone– any body– can do these things. What yoga isn’t about is perfecting postures.

So while I might not fit the physique of a typical yoga instructor, that doesn’t make me any less a yogi.

. . . and– just in case you’re wondering– no, I’m not going to stop lifting heavy weights. Body acceptance for me means knowing that my suit-of-armour bone structure was designed for power-based activities and I should take every advantage of it.

Plus nothing feels better to me than lifting something heavy.

Related Posts:

• Day 9: Work it out
• 5/3/1 Cycle 11 Recap
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 10 Recap

Jack’s Gastropub
Taster Girl

Restaurant Information

Jack’s Gastropub 31 Division Street S., Kingsville ON N9Y 1P3View Larger Map 519.733.6900 Website: Main; Menu Cuisine: Burgers Open: Mon: 17:00-21:00; Tue-Sat: 11:30-21:00; Sun: 11:30-20:00 Price: $ (Inexpensive – $15 per person) Parking: Street Reservations: Not Required Specials: Vary Daily View More Images Taster.ca Recommendations: With a local spin on greasy classics Jack’s takes the pub experience up a notch

Review

I’m a little surprised that we haven’t dined at Jack’s Gastropub sooner, seeing as the menu is comprised mostly of burgers and Taster is a burger fanatic, and seeing as the place is being featured on FoodNetwork and I’m a FoodNetwork fanatic. Taster was more than enthusiastic about finally giving this place a try when we found ourselves starving in Kingsville one night last week.

I was drawn in by the quaint atmosphere of the place, housed in an eccentrically decorated Edwardian-era home with creaky wooden floors and the sleeves of classic records papering the wall. It’s the kind of environment that feels comfortable but is nice enough to make your experience feel more like a ‘night out’ and less like a ‘quick bite’.

Our server was immediately attentive and was on-the-ball for the entire meal, always checking on us at exactly the right time. Before we ordered she rattled off the specials, which all sounded so good, but we ended up ordering from the main menu: Spicy Jack Burger for Taster and Panko Yellow Perch for me.

The Panko Yellow Perch was under the Sandwiches, etc. portion of the menu. I must have missed the ‘etc.’ part because I was surprised when my fish came out and it was not, in fact, in sandwich form. Pleasantly surprised, though (I didn’t really want a sandwich anyway). The perch was crispy and lightly fried and came with a caper-dill aioli for dipping which was pretty remarkable. The fish was served on a long plate with a bit of coleslaw which didn’t wow me (but I rarely like coleslaw at all) and a generously sized salad with a really nice honey dill dressing on the side. The entire plate needed a good sprinkling of salt, and not just for my sodium-loving taste buds. Taster agreed.

The Spicy Jack burger was big but not too messy. The flavour of the burger meat itself was quite good and only enhanced by the combination of sweet, savoury, and spicy toppings. The bun however, which was boring and didn’t hold up such a substantial burger, is my only real complaint.

Overall, the service and atmosphere here are great. The inclusion of local ingredients, the twist on greasy classics, and the presentation of the dishes takes Jack’s up a notch from pub to Gastropub. While I don’t think I’d drive all the way out to Kingsville to eat here, it’s a great option for a good meal when you’re already out in the county.

- Taster Girl

Overall Analysis:

Our Order – Spicy Jack Burger with Fries; Panko Yellow Perch with House Salad

Come here for: A cold beer or glass of Essex County’s finest wine and a seasonally changing menu with a local twist on pub classics.

Taster Girl’s Favourite: “They certainly know how to do sauces. The Caper Dill Aioli for the perch and the Honey Dill Dressing for the house salad were easily my favourite part of the meal.”

Recommendation:

Jack’s is a good place for a casual meal showcasing some of what Essex County has to offer.

Diner’s Quick Thoughts:

Image Gallery

SamanthaMenzies.com Run for the Cure 2013

WOW.

I can’t believe this is already the 8th Run for the Cure that we’ve participated in.

Just a part of this year’s team, icancervive

Our team, icancervive, is a group of our friends and family who come together to have a good time, raise money for breast cancer, and remember my mom, Hiyan Campagna, who passed away from the disease in August of 2006.

Run day is one of my favourite days of the year. I always look forward to it because it covers all the things I love: getting together with family, doing something active, eating (we always go out for breakfast after), and, of course, my late mom.

Matt and I, post-run

Every year is the same.

We wake up early and meet at the Windsor riverfront about an hour before the start of the run.

We don our team t-shirts and buttons and try to keep warm as we wait for the race to begin (except this year when we tried to keep dry, but at least it was warm!) .

My dad and his friends begin their walk, crossing the starting line extra early so they can finish around the same time as the runners even though they still have to wait for all the other walkers on our team to come in before we go for breakfast.

Me with my dad and Silvia, who crossed the finish not long after I did due to their early start.

We watch Sandi, our teammate, on stage with the breast cancer survivors as a living representation of the outcome of all our fundraising efforts.

My sister Vicki, our team survivor & top funraiser Sandi, and I.

We do a really cheesy warm-up that involves more hip rolling than is necessary for a 5K run.

No fetuses were harmed in the making of this photo

And then we take off.

Not long after the starting horn, my cousin Jessica is already blasting through the finish line and winning the race. Her athleticism is an anomaly in our family.

That’s Jess in the middle

Usually we have an even number of runners and walkers but out of this year’s 23 participants only 3 of us ran: Jess, my friend Kyle, and I. I ran in about 25 minutes which wasn’t bad considering I took a few walking breaks but, then again, the course is about 500m short of 5K, which is a pretty significant amount.

After everyone crosses the finish line we head out for breakfast as our after party for more socializing.

Waiting patiently for our breakfast

This year we have raised over $2800 this year and over the 8 years participating in the Run for the Cure we’ve accumulated nearly $25,000 in funds for breast cancer research. Not too shabby, folks.

For more information on where all that money goes, check out the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation website.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to participate and everyone who donated to the cause. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event!

