Bring on 2014...

So it's been a little while since I've taken fingers to keyboard and put together a "hi-diddley-ho neighbor" to my 20 lbs in 30 days crew.

I've been maintaining my weight in the 145lb range for over a year now. I fluctuate the normal 5 up and down, but outside of that - I'm stable Mabel. So what's going on with that?...

LIFESTYLE

I went through yoga school this year and am now a 300hour certified YT (200YA) and that has been a life changer. It wasn't completely planned and it wasn't completely spontaneous. It just kind of happened organically and after nearly a decade of practice - I guess the next natural step. Because of a focus on this lifestyle, I let go of all intoxicants (think booze here) when I started yoga school in January of 2013 (1/2/14 marks my 1 year anniversary). Hey, if you want to change your life - well dammit - LET'S CHANGE OUR LIVES! 

Giving up alcohol is astounding. I never really noticed how much booze plays in our everyday American lives. We are soaking in it. Nay, we are drowning in it.

As I continue to take more and more advanced teacher trainings, I have no plans on picking it back up any time soon. I really don't think it's a coincidence to my stable weight either. Oh yeah - extra bonus - more $$ in my pocket and sleeping is oh-so-much-better. It's also made me pay attention to how much suffering is brought about by addiction (addictions of ALL kinds - everything from drugs, alcohol, gambling, food, Facebook, porn, television, gaming...). More on that to come in 2014...

FOOD

My eating is extremely high vegetarian. I do have meat once and awhile (major holidays this past year) but it is not allowed in my home, nor do I ever choose it if there are good vegetarian choices available. I am eating a primarily COOKED vegetable diet - as opposed to my previous RAW vegetable diet. I am focused much more on an ayurvedic diet (still a work in progress here - but progressing) and not counting calories at all, dieting at all, or starving - at all. I am ENJOYING food, life and every single day.

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2014...

Goodbye 2013. Hello 2014!

Many changes are afoot in my world (and yours too I bet). In addition to January 1st kicking us into 2014 with a Super Moon, everyone and I do mean everyONE seems to be dissatisfied, unhappy, jumpy, wanting something different... for themselves, their lives, their loved ones... What is going on with that? Well, it's too soon to tell, but like I said - many changes are afoot...

Peace and good health to you and yours.

In joy, 

Crystal

Day 03 - Body Image: What's in your mirror?

Body Image 101 I learned tonight

1. Do not try on exercise clothes when attempting to get back on track, lose weight, or any major lifestyle change.
2. Do not attempt to get into the next size down until your current size becomes baggy
3. Do not try on clothes after you have eaten dinner
4. Do not listen to the voices in your head if you do any of the above.
   

I came home and did a quick YouTube google for "Body Image". Here's the quick highlights:
Listen to teenagers talking about their body image. Wow.
Watch a montage of what influences us to do what we do. Wow.
No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. It's an illusion. Watch the illusion take place HERE. Wow.
All of these are short but if you can only watch one - watch illusion.

I have to keep reiterating that my goal is based on health - not image. There is a certain, undeniable satisfaction about weight loss and strength training. It's a challenge (which I always like) and it's tangible. However, losing weight for the sole purpose of beauty, fashion (in this humble writer's opinion and considerable experience) is the surest way to guarantee a yo-yo weight gain.

I've managed to keep the vast bulk of my weight off for the first time in my life, going on 2 years. This has been a life style change, a mind change, a semantics change, a daily purpose change - CHANGE. My weight loss and maintaining a thin, in-shape frame is just a facet of my goal: BE HEALTHY is the ultimate goal - my diamond. Other facets include yoga, stress release, simple foods, limiting intoxicants, eliminating negative stimulants (this includes negative people), among other things. None of these alone will meet my goal. It is only when the facets come together that the diamond forms and becomes strong.

Find your inner diamond. To quote a great song called Broken by Antigone Rising, "I am a diamond. I cannot be broken." I see diamonds in my mirror...

Day 02 - Newton vs. the devil you don't know

My Update
Hunger was not my friend today. I can tell I'm starting to clean out the system because the body doesn't like change and tries to hold on to all your bad desires (Hence my chocolate give-in at the end of the day. I'll be glad when I finish all of it off and there's none in the house.) Did you ever notice that; how your mind and body almost work together to thwart any effort of change you are attempting to enact? It doesn't matter if its chore oriented (conquering a pile of bills, cleaning out a basement...), habit oriented (quitting smoking, exercising more, drinking less...), diet oriented (eating healthier, abstaining from sweets...) or life style change oriented (ending a toxic relationship, leaving a dead-end job...). Accelerating into movement from inertia can be a real challenge.

Why is this? Is this human nature? If you ask around neither you nor I are exceptions. Nearly everyone I know suffers from this. Even though we often truly know that the change would be good for us. What is it about change? I think it's the fact that change is never a "sure thing" and often a struggle. Familiarity is a hard foe to battle. When we become complacent we tend to stay complacent. I think this has been said before, though a little more eloquently.

I give you Isaac Newton's first of his 3 laws of motion:

A body in rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless the body is compelled to change its state.

What does this mean? This means that there is a natural tendency of objects (or people) to keep on doing what they're doing. All objects (or people) resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence of an unbalanced force, an object (or person) in motion (or not in motion) will maintain this state of motion (or non-motion).

So my good word to you is this - Newton was right and knowledge is power. If you know that staying where you are and doing what you are doing will only lead to more of the same, miserable mess then there really is only one choice: Dance with an unknown devil. So put on your horns and let's Marcarena. After all, even Lucifer was an angel once...




