Current mood:	confident
Entry tags:	yoga

Whew!

I got my "Yoga Conditioning For Weight Loss" DVD yesterday.  I have it on VHS, but have not tried it for a couple of years.  The last time I did it, I only got through the first 1/3 or so because it was so challenging.  Plus, I hate working out with videos instead of DVDs.  So I ordered it and it came yesterday and I worked on it today a bit.  I did make it all the way through, although I did want to quit at several points.  Since I had never really finished the whole thing, I didn't really have much of a point of reference as to how far into it I was.  I am not, by nature, a very graceful person, so it's difficult for me under even the best of circumstances.  I did learn some important things this time, however.

1)  DVDs are definitely far superior to videos specifically for exercise and such.  This DVD has an angle function where you can focus on the specific one of the four women demonstrating who is instructing at your own fitness level.  That really helped. 

2)  I need a yoga brick, strap and mat.  I thought I could make do with a large book, but that didn't cut it.

3)  Don't wear shoes or a pony-tail holder next time!

4)  Although it is almost exclusively stretching, ow.

5)  I can do things I was pretty sure I couldn't do.  Can't do them particularly well, but I can do them.

6)  My belly is extremely limiting.  "Knees to chest" in reality means "knees to big fat belly."  I also can barely get my legs together, which I did not know until I did this.  I have so completely got to lose this weight.  Enough, already.

7)  I am very much not limber.

8)  Delena observing the video as I work out to it and saying, "Agh!  Too many similes!!" does not help.  ;-)

9)  "Honor any resistance you feel" doesn't mean stop and eat cookies.

10)  We need a new word that is a deritive of "nameste" and means, "the God in me wants to greet the God in you, but the God in me is tired and wants to give up even more than it wants to greet the God in you, who seems to be doing just fine."  While we're renaming, these positions need new names too.  "Downward facing dog" should be called "upward facing ass."  "Mountain pose" should be called "can we do this just a second longer before you kill me again?"  I have already mentioned the "Knees to fat belly."  "Proud warrior" could be called, "Ha ha, nice try."  "Triangle" should be "see, we told you to get a yoga brick, y'cheap bastid."

I am thinking yoga will be a Tuesday Thursday thing with some biking to follow later in the day.  As I get better at it, I may look forward to it more and incorporate it into more days.

I never know when anything is on in prime time, but last night, I happened to go to bed right when "The Biggest Loser" was coming on, so I watched it all.  I was very impressed, but a little confused.  It was the family challenge, so two families of three people each were competing for who could lose the biggest percentage of combined body weight.  They stayed at the Biggest Loser ranch for 11 days, working out and dieting with personal trainers, then were sent back home to put it into action for 5 months before the final weigh in.  Everyone was fully successful by anyone's standards and looked wonderful.  They lost more weight than I would consider to be humanly possible in such a short amount of time.  In the first 11 days, they lost between 14-20 or so pounds.  Over 5 months, they each lost up to 80-90 pounds.  The work out for 2-3 hours a day.  There was not much mention of what they eat in a day.  It was a little daunting, when I consider what I have been doing so far.  It did give me more hope and I will likely watch it again next week.  It motivates and helps me when I can see other people succeeding.  If they can do it, I can do it.

It really helps to see people succeeding and convinces me that there really is such a beast.  I feel so much healthier, but not a whole lot smaller.  I guess that will come in time as the gentle changes I am making begin to take hold.  Lots more water, exercising (I am going to start shooting for every day instead of just 4-5 a week) and monitoring everything I eat to make sure I remain below my maximum calorie allowance, plus a sheer determination to do whatever it takes to meet this goal and maintain a healthy weight. 

To me, it feels like it is already done and in the meantime, I am wearing a fat suit that I'll upzip one day.  I am already there, I just have to do the things to catch me up to the "reality."

I can do it, I am doing it and it is done.