Past Runs for the Cure:

Run for the Cure 2010

Run for the Cure 2011

Run for the Cure 2012

Related Posts:

• Run for the Cure 2012
• Run for the Cure 2011
• Hot Chocolate 15K Chicago – Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com Good Food: Ice Cream

I find when the weather is too hot (and I keep my house air conditioned as little as possible) my ice cream maker starts to warm up before the churning is finished making the ice cream come out icy. Not fun. But this temperate summer has been really good for ice cream making.

Back in July I made 3 ice creams for a cake and ice cream social at my sister’s new house. They’re all variations of recipes from Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, who, judging by my experience with her recipes, really knows her stuff. I’m almost tempted to buy her cookbook of ice cream concoctions but I’m not sure I can make room on my bookshelf for a book devoted to one very specific food.

This Lemon-Blueberry Frozen Yogurt was a HUGE hit.

It was nearly everyone’s favourite, including my cousin who claims to not like dessert (I fail to understand how this is even possible). He called it ‘gorgeous‘ upon tasting. This frozen yoghurt is made with gelatin (sorry vegetarians) which gives it this light, almost whipped, mouthfeel. Plus it’s tart and not too sweet. It’s basically a win all around.

Jeni claims to “never make frozen yogurt as a low-fat replacement for ice cream” but uses it instead to bring out the tanginess of fruit. I like her style.

For that same cake and ice cream social I made this variation of her Chocolate Ice Cream.

I have made this recipe in the past and it is so smooth and creamy with a milk chocolate-y taste that’s it’s pretty irresistible. And I don’t even like chocolate ice cream. It was my sister’s favourite.

And finally, I also made this Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream, substituting Saskatoon berries for the blackberries. I enjoyed the eccentric taste of the corn in ice cream, but this was the least popular of the three. I think only one person deemed it their favourite.

It’s a cool novelty but I don’t think I would make it again.

What I like:

I like that these ice cream recipes don’t include eggs. Most homemade ice creams have an obscene amount of eggs in them which deters me from making them. These are thickened with cornstarch or gelatin instead. It’s a cool concept.

What I don’t like:

One thing that is recommended in the recipes is to place the ice cream base in a ziploc bag and cover it with ice water to cool it down prior to churning. I always take this step out, favouring instead to make the base the day before and refrigerate it overnight. I find that when I do the whole ‘ziploc bag thing’ it gets messy and there’s a whole lot of wasted ice cream stuck to the bag afterward.

Related Posts:

• Spiced Pears with Hazelnut Whipped Cream
• Kourabiethes
• Torta Margherita Recipe

SamanthaMenzies.com Kourabiethes

It’s time for the next Baking Partners Challenge!

Previous themes included Cake, Chiizukeiki (also a failure), Super Soft White Bread, Macarons, Pie, Christmas Cake, Kaiser Buns, Cupcakes, and Cookies.

This month’s theme is World Cookies.

We all know how much I love cookies, so I was excited for this challenge. We had the option to make Dutch Speculaas (which was obviously enticing for me because they are my favourite cookie), Italian biscotti, Chinese almond cookies, or Greek kourabiethes. I decided on the kourabiethes for the simple reason that I had all the ingredients on hand.

What are a Kourabiethes?

Kourabiethes, Koo-rahb-YEH-thes, are traditional Greek shortbread cookies made with toasted almonds. They may have been imports from the Middle East because of their similarity to Iranian Qurabiya or because their crescent shape, which is said to date back to the Turkish occupation to represent the Turkish flag.
They are an integral part of important celebrations like Christmas, Easter, and weddings because they traditionally required serious effort; the butter and sugar would have been beaten together manually for over an hour!

I made these for my birthday this year and shared them with the yoga class that I taught in the park in the middle of a downpour (but luckily under a pavilion).

The Good

The miracles of modern technology (ie. mixers) mean these cookies are really easy to make. They’re tasty in a subtle way that’s not too indulgent but satisfies the sweet tooth. They went quickly in our house (though not as quickly as the ANZAC biscuits which I made at the same time). I certainly ate a lot of them.

The Bad

I need to invest in multiple shiny metal baking sheets. I always run into the problem that when I use a shiny metal sheet my cookies come out perfect and when I use a dark metal sheet for the same time and temperature the cookies come out slightly burnt. The baking sheet makes a difference you guys!

The Variations

The recipe I worked with was flavoured with orange zest which doesn’t seem to be a very common flavour for kourabiethes. With a little googling I found most recipes used brandy for flavour and a few recipes listed rose or orange blossom water as an ingredient. I’d be interested to try them with brandy next time.

Kourabiethes

Recipe Source

Ingredients

250g butter, softened
2 1/2 cups pure icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 orange, rind finely grated
1 egg, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line 2 shiny metal baking trays with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer beat the butter, 1 cup icing sugar, vanilla, and orange rind until pale and creamy. Add egg and beat until well combined. Sift flour and baking powder over mixture. Add almond meal. Stir until dough comes together.

Roll out one tablespoon of dough into an 8cm-long log, and bend to form a crescent shapes. Repeat with the remaining dough, placing each cookie on baking tray, allowing room for spreading.

Bake for 20 minutes or until light golden. Stand for 5 minutes on trays until firm but still warm.

Place the remaining sugar in a bowl. Coat warm biscuits, 1 at a time, in sugar. Place on a wire rack to cool. Sift any remaining icing sugar over biscuits when cool.

Related Posts:

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SamanthaMenzies.com Four Things

I’m really digging my French press. Matt bought it for me for my birthday and it’s been getting a lot of use so far (as I try really hard not to develop a caffeine addiction). I don’t own a ‘real’ coffee maker– only an espresso maker and a percolator– so this is another non American-coffee making contraption to add to my collection. I love how convenient it is for cold brew coffee too, which is awesome for the summer time (although I’m still not giving up my Greek Frappes)

And then there’s this recipe for ANZAC Biscuits. These cookies are popular in Australia and New Zealand and, more recently, my house. It’s weird that every time I make these they turn out slightly different, but regardless they’re always awesome. Oatmeal, coconut, butter– what’s not to love?

