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

I thought I would never say this in my lifetime, but I’m really enjoying going to the gym. I actually look forward to going. I’ll be sitting at my desk at work thinking to myself, “I can’t wait to go to the gym tonight and workout.” I’m addicted. I actually feel like I NEED to go. If I don’t go, the day just feels all out of whack. I need my fix. The gym is my crack.

I haven’t lost any weight, which is somewhat depressing since I’ve been going 5 days a week for the past 2 1/2 weeks. I figured I’d lose at least a pound, but it hasn’t happened yet. Dave says I look thinner and I’m probably just gaining muscle. I’m pretty sure he’s just being nice though, ha!

I’ve really stepped it up this week. Yesterday I rode eight miles on the bike and burned 300 calories. Today I went crazy and took it up to ten. TEN I SAID. A few months ago, ten miles on anything would sound impossible. Now it’s all I want to do.

I’ve been eating a TON. All this exercise has turned me into a garbage disposal. I used to be able to go until about 1:00 before I got to the point where I wanted to take my lunch break. Now, 11:00 rolls around and I’m feeling hungry and by noon I’m like HOLY CRAP I HAVE TO EAT. I’m been taking fruit and healthy snacks to work to curb the hunger. It’s working pretty well.

I have to say I feel a lot better than I expected I would. I’m ever happier now that we joined this gym and are starting to get on the right track to a healthier lifestyle.

Tags: fitness

Yesterday Dave and I joined LA Fitness, a new gym that opened up by us. We worked out yesterday and today and so far I’m enjoying it. Dave actually woke me up and was all ready to go this morning. I’m glad that he is into it as much as I am (although he says he is sore).

I’m excited to start taking classes. On Tuesday I’m going to do the kickboxing class and Thursday night a salsa dance class. I haven’t danced in a very long time and have never done salsa, but I’m always up for trying something new. Maybe I could even get Dave to do a class with me!

I already feel a difference in the amount of energy I have after only working out for 2 days and I’ve only lifted weights and did some light cardio. If I keep this up, I’ll be a ball of energy always.

Tags: fitness

Today, for the second time in my life, I played tennis. I’ve never been much of an athletic person, so I’m sure this was incredibly comical to Dave and the other people at the tennis courts that were actually good at tennis. I managed, to my surprise, to hit the ball over the net quite a few times, but whenever I tried to backhand the ball I’d either wiff or hit it into the other court. This pissed me off quite a bit, but Dave said for only playing twice I actually did pretty well.

I’d like to try tennis again since I’m sure it’s a great workout. Running on the treadmill can get extremely boring and this is something that Dave and I can do together. Hopefully I’ll get my swing down so I’m not a threat to people playing on other courts.

Tags: fitness, tennis, workouts

Dave and I have been going bike riding almost everyday for the past 2 weeks. Today was an exceptionally good day because it was cool out. The past month it has been unbearably hot, but a cold front came in and cooled things down to the 70’s. We rode about 4 miles today and took a new route on a bike trail.

I’ve been doing really well as far as sticking to my diet and goals. One of my major goals was to stop drinking coffee and I’m proud to say that I haven’t had a cup of coffee in over a week! Chrissy has been supplying me with Tazo tea from Starbucks. It’s great having a sister that works at Starbucks because I get lots of free hookups! I’ve tried the zen and orange tea so far and they both taste really good.

I haven’t been on a scale to see if I lost any weight, but this morning when I got out of the shower I was very happy with the way my midsection was looking. Just a few more months of this and I’ll be ready for a bikini.

Tags: fitness