What a difference a week makes

I went to yoga for the first time in a week today.

I wanted to die.

To be fair to my poor body, the fill-in for Catherine was ... hard. She was really hard. But it's amazing what a week away from yoga does to my body. I never got seriously winded (I've been doing my cardio!), but I could feel that I wasn't as flexible or strong, and my already weak shoulders really didn't enjoy downward-dog tonight.

But I did rock the balancing poses.

In other news, I'm discussing my test results with my doctor tomorrow at noon.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

The world is a small, small place.

So, I went to yoga again today. And Sean was back from his hiatus. I'm so glad Sean was back from his hiatus. He's by far my favorite instructor, followed closely by his wife, Karen. They both combine hard workouts with more rest periods than the other teachers. The intensity is higher in Sean/Karen's classes, but I feel more restored walking out of class because they've given me a proportionate amount of rest to go along with it. I guess that's what being the owners of the studio will do for ya. (For the record: I like Sean more b/c he does more strength than Karen, and he's freakin' hilarious.)

Anyway, today was packed. Sean's classes always are. Anyway, it was one of those days where there was about 3 inches between each of the mats throughout the entire studio. The spot next to me was empty until about 5 minutes before class, when a very harried Asian woman about my age rushed into it. You could tell she'd had a bad day. You could tell she needed yoga. We struck up a conversation about how she was a beginner, and then class began.

At the end, we chatted some more. And it came out that she's from my hometown in Indiana (not hard -- I'm from Indianapolis), and we know some of the same people. She taught swing dancing with my college roommate. She's living about a block from me this summer, and is starting med school in the fall. So weird.

In the 80s

It's officially summer here in my Metropolis. It's sticky. It's humid. It's hot.

It's so hot and humid that they don't turn on the heaters during hot yoga. Hell, the windows are sometimes open. And I'm not even south of the Mason-Dixon.

But, the actual reason behind this post is not the temperatures. No, friends. Today, I stepped on the scale pre-shower on a whim and was flabbergasted by what I saw: 189.0.

Fully clothed I am 191.

It feels good. I know it's that I've been sick, but I hope to maintain it even after I feel completely human again. Suddenly 170, my next milestone, doesn't feel so far away.

My butt is starting to look round (in a good way). I have little biceps growing under my flab. My stomach is flatter. My pouch is much smaller, and under my flab I can feel hard ab muscle.

And it's the yoga. Because I really don't do much else. With the move I fell off the running wagon. I'm going to try to get back on at some point, but the impact just isn't fun when I'm this heavy -- I think for a while my cardio of choice is going to be the elliptical machine.

Oh, and one last thing. For those who have never been to a yoga class, there's generally a set formula. You start with sun salutations. You move into standing poses. Twists. Backbends. Inversions. The yoga instructor calls the poses and kind of sets the pace. But not today. Or at least not for the whole class. Instead, after the first Sun Salutation A, the instructor said, "Do three more at your own pace. When you reach the end, stay in downward dog." It was oddly freeing, and just the right amount of instruction. I knew I had to do them, but there wasn't a timetable.

It was nice for a change of pace. But tomorrow I will go to the ass-kicking Sunday evening class and have Sean make me want to cry. And that will also be awesome.

Kill me now?

So, I've got the sinus infection from hell. I've bee home from work the past two days, parked on the couch with the OJ and water.

Consequently, I have been pretty quiet on here. For that I am sorry.

I promise that when I feel a little better, I'll let you guys know how life is going. But for now, I'm popping Sudafed like it's candy and wishing I were healthy enough to go to yoga.

Sore! Oh, the sore!

So, I've been a little workout monkey this week. I've been to the gym every day since Wednesday. And today, I did the gym AND yoga. I mean, I didn't die, but daaaaaaaamn am I gonna be sore tomorrow. I can already feel my calf muscles and my triceps talking to me. Correction: my triceps are SCREAMING at me.

But I was in the mood to kick a little ass today -- my own. You see, I have survived my first year of law school. And I now have all my grades. And I have a pretty rockin' GPA -- one that puts me at roughly 15% of my class. Not bad for a girl who was wait-listed originally, eh?

And because of my good mood, I may have been slightly over-zealous. I know I burned ~425 calories at the gym. I know the hour and a half of yoga I did has got to be AT LEAST another 300. Evidently I am freakin' Rambo over here.

