Yoga and Cravings
| June 18, 2011 | Posted by Sweet Tooth Runner under Uncategorized |
HAPPY WEEKEND friends!! Man I love the weekend!! Actually, I love weekdays too…anyway, I hope you’re all having an AMAZING time! And don’t forget to enter my GIVEAWAY- last chance!!
Highlight of my day today? My first ever HOT YOGA class!! 
That was on the shower room wall. They have quotes like that on most of the walls in the studio and I am SUCH a sucker for quotes!! Anyway, the class was AMAZING!!
Seriously, EVERYONE looked that sweaty after the first 5 minutes!! A lot of you asked me about hot yoga, so here is the class description from their website:
“The studio is heated to around 42 degrees. Practicing in the heat dramatically increases flexibility which allows the participant to get deeper into the postures, making these classes extremely effective. The heat also provides the student with a cardiovascular workout which promotes detoxification and weight loss (between 600 and 1000 calories per class), without the need to stress the body by vigorous exercise. Students perform a set series of static poses (asanas) designed to increase flexibility, strength, stamina, vitality, detoxification and weight loss.”
It was SO amazing!! I’ve never practised yoga for that long (90 minute class) and never experienced anything like that before! It was tough, but I loved the teacher (always makes the BIGGEST difference to any class in my opinion!) and it really inspired me to practise yoga more seriously! I left literally SOAKING though, and I was wearing sweat-wicking clothes!! But it did force me to shower and wash my hair straight after- achievement of the year! 
And that wasn’t the only time I was soaking today…
I got caught out in a sudden storm in the morning. Once minute it was fine, the next minute there was thunder+lightening and POURING with rain!! And the worst bit? I was eating Marmite rice cakes, and they were getting soggy. PROTECT THE FOOD ABOVE ALL ELSE!!
How dare the rain do that to my food!!
So I’ve been mentioning a lot recently about eating what I crave. And that’s exactly what I do every day! I’ve actually had FIVE questions about this in the past few days, so I thought I’d explain myself. I think it is really important to listen to what you are craving. I think your body (almost) always knows best, and in the past when I’ve tried to ignore those cravings, it never ended well! So I always try to listen and give myself exactly what I want, and it works for me! 
So here’s how I roll…
Every day I wake up, sprint to the bathroom (I drink waaaay too much water, and I like to work on my aerobic capacity as soon as I wake up), then go back and ponder over what to have for breakfast. Biggest and most important decision of the day.
I ask myself “what do I really want?” And whatever it is, I have it!! So today, that was a chocolate-banana pizzert with choc PB drizzle:
And then I do the exact same thing for everything! I usually try to make sure there’s a protein, carb and fat source as well in my meals and snacks. Take lunch for example. I was craving all sorts of things, so I ended up with this:
Cereal, soy yogurt, apricot conserve, apple and a White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter spoon. Hit. The. Spot.
NUTS were what I was really craving in the afternoon. Pecans are my current favourite. They taste like candy.
And then there’s dessert cravings. I followed Amanda’s recommendation and bought this for the first time:
Caramel soya dessert pot thingies. Yes, that is their official name. So I knew I wanted one of those, but I was craving something else too, and I always honour my cravings…
Caramel soya dessert pot thingy with a crumbled peanut butter cookie on top. Best decision EVER!!
And the weirdest thing? About an hour after dessert I wanted this:
A big ol’ bowl of broccoli! Random, but I rolled with it
Hope that answered any questions! Basically, I eat exactly what I want, and that keeps me happy and healthy!
What are your thoughts on food cravings? Do you listen to them no matter what? Actually, I don’t in every situation! I remember on a race morning craving pancakes, but I’d never tried them before running, so I didn’t want to risk it! But in almost every case, YES I’m all for it!!
Have you tried hot yoga? If you haven’t, do you want to? I REALLY recommend it if you haven’t!! It is an AMAZING experience!!
Random Q: What is your favourite nut? Pecans at the moment! Last week it was cashews though, so I change a lot! Pecans just taste like candy to me though, and are SO good dipped in nut butter! Mmmmm….
