San Francisco Airport: SFO is easy, healthy and green?!

Have you been to terminal 2 yet in the San Francisco International Airport?  I usually travel through United or Southwest Airlines, but this week I got the privilege of flying Virgin Airlines, which brought me to Terminal 2.

First thing that I saw, the entire T.S.A. staff was smiling.  I thought I was in the twilight zone.  Airport employees SMILING?  Seemed ironic.  But that wasn’t the only eye-opening thing that I saw.

After exiting through security, I looked up and squealed.  This is what I saw, in real life…

The bright blue lights and silence of the area quickly enticed my yoga blood.  I picked up my stuff and walked right in.  The small room is extremely blissful and completely empty.  After rushing to the airport in SF traffic, this little room quickly brought me to ease.  The temperature is perfect, the colors are warm and most importantly, it was EMPTY.  I did my routine, closed my eyes for a second and felt relaxed.  I chatted with an employee, and she let me know that it often stays pretty empty.  Needless to say, I believe that I now have a private yoga room every time I fly from Terminal 2.

After my flow, I needed to grab some grub before my flight.  I’m used to my normal routine; grab a water, some trail mix and hit the ground running to my gate.  To my surprise (the day was full of them), I walked into Napa Farms Market, about 100 yards from the yoga room.  The places was unreal.  All organic, local food with a full Fresh Rotisserie and Sandwich bar.  You can even buy fresh fruit and salads to go…who would have thought!

My snacks…Lydia’s Organic Kale Chips and Evolution Super Green Drink.

 

You have really cleaned yourself up, SFO.  I am impressed that you have transformed to target healthy travelers, and I thank you. 

I WILL BE BACK!

Oakley Women take over Napa Valley…Part 2

I had the amazing opportunity to head back to Napa with the Oakley Women’s Perform Beautifully Contest.  Last year, I was so nervous and overwhelming with the inspiring women around me, it all seemed like such a blur.  After the most life changing year with Oakley Women‘s, I felt a whole new vibe as this year’s weekend festivities kicked off.  I was more confident and passionate about the brand that I was there to represent.  I was excited to share this passion with the new 10 brand ambassadors, and show them the healthy, fit, and fun ways of the Oakley lifestyle.  We got to run the 5K through the Trefethen Winery, bike our new Trek Bikes through 3 more wineries, hike and picnic in Bothe Napa Valley State Park as well as tour and watch a presentation at the Culinary Institute of America (the original C.I.A.).  We couldn’t of asked for better weather, and had even better times together!

New Asics NEON lightweight running shoes!

The new 10 ambassadors and a few of the original 10 getting ready for our 5K!

Learning about the Rolling O lab from Weber

Is there really ever enough wine for 150 women?

 

And here’s the video from the weekend!

Thank you to everyone who worked SO hard to put this successful weekend together! 

Oakley Love!

TRAVEL

Get out, see the world and grow into the better you! Thank you Henry Rollins!

CYS Top 10 Food Websites for Healthy Eating Inspiration

Oh She Glows Recipe Blog

Do you ever find yourself standing in front of your refrigerator scratching your head in deep contemplation of what to make for dinner? .. well, we find ourselves from time to time sick of the same ol’ same old go to meals and need some healthy & easy eating inspiration. Therefore we’ve compiled our top 10 food website & recipe blog list to help you out next time you find yourself in the same predicament.

California Yoga Sport Top 10 Food Websites

for Healthy Eating Inspiration

1. Oh She Glows Recipe Blog

2. 72 Healthy Salad Recipes by Whole Living

3. 52 Meals Under 12 Minutes

4. Envy My Cooking Blog

5. Happy Cow – guide to healthy eating restaurants in your area!

6. Legally Delish – my friend Chelsea’s amazing food blog!!!

7. Be a conscious eater & read up on healthier safer ways to buy, consume, & grow food at Eat Drink Better.

8. Inventive Vegan recipes on The Clothes Make The Girl Blog.

9. Savoring Life with Anna Costa Blog

10. My amazing yoga teacher & inspirational mentor Mark Knowles’ vegan recipes on his website Bahama Yogi.

Happy Eating!