Tomorrow I'm going to give myself the day off. Or, if I feel up to it, I may go in to the gym and do the elliptical or ride the bike. No running tomorrow. No yoga.

And now -- I must go to the store, b/c I am out of snacky things. And I am hungry. Must be all those calories I burned. :)

New job tomorrow

Hello, Gentle Readers. I have recovered (mostly) from my intense reaction to Boyfriend's leaving for the summer. I'm sure after a while we'll get the phone date thing worked out, and I'll be back to my normal cheery self.

But, in other news, I start my summer job at Judge's office tomorrow. As such, I was trying on my dress clothes ... and wouldn't you know? Even though I haven't lost any weight by the scale since I last tried on my suit pants, they are noticeably looser. Previously they were just a tad too tight, and were uncomfortable to sit in. Now, they fit almost-loosely.

This means I have gained muscle! And that yoga has done a good job at toning up my flabby body. :) I'm planning on keeping it up at 4 or 5 times a week at the studio over the summer. Hopefully I'll be a shadow of my former self when school starts in the fall.

To that end, I have started the "simple and easy meals" part of my summer. I have already packed the leftovers from my dinner for lunch tomorrow. I made a low-fat, low-sodium chicken and musthroom soup bake with brown rice. I will steam some broccoli in the morning, and maybe take half an apple or a small bunch of grapes for lunch.

In an unrelated tangent: I hate that Clerk (my direct boss for the summer) has told me that the office is "casual." How confusing! It's a business office, and that of a Judge, so surely it is not truly casual? I went in for my interview in a button-down and black suit pants, and felt a little too dressy. Tomorrow I'm planning on new blue and white striped cotton trousers from Old Navy (from a distance they look gray) and a short-sleeved blouse. I have a non-suit pencil skirt, some black pants, and a few cardigans and blouses that I was planning on wearing -- do these sound appropriate? Any of you highly successful ladies out there have any recommendations for me in this area? Prior to this job, I've either worked retail or been a lab tech, as I was in college. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Workout with Boyfriend and my favorite restaurant in town

So, I've been bugging Boyfriend (who is tall and slim, but looking to lose about 15lbs) to go to Yoga with me. He likes running, and I dislike it intensely (hello, boobs! Mine are LARGE), but he likes to work out with me. I've been pestering him to just suck it up and come to a class. And today, he did.

We both went to Saturday morning basics, the one class I really don't enjoy because the teacher is just TOO peppy. One Saturday she actually talked about "happy fingers and toes." She also, unlike other instructors in basics classes, does not give a lot of instruction about how to get into the poses. So, poor Boyfriend kept looking sideways at me, trying to get a handle on what the hell was going on.

As for how he did, I was impressed. He handled the heat pretty well, though he looked like he wanted to die toward the end. He's a guy, so he's got more upper body strength than I do, and the vinyasas were not a problem for him. But, he's woefully inflexible, so I kept trying to whisper modifications for him to take, since the instructor wasn't really helping.

The verdict: He liked it. I don't think he'll go back with me until the fall (we're both taking finals now, and he'll be in another city for his job this summer), but he expressed an interest in starting up with me in August when school starts again.

Despite our trying to cook more at home, after yoga neither of us wanted to cook lunch. SO, after a shower, we went to our favorite restaurant, Aladdin's Eatery. For a meal prepared by someone else, I feel that their menu is pretty darned healthy, without making you eat a salad every time you feel like going out. It's Middle-Eastern, I believe based upon the cuisine of Lebanon. Regardless, the dishes are all super tasty. Boyfriend and I each got a soup (vegetarian chili for me, chicken-len-chili for him) and split an Arayiss Pitza. Very filling, satisfying, moderately carby, high in protein and fiber. In my mind, the perfect post-yoga meal.

Now if I didn't have to study for Con Law, it would be a perfect day.

Let's just file this under, "starting over"

So, today was the last day of my first year of law classes. I still have finals, but it was a day of celebration, if you will. A day of realizing that I freakin' survived the first year of law school.

Consequently, today was horrific food-wise. Panera bagel. Lo Mein for lunch. Dinner was actually OK (middle eastern -- whole wheat pita and red bean veggie chili), but I had ice cream after. And, a celebratory beer after classes.

But I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Tomorrow I will make better choices. And I will just move on from there. It's finals, and I know that I will slip up more often than usual. I've started to realize that one day isn't the end of the world. I've still got good habits, and even my "bad" days aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. My portion control is much better, for one thing.

