I never want this blog to become tons of long drawn out stories about personal issues of mine. The only reason I am touching upon weight is because it is an integral part of my bikram yoga journey, and ultimately my happiness.

{This was me (on the right) a year and a half ago... Happy with my weight.}

The Three I's

My sister recently posted some photos on facebook. In it she was wearing a shirt that read "strong is the new skinny". This rang loud and clear to me. There was a time in my life that all I wanted was to be "as skinny as so and so" or would lament "I wish I could just lose a few pounds". My main concern lately is eating properly (and enough!), keeping up hydration to further my practice with BYV, dropping FAT not MUSCLE, and being STRONG. I want to be able to proudly stay in standing bow without falling out at all during class. This requires a tremendous amount of strength and concentration. Skinny doesn't mean anything in the hot room, determination and preperation means everything. After years of being down on myself, I've finally identified why I'm at the weight I'm at, and how to fix it. Doesn't that sound basic? Shouldn't it just be you eat less? Well if it really was that easy, I'd have been skinny months ago, my friend. Insecurity, injury, and inaction have ruled my life for far too long. Thanks to BYV, support from Cameron, and (although unintentional) my sister, I am determined and not scared to bring my readers along for the ride! Make sure to check in every Wednesday for a weigh in, BYV pose of the week & update, as well as recipes, tips & tricks, and health stories.


{Image by Adactio}

Insecurity

Any girl that claims insecurity has never been a problem in her life is either a liar or a robot. Ok this is not completely true, but I know it's fairly true among most people I know. I've let it run my life for many years, and honestly I'm tired of it. What broke me out of my shell, you ask? Try staring at yourself in a 90 minute Bikram Yoga class. Wow those mirrors don't lie. I'm sure some people want to go run and hide, but I honestly fell in love with myself in that room for the first time ever. Not from the very first class of course, but slowly, over time, I began to see who I was inside those determined eyes. I started to see my strengths, my will power, my humility, I learned to accept my clumsiness, and to remember to breathe. Being the type of person that doesn't like to slow down for a minute, forcing myself into savasana a few times a week really helps to reboot my mind and lets my brain shutoff for a while. No more nagging thoughts about what I should or shouldn't be doing, eating, wearing, etc... it's just me... and 20-30 other ridiculously sweaty people going through the same thing! You're alone but you're always in good company at the same time.

How I'm Solving Insecurities:
1. Be less hard on myself
2. Be disciplined and go to yoga weekly to reap the benefits
3. Don't take comments online or in passing too personally (unless they're good comments. Then it's ok to relish every small moment!!)


{Photo by Nadya Peek}

Injury

I'm sure 80% of the population has an injury of some kind, either from something unexpected (like my car accident), or something from their lifestyle (like sports injuries, trouble from past injuries, being a drunk idiot, etc). My injuries (medically) are mostly soft tissue from the impact in the car accident, but I am also on 2 types of medication for anxiety and panic attacks. Yoga has made 1 of those medications a back-up option instead of a daily requirement like it was before I started my practice. Before the car accident I was active. I definitely didn't have a workout routine, but I spent my time running around in the parks playing ultimate frisbee, or walking around the city. After my injuries set in I was advised not to do anything that could reinjure the area that was giving me constant pain. The pain is still there, but I'm working on ways to get around my injuries and heal them properly instead of just ignoring them or using them as an excuse.

How I'm Solving Injury (Eventually)
1. RMT (this I've been lacking lately because of money issues. But I'm scheduling a long overdue appointment this month!!)
2. Bikram hot yoga 3+ times weekly
3. Using Traumeel on both my soft tissue injury around my ribs, as well as sore spots after yoga. Cam and I both have a tube (thanks to the Traumeel rep who kindly offered us samples at last night's product knowledge meeting) and we will be writing our own reviews over time on how it helps us heal, how it helps with pain, etc. Just because we got samples for free doesn't mean we'll be biased, but I've heard many good things both from BYV clients and Whole Foods customers.
4. Continuing to be active, but being aware of my body signals. If I feel sharp pain any time during yoga or turbo fire, I will not try to fight through it and possible reinjure myself. If the pain is just muscle stretching or my own lazyness, I will remind myself to breathe and smile.


{Photo by Dan Perry}

Inactivity

Although my injuries definitely slowed down my activity levels, I know over the past few months my inactivity has been my own causing. I'm no longer anxious and hiding from the world, and although I have constant pain, it has healed enough that I can continue my old activity levels (carefully). Life gets in the way, but we have to be careful not to fall into a rut of excuses. Cam and I are both guilty of this and promised eachother to motivate eachother instead of agreeing with the laziness and excuses (we tend to both stay home if one is not up for yoga instead of coaxing the other one to go. Unless you're sick or injured, you should be in that room!).

How I'm Solving Inactivity:
1. Bikram yoga 3+ times weekly
2. Turbo fire 3+ times weekly (I don't get paid for mentioning TF or BYV. They are the programs I love, and want to show how they work!)
3. No more excuses, only motivation!!
4. Fuel the fire; feed both Cam and I enough healthy calories to sustain active lifestyles.

Wednesday Weigh In

As of today I have 5 pounds to lose until my 1st STGs (short term goal). I have 10 STGs in total so we're at the very beginning! I find I do better with many short term goals and one long term goal rather than just one LTG. Make sure to check back every Wednesday for progress updates!

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Are you an active person? What sort of activities do you like to do? Comment below or on twitter, or facebook!

Until tomorrow... xoxo