On What I've Lost And What I've Gained Through Yoga

As many of you know, and as I've mentioned once or twice here on the blog, I do yoga every day after dinner.  I have been doing this every day for nearly 5 months, missing only a few days when I was sick. 

 

Me on Day 1 and Day 120, which was almost a month ago now.

Starting was hard.  Doing it every day is hard.  But it's also necessary. I've always been overweight, and while I have come to terms with the why of it all, getting back to a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle is a constant work in progress.  But it's so worth it.  And now I can do things like this:

 

and this:

 

and, most recently, this:

I've lost about 25 pounds, which puts me at the weight I was during my senior year of high school.  The lowest weight I've been in my adult life.  And I'm definitely in the best shape I've ever been.  I've gone from size 18 to size 14 pants, and can fit into a size 12 dress (women's clothing is so confusing).

I've gained perspective.  Hannah knows that after dinner Mommy does yoga.  I've been doing it for the majority of her life.  And I'm glad.  She knows that fitness and activity is a part of a normal day.  Jonah and Matthew even join in sometimes, which I think is great.

I've gained a routine.  I've read that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit.  Just like teaching my kids to brush their teeth every day, I've learned that this is part of my day, and I feel like I've missed something if I don't do it.

I've lost the words "I can't".  Maybe I don't have the ability to do something right away (that bottom picture took 4 and a half months to get to), but I know that I can keep working towards something, and make progress, and eventually get there.  And that feeling is awesome.

I don't want this to be cliche, although I have a feeling it is.  I did it, and you can too!  But it's true. 

DVDs: For those interested in specifics, both Jesse and I do DDP Yoga, which was created by a former pro wrestler.  Jesse found it, but it's very accessible to women too.  The slogan is "yoga for the regular guy", which means it's not so much the "clear your mind", spiritual yoga, as it is the "let's get a good low-impact workout in" yoga. 

Gear: I use a very basic yoga mat from Target that we got years ago, or just do yoga on the carpet.  Jesse uses gloves for stability, but they're not necessary.  We run the dvds on a laptop on our dining room table, because that's where we have the space.

Jesse bought the heart rate monitor that was sold with the yoga dvds, which I now use, and he has a different one (I forget which one but I can find out if anyone is curious).  By keeping your heart rate "in the zone", you can get the most effective workout, and it's nice to have that immediate gratification that you're doing well, or a push to work a little harder.

Schedule: Normally Jesse works out in the mornings, and I take the evenings, so one of us can wrangle the kids, but we do occasionally work out together when our schedules call for it (i.e. when we have church at night, or he has Bible study in the mornings).

Food: We follow a mostly real food diet, although we occasionally go out to eat or have a pizza.  We track food and activity through My Fitness Pal, where I enter in all the recipes for what I make, and we can usually find the information for anything else we eat. 

I think that's it for specifics.  If anyone has any more questions, let me know!  Losing weight is a journey, and I am loving mine!