So, after a week of laying out, I'm back to the exercise. Yoga today. I have been doing yoga on and off since I was 14, when my brother came back from California in '78 with all these 'wild hippy ideas', as our father called them.
Back in 2000, there was a show on t.v. called Inhale with Steve Ross. My ex referred to it as 'nazi yoga'. Definitely not for beginners. A great workout tho, doing an hour of that daily plus 2 hours of walking (Had to work up to that) plus extreme stress of a toddler and an emotionally abusive cheating spouse was how I lost 120 pounds. Not something I want to do again. The cheating spouse stress, not the weight loss.
So as I'm closing in on 50, I have realized that because of the massive injuries I have sustained over the decades from the stupid things like motorcycles, rock climbing, etc., I will have to exercise at least 5 days a week. I'm not giving up food, that's a bad idea, and leads to binge eating. Cutting portions and regular exercise works for me. My sister, on the other hand, can exercise 4 hours a day and eat 500 calories, and still not lose more than a pound or two and that's it. I keep telling her to go get a thyroid test.
So today was yoga for the first time in a while. (Not telling how long!) I'm already feeling the effects from just 15 minutes. This week will be yoga all week. Steve Ross never did put out the dvd he promised us years ago, instead he decided to go with a line of Maha Yoga apparel. Bah. But I did find many Inhale clips on YouTube, so I will be working my way back to the torture yoga soon enough!
There is a lovely woman here in Austin named Abby Lentz who does Heavyweight Yoga for the large person. I looked into her dvd, but from the reviews, it is way too slow and basic for me. I might try one of her more advanced classes is I ever get a few $$ to blow. The first class is free, so i will definitely take time out to go and check her out.
Some of my weight is due to lifestyle/eating habits. I love me some bacon cheeseburgers, pizza, donuts, all those things that are not good for you. Being a chef, I don't eat much in the way of processed foods, and less so as more and more research on long term chemical ingestion the the toxic waste they put in processed foods comes to light. Some of my weight is due to genetics. My mother was half Italian and half German. I have a few pictures and an old tintype of my German grandmother, who died when my mother was 14, and she was a square hefty woman, even as a young girl. I don't mind being square, in fact my shape and size gives me an advantage in many situations, but I'm about tired of the gut that showed up when i regained 70 of the 120 pounds. It is sloooowly going away, and I know I will have to treat this like a lifelong condition/disease, there will be no quick fix, it will be something I will have to manage on a daily basis. So to the yoga mat!
A Theory
7 years ago
I really do believe in the HAES approach. Healthy living is for everyone and not necessarily reflected in weight alone.
ReplyDeleteNow... if I could just get that stupid voice in my head to agree with what my brain understands.
Also - I totally want to get back into Yoga - but I CANNOT do the DVDs... so I will have to find a class locally next year. It's tough to balance the time out, though. The SB has serious depression, and he's logically perfectly fine with me going to classes, etc.... during the day... or when I am doing it... But in the middle of the night when the depression brain takes over, he thinks I'm abandoning him and looking for ways to spend time away from him because I hate him. It's tough to manage some times. Ah, the joys of having loved ones with depression!
ReplyDeletei get that way. its called crazy brain. eeeeveryone and thing is against you becouse, in your head it is! Meds help a little but diet and routine helps the most! keeping a good sleeping schedule is key as well. (not over sleeping too too much) it is awesome that you are taking the energy to be with someone who suffers depression
DeleteI call it "night boy"
Deletehalf the battle of any life or lifestyle adjustment is recognizing it! your doing great becouse you know what you want and need to do! go for it! Now that I have quit smoking again, I intend on starting to run again. maybe i can end up running in a marathon that would be fun. i used to run cross country in high school
ReplyDeleteThe road of a thousand miles starts with the single step. I am happy and proud we are both taking those steps, together, on the road to health. If you are getting up and doing something then you are already ahead of the game with so many other Americans!
ReplyDeleteBrain chemistry changes when the sun goes down, one of the reasons they refer to Alzhimer's patients in the evening as 'sundowning', they might be congnative during the day, not so at night.
ReplyDeleteI get depressed sometimes at night, especially if there's no one on FB or anything to talk to. I start imagining all kinds of things, like everyone has blocked me, or they are all ignoring me. I KNOW that its the chemical issue, but sometimes my head doesn't listen to reason. ;D
I have been doing the Wii Fit yoga, it is very good, and you get an 'instructor' who shows you how to do each move. I thought when I bought the Wii that it was going to be easy, not so much! The balance games are fun, but the aerobics, yoga and strength training are pretty intense.
ReplyDeleteThe reason you never got those DVD's from Steve Ross is that he didn't have permission to use the music he played. He couldn't release them.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is teaching yoga and I take it also - we're neither one thin and stick-like. Yoga is a good for you in many ways...
Aaahhh, I wondered why Ross never came through!
ReplyDeleteHow great, you live with an instructor! Well, maybe not so great on those days you don't feel like working out. ;)
I beleve in HAAS too, but I also have to face facts that I have bone/joint damage that only carrying less weight will relieve. I'll never be thin, not build that way, being able to do grocery shopping w/o a cane would be nice.