FOOD
Day 02

• Breakfast - Total cereal, walnuts, blackberries, almond milk
• Snack - Small banana and small apple
• Lunch - Salad (arugula, green leaf lettuce, tomato, garbanzo bean, black olives, red pepper, blue cheese, mushrooms) with soy and rice vinegar dressing.
• Snack - Mango, walnuts and greek yogurt
  
• Supper - Black Bean Soup and Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger on Sandwich Thins
• Dessert - 4 squares of dark chocolate

EXERCISE
Day 02

• Leg workout
• Yoga: 1 hour of power yoga

WEIGHT
No weigh in today

Day 01 - Reflection on beginning anew

Well I bounded out of bed this morning. That in itself is a rarity. Actually, pretty much bounding anywhere is a rarity.

Regardless, I had an unusual amount of desire to get up, despite my last hurray on Tuesday of sushi, wine & beer (Yes, people - I'm a Scorpio. We like extremes.) I started my morning 15 minutes (that's my before work commitment - 15 minutes of something) with an ab routine (Yes, I still have VHS), slapped on my pedometer, went to work and then had my toughest yoga class of the week - All Levels. It's 90 minutes of intense vinyasa and pose holding in a fairly hot room (around 85/90°). I can make it through - but it is a struggle. I love it and look forward to it every week.

I'm easing back into high raw and finishing up some foods around here (waste not, want not) so it was:

BREAKFAST: blackberry on high protein cereal with almond milk
SNACK: banana
LUNCH: Salad (arugula, red leaf lettuce, onion, tomato, garbanzos, avocado, blue cheese)
SNACK: mango, walnuts, raw honey & 2 tbs of plain Greek yogurt
SUPPER: Spaghetti squash, tomatoes, olives, garlic, red peppers and onions over a bed of sauteed baby spinach
DESSERT: 2 squares of dark chocolate

Yes, I'm EASING into it. I hope to be having some full raw days in the very near future - but again, I'm in no weight loss frenzy here. This is about getting back on track and being realistic.
Balance is something that almost always alludes me but I continue to try. It's very much like my constant attempt to perfect Dancer's Pose (Natarajasana) in class. It's a challenge for sure, but for me "open heart" poses are always my nemesis. This one involves opening your heart/chest and balance. The beauty of balance poses, like life, when you fall out of them you have 2 options: 1. give up.
2. try again.

Just like in yoga class tonight, I'm shaking my head at myself, rolling my eyes, giving a sigh and saying, "OK, from the beginning..."

Here we go again - 40 Day Challenge

I've been letting myself slide a little too long and am nipping this puppy in the bud. I've been struggling with relieving myself of my holiday poundage addition so I'm getting medieval on my own ass and going hard core-ish again. (Actually, I kinda think I dig the challenge).

The 40 day challenge is this: 40 straight days of yoga practice (minimum of 1 hour - various styles), no booze and high raw (breakfast & lunch raw + a sensible supper).

Here we go.

DAY 01: 148.5 lbs

How am I doing?

Howdy all -

It's been some time since I've posted. It's been an up & down time - as expected but mostly up. The holidays were rough. Some of my pitfalls:

• Sam Adams Winter Lager
• Budweiser Light Wheat
• Wine
• Bugles and French Onion Dip
• Chips and French Onion Dip
• Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes
• Sushi 7 days in a row (lots of sodium due to the soy sauce)
• Slowing up the exercise

All of THAT mess made for a frazzled mental state, which led to more bad eating/drinking and lack of exercise. All of THAT mess led to a weight gain back up to 147lbs. I was FREAKED and I promptly did what I was unable to do any of my previous yo-yo diet times: I called KC and we STOPPED THE WEIGHT GAIN in its tracks and reversed it. I'm back below 140lbs again.

How?

3 days of juicing did the trick nicely. I flushed all the sodium out of my diet for 3 days and just dumped all the water my poor body had had to hold on to while I was polluting it with garbage.

Day 1 - celery, carrots, ginger, lemon juice - that's it - no solid food

Day 2 - beets & lemon juice - no solid food

Day 3 - lemon, honey (grade B), cayenne pepper (yes, it's the Master Cleanse recipe) - no solid food

Day 4 - fruit salad (breakfast), salad (lunch), black bean soup (Dean Ornish's recipe - supper)

I'm back to my abs every morning and anything else I can fit in at night. Tammy Lee Webb ROCKS!

Gotta love the body's ability to snap back. The journey continues...

Before & After

Yes - I'm still going strong.
No - I haven't gained any weight back.
Yes - I'm still exercising daily (abs, yoga, walking, floor work...)
No - I'm not trying to lose huge quantities of weight any longer.
Yes - I do eat (trust me on that - I eat plenty).
No - I do not barf it back up.
Yes - I did this on my own with inspiration & major support of my good friend (and task master) KC
No - I did not have a personal trainer nor did I go to a weight loss camp or appear on the Biggest Loser
Yes - I have made my goals.
No - I am not finished - I hope to always have goals and be striving to reach them.

NEW GOAL: Actually make 4.5 days on the Master Cleanse (I'm currently on Day 02 and it's not a walk in the park).

I haven't posted in some time but wanted to put up some Before & After pix (finally). I have gotten many e-mails from people who wanted to see the results and at long last here they are.

The top left picture is July 2001 (around 212 lbs)
The bottom left picture is April 2009 (around 180 lbs)
The pictures on the right were taken last month (around 142 lbs). I'm about 5lbs thinner than that right now.
I have worked very hard, have seen the results and damn it I am shaking my booty!

I'm heading to Kripalu (again) next week for a 4 day relax & renewal yoga retreat and to think about what I REALLY want to give thanks about this Thanksgiving. So instead of turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatos and pies I'll be enjoying a Buddha Bowl full of some wholesome foods like THESE and offer up a prayer that I somehow managed to learn that it's NEVER too late to start over...

Whoever said it's all downhill after 40 was wrong.

Peace out and be good to yourself. You're really all you've got.