It’s sweet corn season again (yay!), that means making and eating lots of my favourite soup: Fire Roasted Corn Chowder. I literally get giddy with anticipation just to eat this soup, I like it that much. Yesterday when I announced: “I’m going to fire up the barbecue and make some soup!”, I was greeted with looks of confusion and judgement. But that’s okay, because sweet corn chowder is one of those summertime things that makes me happy.

I’ve been teaching yoga! Every Saturday morning since I graduated teacher training I host a vinyasa yoga class in Brunet Park in LaSalle and so far it’s been going pretty well. It’s mostly my friends and family, but I’ve got a few other regulars as well. I’ve been putting a lot of effort into planning challenging and meaningful classes and I’m really starting to become more comfortable teaching and starting to find my voice as an instructor. I hope to start teaching in a studio one day soon.

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SamanthaMenzies.com Stop telling your daughter she’s fat

This is my plea to all mothers (and fathers too, but usually it’s the mothers): please stop telling your daughter she needs to lose weight.

(source: PonyBoy Press Etsy Shop)

Your daughter is fat. This is a fact. Maybe she’s always been this way or maybe not. Regardless, your daughter knows she is fat. She can look down and see her own body. She can feel her softness, her fleshiness. She can see herself in the mirror. The fact that she is fat is not lost on her and she doesn’t need you to remind her.

Your daughter lives in the same fatphobic, war-on-obesity, body shaming, fatty bullying Western world that you do. She reads the same magazines, sees the same advertisements, and converses with the same type of people that you do. So, no, she’s not oblivious to the fact that our culture stigmatizes fat bodies. Your daughter is fully aware that her body shape condemns her to being ‘undesirable’, ‘lazy’, ‘unhealthy’, and all those other negative stereotypes that come with being a fat chick. The last place that she needs to hear this message is at home.

So please moms, stop putting so much emphasis on your daughter’s size, something that is meaningless when it comes to living a meaningful life.

Please don’t veil your concern for her aesthetics as a concern for her health. Deep down, you know that her size is irrelevant and that she can be healthy in a body that is big or small. (Just look at all the different body shapes of Olympic athletes!) Encouraging her to lose weight (rather than, say, implement  healthy lifestyle behaviours) is about aesthetics not health and it just reinforces the bogus idea that fat=unfit.

And please, don’t root your own self-worth in the appearance of your daughter. The fact that she is fat doesn’t reflect poorly on you or make you a failure as a parent. Chances are you raised a good person who will find success and happiness in her life and make you proud as a result. Does it really matter what size her jeans are as she does it?

Every single day your daughter feels all kinds of pressures to lose weight and be thin. As a woman you know just how hard it can be to cope with fat shaming messages that you’re not good enough because you aren’t thin & fit and that your fat body is somehow wrong. It’s very, very damaging.

You have the chance to be your daughter’s biggest advocate here. You have the opportunity to cultivate an environment that doesn’t disparage her for being fat but encourages her to derive meaning from her capabilities (and to take pride in them!) regardless of what her body shape happens to be at the moment. But first you have to end the discussion about losing weight.

I wrote this because I’ve started to notice a number of women my age mention, sometimes blatantly and sometimes subtly, that their moms are giving them a hard time about their weight. This makes me sad because if your mom isn’t on your side, then who is?

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SamanthaMenzies.com 28

This weekend marked 28 years of my existence. 28 pretty damn good years, I’d say. Happy Birthday to me! I spent Saturday doing forcing people to do things that I want to do. . . because, unless you’re an asshole, you can only do that once a year so it’s best to take advantage of it while you can.

I started the day out by teaching yoga in the park. Since graduating teacher training I’ve been trying to get some practice by offering free classes to my friends and family and whomever else shows up. I’ve had surprisingly good turnouts and even had a whopping 11 people one week! If you’re local and interested in coming, check out my facebook page.

Saturday morning it was raining pretty heavily, but I was pretty stoked to see 4 wonderful students brave the weather! (Probably because I made them cookies to celebrate my birth).

I napped away much of the day then Matt and I headed across the border in the late afternoon to check out the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History which I’ve been meaning to visit for quite some time now. (I’m kind of a history nerd).

Me at The Wright

The museum building is stunning, with a huge domed ceiling that echos your voice when you stand in the middle of the rotunda. The place was surprisingly (or, I guess, unsurprisingly– this is Detroit after all) quiet. We were able to take photos in the main lobby but we couldn’t take pictures in the main exhibit, And Still We Rise, which takes you through the entire history of from the first humans to present day African Americans.

Once the docents kicked us out (Actually that’s a lie. They were really nice about letting us stay to finish the exhibit even though it was 20 minutes past closing time- woops!) we headed for dinner and drinks in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighbourhood, which is, at present, most famously known for this most classic example of Motown ruin porn:

Dinner was burgers at the Mercury Burger Bar. The burgers were good and totally loaded with toppings (I love toppings! I say, the more toppings the merrier.) I thoroughly enjoyed the food, but I think the place was a little busier than it probably deserved to be. Then again, it’s basically one of two restaurants in Corktown.

After dinner we crossed the street for drinks at Sugar House, a prohibition-style speakeasy with an extensive drinks menu of period cocktails. I’m not usually one to imbibe but, like I said, I’m a history geek so anything old-timey is going to appeal to my sense of nostalgia (even especially for a period in which I wasn’t even alive).

My dad, his ladyfriend Silvia, my sister Vicki, and brother-in-law Sean all met us for libations. The Sugar House was packed at 7:30 and we had to wait for a table for 6, but by 8pm a lot of the patrons cleared out. I guess people drink early here.

My dad, my (pregnant!) sister, and me

The place was super dark inside and it took a while to adjust to the low light. Needless to say, I hardly got any pictures inside the bar.

