Hey Folks!!!
I know I have been MIA, but I have still been actively focusing on losing this unwanted weight. Ever since I hit 20 pounds I have just been maintaining. I keep going to my weight watchers meetings, which offers great support and keeps me accountable for my weight. So for the past two months I have been back n forth between -18 and -20 pounds. You don't know how horrible you can feel when you go to weigh in and the lady says "you went up 0.40 pounds". Now most folks will think that is no big deal, but those +.40 and -.60 pounds add up and can make or break your week. Weighing in, going to meetings and checking in my my girl who is also doing WW is a life saver. If I weigh in and they said I have went up .60 pounds you better believe I am working my but off to get it back down for the following week. The problem is once I go back down and weigh in with a loss, I guess I don't work as hard the following week and what do you know .40 pounds has snuck up on me.
So basically for the past two months I have done a great job at maintaining but have failed to lose more weight. That means I have to face the one thing I have been avoiding throughout this entire year. EXERCISE...Yep I'm definitely not crazy about it. But I can no longer avoid it. The last time I lost a significant amount of weight it was a combination of diet and doing Bikram Yoga 3 or more times a week. I lost 25 pounds in 3 months doing just that. So you would think I would just go do the yoga again, but I'm just not as Gung-Ho about going to Bikram as before and I don't want to waste my money. Bikram is very expensive and I only want to sign up when I know I'm serious about it. Shoot...I'm already wasting money on my Golds Gym membership. I actually went a couple times last month...Woo Hoo for me…Yeah Right. I know that is just flat out pitiful.
So I'm just going to dive right in and go all out for the last three months of this year. My sister has done the P90X 90 day challenge a couple times. She is currently going into her last 30 days of P90X. A couple of her girlfriends are thinking about doing it in October as well. So I decided to dedicate 1.5 hours of my day to P90X for 90 days starting Oct 2nd!!!
Hey All! I am still here and still sticking to the diet plan. On the "Dieters Gone Wild" day on Saturday I was surprised to find myself not very hungry and did not have all the major cravings that i had days before. In fact I kind of forced myself to eat certain things just because I knew I wouldn't get the chance to do it until next Saturday.
The idea of doing this blog and sharing it with people I know is already starting to work its' wonders. Saturday I was walking in the mall trying to find something to wear to my sister's Bday dinner. As I gazed into the window of Godiva I could almost taste the chocolate on my tongue and I almost backed up to walk into the store. But when I looked up I locked eyes with a friend and follower of this blog. Now what are the chances of that happening right when I was ready to go buy some chocolate covered strawberries and a box of chocolate :-) I know it was on my cheat day, but i planned on buying a box and know I wouldn't have finished them all on Saturday. I doubt she even realized that she saved me from consuming about 3000 calories. So thank you Tiffini for popping up when you did.
On Sunday I had planned on going to the 12:00 Bikram class. I was still in bed at 10:30 and felt myself wanting to skip out. My girlfriend Akilah called and said she couldn't make the 12:00 class but was going at 6 so I said I would do the same. Well when 6 started getting closer I started to feel lazy and thought to myself "I'll go tomorrow". Sent a text to Akilah asking if she wanted to go tomorrow instead and she said "No, we have to go today". My first Bikram class since 2009 and almost 50 pounds heavier was not how I remembered it in the past. It felt horrible to bend down and feel my stomach getting in the way of me stretching. I have always had trouble doing exercise because of my chest (I am very top heavy), but never because of my GUT. I couldn't even lay flat on my back and feel comfortable because my butt was lifting me off the ground...SMH...I have to get this weight off. I think I did more sitting on my mat breathing during each pose than actually doing the poses.
Well I am going to sign off here even though I could go on for hours.
And That's All Folks!
My cheat day meal at Eatonville: Fried chicken, mac n cheese, greens and the smallest biscuit in the world. Yep that is a little teeny tiny biscuit next to fork. LOL
A lot of folks have been asking me about Bikram Yoga. If you have never been to a class before you should definitely try it out at least once in your life. Most studios offer discounted classes for first time Bikram students. Here is a link to the Bikram class locator: http://www.bikramyoga.com/studioLocator.php
It really does do your body wonders and you will start to see and feel results very quickly. You will sleep like a baby, have tons of energy the next day, and your skin will be looking better than ever.
Below I will share what I experienced when I was first introduced to Bikram Yoga.
Posted 1/8/2008
A Good Friend of mine kept talking about this yoga class she had been taking and how I needed to go. she had been talking about it for over a month, but I already had gym membership at Golds and didn't see why i should go someplace else when they had Yoga at Golds. Plus i never really got into the Yoga thing. I was trying to loose weight so always went for the Cardio type of stuff. Well November 9th my girlfriend called me and asked again, "You should go to BikramYoga with me 2morrow morning". I was like "You are right on time with this, I am willing to give it a shot".
