Sunday, November 11, 2012

Yoga 1 Week Later

Okay, I didn't give up!  Hooray for me!  I still haven't gotten any props, although I did try using my husband's 32 oz plastic cup as a yoga brick once.  It started to groan and bend, so I just decided to go without. I believe I've done 4 or 5 yoga routines so far.  The first disk has three sections:  Strength and Vitality, Flexibility. . Something, and Serenity.  I believe I did three Strength and Vitality, one Flexibility and, today I moved on to the next DVD of the four, Yoga Mix.  It's yoga mixed with dance.  I did the first section, not sure it has a name. . . but it was pretty good!  I like how I don't have to bebop and hop around to break a sweat and get my heart rate up.  I do my best on these routines, modifying it to work for me, not worrying if I don't make the exact same pose as the instructor lady.  She and I are on speaking terms now.  That first day, I got all mixed up when she really got into the routine.  Mountain pose to downward dog, take the left leg in and lunge, move leg back to plank, move up to downward dog. .  .she goes pretty fast, but I'm getting it.  Today, with the new disc came a new lady.  I was able to keep up pretty much until she had us in criss cross applesauce (I can do that better now!) and she wanted me to swing the top leg to the side and back to the front.  Um. . . nope.  I stretched and breathed during that part.

I don't know, it's getting better!  I reserved a book called Big Yoga at the library last week.  I still haven't gotten it, but I'm hoping it will show me a fat person alternative to this move.  I haven't encountered it yet, but there's a picture of it on the Yoga mix DVD and it kind of freaks me out.

Well shoot, in looking for that picture, I found a bunch of yoga poses that freak me out!  Observe the following:







Aaaaaand, this last one is a good example to end on.  Shut your face.  Just shut it right now.  I think someone just broke this lady.  She needs to be returned to factory settings.  I'm glad I began yoga in the naivete of youth.  I don't think I would have considered it at this point in my life if i hadn't had that Yoga for Dummies to start me out.  It's all just a little too intimidating.  Oh well, I'm in it now!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

PCOS . . . You Jerk.

I want to be pregnant.  I always thought it would be super easy for me and maybe it would have been ten years ago when I was younger and closer to 200 lbs than 300 lbs.  But no, I have been diagnosed with a condition called PCOS (Polly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome) and apparently, that makes getting pregnant difficult.

I have read up on it a little and a few girls have said that when they dropped 20 lbs or so they got preggers, so I'm hopeful.  I'm hopeful right now especially because I have dropped 15 lbs since August, so, yeah.

Reason for bringing this issue up again today:  The last couple of days I've had some symptoms that make me wonder.  I got nauseous and dizzy on Monday because I had to drive up a very steep hill.  I'm actually feeling it again just thinking about it.  Tuesday I had some spotting even though I had just finished my period a couple of days earlier.  Yesterday was pretty normal, but today (Thursday) I woke up with an awful headache (which isn't uncommon for me) that was accompanied by nausea and a pain that felt like a pinch in a straight line to the side of my abdomen.  It didn't feel like sore muscle pain from the crunches I did earlier.  It felt different.  I wasn't doing so hot this morning, enough so that my husband pleaded with me to not go to work (I went, anyway).  My mouth was doing that watering thing that it does right before you throw up and I had to think about other things because I really felt like I may throw up on the drive over here.  When I got to work, I took 2 Excedrin Migraine pills and I felt better by the time the kids came into my room.  Am I pregnant or is my PCOS just getting a kick out of messing with me?

It would be great if I were pregnant.  Then we could wait a few weeks and tell our families on Christmas Day!  Wouldn't that be awesome!?!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Yoga, Where Have You Gone?


Here I am at 34 and about to tell a "when I was young" story. . . I had a VCR of Yoga for Dummies that I got cheap on Amazon.  I remember yoga.  Friendly, calm, encouraging yoga.  We were friends.  Granted, I was 25, a good 70 lbs lighter, and I had less of an understanding of my body's limits.  


So, now that I'm working out with my friend Greta after school three to four times a week, trying to watch what I eat, and since I've lost 15 lbs since the beginning of the school year, I thought I would mix it up.  I remembered my fondness for yoga and I purchased Gaiam Beginner's Yoga 4 Disc Set from Target for $15.  Not bad.

Cut to today.  It's 6:13 a.m. on a cool Sunday in November.  Daylight Savings day.  My eyes popped open at 4:20.  It took about an hour to convince myself that I've been given the gift of an extra hour to work out, but finally I got out of bed.  I put on my workout clothes, pulled my hair back, and went down to the living room to start my new yoga routine.  It took a while to figure out how to switch to our little used DVD player from our wii, but I did it.  SO EXCITED!

I learned a few things today.  I learned that my flexibility is even more limited than I thought.  I learned that fat gets in the way when trying to do most of these poses.  I learned I hate this lady. I couldn't get the first position she had us start, which is like criss-cross applesauce, only without the ankles crossing (one ankle in front of the other.  Can't do that, and when I say I can't do that, I mean I physically cannot do that.  My legs just refuse to go that way.  I ended up with one leg about halfway pulled in and the other leg slightly bent and then eventually straight ahead.  Alright.  I was still stretching and I still could practice my yoga breathing.  She had us pull our knees into our chest. Again, can't do that.  What came next, I wasn't prepared for.  She wanted me to roll back and forth along my spine.  I don't think that was supposed to be painful.  She seemed to enjoy it.  My poor tailbone especially had a hard time.  It's been sore for a while from sitting in my comfy chair too long and too often.  I did like the way she talked me through transitioning from sitting on the floor to standing.  That maneuver has become less than graceful through the years.  Still, the more I got into the routine, the more I had trouble following her instructions.  Real trouble.  I ended up sitting on the floor and just breathing and moving my arms.  This chick is crazy.  I am now sitting in my comfy chair with my laptop on my lap, watching her do things that I couldn't dream of doing on my best days.  And I have 4 DISCS of this!!  Four discs of inadequacy.

My next move is to research yoga for fat people.  (Side note, she has just pressed her shin into her face. WHO DOES THAT?!)  Surely there are tips out there for the less than flexible.

****Researching****

Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZNns5tamRY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ahlwer-Vd8&feature=related

MegaYoga book on Amazon that has a lot to offer just in the Look Inside part:
http://www.amazon.com/Megayoga-Megan-Garcia/dp/0756619475/ref=pd_cp_mov_0

I have learned that I need props.  I have also learned not to take form as seriously.  I mean not worrying about keeping my legs together in child's pose.  I'm sure I knew this at one point, but I have to make exceptions for my "budda belly".  If I widen my legs a bit, my tummy has somewhere to go.  Okay.  Good to know.  If I can remember to bring my sewing machine to school, maybe Greta can help me learn how to thread it and therefore I can be on my way to making one of those tube pillows.  Or maybe I can just find one. . .

Props:  Tube Shaped Pillow, Yoga Bricks, Straps.
Props I have:  Coffee Table, Wall

I'm feeling better about yoga now.  I just reserved a book online from the library:  Big Yoga.    It doesn't look as cool as MegaYoga, but I can't afford to buy more stuff right now.  200 pages?  Hopefully there are some pictures.  We'll see.  I'll just keep trying to do my DVD with modifications that feel better for me.

Maybe I'll dig my Yoga for Dummies VCR tape out of the basement.  I just remember it being easier.