I was disappointed that the Plate of Cookies, which is on the online menu, isn’t available any more. (You all know how much I like cookies!) The drinks were good enough to satisfy us though. My sister was able to get a really amazing virgin drink. Silvia let the waiter surprise her and scored a really tasty cucumber cocktail. I thought the punch service was really cool, so Sean, Matt, and I split a half bowl of The Class Act tropical punch, which certainly packed a punch.

My sister kept our drinks bottomless so I proceeded to get properly fuddled. But hey, it was my birthday!

At 28, I have no goals or desires for my 29th year of life and I’m okay with that. That just means that things are going well for me. All I want is to keep doing what I’m doing. To keep teaching yoga (okay, maybe teach a little more than I do), to keep lifting heavy, to keep rockin’ bikinis, to keep travelling, to keep loving, to keep reading, to keep baking, and to keep being me.

Related Posts:

• Four Things
• Drinks and ‘Skating’
• Happy Birthday!

SamanthaMenzies.com 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 6 & 7 Recap

With all the yoga I have been talking about lately you’re probably wondering how my weight training is going. Well, last I left you with was a recap of cycle 5 of the 5/3/1 for Women Training Programme, that I had been working through– a programme that focuses on increasing strength in squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press by increasing weight and decreasing reps each week. Read more about how it works here: 5/3/1 Training

Cycle 6

Well right before I went away for yoga teacher training I squeezed in my 6th cycle of the programme and it was AMAZING.

Deadlift: 240lb Push Press: 115lb Squat: 225lb Bench Press: 135lb

I finally hit my big squat goal: 225lb!

I set this goal for myself back in January of 2012 so it’s been a long time coming. I recommitted to it on my 27th birthday and this time I accomplished it within the year! You can imagine just how happy I was to squat it for not one rep, but two! New goal: 300lb squat. In cycle 6 I also set a personal record in deadlifts. As for push press and bench press, I had to reduce the weight for cycle 6 since I missed my goals during cycle 5 and I needed to build up my strength in these lifts before going forward any further. For my accessory lifts– ie. the stuff I do other than squats, deads, and presses– I continued to focus on the complexes and circuits that I make up myself or steal from crossfit football. This helps me build power and get my heart rate pumping.

Cycle 7

Immediately after cycle 6 I dove into yoga teacher training and completely cut weightlifting out of my life for 3 whole weeks. So much strength lost in so little time. When I came back I tried to repeat the cycle 6 loads and I failed miserably at deadlifts and squats, feeling weaker and unable to lift for as many reps as I did just weeks before. It is disappointing, discouraging, disheartening. The big problem with strength training is that so much emphasis is tied to the numbers. You hit a goal and you’re over the moon, but when you can’t make a weight and have to decrease the load then your motivation plummets. In the life of a weight lifter there are few things as discouraging. I need to remember that it’ll take time to gain back what I’ve lost. Taking a page from the 5/3/1 book I’m taking two steps back for Cycle 8<%2

Related Posts:

• 5/3/1 for Women
• How Heavy Weightlifting Works for Me
• 5/3/1 for Women – Cycle 5 Recap

SamanthaMenzies.com Five Years

It didn’t take me 5 years to figure out that being married doesn’t suck.

Actually, it has lots of perks like…

- saving on the cost of living

- using your spouse as an automatic excuse to get out of doing shit you don’t want to do

- benefits from your spouse’s employer (ie. reaping all the rewards without actually working)

- having a person to delegate tedious chores to, like vacuuming or taking out the garbage (I imagine this benefit will multiply when children enter the picture)

- being able to fold fitted sheets. Have you ever tried folding fitted sheets by yourself? It’s impossible.

- having an awesome vegetarian dinner waiting for you after you come home from weight lifting

- having another person to do fun things with!

. . .which can also be viewed as. . .

- forcing another person to do things with you so you don’t have to look like a loser doing them alone!

- company. Even when you’re in different parts of the house doing completely different things

Today is the 5th anniversary of our wedding in Domegge di Cadore in Northern Italy. So, happy anniversary to my favourite husband! (Okay, so he’s my favourite by default because I only have one husband, but I really, really do like him.)

Six months after Matt and I decided that we wanted to spend our lives together, we hopped on a plane for a destination wedding. We wanted our closest family and friends to be there, we wanted to get away from the demands of planning a big to-do, and we wanted to get married in a place with meaning. So Matt and I wed in my mother-in-law’s home town of Domegge di Cadore in Belluno, Italy;  Population: 2,675 (this number may or may not include the family donkeys). We were married in the St. George Church in front of our families, friends, and the local radio audience. (True story, our wedding was broadcast on local radio. Did I mention Domegge is a really small town?)

I had no idea what the church would look like, what kind of flowers I would be carrying, or who the priest was but I had the important things: my family and my fiance.

I was really excited to drive to the church . . . which was only about 100m away from my uncle-in-law’s place. But, seriously, I actually was really excited to hear all the church bells ringing.

My dad and I outside of the 800 year old St. George’s Parish, pre-ceremony.

The main event.

So many things went wrong in our ceremony it was hilarious. . . but I guess that’s what you get when you spend about 30 minutes planning your wedding.

Hitched! They actually threw rice!

Vicki, my sister/Maid of Honour.

Family Photo! Sister; Brother-in-Law; Self; Husband; Nonna; Dad

Funny face pics at the mess hall where our wedding meal went on for, like, 6 hours . . . but was one of the most delicious meals I had ever tasted

Most hideous, yet delicious, rum wedding cake. Please don’t submit this photo to cake wrecks… I might cry.

We followed up our wedding with 3 glorious weeks of European honeymooning in Switzerland, France, and Belgium. It was THE most amazing time of my life.

I guess that’s another perk of being married—a honeymoon.

In the last five years since I married my favourite person in the whole wide world, we’ve gotten jobs, moved cities, bought a house, added a furry little bundle of joy to our family, and travelled the world. It’s all stuff that I could have, and would have, done alone but having my husband with me made it all that much easier. He’s a sounding board to bounce ideas off of and a support beam to hold me up when I’m under stress.