So I met her at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday. I had no idea what I was in for, all I was told was to bring a yoga mat, towel, 2 bottles of frozen water, dress light(half naked) and be prepared to sweat!!!! So I walk in with my friend with an open mind. There is a small lobby and everyone takes their shoes off when they walk in and place them into cubbies. The aroma of Lavender is in the air. I see a lot of slim folks walking around with really skimpy outfits on. Anywhoooo, I take my socks and shoes off, take of my sweatshirt and head to the Yoga Room.
I walk in and this blanket of heat hits me in the face. The room is about 110 degrees and my skin already feels moist. I lay my mat down in the back row, sit my frozen waters beside my mat and take a seat on the floor. Me and my friend are whispering back in forth like 2 school girls. I notice alot of people are laying flat on there back, just basically chillen. My friend says we are supposed to do that so that are body can warm up and get use to the air in the room. It also helps relax you before the class starts. So the instructor walks in. He is a very lean man with some really small tight speedo booty shorts on... That's enough about him.
On The very first exercise we did, I almost busted out laughing. We had to breath in deep with are head pushed forward (people sounded like vacuum cleaners, I have never heard such deep breathing in my life) and then breath out pushing are head far back We did this like 10 times. 15 minutes into the class I am bending down touching my toes and a water fall of sweat comes pouring down my face, blinding my site. I peer through my lashes and noticed my legs are drenched, as if I just stepped out of the bathtub. When I stand up straight, all the blood comes rushing back to my head and my heart is pounding as if I just ran a 100 Meter dash. Several times I just had to stand there and breath to keep myself together. The instructor tells us, whatever you do, "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM" just sit down and breath, but "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM". So we are approaching about 45 mins into the class and I'm thinking "thank goodness, I am just about 'WELL DONE', and ready to be taken out of the oven". I stretch a lil harder and hold the poses a lil longer because I know we are almost done. Then the instructor says "Ok, that concludes the warm-up, now lets start Yoga". My thoughts go blank, then I regain consciousness "WHAT THE F%$@, THE WARMUP". I look over to my Girl and ask "How long is this class", she giggles and says "90 minutes".
30 minutes later I am laying flat on my back, just chillen in "Savasana" with an ice cold wet towel on my face that has been soaked in Lavender. I am soaking wet from head to toe and feel like I just ran 10 miles in 90 degree weather. The funny thing is, I feel GREAT!!!!! I always love that feeling you get after an intense workout, I just usually really dislike or don't enjoy the exercises you have to do to get to that point. But I actually liked doing those Yoga poses and I was eager to try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I signed up for the Intro Month and went back the very next Day. After that I was hooked and going 3+ times a week. That's 600+ calories burned every class
THE RESULTS AFTER 4 WEEKS
After the first 4 weeks of counting calories, going to Bikram(HOT) Yoga, and writing everything down I lost 16 pounds. The only thing I could say was "WOW, IT REALLY WORKS". 12 pounds in 4 weeks and an extra 4 pounds if you exercise.
THE RESULTS AFTER 8 WEEKS
It's January 7th and I have lost 25+ pounds. I did not loose the 16 pounds in the 2nd 4weeks because I couldn't afford the Bikram Yoga during the Holiday Months. That class is expensive ($150 for a unlimited month), and if you sign up you want to be able to go to class as much as possible to get your dollars worth. So I opted out for the month of December with all the holiday parties, time off from work, shopping for gifts ect... I still continued to count my calories and even started taking Kukuwa Dance workout at golds gym, since I did have a membership :-)
Today(Jan 7th) I will be going back to Bikram Yoga, I miss it so much. Every time I took that class I left feeling like I could breath so much better, the best restful sleep, tons of energy the next day, skin looking better than ever. I just felt GOOD. I will let you know if this euphoric feeling returns after the class.
AFTER BIKRAM YOGA ON JAN 7thWow, it was sooooo Great!!!! I was running late and rushed to get there and when I arrived, the room was packed. I have never seen so many people in the class. we usually only have 2 rows of people and today we had to squeeze in a third row. The class was great and I was sooo surprised at my performance. I have lost a little more weight since the last class I took about 3 weeks ago. I could really tell the difference...I was hitting poses I never hit before and didn't need to take as many breaks as I used to.
Chillen in "Savasana"
At times you feel like a kid again practicing tumbling
No carbs...doesn't this look yummy. Yeah right. But it was tasty!
Collard greens w/ smoked turkey wings, baked chicken tenderloins and mashed navy beans :-)
I have been drinking my water...but i really want to drink some diet soda. I have also been drinking alot of unsweetened tea with lemon.
So a couple of my girlfriends have mentioned doing Bikram Yoga again. I think I'm going to give it a Go since I really liked the hot yoga class and did wonders for my weight loss in the past. A couple years ago I wrote about my first experience with Bikram yoga...i dug it up and decided to share with you. Enjoy!
