Epic Fail

I tried and failed.

I tried to do my yoga but couldn't.

I tried to do it again and failed again.

Yesterday was an epic fail. No less than twice did I attempt my yoga, but fatigue, body pain, and a raging headache made it so that I could not do it.

I don't know what happened but each time I tried, I'd make it 10-12 minutes and have to stop.

And so that was it. My body indicated to me that it was tired and could not go on. I made two good faith attempts to do it and I am satisfied that this was enough.

So instead I passed out to recover and try again later.

Day 26: Habit Day

I failed.

I'm embarrassed to say it, but it's true. I had to get up for work this morning and I did my yoga, but after the typical Friday night reverie, my body just wasn't having it. I only made it halfway through my 20 minute routine (10 minutes).

But just because I failed this morning does not mean I am giving up. I will try again later tonight when I get home from work. I will hope that, by then, I am awake.

My theory? My body just needs more rest. Not necessarily rest from the yoga activity, but rest in general. Trying to do yoga when still half asleep made it more difficult than necessary.


Oh, well. I will succeed on habit day!

Day 24: sup?

In the terrible movie Tower Heist, Chris Murphy is watching a bigger woman crack a safe. She looks up at him and he says, "Sup?" As in, "Sup girl? How you doin'?" That's how I feel.

Sup yoga, how you doin'? You ready to submit to my superior dominance of you! You ready to reward all my time practicing Downward Dog and Powerful Pose. Well show you Powerful Pose. In other words, he'll yeah, I'm crushing this. I'm almost to the point where yoga is supposed to be ingrained as a habit and I feel it. I'm ready to continue to do this always. I'm ready to keep this as a lifelong habit and get fit and strong.

And yet, I wonder if I should be pushing myself to try something new. If I should branch out to some other power yoga routines or consider changing my goal to do more physical activity. Regardless, I believe I should start every day with yoga and then work more physical activity into my routine!


A friend noted why I lIke Power Yoga: Stamina, so much more than Yoga Now. Essentially, power yoga is yoga now (with Mariel Hemingsway) but without the cardio and the annoying voices. I mean, I don't know how I didn't catch it–it's literally the same thing!

What's even funnier is that my friend really want to write a story about how Mariel and Rodney Yee got together to engage in this yoga class. I look forward to reading it and will, of course, keep you updated!

Overall, then, my goal to complete 60 days of yoga is well underway. I am at day 23 of yoga and day 24 of activity in some form.

You too should keep going with your goals. Note the majesty of completing them and the power
You feel doing them. And in the spirit of Rodney Yee, feel the power of your breath fill you up and ground you into the earth, into your mind, and into your soul!

Keep up the good work!

Day 16: Free Flow

Perhaps one of the best motivation tools that I have discovered is telling everyone exactly what I'm doing.

In the past, I would keep these goals secret to myself so when I failed them, I would not have to answer any uncomfortable questions about how I failed to complete my goals.

But when you tell everyone who is willing to listen about your goals, you invite yourself to be critiqued and it acts as a motivating factor!

You realize that you need live up to the expectations set by yourself and the hype you have developed over creating your goals. Even better, you develop a fan club, of sorts, that is rooting for you to complete your goals.

Now that we are at day 16, I am confident I will reach Day 26 (the habit day) and be ready to face any other challenges in my quest to make it to 320 days of moving.

Today's exercise was fluid and easy. I am beginning to worry that I am not challenging myself enough because my heart rate rises, but does not consistently stay raised for the entire 20 minutes. I may have to consider revising which yoga I do or, at the very least, consider doing more of this this.

Keep on trucking! And consider sharing your goals with others so that you stay motivated as well!!

Day 9: A Hamtastic Voyage

Every since I was little, I have struggled to increase my flexibility.

We had to do "fitness tests" in physical education and I was always so inflexible. Mainly it was a problem with my hamstrings. They were always so tight.

Later on, this led to a number of problems. I was prone to roll my ankles and sprain them because my hamstrings were so tight.

I have made short gains on my hamstrings, but nothing that has helped much.

I'm telling you all of this because I have noticed that of all my body parts, my hamstrings are the most affected by all the yoga I have been doing. It has only been eight days of yoga, but I already feel a difference. Today, I was finally able to master keeping my heels down during the "downward dog" pose. Because of this, I have been walking around with sore hamstrings all day.

