I'd rather make a habit.

Alrighty, time for a check in on the scale and on the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans 21 days challenge.

I'm down just a bit from last Wednesday (which I still think was a freak off-number day), but from last Monday I'm down by 2.8 pounds!  I'm psyched about this - mostly because I know I've also gained muscle weight as well.  How could I not, when my buddy Donte (from LA Boxing) has been making me run while punching free weights or while carrying a 16 pound sledgehammer?!!  I really have to take my measurements and take a picture, though, because I think that will really tell the tale much better than the scale will.  (Oh, and also?  I fit into a pair of shorts I haven't worn in ages.  Hells yeah!)

Now about the challenge:

Working out: check.  I've been kicking arse.  Seriously.  I've been walking, yoga-ing, and boxing like a champ.  Plus - at my personal training sessions I've had to run.  This might be nothing of significance for most of you (it's just a minute or two of jogging at a time) but before this - I would only run from a fire.  Maybe.  So the fact that I'm able to run is not only incredible, it's down right shocking. 

Eating vegetarian: check.  It hasn't been very hard, either.  I love seafood (that really helps) and I've tried out a few new recipes with soy protein crumbles.  My kids are even digging on it!

Drinking water: check, mostly.  I have been filling up my water bottle often, and chugging away.  Problem is, I think (judging by this water calculator) that I should be drinking 85-105 ounces of water a day, and ... um ... I so don't.  So I still have to keep adding more fill-ups.

Multivitamin:  not so much.  Well, I did manage to take it 3 times.  The results were not favorable, to say the least.  I think I may have to resort to Flinstone's chewables, because like a child, the big-girl vitamins made my twummy hwurt.

Seven days down, 14 more to go.  I'm feeling good - how about you?

I'd rather kick it up

It's time to fess up.  I've been slacking off on this weight-loosing gig.  More than slacking, really - more like going backward.

It mostly started when I found out my scale was lying to me, and it just kept going downhill from there.  I guess there are a lot of excuses, but none of them are any good.  I've been stuck in a "I couldn't care less" crazy spiral, and I want out.

Alarms started ringing the last time I stepped on my (new) scale.  Due to the huge error in the old scale, and the total lack of all things healthy, I've crept back up over 200 pounds.  In truth *gulp* I weighed in at 208 pounds.  Ugh, that sucks to write, but it's the truth.

UGH.

Thankfully, when I was at Fitbloggin, I was given a great opportunity to team up with LA Boxing.  These guys are letting me join their gym for 3 months and hooking me up with weekly personal training sessions as well.  They even gave me a some goodies to get me going - including gloves and wraps.

The gloves have already seen action (aside from my family walloping up on each other) at the local LA Boxing gym, here in Rockville, Maryland.  I had a personal training session Wednesday, and yesterday my friend was sweet enough to join me for a kickboxing class.  Both visits helped me understand why they call it a 1000-calorie workout.  It was intense - I really put my body to work, sweat like crazy, and woke up super sore.

Let me clarify --
By "sweat" I mean:  I exuded rivers of perspiration from the top of my head all the way to the bottom of my feet.
By "sore" I mean:  Each time I moved my limbs, I was reminded how hard I worked, mostly followed by an "owwwwww."
By "put my body to work" I mean:  I found muscles I didn't know existed, pushed myself farther than I thought possible, and opened up my lungs more than I ever have before.

And this is just the beginning.

This is shaping up to be my weekly regiment, for the next 3 months:

Monday - possible rest day, but more likely a walking day
Tuesdays - Yoga (at my yoga studio)
Wednesdays - Personal Training at LA Boxing with Donte (more on him to come)
Thursdays - Boxing class at LA Boxing
Fridays - training walks for my third Susan G. Komen 3-day for the Cure.
Saturday - another (longer) training walk
Sunday - Kickboxing at LA Boxing

Do you think that this is do-able?  Is it crazy?  Will I be able to get back to the 180's by June - maybe even back into the legwarmers for BlogHer in August?  Will I get strong enough to hold a downward dog for more than 10 seconds?  Do you think I will survive?

What do you think?



Disclosure: As a participant of #Fitbloggin', I was offered (by LA Boxing) three months free membership, free personal training, and merchandise - all in exchange for blogging my *honest* opinions once a week.

I'd rather use Yoga for headache relief

I get headaches.

All. the. time.

Headaches from stress.  Headaches from allergies.  Headaches from hormones.  Headaches from sulfa in food.  Headaches that kick up 10 notches in bright light.  (Yes, I'm aware I resemble a Gremlin.)