On a more positive note, I went to yoga today (despite it being 90 degrees here in my little metropolis). The humidity was intense, but I went, and I had a great time, in part because yoga jerk wasn't there today.

Also. I've decided that Friday mornings will be the weigh-in day for the blog. That way I go into the weekend motivated (for one reason or another) and make better food and exercise choices.

Yoga/Life Etiquette

First: I maintained my 199.5 this morning. :)

Secondly, my yoga studio has a resident douchebag.

Now, I know that yoga can attract some people who are a little ... self-absorbed. And, being a law student and a pretty new yoga practitioner, I can sometimes fall in that category. We all, from time to time, do thoughtless things that hurt/annoy others unintentionally. It's part of being human.

But then there's this guy who goes to my studio. I've seen him before, but his girlfriend came with him today, and sat her mat in the (very empty -- it was Friday at 4pm) same row as mine. Not recognizing her as his girlfriend, I went about my business setting up my area and stretching out.

Then in walks the douchebag.

He's one of those guys who tries to compensate for being short by being a big jerk. He's got long, dirty blond surfer hair (we are NOWHERE near a coast) and likes to make sure everyone sees him walk into the room and start stripping down into his yoga shorts. (An aside: Men, please wear shirts to yoga. I don't care how great of shape you're in, I really don't want to see your chest and abs that much. Kthnx.)

The thing is, I could handle that this guy just radiates "I'm a huge tool" except that he's really distracting in class. He talks. He'll giggle to himself (about what, I have no clue) and he'll invade your personal mat space and not apologize.

This was our issue today.

You see, there were not many people at class today. It was Friday at 4pm. There was plenty of room to spread out, but this guy chose to put his mat roughly 4 inches from mine. And then his limbs somehow kept intruding into my space. And not on poses where you would expect to need more space, where you arms or legs go wide.

So, I'm hanging out. I'm trying to exercise patience. And then, as we're in a balancing pose, his girlfriend decides she doesn't feel very good, and she wants to go home. So he starts to roll up his mat, and KNOCKS ME THE FRICK OVER, causing me to roll my ankle

And he doesn't apologize.

Being the nice person I am, I did not punch him or raise my voice despite REALLY wanting to. I didn't want to disturb the rest of the class anymore than my loud thud and yelp I'd already let out, and I was embarrassed. I spent a lot of the rest of the class in child's pose, as I couldn't balance on my right leg anymore, and after class walked very slowly back to the apartment.

So, the ankle isn't swollen, but it hurts. A lot.

All because someone's mommy never taught him to play nice with others.

My first yoga injury, and some good news

Despite really just wanting to collapse into bed this afternoon because of a restless last night, I sucked it up and went to yoga. But, out of consideration of my poor, tired body and the fact that I haven't really taken a yoga break this week, I decided to go to the basics class. Because basics should be easier, right?

Well, not tonight.

See, basics yoga is ... well, in some ways it's harder. It's slower, so you're not "flowing" as fast, or moving from pose to pose as quickly. As such, you don't get as dizzy from the hot room (good, because today it was 102 in there), but you're holding poses longer, which can make for some sore muscles. And they really just do basic poses. Some moderately advanced ones.

But tonight, the instructor decided it was a good idea to do Crow.

For those of you who don't practice yoga, Crow is effin' hard. It looks like this, in its most basic form:

Photo courtesy of the Sonia Show:http://thesoniashow.wordpress.com/2008/08/

It can then be modified in several ways, such as side crow:

Image courtesy of: Team Sugar: http://teamsugar.com/group/71612/blog/154631

Etc, etc.

Suffice it to say, this is not a "basic" pose. But, I've been going for three weeks now, and I was feeling pretty adventurous. So I tried. And I now have a bruise on my tricep, because I am just not there yet.

But! In good news, I did my first full backbend since ... well, since I was in gymnastics class in middle school. My balance is better, and I'm stronger. I did like, a million pushups in class today, and my arms are pretty alright.

Finally, I'll end on the happiest note of all. I walked into class today and the girl sitting behind me in the lecture hall commented as I took off my trench, "Have you been losing weight? You look really good." After just this morning I looked in the mirror and realized that I have a WAIST in pants and a shirt again. Now, I still have the pooch, but it's much harder to see, and my waist curves in much more than it did before when you look at me straight on, even if I always had a defined waist.

So, I think that we can chalk this up as a good day. :)