04.18.07
“The Fats”
Had my picture made today at work. And not just a simple passport-photo-type picture, either. No no. They told us to “get our sexy on” for the cute cube signs that everybody has.
Naturally, this led to a case of the fats.
Yup! Suddenly, nothing I own fit correctly or looked good on my body. Suddenly I had lumps where no lumps had previously been evident. Suddenly — I was staring in the mirror at the almost-200-pound girl I was eight years ago.
It’s so easy for me to slip back into that mindset. When I have a case of the fats, I can look into the mirror and see a twisted, distorted, exaggerated view of myself that would put a funhouse mirror to shame.
When I sit down and separate out the distortions from the true underlying feelings, I realize that, although I have made enormous progress toward never ever seeing that fat girl in the mirror for real again, I am still not entirely comfortable with the way I’m taking care of my body. I’ve regained some of the weight it took me so long to take off, and that’s not being fair to myself.
So, as of today, I have recommitted myself toward a mindfulness toward my body, my eating habits, and my physical activity that I have been sorely lacking of late. I have come to terms (mostly) with the fact that I will never be one of those girls who can eat whatever, whenever, and still be slim. To reach a balance with myself, I will have to pay attention every step of the way.
And really, is that such a bad thing?
03.05.07
Yoga Today, Yesterday
I intended to start integrating yoga into my days last week, but after coming down with an infection that made bending––or indeed, moving much at all––unpleasant, I put it off until yesterday afternoon.
I had downloaded a class from Yoga Today, a web site that provides a new, free, one-hour yoga class every day for beginning and intermediate yoga practice. If you have iTunes, you can just go to the iTunes store and search for Yoga Today; from there, you can download a single episode, or subscribe to them and receive them automatically every day.
I was really impressed with the class. The poses were hard, but not too hard (though we did stop when the instructor said, “And now we’ll move into some head stands,”) for beginners, the instructor was clear and concise and offered suggestions for modifying the poses if they became too difficult. There are some commercials at the beginning of the video, which, I assume, is how they can offer the classes for free, but the class itself is offered without interruption.
Today, I feel pleasantly aware of my muscles––not sore, exactly, but aware when I move certain ways that those muscles received a work out. I also kind of liked the positive affirmations that the instructor gave as we practiced. They may have been a little touchy-feely for my husband, but I found them positive and they made me want to keep working.
The classes change daily, and you can download them in different formats if iTunes is not for you. Also, the site archives about a week’s worth of classes, so if you miss a day, or the day’s offering is not to your liking, you can always download a different class.
Frankly, this is one of the best free-content sites for fitness I’ve found. Any other suggestions for free online fitness solutions? Let me know in the comments.