The life I have with my husband makes me happy.

**This post was mostly a mash-up of my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Anniversary posts, because what happened on the day of my wedding hasn’t changed neither has my love for my husband. Actually that last part’s a lie. (Cue the cheesiness factor:) I always seem to love him more.

Related Posts:

• Three Year Anniversary
• 4th Anniversary
• Anniversary

SamanthaMenzies.com All About Chiffon Cake

Ooh boy, I haven’t posted a Baking Partners Challenge since April!

In May I was busy getting ready for my weekend in New York and June. . . well, that was an epic failure that I didn’t post it because I was busy doing the yoga teacher training thing. (The theme was eclairs, and mine turned out flat as pancakes. I blame the recipe because I’ve made eclairs before without consequence. The chocolate ganache filling, however, was impossible to stop eating.)

Previous themes that I did participate in were Chiizukeiki (also a failure), Super Soft White Bread, Macarons, Pie, Christmas Cake, Kaiser Buns, Cupcakes, and Cookies.

The theme for this month is Cake!

We had 2 recipe options to choose from. I picked Lemon Chiffon which looked like the simplest one. The other option, a Russian Honey Cake, sounded tastier but I was deterred by all the layers.

I like cakes that don’t take a lot of effort to make and are decorated with a dusting of icing sugar.
My level of competency doesn’t extend beyond dusting a cake with icing sugar.
When we get into real ‘cake-decorating’ territory my creations would even be rejected by CakeWrecks.com

What is a Chiffon Cake?

The chiffon cake was created by an insurance agent, of all things, in 1927. It became an extremely popular dessert and the technique was carefully guarded until 1947 when he sold the recipe to General Mills.

Chiffon cakes are airy and pillowy in texture with the richness of butter cake and lightness of sponge cake. They’re similar to angel food cakes in that they are leavened with egg whites and are baked in an unlined, un-greased tube pan. Unlike angel food cakes, chiffon cakes contain egg yolks and vegetable oil which keep the cake moist, soft, and tender.

Once baked, the cake tin is turned upside down and hung over the neck of a bottle to cool for 3 hours or overnight which lets the cake set at its maximum volume instead of settling.

It can be nerve-racking to make a cake that you have to hang upside down because if it doesn’t hold you’ll hear a plop as your cake falls to its doom. You need balls to make it.

Here are some links explaining how to perfect a Chiffon Cake:
Chiffon Cakes: Tips and Troubles
Chiffon Cake Tutorial
Chiffon Cake Tips
Chiffon Cake Base – Simplest, Easiest Method (Video)
Lemon Chiffon Cake (Video)

The Good

This Lemon Chiffon Cake didn’t turn out horribly, you guys!

I was worried about working with egg whites after the chiizukeiki debacle, but I paid close attention not to over or under whip them.

The cake is relatively easy to make and it retains it’s freshness for quite a while. It has a really nice, light lemony taste making it good cake for springtime when you’re so over all those rich chocolate desserts from the winter. (…who am I kidding, I’m never over rich chocolate desserts).

Side Note: I think it would make a killer trifle as inspired by ‘the improvement’ below.

The Bad

I did slightly under-bake the cake. It was getting way too dark on top, so I took it out prematurely when I should have just covered it with tin foil or something. This took away from the lightness that I was expecting from an egg white-leavened cake, but otherwise I enjoyed it and would make it again.

The Improvement

I liked the cake on it’s own, but holy goodness it was so much better when I made this yoghurt custard to go with it. (Coincidentally the custard requires exactly the number of egg yolks you’ll be left with after making the cake. Win!).

I added limoncello to the custard to keep the lemon theme rollin’.

Topped with the custard and some fresh blueberries, this cake was wicked awesome.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

From The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Chiffon cakes are airy and pillowy in texture with the richness of butter cake and lightness of sponge cake. They are baked in a tube pan and, once cooked, hung upside down over a bottle to cool. (I made mine in a bundt and it turned out but I think it would have been worth it to dig the tube pan out of my dad’s basement, to get more rise out of it.)

Dry Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups / 225g cake flour
1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp. / 300g sugar
1/2 tsp. / 3.5g salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 – 2 tbsp. lemon zest

Wet Ingredients:
½ cup / 108g canola oil
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup / 156g water at room temperature
2 tbsp. / 30g lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 tsp. / 4g cream of tartar
2 tbsp. / 30 g sugar
7 large egg whites at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325*F.

Grab a 10-inch tube pan with a detachable bottom (I used a bundt pan and it worked out okay) but do not grease it as the batter needs to climb up the sides.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 300g of sugar and the lemon zest. With your fingertips, work the zest and sugar together until the sugar is grainy and very aromatic. Add the cake flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl.

If using a stand mixer, use the beater attachment and beat on low until the ingredients are well incorporated. You can also do this by hand with a whisk.

Make a well in the center of the ingredients and add the oil, egg yolks, water, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix for about one minute on medium speed until the batter is smooth and there are no lumps.

In a second large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Do it slowly though, it’s not a race. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat on medium speed until they reach soft peak stage. You will know your egg whites have reached this stage when the beaters start to leave a trail or when the peaks fall over when the beaters are raised. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, and continue to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks when the beaters are raised.

Using a balloon whisk, add 1/3 of the egg whites to your cake batter and gently stir them until they are incorporated. Add the remaining egg whites to the batter and very gently fold them into the batter until they are incorporated and no traces of egg whites remain.

Pour the batter into the ungreased pan and run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed in the center.

Once cooked, take the cake out of the oven and immediately turn it upside down over a bottle* or similar to it until it is completely cool, 3 hours up to overnight.

My bundt pan has handles so I jerry rigged it upside down atop 2 baking pans

Using an up and down motion, use a palette knife to loosen the sides of the cake away from the tin. Pull out the cake and use the palette knife around the bottom of the cake to release it from the base. Turn it over so that the base becomes the top and sprinkle with a dusting of icing sugar to serve.

