On Yoga And The Ups And Downs Of Weight Loss

I like results. I'm one of those people who uses feedback for constant motivation. So when I'm trying to lose weight, I weigh myself every day.  The weight fluctuates, but in general it's been moving in a downward direction, which is good.

I've been doing DDP Yoga for 2 months now, kind of. The first month I did it for about a week straight, then got frustrated, and stopped. Even with that little amount of effort, I lost several inches (no weight, but inches are good too).  A couple weeks later I picked it up again, and now I've been doing yoga for almost 3 weeks.  I really like it. I can tell that I'm getting stronger, and more flexible, and my weight has been going down slowly.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows though. Shortly after I started up, I thought I got the chicken pox. Based on my own unofficial diagnosing (and baby Hannah's lack of pox, which she would have caught by now), I may be allergic to my own sweat. Until recently, I didn't even know that could happen, but apparently when a sedentary person starts exercising, the toxins leaving the body through sweat can produce an allergic reaction, which peaks between ages 26-28 (I'm 27).

I basically have chicken pox looking bumps in random spots on my body, most noticeably near my ankles, knees, and lower back.  I've been showering immediately after working out, which has helped make things more manageable, but it has been an unexpected challenge, to say the least.  (If that's more than you wanted to know, I apologize, but I wanted to share my experiences as I lose weight, because it is an important part of my life right now.)

This is one of those instances where I'm putting myself first, and that's really difficult for me. I work out after dinner, and while I sort of keep an eye on the kids, I'm primarily focused on what I'm doing, and letting Jesse take care of the kids.  And then I take even more time for myself to go shower.  This shouldn't be hard, to take 30-45 minutes to myself, for my health, but it is something I still struggle with sometimes.  I'm really good at mommy guilt for things like this, especially when the kids are whining and making a mess, and there's a stack of dishes in the sink, and so many other distractions. 

But just like all my other skills, I'm working on it, and I'm really proud of how far I've come.  This is only the beginning.