Hope you all have a great time the rest of this weekend!! LOVE and HUGS!!
P.S. I’m having more technical issues at the moment (namely, my email is down!) so excuse any lack of replies please! Hopefully it’ll be sorted soon!
yay for a hot yoga success!!!! My gym offers one on Sundays and will SO be trying it soon. Sounds flippin’ awesome!
I always honor my cravings, too…because if I don’t, then it just ends up backfiring on me! Gotta eat what my tum wants otherwise it isn’t a happy camper.
Ahh so glad you enjoyed hot yoga it is def my current fave type of yoga!
I like how you honor your cravings. I’m def trying to work on this. Sometimes I do eat what I crave and sometimes I try to ignore it which means I end up eating way to much of something else then end up eating what I craved anyway. Major fail. So I’m really working to eat more mindfully.
I would love to try hot yoga, sounds like an amazing workout
Honoring my cravings can be difficult but I’m trying more and more as I realize that honoring my cravings is honoring myself. We should honor ourselves for sure. I make sure to also tune into how I’m feeling though, to make sure it’s appropriate.
Do you have Kashi in the UK? Excited! I went to hot yoga once and it was so much fun! Unfortunately, it cost a pretty penny so I hope the university of London gym has it
Nuts nuts nuts…I think almonds might be my fav. Or roasted pecans.
You’re great and make me feel more energetic Emma- seriously
So with you! Honoring yourself is SO important!!
No sadly we don’t have Kashi!! I was sent it!! Haha I guess you’ll have to bring your own!
Aww thanks!! LOVE <3
I try and listen to my food cravings but sometimes it isn’t really feasible. I seriously get the most random cravings in the world. One day it’s pancakes the next second it’s like cheese or something weird bahaha.
Love, love, LOVE this! I used to try to eat in a way that I thought I “should” be eating… so I’d always be trying to come up with the “perfect” meals, with the right ratios of protein/carb/fats. Ugh. It was horrible. I’d end up eating things I didn’t really want to eat, and then be completely unsatisfied and wanting more. These days I ALWAYS honor my cravings. If I want something sweet for dinner, I go with that. If I want breakfast 3 times a day, I go with that. I love it because I always end up satisfied, and I find that my body balances itself out in the end anyways. If I eat too much sweet one day, I won’t crave any the next. It’s great, and I’m always happy
LOVE that you’re doing the same!!
You have introduced me to the amazing concept of the pizzert. I am ETERNALLY IN YOUR DEBT. *worship*
Beki xxx
HAHA yaaaay!! Lol this makes me so happy!!!
PIZZERT LOVE <3
I love hot yoga. After a 90 minute class I think EVERYONE feels like they’ve had a major workout. That said, for the past few months I have been getting more deeply involved in all the different types of yoga I can try & I’m just falling madly in love with it.
90 minutes is a good amount of time for yoga because I like to start my classes slow and end slow (with a good 5+ minute savasana at the end).
Usually, my body knows just what I need…but sometimes I can get into a ‘food groove’ where I crave the same thing over and over & it’s not always healthy. For instance I got into a pistachio ‘groove’ about a month ago and I couldn’t stop eating them! I mean, they’re healthy in appropriate doses, but I was eating half my weight in them daily… my stomach got really bad for about a week and since then I’ve realized I *need* to watch how many nuts I eat. (Same goes with mushrooms. Love ‘em but my tum doesn’t like to digest them.)
I usually follow my cravings, except when I know they’ll make me sick.
I love pecans! I have an awesome vegan scone recipe to share involving pecans and another ingredient that I know you adore
get pumped! Oh and send anything remarkably delicious with pecans to me for featured food Friday, okay?
I have a hot yoga groupon that I need to use. It’s just not nearly as appealing during the summer as it is when there is snow on the ground. I do snow angels in tank tops and shorts after class.
Weeee I’m pumped and I can’t wait for it!! And I am SO getting on that!! Pecan CITY!