Stays fresh for 3 days in room temperature, 10 days refrigerated, 2 months frozen.

* I suggest you test some bottles when the cake tin is empty to make sure you have one on hand that fits.

Related Posts:

• Chiizukeiki – Japanese Cheesecake
• Plum Cake
• Kourabiethes

SamanthaMenzies.com Waist Goals Update 6–Yoga Teacher Training Edition

Every month or so I check in on my waist goals that I set in September to lose 6cm from my waist.

Goal: 77cm waist; 85cm belly.

Progress: (the measurements are waist/belly/weight)

Aug 15: 83cm/ 91cm/ 166.8lb
Sep 10: 83cm/ 89cm/ 166.2lb
Oct 10: 82cm/ 89cm/ 166.6lb
Nov 15: 81cm/ 87cm/ 169.4lb
Dec 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 170.2lb
Jan 1: 82cm/ 88cm/ 169.4lb
Feb 1: 84cm/89cm/171.8lb
Mar 15: 83cm/88cm/170.0lb
Apr 15: 82cm/ 88cm/ 170.0lb
May 15: 82cm/ 87cm/ 170.8lb
Jul 1: 79cm/85cm/ 164.0lb

Holy hell that’s progress! I actually hit my belly goal!

I wasn’t really surprised to see my weight and measurements plummet so much after spending 3 weeks of doing yoga twice a day, eating only 2 fistfuls of food at a time, not snacking between meals (okay, not really snacking), and soaking my clothes with sweat multiple times a day (I’m sure a lot of my weight loss is water weight).

My body was loving the 170lb and 82cm belly zone, but my change in eating and exercise habits over 3 weeks really had an impact on my body. Because these changes aren’t sustainable for my normal life (at least not the twice+ daily yoga part) I fully expect to put on some size and I won’t be disappointed if I do.

In fact, in the week since taking these measurements I’ve already added 2lbs and 1cm to each my waist and belly button.

Taken Aug 31

Taken Jan 28

Taken May 14

Taken June 30

I definitely notice a little less softness in the belly region since my May check-in.

My Game Plan

My game plan to whittle my middle was to:
-opt for high intensity exercise
-increase my protein
-cut out white carbs
-plan out my late night snacks
-include a cheat meal every week (with dessert and/or white carbs)

How I Followed Through with my Game Plan:

I didn’t. At least, not intentionally.

Exercise was, obviously, not high intensity but 2 yoga classes a day was tiring and challenging and left me sweating buckets. I got a hell of a lot better at chaturangas but my weightlifting has suffered as a result. It’s funny how quickly you can lose your strength gains when you stop lifting for just a few weeks. And by funny I mean really depressing.

I cut out all meat from my diet (not that I eat a lot anyway) except fish. I wasn’t tracking my macronutrient intake but I know that it was very low in the protein department. But, as I mentioned, in my March and May recaps, I function better on a higher carb diet anyway.

Most of my meals were white carb free, so I did follow that protocol. I ate lots of beans* and vegetables and whole grains. I was eating really healthy! . . .Okay, so there was that one time that I bought a box of oatmeal cookies and ate them all in 2 days. It was only, like, 40 cookies though, you guys!

*For the record: beans + yoga are a dangerous combination

The biggest thing that changed for me was eating ‘Yoga’ Meals which have 6 guidelines:

-sit down
-don’t talk & chew at the same time
-take only 2 handfuls of food at one time and wait 5 minutes before going for seconds
-avoid distractions
-swallow fully before taking the next bite
-wait 2-6 hours before your next meal

I struggled with the swallowing before the next bite which sounds simple enough but not when you’re the type of person that just shovels food into her mouth like a garburator. The “2-6 hour” rule definitely put a kybosh on my frequent snacking.

For me exercise is easy to follow through with. I’ve added a tonne more yoga to my weekly exercise and, of course, I can’t say enough about the awesomeness of  that I’m working through right now.

I’m making some ridiculous strength gains and weirdly I’m not bored of doing the same exercises all the time. . . likely because I switch it up with all the high intensity cardio-style lifting I’ve been adding to the programme.

Going Forward . . .

Obviously I won’t be doing twice daily yoga practices anymore, but I will make a point to get in 3 practices a week, even if one of those practices is doing a few sun salute B’s in my living room before bed.

I’ve already jumped back into the 5/3/1 weightlifting programme that stole my heart these past few months. It’s been a struggle, but I’ll have to build up some of the strength I lost these past 3 weeks, and then, of course, build some more!!

I really want to keep up these yoga meals. I was a little skeptical at first but I think they’ve really been good to get me to stop eating so much, so quickly and mindlessly.

Mostly I want to keep myself level headed. I can’t allow myself to be disappointed if, in my normal life, I gain back what I lost (both in weight and size) in my teacher training life.

Waist Goal Recaps:

My Waist Goals
Waist Goals Update 1 – October 2012
Waist Goals Update 2 – November 2012
Waist Goals Update 3 – January 2013
Waist Goals Update 4 – March 2013
Waist Goals Update 5 – May 2013

Related Posts:

• Waist Goals Update 5
• Waist Goals Update 4
• Waist Goals

SamanthaMenzies.com If I Had 25 Hours Left to Live…

In my yoga teacher training course we had to write a series of essays. Not the kind with a works cited and MLA format* and a thesis; these were more like journals on a particular topic.

*Is this still applicable to essay writing? I studied math in university; we proved things with number and symbols not theses.

In our final ceremony we sat in a big circle and passed a candle from person to person as we all shared our last essay “If I Had 25 Hours Left to Live…” I wrote mine before I found out that the 25 was a typo, and before I found out that I would have to share it with the group. I thought about writing the obvious– spending my last hours eating a big meal with my favourite people– but it sounded boring and I wanted to think of something more awesome. That started up all these questions in my head which I ended up writing down and handing in as my essay, without really answering the original question.