The nice little mogwai in me convinced me to take a "Yoga for Headaches" class at my local studio, Paige One Yoga.  I really enjoyed the class.  There were 7 of us - from mild headache sufferer, to full blown migraine veteran.  We were all just looking for a little relief - and I think I found some.

Paige One Yoga studio

It makes sense that yoga would help headache suffers.  A study was done in 2007 that found that regular yogic practice helped reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches in sufferers.  In observing my life (and those around me) I would have to agree - since I started taking regular yoga classes, the amount of headaches I get seems to have gone down.  Yoga = less stress = less headaches.  And if you are nervous just with the word of (dun-dun-dunnnnnn) "yoga," don't be!  If my rollie-pollie body can manage it, you can too.  Plus, the type of yoga you will do for headaches is a great place to start - it is less active, and easy to follow.

Now, if you are in the middle of a headache (or are feeling that "headache hangover" from a big migraine,) then you should try to keep these things in mind:

• Use Gentle poses and breathing.  Don't do intense poses that serve more as a workout - you are looking for relaxation and restoration instead.
• Keep your head above your heart in all the poses that you do.  Blood rushing to your head will only make the pain worse.

I highly recommend you look for a class in your area if you are a headache sufferer.  Some practitioners will offer (as mine did) a one-time workshop, or look for classes that use "restorative yoga" or possibly even schedule a one time private instruction to learn good techniques.

I obviously can't teach you a whole class here, but I can offer some breathing techniques I learned that might help you.  I will describe them the best I can in such a small space, but check with a yoga teacher (or professor google) for more info.  You may feel pretty silly (or down right ridiculous) while doing some of these moves, but just close the door and get over it.

• Begin with centering.  In yoga this is sitting, with legs crossed ("Criss-cross applesauce" or like the picture above.)  Shoulders are down and away from ears, jaw is parted, lips are lightly touching, spine is elongated.  Inhale and exhale deeply through nostrils.  Relax and concentrate on your breath.  This is great for decreasing stress on the spot.  It's a grown up version of what I tell my kids to do when they are upset - "okay, honey, take a deep breath..." Keep these principals in mind while doing all your breathing techniques.  
• Skull Brightening Breath:  This consists of alternating quick exhales and longer, passive inhales - both through your nose.  Exhales are made by quickly and powerfully contracting the lower belly.  Inhales are an automatic response to releasing this contraction.  You will contract your muscles 8 to 10 times on the exhale, then inhale deeply.
• Humming Bee Breath:  Keeping teeth parted, but lips closed, use your thumbs to to close your ears by pressing in the flap in front of your ear.  Put your pinkies on the "third eye," the space between your eyebrows and allow the rest of your fingers to rest on your head.  Deeply inhale, allowing your belly to expand, then exhale and gently hum while bringing navel to spine.  Feel the vibration in your skull - give your brain a little massage.
• Healing Yawn:  Pinch your earlobes and gently pull them down.  Act out a yawn to release pressure on your blood vessels.

I make no claim (at all - whatsoever - not a one) that I'm a yoga teacher.  But, you might be interested in the poses we moved through.  If you don't understand the terms I use in the next paragraph, I encourage you to again, find a class.  Alternately, visit Yoga Journal for their list of poses - they offer instructions, pictures, benefits, and cautions.  If yoga makes you nervous, skip the next paragraph. ;)

Here is the asana we moved through:

We started with neck stretches (neck smiles, looking left-right, nodding) and shoulder/arm/wrist warm-ups.  Then we moved through seated forward bend, one legged bend - using a bolster to prop up our heads - and seated twists.  Next was table, cat/cow, and thread the needle.  Up we stood, and moved into Mountain, followed by a Double Angle fold, which is a fold that stops parallel to the floor (so that head stays above heart) while the hands claps behind head and stretch to the sky.  Back to floor to hero, then into pose of the moon (like child's pose, but while kneeling and keeping head above heart.)  Into reclining twists, flapping fish, and finally corpse pose.  Whew!  (Okay, I barely understand that, but there it is for all you yogini's.) 

That is just about all I have for you from the class.  But there is one last suggestion - track your headaches.  Make a journal or chart to note the date, duration, intensity, trigger, and anything that you used to treat it.  It goes a long way to figuring out what will work best for you to get past these greedy little time-sucking monsters, and on to your happy life!

Namaste.