Use it use it use it!! Or give it to me hehe
GORGEOUS GIRL!!! I have never tried hot yoga but I really really want too!! AWESOME WORKOUT!!! Bummer about the STORM!! That dessert pot thingee is calling my name! I LOVE PECANS and I always listen to my ice cream cravings!
I just came back from HOT yoga too! It’s only my second time. I love it. I didn’t realize it could burn 600-1000 calories/class. That’s a ton. My friend just became a teacher, so I’m going to all her classes. So excited. It’s just what I needed today after my long run
hi emma,
i love hot yoga! do they call it bikram yoga in england?
I used to go once or twice a week before I broke my foot…now I would like to get back into it, but new gym membership + $20 per yoga session = unhappy bank account!
i try to honour my cravings…except it kind of depends what’s in the fridge ie. if there are leftovers I will probably eat them even if I’m not really feeling them so they don’t go to waste!
Have a nice weekend
No apparently hot yoga and Bikram are two different things! Bikram is the set postures but hot yoga can just be anything I think! And haha SO with you on the expense!! Why can’t it be free?!
And I LIVE off leftovers! There’s always TONS in my fridge and freezer! Thank you, and YOU have an awesome week!! <3
I LOVE hot yoga!! I don’t take it anymore because of the price..which is sad!! But I hope that when I grow up and graduate and have a husband with a job (and/or a job of my own!!) I can afford to take it more often
So glad you enjoyed it!!
HAHA I am so with you there!! I definitely can’t take it often cos it is SO expensive, so I guess I’ll have to nab a rich hubby too!
I used to plan every meal of every day and never ate what I was craving and it made me miserable! Now I always eat what I crave- whenever I have it on hand, at least
Weirdly enough, I have been craving broccoli lately and ate a huge bowl today too 
I ALWAYS eat what I’m craving….its basically the only way I can decide what to eat during the day LOL!
woot woot,way to get ur sweat on at hot yoga!!! i’ve never taken the cranked up heat version but i know how awesome yoga can be for you..keep it up girl!!
i also have to say that ur stance on giving ur body wat it craves/needs is one of the best and healthiest ways to live. too many times, women especially, deprive themselves of what they TRULY want and that’s not right. heck, we work out like mad, we deserve to fuel up right! that said, keep on chowing the good stuff, sometimes it’s a chocolate delight and other times it’s a healthy fruit or veggie…oh and often times it’s oatmeal enhanced…lol.
YOu are adorable! Wet face–ha ha!! I like your message to eat what you crave! Well stated!!
Isn’t Bikram yoga the best?! Love how I felt after a sesh. You and your nuts!! Pecans today and Hazelnuts tomorrow! When is The Green Nut gonna sponsor you?!!
So happy that your yoga class was awesome! I seriously love yoga quotes and sayings teachers use. I’ve only done hot yoga once, but I brought my mat outside today in the sunshine, which was super hot and sweaty.
Your thoughts on cravings is perfect. There’s no need to deprive what our body needs. I think when people realize how good fruits/vegs/etc make us feel, we crave them more.
I’m loving pistachios these days!
I’ve just started Bikram yoga a few weeks ago! I have 4 classes left on my 10 week pass. I’m sad though, cause I have to go back to school in July and there’s no Bikram studio there.
About cravings- I try to listen to my cravings! I crave nuts a lot of the time and sometimes I’ll have an intense craving for brussel sprouts with nooch or kale chips! I love satisfying some strong craving. It’s a great feeling.
I have a really really really hard time listening to my cravings. For me, I often can’t distinguish cravings from disordered eating. Or most of the time honoring my cravings wouldn’t end up being a healthy diet overall. I feel like I need more control than just eating whatever I feel like eating at the moment.
I must listen to my cravings, or else I feel gross and not satisfied. And I totally had a broc craving tonight too and may or may not have eaten a hugh jass bowl of it roasted with garlic yummm, then followed it up later with dark chocolate and vanilla oats – normal? maybe not, but I was craving it
I adore hot yoga but my wallet does not, so I only take it when there is deal going on but I wish I could more often, it feels like heaven after class!
