Skip to main content

Because status updates aren't enough

I've decided that I want a better outlet for chronicling my various ventures into getting skinny. Most people that know me are aware that I am always working on this. So I'm going to attempt to spare the people I know all the details whenever I see them by writing them down here instead. We'll see if that happens!

Mostly right now I just want to talk about Bikram Yoga.
I started the monthly low cost trial on Monday last week. I started that day at the 8:15 evening class. I made it through, but spent the majority of my time just standing there on my mat trying not to throw up or pass out. The room is heated to 105 degrees. This makes it kind of difficult the first few times. After class I felt really exhausted and refreshed at the same time. You sweat like CRAZY and there are so many toxins leaving your body, even if all you do is stand there and breathe.
I went again at the same time on Tuesday night. I didn't get the sick or dizzy stuff again and I did each pose once even if I couldn't do them twice like your supposed to. I felt so good afterward! Wednesday I went to an earlier evening class. I didn't have that sick feeling at all, but I felt totally drained and I couldn't even get through the whole class. I think part of it was that the room was hotter than it had been before, and the class was really full so there was more heat to contend with. There were also several more new people that left the room in the middle, and it's so much easier to give in when someone else has made it okay. I was so upset with myself for not at least staying in the room even if I couldn't participate. It felt like a step backwards.
Yesterday I went to class at 9am. The room was cooler than it had been in the evenings, but still pretty warm (probably around 103 degrees) and the class was small. I got through every pose and it's repeat except for three when my shoulders started cramping so hard I thought I would start to cry from the pain. I am still a bit sore from that and from being able to really push into some of the stretches more than I had been able to before. I talked to the instructor afterward about some things I could do to keep from cramping. He told me I might want to eat something small like fruit before class to give me that little bit of extra energy and potassium. I got to ask about some of the breathing techniques too because they use a couple of different methods that are different from singing.

So right now on a scale of 1-10
Balance - 3
Strength - 3
Endurance - 5
Flexibility - 4

I feel like these are the things that matter to me with yoga more than the losing weight or being skinny. Some of the poses I can't even begin to get into because I just have too much body fat getting in my way. I think my skills will improve as my body does.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Round 2 Day 21

After my hangover day this last week, I did a bunch of searching to figure out why. There were lots of helpful thoughts and suggestions on the Whole30 forum. I think for me, I probably wasn't eating enough - especially for breakfast. The meal template (which I never even heard of the first round) suggests that your protein at each meal should be the size of the palm of your hand, or fit in the palm of your hand. For me, this means 3 eggs rather than 1 or 2. I also started to add more fat to my meals because I'm supposed to be using a thumb sized amount in each meal. That's really a lot when you think about it. Making some small adjustments to my meals has helped. I read through some of my blog posts about going through this the first time around this same time. It's interesting because it wasn't better. For some reason my memory has me believing that 20 days in, I was cruising. I'm so glad I had this record to look back on. It reminds me that it's not as m

Round 2 Day 16

I wish this post had as much positive enthusiasm as the last, but it's been kind of a difficult week. I woke up this morning with a mild headache feeling like I had a hangover. I couldn't think straight and  just felt worn out. I put in for a sub for the morning and went back to bed. After some cold brew and Tylenol I forced myself to teach my afternoon classes, but I'm tired and still feel the pressure on my skull. Yesterday I woke up in a rage. Rage over the grocery shopping I spent the ENTIRE weekend trying to take care of. Rage over the food I couldn't eat to calm the rage. Rage over how I can't control anyone but myself. Rage over the stupidly over-positive encouraging crap in the day-to-day book I've been using. Shut up book! I'm mad and I want to be mad! I don't want to be told how I can fix it! I just want to be mad! These seem to be the monologues that keep going around and around in my head. Angry Feminist Monologue When did all of the g

Oh why not?

I try not to post too frequently - like twice a day - because I don't want anyone to stop reading my blog! But I can't help myself. I'm watching the biggest loser. This is dangerous for me because it's so inspiring that I want to get out and do all this crazy stuff to get healthier. I think that what I'm doing is probably sufficient for the time being. However I do have some different things I want to try once I've gotten a bit further with my couch to 5k program. Here's my list so far: Water Aerobics - I started to do this once and I loved it, but then I had a bunch of snafus that prevented me from getting into it regularly. I think that these can be resolved now since we've moved and I got a card for the local parks and rec. Some form of Martial Arts - I did this some as a teenager and I really enjoyed it. Problem is that it's not cheap and it's a bit embarrassing to do as an adult in a beginner class. I'm sure they have classes for t