Have any suggestions of your own to add to the list?! Comment below or message us!

#TGIF Weekly Top 10: March Madness

1. Your New Weekly Motto

2. Best Food Blog to follow The Clothes Make the Girl – Both inspiring & inventive healthy recipes!

3. Video to Check Out: Oakley Progression Sessions weekend recap in Mammoth Mountain, California.

4. Need to eat healthy on the go!? Check out Women’s Health Magazine Best 125 Packaged Food list. Suuuuper helpful for those looking to make the RIGHT decision on the go!

Our Favorites from the list: Pure Organic Cranberry Orange Bar, Food Should Taste Good Chips, & Kashi Cereal!

5. Most clever play on March Madness: ESPN Women’s Champion of Awesome Bracket. Be sure to Like them on Facebook too for more amazingly awesome stuff like this!

Road Trips or Cocktails? That is the question.

6. Top 125 Triathlon Blogs of 2012 – Check outour fellow Oakley Ambassadors who made the list, Marni Sumbal with TriMarni & Katie Morse with ‘Tri’ing for Pro.

7. Product LOVE of the week! Oakley Crowbar Snow Goggles – Check out CA Yoga Sport Trainer Lacey Calvert’s product review here & sign up for the Perform Beautifully Collective group while you check out the site!

Oakley Crowbar Snow Goggles

8. Best song to add to your running playlist this week: Young Blood by The Naked & Famous.

9. Random DIY blog you should check out just because its plain awesome – A Beautiful Mess.

10. Motivational Quote #2 just for that extra push through the weekend.

Have a great weekend!!! #TGIF

Friday’s Top 10 List #TGIF

Friday’s Top 10 List of things to check out, read up on, or cook!

1. 5 Ways to Eat Healthier via Elephant Journal – 1. Learn to Cook, 2. Shop More, Buy Less…find out the rest here!!

2. Photo of the Day, Week, Month, … hell, Year!!!

3. Recipe to Try! Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Garlic Aoili via Anna Costa Food blog

4. Must watch video of the week. It’s not Fitness, It’s Life. #Stunning

5. Zucchini Chip recipe! YUM!!!

6. Newest eco conscious home decor item to add to your humble abode, Green Terrariums! Check out on the Wit & Whistle on how to make your own!

7. Best way to kill time. Follow us on Pinterest!!!

8. Must purchase work out top! Try out Oakley Women’s Line the Extend Top & enjoy its antibacterial, moisture wicking, & quick dry fabric! Product tested in SUP, Running, & Yoga conditions!

9. Recommended Reads: The Alchemist, Steve Jobs, Light On Yoga. Best way to spend a rainy day or in San Francisco’s case a whole week!.. reading a book with a cup of Black Tea-remember it helps fight off colds!

10. Enter the Perform Beautifully Contest to become the next Oakley Women Ambassador!!!!

Have a happy healthy weekend!!!

Grocery Shopping: A Peak Inside CA YogaSport’s Kitchen Cabinets

Grocery Shopping with California Yoga Sport

Getting a solid 8 hours of sleep. Pushing your fitness limits & hitting thresholds. Dynamic training schedules. Stretching. Resting. Listening to your body. These are all important factors when training as an performance athlete, however one major part of this balanced equation is nutrition. Unless you have the unique luxury of working solely as a sponsored performance athlete, you most likely run into the dilemma of maintaining a consistent & balanced diet amidst a chaotic work schedule. Whether instructing 4 back-to-back heated core power yoga classes in one day or sitting at a desk from 9-5, it can be a challenge to maintain that athletic mindset when it comes to diet & nutrition even in the workplace. Which leads us to the question.. What are the must-have grocery tips & items for athletes?

That question is not so easy after all. We each have very different tastes in foods & snacks that keep us powered through the day, but we definitely know what works for us! Therefore we decided to take a peak into our own kitchen cupboards to discover what items in our pantry are absolutely necessary for our performance & training. Check out below what we cook up & use daily to keep our bodies fueled!