And yet, I've had a smile on my face. This is a good thing. I wonder what other major improvements I can make over the course of this experiment.

I'm hoping that by the end of the 60 days of yoga that I will be much more flexible and limber. But also retain some significant strength in my legs and arms.

I highly recommend doing yoga. I will keep you posted as I move forward.


What have you struggled with? Take time to think about those struggles that relate to your goals and see if anything you are doing addresses them directly or indirectly. If so, consider how this will positively impact your life.

Day 8: As the creases fold

I still maintain that Power Yoga is vastly superior to Yoga Now in all ways except for sheer entertainment value, of which Yoga Now reigns supreme. Interestingly enough, I had a conversation with someone who independently did Yoga Now and we both picked up on how Rodney Yee and Mariel Hemingsway bash the crap out of Renee. It made for a very entertaining conversation all the way around.

Today, while attempting Power Yoga, I marveled at how my fat literally moved due to some intense stretches and I got thinking this has to be good for my body. Whereas, that back fat must have been stationary for literally years, moving it has lead to vastly different abilities to move.

When I noticed my creases fold I was attempting the bow pose, which is supposed to look like this:

Notice that in the correct bow pose the amount of arch in the back.

I did a search for "fat bow pose" and I found nothing. Literally all of the people seen doing the bow pose are skinny. See:

The only thing close to "Fat bow pose" that came even close was this:

The lesson: Fat people are not meant to do the Bow Pose!!

Here's why:

Notice on this doll that her fat midsection is protruding (as it is want to do), and that there is no arch to the back. In order to sustain an arch to the back, that fat literally has to go somewhere else. This is what I learned today. The fat around my back literally transported to another place, around my side. It was not painful per se, but it was disconcerting.

It makes me want to attempt to pose again and again to see if I learned anything.

Anyway, avoid the bow pose if your obese, at least for now!



****


On an unrelated note, my friend who knows that I am trying to move more sent me a youtube link to Billy Blanks's TaeBo Boot Camp.

Let's just say, that is in a whole different league. I know my movement goal calls for me to being moving around some more, but that Billy Blanks needs to relax. Wow. But for a good move around check it out. It is completely different from yoga. The one positive, is that I noticed some mediocre gains in my hamstring flexibility!

But my arm strength is significantly lacking as Billy Blanks was clear to point out. I only made it 11 minuntes into his 27 boot camp work out!

Oh well!

More for tomorrow.

As you leave and go about accomplishing your goals. Think about adding some spice into your goal. What can you do that is similar but a chance? Adding Taebo is sure a change for me and while I definitely did not complete it (yet!), it made me realize some of the small measures of progress I have made in yoga, especially with bending and holding! So while we normally would reflect on our progress towards the end of the week, take heed in the small indicators that you are making positive changes towards your goals.

Day 7: All Yoga is NOT created equal

I know I have cursed Rodney Yee in the past, but that was  because I was using Accelerated Yoga Now with Rodney Yee and Mariel Hemingway.  Yoga Now features both Rodney Yee and Mariel as the guides of a class with three "students" in the background, a male, a female, and Renee. All I can say for Renee is that she is the class's punching bag. After every instruction, Rodney will be like, "And look at Renee who can't touch the ground, she is using blocks instead," or "Notice how Reneee doesn't go all the way down but chooses to instead rest at this portion."


This is Renee:

Notice Renee's Block, the subject of much derision.

It's not like Renee is doing anything wrong, in fact she's probably the only non-super Yogi in the group, and yet Rodney Yee an Mariel make fun of her constantly. "If you can't bend all the way, like Renee, then don't (but we'll judge you later when we make the audio recording)."

So yes, this can be funny at times, but it also makes it really hard to concentrate when you are doing this for the 5th or 6th time. Enough with Renee, enough with Mariel talking over everything. The only person who should be allowed to talk is Rodney Yee. He has a smooth, calming, and deep voice that tells you how to do the postures and offers advice like, "Smooth your eyes" or "Hollow your belly," whatever that means. So, he should be allowed to make comments.

The other problem with Yoga Now is that it is a class set in a dance studio. I don't want to see a bunch of other people doing Yoga. This is not jazzercize, this is not Tae-Boe, this is yoga. I want to be at peace.