I am trying to become more in tune with my cravings and i’m liking it- it means I can enjoy oats more than once a day
!
That caramel soya pot/peanut butter cookie dessert looks EPIC!
hot yoga sounds amazing!! i LOVEE all nuts- i go thru phases… cashews, almonds, walnuts and pecans.. oh and pistachios are my top choices!…
I always eat wheat i crave! i do th EXACT same things as you.. hm what do i feel like.. BAM- have it!
I would love to try hot yoga! I just wish that somewhere nr me held a class. I love that you go with your cravings like that, as I posted last week its something I’m doing a lot more often now, in tandem with my meal planning and I’m really enjoying it!
Hey beautiful girl<3
I try to listen, but Im really not to good at it 
I bet it is really good- need to try it sometime too!
Im so happy for you that you listen to your body! that is one lucky body you have
I love Amanda, and her photos of food with pudding really makes me hungry- always
I love Ashtanga Yoga, and I have heared so much about Hot Yoga and really want to try it out!
My favorit nut is macadamia- crazy expencive, but sometimes worth it
Have a wonderful Sunday Emma <3
Nice work on the yoga. I do the 20 min podcast sometimes, and it is hard work to hold the poses. Harder than it looks!
I love those alpro pots- they do dark chocolate which is also amazing (they also do normal chocolate which is ok, but nowhere near as good as the dark choc ones).
Gosh my fave nut at the mo is brazil I think. But I love them all except for walnuts.
Wow sounds like your yoga class was amazing! And 90 minutes woaah! I’d love to try it one day
But it makes me happy so mehh whatever! Sometimes I can’t have what I crave though if I have veggies that are looking bit mouldy..mmm nice..and need eating so I’m like ‘argh okay, gotta eat you todayy!’ That’s the pain of living on my own – means I have to eat everything I buy..
I love love this post about honoring cravings. I’m slowly getting better at it YAY which kinda means I want sweet things all the time
As for nuts, I’m starting to explore the amazingness of them. First I was just obsessed with PB, then I became obsessed with almonds, then cashews and then the latest CASHEW BUTTER *dies* AMAZING.
My favorite nut to just eat are raw almonds – to lick off a spoon = peanut butter.
ooooh I wanna try hot yoga! Will have to keep my eyes out for a class. You’re making me feel unclean now…I still haven’t showered for 2 hours ewww. nice.
Cashews are my fave! And with regards to cravings, it depends where I am. When I’m at uni, if I gave into my cravings all the time I’d end up with so much wasted food which I definitely can’t afford. However, when I go home, then there is generally more food in the cupboards plus more people to eat the leftovers of things I don’t want – so I have exactly what I want! However, I think if I gave into all my cravings then my diet would be pretty rubbish. Hope you’ve had a looooovely weekend
Ive nver tried hot yoga, simply because I already sweat like a beast so I know if I do it in the heat I will be swimming in a pool of sweat!! (gross much? lol)
And I pretty much love all nuts. Trail mix is my go to snack. I just love the balance of all the flavors. DOnt get me wrong I love nuts by themselves as well, but something about mixing them just gets me excited
I loveeee hot yoga! It’s so great for your mind and body and it always makes me crave watery foods and fruit.
Good for you for honoring your cravings! I wish I was as ggod about that as you are but I’m working at it and getting better every day
My favorite nut is coconut, if it counts as a nut! And besides that I also like almonds, pistachios, and cashews. Even though I’m a total PB lover, I really don’t like to eat plain peanuts very much.
I love hot yoga! I always feel so good after—it’s what being high should feel like or something. I do find I’m ravenously hungry and thirsty for the rest of the day though.
I’m a big fan of honoring cravings. I think it’s often the body telling us what it needs.
I really want to try hot yoga. I was thinking of doing it next Saturday. When you do it, tell us how it goes. (:
Yes yes yes I want to try a hot yoga class!!!! Looks awesome! My favorite nut would have to be pistachios!
Favourite nut = almond. Cashews are nice too. Hot yoga sounds really interesting – never tried it though!