 

 

CYS Tips to Grocery Shopping for Performance

CYS Shopping Cart

1. Stock & buy only what you need for up to 3 days at home. Loading up on fresh healthy fruits and vegetables isn’t just altruistic, it truly does make a difference to your cooking palate & encourages you to eat seasonally! Grab just a few of everything so you don’t waste food if it spoils. Be sure to avoid overly processed foods or any items with preservatives.

2. Keep it colorful. As pictured above in our shopping cart we have a range of colors. Keeping your dishes colorful will ensure that you are getting a mix of many vitamins & minerals which helps your meals stay nutritionally dense. Kale, avocado, bell peppers, and eggplant usually help knock out some of the Roy G. Biv rainbow we were going for.

3. Bring one reusable grocery bag. Keep it eco friendly & bring your own grocery bags. Another plus to this tactic is if you only bring one bag it will help limit your purchases to fewer items. This will encourage you to frequent your grocer more often & will empower you to avoid those bulk & unnecessary purchases of processed or overly packaged foods.

CYS Kitchen Cupboard

4. Purchase raw & unprocessed foods. Raw nuts, raw unblanched organic almond or peanut butter, Lara bars, and dried fruit are some of our must haves at the store. The whole ‘Rawvolution‘ has some pretty big takeaways as far as diet & nutrition are concerned for athletes & non-athletes alike. In a society full of quick & easy goods prepackaged to our liking the more processed a product has become the less nutrients it contains. Going back to our ancient ways of eating raw food allows our digestive system to naturally process & gain the most from those items such as nuts & vegetables.

5. Add Wheat Grass Drink Powder to the shopping list. This powder is vegan, gluten free, & raw. No excuses not to add this powder into your morning smoothies. Wheat Grass powder provides a natural balanced source of phytonutrients and carotenoids, 2x more dietary fiber than an 8 gram serving of oat bran, 2x more iron than a 30 gram serving of fresh spinach, and an excellent source of folic acid, beta carotene and vitamin C. So much good stuff wrapped up in a powder that can be virtually added to any juice, smoothie, or recipe you choose.

6. Pick up some Apple Cider Vinegar. If our fellow yoga extraordinaire, Kathryn Budig, swears by it and we do too than we had to add it to our list. If your sweet tooth craving is coming on post dinner grab a spoonful of this to help curb the urge for reaching for something sweet. After pounding this stuff it will help to stabilize your blood sugar levels & has also proven benefits to  help with allergies, flu, diabetes, heartburn & high cholesterol.

7. Maca Root. Don’t ask questions, just know that this Incan root will soon be replacing your morning cup of coffee & is the ultimate CYS secret superfood!

Happy Grocery Shopping!

We hope that you find these tips helpful! Feel free to send us your personal favorite grocery items that fuel your body! Always room to add more to this list above!

Homemade Snack Foods: CYS Granola Bar Recipe

Ever have that craving for a quick snack …but not just any snack.. You desire something so fresh, pure, & organic that you were able to make it in your very own kitchen from scratch?! Yes..just like Mom used to do.

After the Yoga Journal Conference this past weekend, while amidst a 4 class series with only 30-minute breaks in between sessions it was tough to keep up with our bodies hunger and we only had access to quick fixes like Luna Bars. Therefore as Monday rolled around, to get back on track we were determine to seek out an alternative recipe that worked for our taste buds, schedules & lifestyle when it came to a quick snack bar. We figured if we can find a way to put a little extra effort & TLC into the things we eat on-the-go that snack foods didn’t need to be such a processed & packaged product. Say goodbye to overly processed snack foods after you try this recipe below. A definite new California Yoga Sport favorite!

CYS Homemade Granola Bars

CYS Homemade Granola Bars

What You’ll Need:

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup roasted soy nuts

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1/4 hemp seeds (CYS fav!!!)

1/4 chia seeds

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tbsp orange zest

1 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped or raisins

*Option to add raw dark chocolate chips for that sweet tooth craving.. or for the ultimate healthy alternative make sure its organic dark chocolate with at least 60% raw cacao if we want to get specific 😉

*Feel free to add or substitute any of your favorite nuts to suit your personal tastes!