So, anyway, the purpose of this rant was that I have been doing the Yoga Now for the last week and am tired of it. For example, in the very beginning, you do breathing exercises, and Rodney Yee says, "Drop into the ground, really get a sense of releasing, the ebb and flow of the breath moving through the body . . . Ahh, just that nice simple ease of the release." And then Mariel says, "It's always nice to have a moment of silence," but she ruins it by the fact that she is speaking over the whole take! It's so annoying. And even if it weren't, there is no way to turn off their commentary when you get advanced enough to know what is coming next.

Anyway, despite the fact that I could not do the entire hour of Yoga Now, this morning when I sat down to do the program, I decided, nuh uh, no more. So I switched to Power Yoga: Stamina.

What a difference. First of all, this is the screenshot of Power Yoga:

While an almost Naked Rodney Yee does not do it for me. The fact that there is no dance studio, there is beautiful scenery, and Rodney Yee it the only instructor, and he only instructs as necessary was a breath of Fresh Air. Additionally, Power Yoga is 20 minutes, my perfect goal, and it gets you moving and constantly going from position to position, so it is tough, but moves quickly and feels amazing!

It is unbelievable what a difference I felt after Power Yoga. I was not anxious afterwards but relaxed and thankful. So from now on, it is Power Yoga. Plus, I could use some stamina.

Overall, this was a great way to start the day. I know that as my schedule gets more hectic in the next couple of days, I will appreciate Power Yoga for keeping me relaxed and energized as I go into the day.

Good luck today and keep tight to those resolutions, today marks a full week since we started and I know we can finish them.

Find 1 minute of peace today to think about yourself and what you hope to accomplish. Think back over the last week. Think about what you have done well and then think about what you will do even better in this coming week. Don't give up.

In the words of Galaxy Quest: "Never Give Up, Never Surrender!"

See, even a skeptical and young Tim Allen is ready to launch forward out into space and complete his mission.

Day 6: Back on Track

All right. Six days down, 359 to go!

Well that doesn't sound imposing.

On the more positive side, they (being those in the know) say that it only takes six to eight weeks of any new change to see results.

But that's also the problem. I've often started things at the beginning of the year, only to drop them later on. I rarely make it to the six to eight week mark. On the rare occasions when I have, however, I have been pleasantly surprised by the results.

For past diets, I've felt a better mental clarity, more energy, and even slimming around the waist. For workouts, I've seen increased strength and stamina.

But for some reason, I just can't put them together. I haven't been able to stare down a challenge and just say, "fin."

I feel like the first week is always the hardest, but we've made it to a week and that is something of which we should be proud. And yet, I feel like I have not been putting my best foot forward. While I have not been sneaking food, I have not been eating less. While, I have been eating healthier, I have been eating larger quantities. And when I just weighed myself, I managed to gain weight, instead of lose it.

I'm hoping that the increased exercise has also lead to increased muscle mass (although how much of that could I really be carrying around) and that is the reason for the weight gain. Either way, I'm staying with it. (I want that iPad mini 2!!).

Thank you all for bearing with my ramblings. To leave on a more positive note, I challenge you to remember a time when you have successfully completed something (however small) and how that has made you feel. For me, I once completed 8 weeks of the 100 Pushup Challenge. While I did not get to 100 pushups, I got to the point where I could do 45 in a row, and do multiple sets of 40. It was quite the achievement. I gained triceps, I gained strength and I felt great!

I know that we can accomplish our goals this year and I am excited to get to that point. While we look forward from here and see 359 more days, we also must face the reality that we've made it past some. Soon we will be able ot see that there are fewer days ahead than there are behind. And like so many wise people have said before us, it is not the goal that is important but the journey that gets us there. And so with that I leave you after another successful day. Good luck with your goals and may you have a very pleasant week!

Day 5: Whoops, here we go.

So, I totally meant to blog last night after doing my Yoga, but I forgot and then it slipped until this morning. Does this mean I have missed a day? Or can I make up for it by making two posts today?

Is building a habit more about the number of times you do something or the number of days you do it?

I'm hoping it is the number of times, but I will acknowledge my mistake and realize that one of my precious 25 days of missing blogging has expired. I may only miss 24 more before I am out of my own contest.

