Dave and I have been members of the LA Fitness in town for several months now. Like most people, we started off really strong, going almost every day to burn 45 minutes on the bike and do some strength training. I started taking classes and found my new love of yoga and somehow, our membership usage dwindled down to only going twice a week, on the nights of the classes.

On top of being lazy about the gym, we got lazy about eating at home. I’m not much of a cook and Dave has been extra busy with all the new things his job has thrown on him, so we were eating dinner out a lot. Weeks of buffalo wings, enchiladas, and pizza aren’t so friendly on the waistline. Or the butt.

I stepped on the scale for the first time in a long time last Sunday. I generally don’t get on the scale because SCALES ARE EVIL. We all know that. I estimate how much I weigh based on how I look in my clothes. And lately, I haven’t been very happy with my appearance.

By no means do I think I am excessively overweight, but I’m definitely not happy with the number on that scale. Because I’m a girl, I’m not telling you the number, but I will say it’s the most I’ve ever weighed before and it isn’t because yoga has built me 20 lbs. of sexy, lean muscle. As I’ve gotten older, my weight has shifted to different places of my body. Places that make people ask how many months along I am.
Since whining and crying won’t do anything to change it, I decided it’s time to make some goals. I’m going to Vegas in a month and I’d like to shed off 10 lbs by then. It sounds like a lot, but if you break it down by week, it’s about 2.5 lbs that I’d have to lose. 2.5 lbs a week a doable.

Dave and I agreed that there will be no eating out during the week. It’s only been a few days, but so far we’ve been committed. I’ve been packing healthy lunches and meal planning so we have stuff to eat for a few days. I’ve also stopped drinking anything but water. I was getting seriously addicted to ice tea and diet soda. We’ve also committed to adding at least one more day a week to our gym routine. I do yoga classes Monday and Wednesday nights so more than likely we’ll go on Friday.

There was a discussion on 20sb about the Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred, so I picked it up and tried it tonight. If you’ve seen The Biggest Loser, you know that Jillian is basically a drill sergeant in spandex. She’s tough, sometimes mean, and quite frankly, I’d probably be scared of her in person. She acts no different in this video than she does on The Biggest Loser. There is no stopping. You’re up down, up, down. PUSH UPS! JUMPING JACKS! ABS! At one point, I stopped to get a drink and was afraid she was going to yell at me.

After 10 minutes, I was visibly sweaty and winded. I may not be super overweight, but I am not fit by any means. I’ve seen an improvement in my strength since starting yoga, but I have a long way to go before I can knock out push-ups and my endurance is pretty much non-existent.

By the time I got to the second round of ab exercises, my stomach was tied into a knot. A burning, piercing, knot. Even though I thought I might die, I managed to get through the workout without falling over or passing out.

And now I am sore. Oh so sore. My shoulders hurt. My arms hurt. My legs hurt. Where’s the Tylenol?!

But I’m also determined. I know I can do this and if I stop now, Jillian might come through the TV and hurt me.

Tags: fitness, me, weight loss

Last week, I experienced such a huge personal victory that I can’t even believe I forgot to mention it.

Dave and I have been going to the gym for a few months now. Ya know, trying to get in shape and all. I’m far from in shape, even though my parents are health nut, personal trainers. We’d been going to the gym and average of 3x a week, just doing cardio and some light weight training. One night, as we were checking in, I happened to look at the class schedule and noticed that yoga was starting in 10 minutes. I jumped the gun and decided I would give it a shot.

I had really no clue what was going through my head. I had never taken a yoga class in my whole life. The only thing I knew about it was that Madonna did it and she could turn herself into a pretzel. But I’m half of Madonna’s age, so surely I could do this!  I walked into the class, took off my socks and shoes and grabbed a mat. And 10 minutes later I began the most difficult work out of my life.

Yoga is no walk in the park, and that first night was not a beginners class. The instructor had us walking our legs up the wall and was demonstrating poses I didn’t think a human body could get into. My shoulders were sore, my legs were shaking, but it felt great at the same time. It wasn’t like running on a treadmill or doing 45 minutes on the elipitical. It was the huge challenge that I was looking for.

The classes were Monday and Wednesday nights at 7:45 and I decided after that first class that I would continue to go on a regular basis. I asked for yoga gear for Christmas and received some yoga pants and mats. I felt like I was improving slightly each class. My balance was definitely getting better and I could do most of the poses fairly well.

Last week, at the end of class, I was packing up my mats and putting my shoes back on when my yoga instructor came up to me. She said she noticed that I was coming a lot and wanted to say that she could really see an improvement.

!!!

I’ve never considered myself exceptionally good at anything, especially when it came to fitness, so hearing this was exactly what I needed. Ever since then, I’ve been trying even harder to improve. I’ve never been more excited to go work out. This is coming from a person who sits at the computer for hours playing The Sims 3.

Sometimes, it’s just those simple acknowledgements that get your butt into gear…not that I was thinking of quitting or anything, but now I’m more motivated than ever to continue and get really good at this. I doubt you’ll read this Heidi, but thanks for all that you have done!

Tags: fitness, motivation, yoga

I can’t believe it’s already December. This entire year seemed to fly by. I haven’t really bought any Christmas presents, mainly because I still don’t have any idea what to get anyone. I hate this time of year.

I started taking yoga classes at the gym. Since I work farther away from home now, I haven’t been able to make a lot of the classes I would like to take because they all start around 7:00. Luckily, there are yoga classes at 7:45 Monday and Wednesday nights, so it fits perfectly into my schedule. I’ve never done yoga before and I will admit to struggling, but I want to continue because I feel so good afterwards-all stretched out. I have no flexibility or balance anymore and I know if I continue to do this it will help a lot. Maybe I’ll ask for some yoga gear for Christmas.

Saturday is Brenda’s memorial service. It’s going to be really rough seeing her family, especially her kids. I know there’s going to be so many people there. She was loved by many. And if she was here still, she’d tell everyone to stop crying over her and to smile because you never know who’s looking. So I’m going to try my hardest not to cry that day, and smile, even if it’s just for a second.

Tags: Christmas, family, fitness, life, yoga