April 14, 2016

I'm weighing in this week at 246.8, which is a .8 pound weight loss for the week and 25 pounds lost overall. This process is excruciatingly slow, but still moving forward nonetheless.

Part of me is thinking about a fast. Just a week long. To kick this thing into 2nd gear. Opinions on that are welcome.

I made it to Monday night yoga, but still managed to miss restorative! I'm planning to take a class tomorrow morning, although I haven't decided if I want to take Yoga Flow at The Breathing Room Center, Gentle Yoga at The Yoga Loft, or suck it up and show up to a level 2/3 class at Easton Yoga. I love the sound of Gentle Yoga, but Easton is the closest . . .and I do know how to modify. I'll decide in the morning.

So up for debate . . .to fast or not to fast? We're talking one week here.

April 7, 2016

I'm weighing in today at 247.6, which is a .6 pound weight loss for the week and 24.2 pounds lost over all.

I'm inching, crawling, barely moving my way forward. But moving forward nonetheless. To be honest, I'm surprised I lost anything at all considering how little I paid attention to what I was eating. And the fact that I only made it to 1 of the 3 yoga classes I planned for. But by the end of the week I was back on track, and stocking my lunch bag with lots of healthy goodies. I've got grapes, carrots, soy yogurt, a Kind bar, and a quinoa salad with vegan chicken. As long as I keep full and satisfied, I won't be tempted to binge. Sometimes more food, not less, is actually the answer.

Next week is Spring Break. My goal, once again, is 3 yoga classes. I'm planning for Sunday night Community Class, Monday night Kundalini, and Thursday night Restorative. I'll let you know how that goes next week.

March 31, 2016

I lost two pounds this week, weighing in at 248.2. That's 23.2 pounds overall.

I did manage to get back on the elliptical . . .once. My copy of "Women, Food, and God" appears to have gone missing. It may be in the garage. It's imperative that I reread it. I'm starting to mistrust my choices. Questioning every single thing I put in my mouth. I need to refocus.

I'm heading up to Vermont this weekend to visit my brother. I already have a yoga stop planned out. Gentle flow at Laughing River Yoga on Saturday morning. My goal is to get to 3 yoga classes between now and next blog post. Simple, right?

We'll see!

March 24, 2016

Today I weighed in at 250.2, which is a .4 pound weight loss for this week and 21.6 pounds overall. I'm relieved to see a loss at all because this week has been quite chaotic.

I was hired to work with my friend Kristin in an inclusion kindergarten for the rest of the school year. I'm so happy to have this opportunity. But it is difficult coming into a classroom that's already established and trying to find your voice. The new schedule has been a shock to my body. I've been hungry all the time. The elliptical, the meditation, the no eating after 8pm all went flying out the window.

Feeling hungry is scary because I want to feed my body and at the same time I fear that anything I put in my mouth will make me gain weight. I think now is a good time to reread Women, Food, and God to spiritually, mentally, and emotionally get back in the game.

Looking forward to a better week ahead. My goal is to get on the elliptical for at least 10 minutes a day. That's it. Just keep moving.

Meditation: Day 21

My little turtle is just marching along quite happily. This week I weighed in at 250.6 pounds which is a 2.6 pound weight loss for this week and 21.2 pounds overall.

This is the last day of my 21 day meditation series. The three most important things I learned were:
1. Meditation can be done anywhere, in any position.
2. There are no rules. You can move.
3. It's not what happens inside the meditation sitting that really blows you away, but everything that starts to change outside of it.

This blog has really helped keep me accountable. For the next 21 days, I'm going to blog once a week on weigh-in day and see how that goes. My plan is to continue with meditation, continue with the elliptical, continue with the weights, and add in restorative yoga.

See ya next week!

Meditation: Day 20

I'm learning to let go of the "shoulds" of meditation. I had an idea in my mind that I "should" sit perfectly still during meditation and not move a muscle. But I'm finding that it's OK to shift around. It doesn't ruin the experience. I say this in my yoga classes all the time, and now I'm learning to listen to myself. If something doesn't feel right - stop doing it!

I've really been enjoying this meditation experiment. I will definitely continue past the 21 days. I think it's become an essential part of my daily routine. It's important for me to slow down and just notice the breath. Especially at times when my mind is racing - like these past few days!

Tomorrow marks the final day of my 21 day meditation journey and I think I'm going to stop posting daily and move down to one post a week for the next 21 days.

Meditation: Day 19

I've spent the last few hours lesson planning for a kindergarten demo lesson I have to do tomorrow. The plan is to read Dragons Love Tacos and then make our own story tacos - but instead of filling out tacos with lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese, we are filling our tacos with the beginning, middle, and end of the story. I hope it goes well.

I realized today that good feelings and complements can often be just as hard or harder to accept than negative feelings. It's almost as if we are conditioned to believe the negative. To berate ourselves. To judge ourselves. And we can't fathom that maybe we have redeemable qualities . . .assets even. So my meditation practice today is all about breathing in the good and breathing out the bad.

This is the first time I've written before meditating. It's a late night. I'm going to go do my meditation in the shower. It might be one of my favorite places to meditate.