I found out, on more than one occasion this past month, that people find me funny. My humour is entirely unintentional, so evidently my normal thoughts are something to laugh about (I’m still not sure how to take that). Anyway, my point is, my peers found my essay absolutely hilarious and made me promise to publish it. I think ‘hilarious’ is a stretch, but in any case I stayed true to my word.

If I Had 25 Hours Left to Live…

… I would have a hell of a lot of questions.  Mostly questions without answers. And given their philosophical nature I’d likely spend a good chunk of my brief time on earth in deep contemplation.

For starters, why twenty-five hours? Why not twenty-four? Every day of my life I’ve wished for an extra hour, so while perhaps I should be grateful, it seems like a cruel joke that God decided to finally grant me those sixty minutes on the day of my death. Figures, eh?

I also want to know how exactly I will die. Am I already in the process of slowly dying over these twenty-five hours? Will my body shut down a little bit at a time, one organ, then another, then another? If this is the case it would be a nice bonus to know the order of deterioration so I can organize and categorize my bucket list in the most efficient way possible. (I’d want to make sure I go on my dessert binge before my pancreas fails. Just sayin’.)

Am I going to die suddenly when the clock strokes 25:00 hours? That would give me much more freedom to tick off my bucket list. How great! …

… unless of course that sudden death is going to be some excruciatingly painful, horror movie situation. In that case I have to figure out a method of securing a solid supply of anesthesia or, failing that, I hear horse tranquilizers aren’t too hard to get your hands on.

And, good heavens!, why do I only have 25 hours left to live? Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said? Is this some sort of test? Do I have to do something good and kind and wonderful so that when 25 o’clock rolls around God says: “Naw, you’re cool. You can live to die another 25 hour day.”  If this is the case I wouldn’t even know where to start—doing good deeds is harder than securing horse tranquilizers! (Oh, maybe that’s why my hours are numbered!)

So assuming I fail the do-gooder test, I should probably start planning my funeral, getting all my finances in order, and maybe making a phone call to my lawyer before I address my bucket list. Work then play, so it goes in death as in life.

Now that everything is in order I realize I’ve just taken up an hour addressing all my questions and concerns. That 25 hour window is starting to make sense—smooth move God. So 24 hours left now and time is ticking…I guess it’s time to start actually writing that bucket list. With any luck I’ll get a chance to tick off a couple of items before the hour of my death comes.

Related Posts:

• Four Things
• Lifepower Yoga Teacher Training
• A Day in the Life – Yoga Teacher Training Edition

SamanthaMenzies.com Lifepower Yoga Teacher Training

200 hours and 85,956 Chaturangas later…

It’s official! I’m a certified Yoga Teacher!

Yesterday was the final class of the 200 hour Lifepower yoga teacher training program with Jonny Kest and Jason Hulshof at the Center for Yoga in Michigan.

I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I signed up for the programme. I have always thought yoga was this freakin’ amazing mind/body exercise that everyone should do and I’m always encouraging (with a rather low success ratio, unfortunately) everyone I know to do it with me.

And what better way to share yoga than to teach it, right?

My very first time doing yoga was in my basement with a yoga video that I bought from Wal-Mart when I was 10, coincidentally, during my incense-burning, poetry writing, “hippie phase”. I thought it was so awesome because as a fat, out-of-shape, and uncoordinated child it seemed like a breeze of a workout. So, what you’re saying is, all I have to do is sit here and breathe? I totally got this! I breathe, like, everyday.

As much as I love yoga, the whole culture behind it is way out of my comfort zone, so the first four days were exceedingly awkward.

(You can get a glimpse of what my yoga teacher training days were like in my last post.)

Everyone spoke fluent Sanskrit and called the studio “The Centre”—I was getting a serious Cult vibe. It didn’t help that our first class of the day started with an invocation that everyone chanted together while I sat in the back corner hoping no one noticed the “what in the actual fuck?” expression on my face. This morning class was Ashtanga, a style which I don’t even like, and it started at some ungodly hour, which meant I arrived at “The Center” on a daily basis baggy-eyed, disheveled, exhausted, and then, upon hearing the invocation, ultimately creeped out.

“The Centre” – Birmingham and West Bloomfield MI

I learned that every meal I’ve ever eaten in my life was wrong. Obligatory ‘yoga meals’ prevented me from enjoying my typical massive plates of food shoveled hastily into my mouth while standing up at the kitchen counter reading The Game of Thrones.

I had the chance to practice teach Sun Salutations and everything that came out of my mouth was choppy and nonsensical. I was terrified of teaching in front of the entire group and completely fucking it up, because the level of nitpickiness in the feedback sessions afterwards was out of control, to the point that students were pointing out single words that they didn’t like. And here I am unable to even form coherent sentences in my practice teaching. I never realized how hard this teaching thing could be.

Chillin’ on the mat in anatomy class, excited to be the class Poster Child for Joint Compression

I found myself in the company of some seriously emotional people. Anyone who knows me is aware that I’m a cynical and unfeeling cyborg, so it was tough for me to handle all the sharing. So many feelings! I felt a bit like a man in a room full of women all experiencing PMS at the exact same time– bored, uncomfortable, and dying to get out. People opened their hearts. People shared some pretty deep shit. People cried. All the while, I tried my hardest to pretend like I had emotions too; it was exhausting.

I was physically exhausted by going from two yoga classes a week to two a day. I was emotionally exhausted from being so damn nervous all the time and from pretending to be emotional in the first place.

And then, on day 5, we had a day of silent meditation: an entire day of sitting in a dark room with our eyes closed and observing our breath. It was harder than it sounds. I put forth a concentrated and legitimate effort to do it right (since I felt like I was doing everything else wrong up to that point) and I relaxed myself so much that, despite efforts to fight it, I spent two thirds of the day bobbing my head back and forth ’cause I was fast asleep.

I needed that sleep so badly. After that day of meditation I went home and went to bed (turns out sleeping all day is exhausting in itself) and when I woke up the next day I had this inexplicable feeling of happiness and my fatigue completely faded away. I attributed it to all the sleeping, but there might have been something mystical about it too.

