Lessons from Yoga

I know I'm really late on the Yoga wagon and a lot of you have already hopped off and onto another more exciting wagon (i.e. crossfit) but I still wanted to see what all the 90's excitement was all about. I gathered up the kiddos and drove my giant butt to the gym to check out a Body Flow class. I still think they need another name for it. The flow part just grosses me out. Anyway, the class is a mix of Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi. Sounds relaxing right?
I thought that I could show up a little early, stand in a back corner and get away with moderate stretching for an hour. Yeah, I was wrong. It was HARD! Really, really, hard! 15 minutes into the class and my shirt was drenched. Drops of sweat were falling onto the mat and I was starting to fade. In the end, I did come to enjoy myself. I feel relaxed in the muscles that aren't throbbing in awareness and I feel accomplished for making it through an hour long class. 60 minutes of exercise...check!

Here are some Lessons I learned today from Yoga:

1. Bring your own mat. The ones provided by the gym are gross!

2. Come early or the other fatty's will secure the places in the back and you will be forced to take the side seat and knock over water bottles during leg extension poses.

3. Everyone farts....or just the guy with his ass in my face...but no one laughs. Whew!

4. Bring an extra towel or two or three. Lot's of sweating. Think beach towel not hand towel.

5. Stay for the 10 minutes of relaxation at the end. Sure, you might get athletes foot on your scalp but it's the closest thing to a nap I might get today.

Exercise Sucks

I did a scary thing today....... I joined a gym. gasp. I know. It was horrifying! 

First let me just say that I pretty much HATE to exercise. Even when I was thinner, I never found it enjoyable. I would roll my eyes at any mention of runners high and pretty much only ran if someone were chasing me. Other than sex, I'm pretty much against any activity that involves sweating.

Joining the gym today was a big deal. I'm kind of married to Golds now. Well, only for a year and I have to pay them but still, it's a big commitment. I realize now that if I'm ever going to maintain my health and live longer than 27, I just have to exercise. And it seems like a lot of the other people there, realize they have to as well. 

I was nervous even walking in with my work out pants and clearly unfit physique. Flashbacks of PE started flooding my brain. I was sweating before I even started. All I could think of were the girls in high school with their perfect bodies, jogging effortlessly and with happiness. What I saw and what I expected to see were complete opposites. Everyone looked normal. Men and woman of all age ranges and body types were floating around looking for ways to better themselves. No one was staring, trying to find a date, or even paying attention to anyone else. It was eye opening. Even the woman next to me was making business calls while spinning her legs on the recumbent bike. 

Seeing how normal everyone was made me think, 'I can do this.' I have to do this. It's not a choice anymore but a way of life I need to adopt. I want to be the woman on the elliptical planning this weeks dinner menu. I want to be able to take a class and finish the entire thing. Mostly, I want to be one of those people that loves to exercise. Someone who can't go two days without it. I want to experience the high. 

For now, I just need to focus on showing up and not falling off the treadmill. 

Black Bean Soup

 One of the changes I am currently making in my diet is the amount of produce I'm trying to consume. Just one week into my journey and I'm feeling awesome and full of energy. I think a lot of it has to do with getting my full 5 servings(or more) of fruits and veggies.  

I can honestly say that I have never been cheerful about putting away groceries until this week. Seeing all of the beautifully colored fruits and vegetable overflowing out of my produce drawers made me happy. 








                                 CROCK POT BLACK BEAN SOUP

1 tbs oil
1 Medium onion finely chopped
1 (or 2) cloves of garlic, minced
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
2 regular sized cans of diced tomatoes(you could use fresh too, I just didn't have enough fresh tomatoes on hand)
2 Large cans of black beans
1 box Chicken broth
1tsp Cumin to taste
1tsp Chili powder to taste 
Sea salt and ground pepper


About 3 WW Points+ for 1 cup






Directions:


Finely chop onion and peppers. In a large pan add 1 tbs olive oil or oil of choice. Over medium heat, saute the garlic and onion until the onion is translucent and the garlic is light brown. Be careful not to burnt the garlic. 
Take Garlic, onion mixture and add it to the empty crock pot.  Next saute the peppers all together until they are slightly soft(about 2 minutes.) Add peppers to crock pot. 
Here comes the hard part. Pour in the cans of black beans. I rinsed one but left one with the juice. Add the cans of crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and seasoning. Cook on Low for 6-8 hours. 


I made this for everyone at work and everyone LOVED it. My husband was actually sad I was taking it because he really liked it too. It took me about 10 minutes total of prep and we had enough to feed at least ten people. I also topped mine with avocado, fat free mozzarella and 1 tbs Sour cream.

The beginning of a never ending Journey

This week, I started a journey that I have begun and quit many times. This time I am changing the formula and hoping for better results.

 I currently weigh 316.6 lbs. This is the first time I have seen such terrifying numbers. I'm at the heaviest I have ever been in my life and it sucks.

This blog is going to be part of my journey.  I will be cataloging my successes, failures, embarrassments, suffering, new experiences and my everyday life as I take the dive into the pool of weight loss.