Today is my 14th day before and my 9th “Back to School” day! Today was not stressful at ALL! I worked with my friend who was hired at my school and practiced yoga. I ate 100% on-plan today and I am feeling tired but full. Yesterday was stressful and not 100% on plan but you know…I am ok with that. I went to yoga yesterday after being away since April. It was AMAZING. My mom joined me at a new hot yoga studio here in Federal Way and it was GLORIOUS. The studio is spa like with beautiful features and bathrooms…their hot rooms are so peaceful and modern…and at the very end of class they place a freezing cold towel in your hards to help you cool down after a long workout. AAaahhhhhhh. I can’t even describe how wonderful stepping back into the studio feels. I am finding that my mind is wandering way to much and I am having a hard time focusing…but my body is responding in ways it never has before. I can move into poses never achieved before. Today I did the whole class without breaks and that speaks volumes to my level of health at the moment. My body was able to jump right back into it after months of being away. I know in time my focus will return and my ability to relax quickly will as well.

What I really appreciate about hot yoga and probably just yoga in general is that what you eat and when you eat it impacts your practice. If you eat 2 hours before your class you will feel ill during your practice. Your body is bending and twisting in funky directions and having food in your stomach makes you feel nauseous. You really have to just lie down and wait until that feeling passes. When I know I am going to yoga I eat less because I want to feel 100% during class. I don’t want to waste that time feeling crappy. I want that time to be cleansing and restful. So when I know yoga is in my schedule I just eat differently. You also have to drink a ton of water which helps every process in your body. I always drink water but when I am practicing I am drinking maybe two gallons a day and my whole body just feels better. And after class the last thing you want to do is eat garbage. You are so tired and so drained you want something simple and something that will fill you up without making you feel full. So yoga helps me on so many levels and I have so missed it. Yoga will always be apart of my life…when I am practicing I feel the most at ease and ready to meet any challenge because my mind is clear and focused.

Tomorrow is my 14th “Day Before” with 30/10. It is hard to believe I have been doing this for 14 weeks. By next Thursday I should be down 45 pounds (3 pounds a week x 15 weeks= 45 pounds). I know I am not going to get there. My set back last week put me out of range of that goal. It is kinda hard to admit but it is not. My learning curve has been steep and my weight issue is more than just eating too much food. But if I can end up with a 40 pound weight release by next Thursday I will count that as a WIN. I can tell that things are changing because my clothes are fitting differently and I noticed today that I just take up less space on my yoga mat. My arms and legs can move in directions that they just could not before. My body might not ever look the way that I want it to and I have to be ok with that. Like releasing weight…I have to take it one goal at a time. Goal #1= release weight to be healthy. Goal #2= maintain new lower weight. Goal #3= shape my body to be different than what it looks like today. I think goal 3 is years away but I am ok with that. I like goals…I like long term goals. And I like focusing on one thing at a time and doing that one thing well. 

The scale tomorrow will not be kind tomorrow. My body is still fighting these changes, I did not eat well this week, and getting back into the studio could put muscles back on these bones and that equals more weight on my bones. But my brain is in a better place and I think for this week this is more important that the scale. Next week I can tackled the scale…this week I tackled my mind and that was enough work for this week!