We took a field trip one day to Cranbrook, a private school with unbelievably gorgeous grounds

The new energy somehow managed to carry me through the rest of the teacher training. Two classes a day? No problem. I might have even done three a couple of times. (3 classes a day: that’s how yogis let loose, FYI). I took vigorous notes during lecture and discourse. I spent every spare moment reading and doing homework and meditating and practice teaching to an imaginary person in my bedroom.

Most importantly I decided to be more authentic. I let go of trying to be someone I wasn’t. (Well, mostly. I did have to force my self to try and pass hysterical laughter off as sobbing during some deep “sharing” moments. And I did try to hide my “what in the actual fuck?” expression, just to be polite.) I was friendlier, because I felt more natural and I realized that all my peers were so sweet and fun. I learned more by allowing myself to take in as much information as I could, no matter how trivial I thought it was or how cynical I felt toward it. I just wanted to experience it and sort out my opinions later.

What’s Up Dog?

And suddenly yoga teacher training became awesome. I was living it, you guys! My awareness of how my body reacted to any situation became much more acute. I was calmer and happier. It was so weird. Hugging people became unpleasant instead of insufferable. Meditating became tedious instead of unbearable. I would drive home and only scream profanities at 2 shitty drivers instead of 20. And, I would call myself crazy for saying this, but I actually started to be aware of some underlying energy in other people. It was unreal.

In the last few days, I was really itching to get home. I wanted to see my husband and my dog. I had a severe jonesin’ for a hamburger. I wanted to do squats and deadlifts. I wanted to wake up later than 5:20am. Yes, I was having fun being immersed in yoga and in myself, but I wanted my favourite parts of my normal life back.

On day 21, our last day of training, I practice taught a full one hour Slowburn class to one of my peers. I was super nervous to do it and I worked really hard to come up with something awesome. After it was done, I thought a bit about the things I did wrong, but mostly I walked away from it thinking: “I can do this. I can totally be a yoga teacher.”

Staying true to my authentic self, I celebrated my graduation with a burger and a hot fudge sundae. All while wearing my newly earned “Yoga Teacher” tank top. Don’t worry, Jason Hulshof, that burger is only one handful of food. The fries on the other hand…well, there’s a reason they’re un-pictured.

Related Posts:

• Center for Yoga – Teacher Training
• A Day in the Life – Yoga Teacher Training Edition
• Four Things

SamanthaMenzies.com A Day in the Life – Yoga Teacher Training Edition

5:15 5:20am Wake-up, make/pack breakfast, rush out the door.

6:00am Follow the Yogi Ashtanga class led by Jonny Kest in Birmingham.

7:15am Wipe myself down with some baby wipes, change out of my sweaty clothes, and head to Starbucks to eat breakfast and kill time until my next class.

Hot coffee and meditation reading on the mean streets of Birmingham, MI

9:00am Move my car from street to the parking garage to avoid having to pay the meter. Kill some more time outside the studio before the 9:45 hot vinyasa class.

9:45am Hot Vinyasa class led by Jonny Kest

Pre and Post Class

11:05am Drive back home for a much needed shower and a lunch break. Some variation of beans and rice seems to be my food of choice these days.

Is this 2 handfuls?

12:45pm Leave the house for the West Bloomfield studio for lecture.

1:00pm Yoga nap (seriously? it’s just a nap people. Why does everything have to be “yoga”?) or meditation. I opt for meditation so I can get my 20minutes out of the way. I have some really vivid visions about tapestries (literally) which gives me a great idea for a yoga class theme.

1:20pm – 4:00pm We go over the essence of a good vinyasa flow, get together with groups and make up our own variation. My group is all people who are already teachers so I contribute very little.

Then one person from each group leads everyone in the flow and we offer feedback about what we liked or didn’t like. Feedback can get tedious and nit-picky, but can be pretty helpful.

Testing out our flows.

4:00pm Jonny gives us a lecture on body energy or “prana” (I don’t like to call it prana cause it sounds too new age-y to me.)

5:00pm Class dismissed (on time for once!). I head to Kroger for some groceries. I leave $30 poorer and thoroughly disappointed with their cookie selection.

Grocery shopping loot.

5:45pm Let out my roommates dogs.

6:00pm Start making dinner and doing dishes. This time it’s beans and pulses (not beans and rice) so I’m getting more creative. (This is a super delish recipe for Lentil and Chickpea Salad, by the way)

7:00pm Eat.

7:20pm-9:30pm Homework, with a tea and cookie break somewhere in there. Side note: the British are totally onto something with Hobnobs.

Cookie on the left: Hobnobs (AMAZING!), cookie on the right generic Kroger brand (boring).
Not photographed: at least 3 more cookies that I devoured.

9:30pm Blog.

10:00pm Bedtime routine (you know the drill). Set the alarm for 5:15. Goodnight!

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SamanthaMenzies.com Four Things

I have a love/hate relationship with the Michigan Left. On one hand, it’s awesome because regular metro Detroit roads seem to have outrageously fast speed limits and the median u-turn keeps the traffic flowing. On the other hand it can be super annoying to make 2 turns when you only need one.

So many signs, so much confusion.

This instrumental violin version of Wiz Khalifa’s Black & Yellow is totally rocking my world right now. I could listen to it all day. One instructor played it at the beginning of a hot vinyasa class and it completely set the mood for me.

We learned about taking ‘Yoga Meals’ which is essentially a meditative eating process that includes sitting, avoiding distractions, and swallowing before taking your next bite. It also means not taking more than 2 fistfuls of food. Bro, do you even lift?
Probably not.

I noticed that since I stopped weightlifting my hunger has plummeted. It’s an interesting observation.

I try to imagine the biggest fists possible.

Taking naps is getting me through these days and the sleeping mask helps tremendously. I am seriously amazed by people who can wake up earlier than 7AM on a daily basis. I’m getting up at 5:15.

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