Posted 1/8/2008
A Good Friend of mine kept talking about this yoga class she had been taking and how I needed to go. she had been talking about it for over a month, but I already had gym membership at Golds and didn't see why i should go someplace else when they had Yoga at Golds. Plus i never really got into the Yoga thing. I was trying to loose weight so always went for the Cardio type of stuff. Well November 9th my girlfriend called me and asked again, "You should go to BikramYoga with me 2morrow morning". I was like "You are right on time with this, I am willing to give it a shot".
So I met her at 8:00 in the morning on Saturday. I had no idea what I was in for, all I was told was to bring a yoga mat, towel, 2 bottles of frozen water, dress light(half naked) and be prepared to sweat!!!! So I walk in with my friend with an open mind. There is a small lobby and everyone takes their shoes off when they walk in and place them into cubbies. The aroma of Lavender is in the air. I see alot of slim folks walking around with really skimpy outfits on. Anywhoooo, I take my socks and shoes off, take of my sweatshirt and head to the Yoga Room.
I walk in and this blanket of heat hits me in the face. The room is about 110 degrees and my skin already feels moist. I lay my mat down in the back row, sit my frozen waters beside my mat and take a seat on the floor. Me and my friend are whispering back in forth like 2 school girls. I notice alot of people are laying flat on there back, just basically chillen. My friend says we are supposed to do that so that are body can warm up and get use to the air in the room. It also helps relax you before the class starts. So the instructor walks in. He is a very lean man with some really small tight speedo booty shorts on... Thats enough about him.
On The very first exercise we did, I almost busted out laughing. We had to breath in deep with are head pushed forward (people sounded like vacuum cleaners, I have never heard such deep breathing in my life) and then breath out pushing are head far back We did this like 10 times. 15 minutes into the class I am bending down touching my toes and a water fall of sweat comes pouring down my face, blinding my site. I peer through my lashes and noticed my legs are drenched, as if I just stepped out of the bathtub. When I stand up straight, all the blood comes rushing back to my head and my heart is pounding as if I just ran a 100 Meter dash. Several times I just had to stand there and breath to keep myself together. The instructor tells us, whatever you do, "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM" just sit down and breath, but "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM". So we are approaching about 45 mins into the class and I'm thinking "thank goodness, I am just about 'WELL DONE', and ready to be taken out of the oven". I stretch a lil harder and hold the poses a lil longer because I know we are almost done. Then the instructor says "Ok, that concludes the warm-up, now lets start Yoga". My thoughts go blank, then I regain consciousness "WHAT THE F%$@, THE WARMUP". I look over to my Girl and ask "How long is this class", she giggles and says "90 minutes".
30 minutes later I am laying flat on my back, just chillen in "Savasana" with an ice cold wet towel on my face that has been soaked in Lavender. I am soaking wet from head to toe and feel like I just ran 10 miles in 90 degree weather. The funny thing is, I feel GREAT!!!!! I always love that feeling you get after an intense workout, I just usually really dislike or don't enjoy the exercises you have to do to get to that point. But I actually liked doing those Yoga poses and I was eager to try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I signed up for the Intro Month and went back the very next Day. After that I was hooked and going 3+ times a week. Thats 600+ calories burned every class
THE RESULTS AFTER 4 WEEKS
After the first 4 weeks of counting calories, going to Bikram(HOT) Yoga, and writing everything down I lost 16 pounds. The only thing I could say was "WOW, IT REALLY WORKS". 12 pounds in 4 weeks and an extra 4 pounds if you exercise.
THE RESULTS AFTER 8 WEEKS
It's January 7th and I have lost 25+ pounds. I did not loose the 16 pounds in the 2nd 4weeks because I couldn't afford the Bikram Yoga during the Holiday Months. That class is expensive ($150 for a unlimited month), and if you sign up you want to be able to go to class as much as possible to get your dollars worth. So I opted out for the month of December with all the holiday parties, time off from work, shopping for gifts ect... I still continued to count my calories and even started taking Kukuwa Dance workout at golds gym, since I did have a membership :-)
Today(Jan 7th) I will be going back to Bikram Yoga, I miss it so much. Every time I took that class I left feeling like I could breath so much better, the best restful sleep, tons of energy the next day, skin looking better than ever. I just felt GOOD. I will let you know if this euphoric feeling returns after the class. AFTER BIKRAM YOGA ON JAN 7thWow, it was sooooo Great!!!! I was running late and rushed to get there and when I arrived, the room was packed. I have never seen so many people in the class. we usually only have 2 rows of people and today we had to squeeze in a third row. The class was great and I was sooo surprised at my performance. I have lost a little more weight since the last class I took about 3 weeks ago. I could really tell the difference...I was hitting poses I never hit before and didn't need to take as many breaks as I used to.