Wuh-oh! Anyway, I did my yoga last night and it was a stuggle just to get to 20 minutes. I'm not sure I will every be able to finish the entire 50 minutes, but I will keep trying!

As for you, good luck on Day 6!

Day 4: Why is Yoga so hard?

Damn you Rodney Yee.

You make every move look so easy. You make bending at the waste and throwing one leg through the arms look like it should take no effort whatsoever, but it is hard!!

Speaking of hard, today was the first time that I started to waiver in my commitment to my goals. I know! Only four days in and we waiver all ready!

I think I know what happened. I did my exercise yesterday afternoon at 2pm and thus I went a full 24 hours without moving again. Combine that with the fact that I did not get as much sleep and that I was traveling around from rural areas to a city and back, it makes the challenge of sticking with my resolutions that much more difficult. To the point where I almost fell asleep without exercising and would have not done it.

But, once I started to exercise,I felt better about it.


I think that one thing I should work on to help me develop the habit of moving more and exercising daily is to ensure that I am doing it at roughly the same time everyday. This way, it will be worked into a routine of mine.

Hopefully, in the coming days and weeks, I will see improvements in my ability to finish even one yoga DVD and in my ability to get to exercising more quickly, without struggling to meet my goal.

Regardless, I should take a moment to be proud of the fact that I did my goal today. Now it is time for an affirmation:

Like you, I am strong. I am powerful beyond measure. It is times like these when I think of one of my favorite quotes from Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

Likewise, I believe in both myself and you. We are powerful beyond measure. We are great, beautiful, smart, thoughtful, kind, and good looking. We are strong, lean, and fit. It is within us all to reach our potential. Let us be not better versions of ourselves, but more confident, prouder versions of who we already are.

And with that I wish you luck on your day four. May your convictions to your goals never waiver. May you be on the right track to power and strength.

Day 3: rolling in a vat of pain

Day 3.

What up days 1 and 2? I see your back and spit on it! You've got nothing of substance to offer me! Boom!

Day 3 already feels like a mountain to climb. I woke up this morning with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was something I have not felt for quite some time! Every time I rolled over I felt pain in muscles I wasn't even sure I still had!

I've felt lactic acid buildup but not usually so concentrated that it is too painful. My first thought? How would I work out when feeling like this. The answer, it turned out, was painfully.

I tried to delay the pain for as long as possible, figuring it would go away. It didn't.

Never fear. I persevered! Challenge 1: passed! Damn I'm good!

If I were to be really honest, I like that lactic acid pain because it reminds me that I have muscles in those places and it inspires me to keep going!

I've never worked out consistently enough to know if those with massive muscles feel that pain all the time or if they just feel massively powerful all the time. I doubt it. The little experience I do have suggests that the pain goes away unless you constantly ramp up the type of exercise you do!

Regardless, today's workout was even harder than yesterday. I did Rodney Yee's Yoga Burn, which, like it sounds, burns heavily! I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking, considering that this workout is meant to be intermediate yoga. In fact the description says "master those yoga poses with a rigorous burning sensation that will course through your body."

Anyway, unsurprisingly, I only made it through 13 minutes of tit before I had to turn to my much easier AM yoga routine:

Regardless, combined, the two routines met my twenty minute requirement! I'm hoping in a few weeks I will be able to do both routines without stopping. Then j can begin to work on form.

The even better news is that I only have to do 58 more days of yoga to lock in the largest memory 64gb internal storage on my iPad mini 2 that I will get when I complete my goal!

Okay, time for today's affirmation of tr day.

Despite the fact that my head is small when compared to my massive body, and that my rolls number more than the local bakery, I am making progress towards my New Year's Resolution to move more I know if I accomplish my goal I will be powerful beyond measure! I will be successful in all that I undertake, and I will prove my body wrong!! It will no longer be controlled by urges to eat more and more, but will be lean, svelte, and strong! I believe in myself, my goals, and my ability to accomplish both.

From me to you. Keep working on your goals!

Day 2: Yoga

So, I woke up and I wanted to get a start on the day and get my workout out of the way before settling down to do other things.

The problem I have with working out is it is nowhere near as routinized into my daily life as it needs to be. Right now it is a chore that takes an hour or more.

The process looks something like this:

1) Get up.

2) Think about working out

3) Thinking really hard about it and remind myself that I need to keep doing this.