You’ve made me want to try hot yoga even more now. Curse the North East and its absence of decent yoga classes. I’ll have to make do with a radiator and my MTV Power Yoga DVD
Cashews (raw, not roasted) are most definitely my favourite nut. I just purchased some apricot kernels today though so I’m eager to try those.
Trying to listen to my cravings is dangerous territory for me because they’re rarely satsfied and once I’ve had the food I originally thought I wanted (usually in mass quantities) my brain just moves on to something else: it’s a constant battle and I think the reality is that I’m searching for something in food that isn’t there, that food simply can’t provie; comfort, love, security…who knows? Most of the time when I’m obsessing over a particular food what I’m really craving is a hug….
xxx
Well here you go…HUG (and it’s a big bear one too
)
P.S. Apricot kernals?! Woah they sound amazing!!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Hot Yoga!! I totally agree with you on the teacher making all the difference! I finally found one that I love and she is amazing!
gah, what is with the weather atm!? I’ve been soaked multiple times the past few days too – even with an umbrella! #boohiss
Hot yoga is on my list of things I soooo badly want to try :’( Sadly my nearest class is at least at 50min drive away!
Cravings errr YES! You’ve seen my oats :-p
That pudding is SO good isn’t it! I had one of those (the dark choc flavour is the best) every night for dessert for about 2 years
I think that our bodies are very clever “mechanisms” that always let us know what they need to function properly…So when my body tells me it needs half a jar of peanut butter, I better listen to it, or I´ll get to serious problems
)
Hot yoga is awesome, you get a good sweat, good stretch, good workout, good relax, good feeling…all in one:)
I love walnuts and brazilian nuts..and pistachios lately..
So glad yoga went well! I am all over cravings! Best way to go
As far as food cravings go, I generally honor them, unless I know I’m craving them only because I’ve been eating shit food for days. Usually with me, that’s how it works – if I eat like shit, then I start to crave crappy foods. If I’m being healthy, then I totally honor them.
I’ve never done hot yoga, and really only recently got into any kind of yoga practice, but I’d love to give it a try. I haven’t been practicing at all since I moved because money is tight!
I’m loving pecans right now, but my favorites are honey roasted peanuts and pecans!
Hot yoga class is on my list of things I want to do before I die
no, seriously I really do want to try it. Your review made me even more excited about it! I usually try to honor my cravings but sometimes I’m hungry but I don’t feel like eating anything if that makes sense at all. Especially when it’s so hot during the summer months. Favorite nut.. hmm that’s a tough one haha. I think I’d have to say cashews or almonds.
I think it’s great that you give your body what it wants. It’s so important to be in tune with your body! I’ve always wanted to try hot yoga. It sounds like an amazing workout.
Yayyyyyyyyyyy for yoga!!!! I don’t love hot yoga (I also don’t love hot tubs or saunas, so it makes sense)… but I am a fan of getting your body’s temperature to a higher degree before trying new challenges. I stick to Vinyasa yoga or Power Yoga- the arm and standing balances are much better to do when sweat isn’t dripping off your arm/face
I’m SO glad you liked it!!!! It will change your life
You are so right about listening to your cravings. People always seem to be so concerned about getting X and Y nutrient but they never really listen to what they really want. We don’t give our bodies enough credit, they are pretty dang smart!
I’m so glad you went to a hot yoga class! I’m addicted to it. I live far away from the studio so I don’t go as much as I used to but it’s been one of my goals to get my booty on over there more
You are by far my favorite blogger! As many young girls do, I went through a very tough time with weight loss and food and I truly LOVE food (ESPECIALLY chocolate and nut butters) an I always feel like I eat way more than everyone but I always read your posts to remind me to do what’s right for my body, which can be hard when some girls dont eat at all and i eat like a half a jar of nut butter a day! Thank you so much for being my inspiration to ignore those girls that starve themselves! You’ve almost motivated me to try and start running!
Also: do you have a recipe for your vegan shepherds pie? I didn’t see it under recipes!