Steps To Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13″x9″ baking pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a food processor, pulse soy nuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, & hemp seeds until roughly chopped, about 30 seconds.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine chopped nut mixture, oats, dry milk, brown sugar, salt,  & cinnamon.

4.In a small bowl, whisk together egg, yogurt, & orange zest.

5. Pour wet mixture into large bowl containing dry ingredients. Add cherries or raisins. Mix well until all ingredients are combined. Pour into prepared baking dish & smooth with knife until batter is evenly distributed.

6. Bake for 25 minutes. Do a crossfit challenge 😉 or meditate. Remove from oven & allow to cool completely before cutting into 15 equal-size (3″x2″) bars. Per bar its approx. 170 cals packed with loads of protein & fiber! Be sure to wrap the bars individually in saran wrap for on-the-go convenience. Enjoy!

CYS Homemade Granola Bars

Have any recipes of your own for quick & easy ways to eat healthy in rush?! Please share & contact us by commenting below or email us here!

Pictures Worth A Thousand Words: Images to Stay Motivated

Visual reminders are important for staying positive & motivated. Print out one of the below images & post it where you will see it most often. We promise there will be a huge change in your attitude & energy towards pushing yourself to new heights this year. Be sure to put it in a place you will see it often, we suggest inside your bathroom cabinet or right by your light switch on the way out the door!

Bring. It. On. Life.

Life of an Athlete

Be Inspired by Greatness.

Don't waste time making excuses. Just run.

Aim high for your goals. It'll be worth it!

Create Yourself.

Run because you can.

New Years Resolution Eating Habits: 5 Tips & 3 Great Recipes to Create A Fresh Start

Feeling like that New Years Resolution to eat better, fresher, & healthier in 2012 is a bit overwhelming? Have no fear.. a few simple recipes is all you need to get started. First, not without some California Yoga Sport tips on how to get those healthy eating habits to stick!

Tips to Creating a Healthy Eating Habit:

1. Keep it simple. For instance.. Eat when you’re hungry… Don’t try to make anything too fancy – the more raw, organic, & basic ingredients you use the better! …The less complicated you make the foods you eat the easier it will be to keep up with incorporating those foods in your daily diet.

2. Rotate the same 5 meals for a whole week. It sounds boring for your tastebuds, but the less focus you put on the rich & different foods you crave the more likely you will eat to fuel your body. Plus your digestive system appreciates the regularity & predictability of the food intake – less stress on the tummy!

3. Prep your food for the week. If you are a busy athlete & working adult its tough to make the time for healthier on-the-go food selections & may force you to either sacrifice quality nutritionally balanced foods for quick bites at odd hours. By cutting up vegetables or fruit & having them stored in large tupperware or individually packaged reusable cups is an easy alternative to always have the healthy option at your finger tips. Make it a habit on Sunday & Wednesday nights to grab fresh fruits at your local market & prep for the days ahead.

4. Avoid looking at the clock for meal times. Eat when you get hungry as mentioned in point #1. This is important because your body knows best & with the social protocol to eat breakfast at 8, lunch at noon, dinner at 6, late night snack at 9… You feel the pressure to follow everyone else’s habits. Break it off! Be sure to listen to your body & stomach to become in tune with what it needs. Majority of the time you aren’t really even hungry, you are just dehydrated! … which brings us to point #5.

5. Drink lots of water. No joke. You’ve heard this a million times. So choose to listen this time around. Hydration is key & will probably help curb all of your poor eating habits by eliminating your misinterpreted hunger pains.

Now.. Three new recipes to try that will make you fall in love with salads again!

Weekend Glow Kale Salad by Oh She Glows

Black Bean Salad by Once Upon A Chef

Citrus Salad by WholeLiving.com

Have any favorite recipes or tricks of your own that help you get back on track with healthy eating habits?! Feel free to share your ideas below in the comments section or email them to us! We’d love to hear about new & fun ways to keep our bodies fit & healthy!