4) Finally start

5) Quick in a sweaty, heaping mess 20 minutes later

It's a messy process.

Anyway, I got up and did my 20 minutes, so day 2 down. (More later)

Day 1: Just made it!

I was under the impression that I would be able to start working out and that I would instantly be good at it.

I would tell my body to do something and I would easily be doing a full cardio routine in just minutes.

At 11:38, I realized I still had not worked out for this first day. (Even though at the time of this writing, it is the next day.) To do so, I realized I would need to get my workout in post haste or right away. Now I defined workout as any 20 minute session of heartrate increasing activity.

So, I buckled down and started doing some jumping jacks. Some push ups, some karate, some running in place, and some crunches. It all was very exhausting and not at all what I thought it would be. And, the worst part, I was only able to make it 12 to 14 minutes.

But this goal is about moving more and getting active. Baby steps. So while I did not meet my 20 full minutes of movement, I will count it towards my grand total of 320 and will keep moving towards that elusive fitness goal.

1 down, 319 to go.

Day 1: A New Beginning

As with. All beginnings, the new beginning is me filed with excitement and joy. As I reel from the events of last night, I look upon today as a chance to begin again and make some changes to myself. This year, is the year of working out. Te year of finally getting a grip on some workout scheme so that I will be prepared to join the world of productive adults feeling good about myself, about my body, and about the perception I give to others.

So today, I start the long hike towards my workout mountain and I make a commitment to you, y blog community, to detail these trials in such mundane detail that you will be turned off from reading here. And alas, I make this commitment to spice up my life and see what it Is like.

With grand romantic visions of a blogging journey like that of From Julie To Julia, I get ready to make some self realizations and struggle to put those into words.

Here are some predictions or the time ahead.

If successful, you will hear me say things like. "Wow, I have so much more energy" and "gosh, nothing tastes as good as thin feels." Both are true statements that I hope I get to share.

Also, I predict you will hear a lot of, "ugh, this is so much harder than I thought it ez." Or "Ah, I just don't have time to continually work out."

And yet, I am highly motivated to keep this goal; not only for the tangible rewards it is sure to bring (a new iPad mini), but also because of the wellness and emotional heights that I will surely reach.

My biggest worry is that talk is cheap. Regardless, you will find out just how cheap I am through this process.

Now, while I can't work out just now—still at my New Years Location—I anticipate a bit of Rodney Yee Yoga later this evening that I am sure I will fail to accomplish. I may also throw in some jumping jacks (probably 50), and maybe some push ups!

To all of you starting your New Year's resolutions, Good Luck!

365 Days To A Fat Juicy Reward

All right, I'm tired. Literally *all* the time. No, I'm not sick. I don't have mono. I'm just obese.

When I was little, I used to think the term was "a beast. It is not surprising that when I was told I was obese in 5th grade, I was understandably upset. A beast? I'm not a beast.

But in some ways, I was. And still am. Oddly, I did my spend my whole life as a beast. When I was born, I was unbeastlike. And for a short period I 8 years, what I like to think of as my glory years, I was not a beast. In fact, I was a well-oiled (not literally), energetic, and affable teen.

But then then I became a beast again and that is where I am today! Today, I remain a beast of epic proportions but new to do something about it.

So here Is what I propose. I will put away enough money to get my hands on an iPad mini. This will serve as my motivation to accomplish this year's New Years resolutions. I have never been good at finishing what I've started but this year I want to be held accountable. If, and only if, in achieve my goals, will I be eligible to purchase this present for myself.

To further keep myself accountable, I will track my progress here as I move towards my goals.

So, without further ado:

I will workout (in some capacity) for 320 days this year. I will also blog about it for 340 days.

I will complete 60 days of yoga.
I will complete 30 days of swimming.
I will be able to do 3 consecutive pull-ups
I will be able to do 50 consequence push-ups

I will pursue these goals independent of any weightless that I achieve. While losing weight would be fantastic, I have decided that, for me, completing a solid exercise plan will help me align all of my other goals.

Announcing these goals and sharing them publicly is a huge step for me. The reason I am doing it is because I want accountability and to finally improve myself beyond the simple platitudes of words. So get ready for some posts about my progress. Any encouragement you wish to provide will be appreciated.

Good luck with any goals you may undertake this year!