I'm three weeks into my new workout program and feeling pretty good about myself. I haven't gone on a cookie binge or been bitten by the lazy bug. So, clearly, I'm one of the lucky few that gets with the program and deftly sidesteps any detours into bad behaviors.
Wrong.
It's just that I pick a "hidden" detour: I participate in a Saturday morning boot camp.
How can working out more be considered a detour? For starters, I've never done a boot camp. Ever. And this particular boot camp kicks my butt. Here's how it goes: I'm forced to do as many jumping jacks, squats, and weight repetitions as I can bust out in one-minute time frames. After just 10 minutes of this military style torture, I'm dizzy and feel like I might pass out. What have I done?
Yogalosophy is the complete opposite of boot camp -- everything in Mandy's workout is done in sets of eight: repetitions, breaths, and pulses. Why? Mandy says that eight is the number of power and abundance. Eight reps are easier on my body than countless military drills. Go figure.
After a session with Mandy I feel calm, relaxed, and strong. After boot camp? I'm exhausted, depleted, and weak. I've never been beaten up before, but I imagine it feels something like this.
The next day, I wake up sore. Too sore to work out. The following day is even worse. My muscles are on fire and I can barely move. So, I don't.
My mind is telling me to work out, but my body is begging me to leave it alone. My body wins, and I miss five days of Yogalosophy.
Photo 10/11
From newbie to yogi
I'm back in the game and I feel rejuvenated (a bit stronger, too). I'm not having as much difficulty with the yoga poses I couldn't stand to do before. Especially Downward Dog. But, if I'm being honest, I do feel guilty for missing five days. So I check in with Puja, who confirms that I made the right choice by resting and staying hydrated. Muscles become dehydrated when they are sore, so water in the system lubricates the muscle fibers and shortens the recovery period. Light stretching and walking help alleviate the lactic acid build-up in the muscles, which causes the soreness. And if the body is so sore that it can barely move, Puja says that it's perfectly fine to take a day or two to rest completely. I think I love her.
Not only do I start to feel firmer, but I am also able to hold yoga poses more easily now -- and I find little ways to push myself during each routine, whether it's balancing just a little bit longer or squeezing my muscles as tight as possible while doing squats. I'm trying to adopt Mandy's suggestions of doing "just a little bit more" each workout in order to experience that "breakthrough" we are all waiting for, particularly when we hit a plateau.
While in the office kitchen one morning, Jane, one of my editors, asks me if I've lost some weight. And, for once, I can take the credit instead of awarding it to my amazingly slimming black blazer. As I tell Jane about my new yoga workout, I can't help but wonder, what would my results be after 60 days? Or even 90? Wait. Am I officially a yogi?
Photo 11/11
And the results are in �
Weight: 136 lbs
Total weight loss in one month: 12 lbs
After a month of hard work, it's time for the results, and I am very pleasantly surprised! I ditched almost five inches and lost 12 of my dreaded freshman 15 pounds. In a month.
My body looks better, I have more energy, and I'm more relaxed. I've gained lots of confidence and I'm no longer hiding under layers of baggy clothing. Not bad for $14.95 and a little determination.
Ah, college. Two a.m. drive-thru dashes, cold Mu-Shoo for breakfast, a Hot Pocket (or three) for dinner. And beer. Let's not forget the beer. That was the life. The lazy, couch potato life. So, at the end of four long years, I left with a diploma in hand and 15 extra ugly/unhealthy pounds everywhere else.
These days I realize that I was all sorts of delusional to think that the weight would drop away after graduation like some collegiate ball and chain I'd been lugging around. Who was I kidding? After all, I was living pretty much the same life; it was just the venues that had changed. Parking my (considerable) butt in a lecture hall was replaced by sitting at a desk all day, and Thursday night beer pong transitioned into martinis and game night. Not exactly a recipe for weight loss.
Frankly, getting thinner wasn't very high on my to-do list. Sure, I always thought it'd be nice to feel fitter and look slimmer, I just figured I'd get to it at some point down the line. Then, I happened to look -- really look -- at the ever-growing pile of too-small clothes that had overrun my closet. My "fat" jeans were now the pair I was grabbing most often. Talk about an "a-ha moment." I knew then that I had to take action or I'd run the risk of having things snowball further out of control.
This is the part where I'm supposed to say that I joined a boot camp and got lean and mean, or that I embarked on a successful cleanse and am now 100 percent vegan. Sorry to disappoint but, believe it or not, my inspiration came from an article about Jennifer Aniston and how she attributes her fit, lean physique to practicing yoga. Could yoga give me a celebrity-worthy body too? And, even if it would, could I afford it?
Yeah, not so much. Personal trainers may be fine for the celeb set but I needed something much less expensive. So, I did some research and found Mandy Ingber's "Yogalosophy" DVD workout. Ingber has been teaching yoga and spinning in Los Angeles for more than 15 years and lists Aniston among her celebrity clients. I decided to plunk down the $14.95 and commit to a month's worth of daily workouts with Mandy to see what a couple of DVDs and a little determination could get a girl. Here's what happened �
