Let's Get Healthy in 2010!

[Gentle Tiger]

I made it through another day without soda. It was close though! I am trying to let soda go. I was drinking a lot of it! Pepsi is my drug or rather was my drug. I haven't had one in 2 weeks.

[Emmy]

I've just started a fitness 'bootcamp' class at my school gym. Though the physical pain involved is bearable (even sorta fun, in a twisted sort of way), the psychological component is kinda rough. Several of my classmates could no doubt themselves be fitness instructors/ swimsuit models -one of the perils of living in southern California, I guess- and I just feel so very bad at this whole business.

The relay part of the class, where each crab walk, do these crouchy-jumpy things, walking pushups, etc. up and down a short track, is the worst; the fit people in the class, long finished, chat and take water breaks, all the while looking reasonably composed, while I stream sweat and make pathetic noises, hauling myself along. Ach. Like a flashback to middle school. Well, when I wasn't hiding out somewhere or pretending to have cramps...

But, it's all for the good, I think. Being conspicuously bad at something -and learning not to care- can be good for the character, I think. And the exercise really does feel pretty good.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Emmy

I've just started a fitness 'bootcamp' class at my school gym. Though the physical pain involved is bearable (even sorta fun, in a twisted sort of way), the psychological component is kinda rough. Several of my classmates could no doubt themselves be fitness instructors/ swimsuit models -one of the perils of living in southern California, I guess- and I just feel so very bad at this whole business.

The relay part of the class, where each crab walk, do these crouchy-jumpy things, walking pushups, etc. up and down a short track, is the worst; the fit people in the class, long finished, chat and take water breaks, all the while looking reasonably composed, while I stream sweat and make pathetic noises, hauling myself along. Ach. Like a flashback to middle school. Well, when I wasn't hiding out somewhere or pretending to have cramps...

But, it's all for the good, I think. Being conspicuously bad at something -and learning not to care- can be good for the character, I think. And the exercise really does feel pretty good.

Congrats on taking the class! You'll get faster as you go along.

[lipstixgal]

I just started working out and boy after being out of the gym for quite some time its killing me. Need to go more often though its tough just to get there. I need the motivation boost to start kicking in!!

Going to try and make the yoga class tomorrow morning!!

[Linus]

Hey all..

I think once I'm in L.A. I might find one of those bootcamps to do. Right now I run every other day and have made it to "week 5" of my iPhone app C25K (Couch to 5K). It's a 9 week program and I want to do it even while at the Reunion.

I've never been big on running but with my new shoes it's made a big difference as far as my enjoyment of running.

[PearlsNLace]

I went to a yoga class today. And left, 1/3 of the way through it, feeling so fat, so slow, so akward, so stiff. I left, literally, crying to my car. UGH.
VERY FRUSTRATING.

I went home and worked with a belly dancing tape, in the privacy of my home, no mirrors, just watching the video, and learning how my body FEELS, not condeming how it looks. It was an exhausting workout, and I felt empowered and hopefull.

I may stick to using the pool and treadmill at the gym for a while. If anyone has USED, and enjoyed, a video that is DESIGNED for big bodies, Id like to know about it.

Pearls

[Rockinonahigh]

Perls..See if u can get a Richard Simmons tape or cd,I got sweating to the oldies disco time at the good will store for $1.50,he is he only one I know who has a tape like u are wanting..really cool too.

[PearlsNLace]

Thanks Rockin, I was really hoping for a YOGA tape for big bodies., and after reading your post, I reread mine, and realized I didnt make that clear. I do actually have a couple of richards simmons tapes, and they are fun. Thank you The belly dancing actually happens to be GREAT for large bodies, and thats working for me. But I like the concept of yoga very much, and want to be able to explore it with this body now, not as some hypothetical point in time when I might be smaller. Maybe Ill find a yogi who will teach me and Ill make the dang video myself.

GRRR.

Rolly Polly Pearls

[Sachita]

I'm inventing "The Dog Diet". you start thinking about feeding your dog healthy and natural to extend their life, right? As I'm reading and researching i'm thinking "damn, if I ate like this- lean meats, no sugar, low carb, lots of veggies, brush me daily, walk me and rub my belly, i'll look and feel great too!

I'm always giving people advice on feeding and caring for their dogs. "don't feed your dogs anything you can't eat" foods not fit for human consumption.

so my dogs and I eat natural, lean and take lots of walks.

[Gemme]

I usually shy away from those who are supposed to help keep us healthy, such as doctors, dentists and the like. Before I leave this weekend, I will have gone to a doctor AND a dentist. In the same week. Multiple times for the dentist.

I should get a freakin' gold star or something.

[Medusa]

Im 30-days clean from Diet Coke.

[Jesse]

Try this link:

http://www.bigyogaonline.com/

Originally Posted by PearlsNLace

Thanks Rockin, I was really hoping for a YOGA tape for big bodies., and after reading your post, I reread mine, and realized I didnt make that clear. I do actually have a couple of richards simmons tapes, and they are fun. Thank you The belly dancing actually happens to be GREAT for large bodies, and thats working for me. But I like the concept of yoga very much, and want to be able to explore it with this body now, not as some hypothetical point in time when I might be smaller. Maybe Ill find a yogi who will teach me and Ill make the dang video myself.

GRRR.

Rolly Polly Pearls

[Jesse]

Looks like a lot of us are kicking the diet soda/soda routine.

I have drank soda for many years since being an adult, but wasn't allowed to drink it as a child. About 13 years ago I switched to diet soda, and I swear that is when I began to put on weight. I drank 5-6 daily.

I have finally decided that is not okay for me. So I went 4 days with none at all, but had terrible headaches, likely from the withdrawals of all of the "good" stuff in them. Now I drink only one a day and that is after my morning coffee. The rest of the time I drink unsweetened decaf tea or filtered water. My goal is to wean myself off of that one a day.

[oblivia]

Hey Pearls...

Your story sounds similar to how mine began (yoga and bellydance drew me in, totally).

Yoga is SUPER intimidating because all you tend to see at yoga classes and on Yoga DVDs and such are these super skinny bendy pretzel people! But, Yoga is totally do-able and accessible at any size.

I only recently went to my first in-person class a few months ago, though I'd been practicing yoga quite regularly for several years prior (and getting pretty darn flexible and strong doing it!) and even then, even with years of my own personal practice under my belt, being the only fat girl in the room was really intimidating and made me feel very self conscious...

Until....

I realized that even though I easily weighed an extra 50-80lbs more than any other girl in that room, my poses were confident, flexible and strong because despite all the media that is really badly misfocused, yoga is VERY accessible at ANY size or fitness level and trust me - size/shape has little to do with how flexible you are or *can be* over time.

Progress in yoga comes slowly in some poses and quicker in others but it comes steadily and surely for everyone. It's the one 'exercise' I can do where I physically feel and see results very quickly, if not in the way my body 'appears' right away, than in my posture, self-confidence, physical well being, etc.

Anyway, your post really struck a chord with me because had my first experience with yoga been a class, I would have gone home in tears and never tried it again. I got lucky that I tried it on my own first.

That said... I can recommend a few great resources if you want to give yoga a try without being so intimidated, in your own living room:

I actually began with an [ame="http://www.amazon.com/AM-PM-Yoga-Beginners-VHS/dp/094567189X"]old AM/PM Yoga for beginners set with Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden[/ame]. This was a dual VHS set (LOL) that had an AM tape and a PM tape. I'd do the AM one (about 20 mins) after stumbling out of bed, still in my jammies, in my living room in the dark with just the glow of the TV for light. And I'd do the PM one (about 15 mins I believe) just before bed. That was how I first began to get to know yoga. These were very simple and gentle and got me 'started'.

I moved on to other DVDs like [ame="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0001GH7V8/ref=oss_product"]This DVD [/ame](Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss) is one I found after trying several others and really liked because this dvd features four different instructors doing the poses simultaneousely, each with slightly different body shapes showing you four different ways you can do/modify the pose.

And more.

But I got bored with the repetitiveness.

Once I got used to the DVDs, I had heard about some free yoga classes on podcasts. I wasn't sure I could follow along just listening without a visual cue on the TV, so I tried my usual DVDs a few times while facing away from the TV and found it wasn't so hard.... so I downloaded some podcasts and started doing those.

This one I discovered first:
Hillary's Yoga Podcast

And through her, I discovered Elsie's Yoga Kula (podcast)

And after having done them all multiple times (the one hour classes), I started browsing around and found Faith Hunter's All The Way Live Yoga podcast

These three instructors offer their classes free on their websites and all are featured free on iTunes, too! In all three, they say in the podcast description what 'level' the class is. beginner is level 1 but the podcasts are slightly more advanced if you haven't had much experience with yoga poses to start with.

As of today, my favourites now are Elsie and Faith's podcasts. My coworker and I try to do yoga during our lunch break at work a minimum of three days a week, with one of those being a class we go to, together. I'm still a little intimidated in the classes but found the in person teaching/adjusting has just grown my practice.

Anyway, I've gone on for way too long. Basically, if you're drawn to yoga I recommend trying a simple DVD to start out with and get to know how yoga feels in your body when you start simply and gently. Get some bricks and a strap for help modifying poses where you're less flexible. I got a kit that had a mat, two bricks, and a strap when I was brand new that cost me like $30 at a kiosk in a mall (Zensation brand) and that mat still is one of the best I've ever owned. In hindsight what I found is that the biggest 'barrier' to doing yoga in a bigger body is that our parts get in the way in different ways. The reality is that even super skinny people have to modify poses because they simply aren't that flexible. It's more about finding a good DVD, instructor, or podcast that helps to teach you different ways to modify a pose at different levels so that you get a stretch but aren't hurting yourself. And some poses are simply impractical for bigger bodies, but over time you can learn other poses that you can do in place of those that still work the same muscles or stretch you in similar ways.

as to Bellydance, I have really enjoyed bellydance workout DVDs too and found they really helped me in the beginning, also! I've tried and owned most of the easy to find ones - and up here in Canada, there's a new fitness trend called Bellyfit that is a fun workout that is very friendly to a variety of body shapes that blends dancing moves inspired by bellydance, some tribal dance, bhangra, and incorporates some toning and flexibility stuff inspired by yoga and pilates. They have a DVD that ships to the states too that you can order online. Could be fun for something else that's a bit different!

Originally Posted by PearlsNLace

I went to a yoga class today. And left, 1/3 of the way through it, feeling so fat, so slow, so akward, so stiff. I left, literally, crying to my car. UGH.
VERY FRUSTRATING.

I went home and worked with a belly dancing tape, in the privacy of my home, no mirrors, just watching the video, and learning how my body FEELS, not condeming how it looks. It was an exhausting workout, and I felt empowered and hopefull.

I may stick to using the pool and treadmill at the gym for a while. If anyone has USED, and enjoyed, a video that is DESIGNED for big bodies, Id like to know about it.

Pearls

[leatherfaery]

This is a great thread.I recently started looking at my health and my lifestyle. I have been dealing with high blood pressure. After feeling bad enough and gradually understanding that I needed to make changes I have started slowly. I started by gradually stopping soda, all soda. I stopped drinking fruit juices because they are too sweet. I had lost some weight and was excited but when I went to the doctor my bad cholesterol had increased. I figured out because I had stopped eating meat I had been eating more cheese and eggs. I have had to cut them out and look at more vegan cuisine.

I recently joined a gym with the goal of "getting up and out the door into the gym". Everything done at the gym was a bonus. That is still how I am working the gym routine. I have lost about 25 pounds so far and I have loved that feeling of working my muscles once again. It is also a great way for me to work on letting go of stress. My goal is to get off the bp meds.

ohhhh and I am drinking a lot more water!

[Rockinonahigh]

Its been nearly a week since I made water my main drink of choice,ive had a sip of soda when I really needed one..the last sip tasted like bug spray beleave it or not...and its in a bottle in the fridge.Yuck,im done.Corse im also dealing with some drawbacks from not drinkiong soda as well as totaly quiting the ciggy habit,ya know the awful stuff that happends when u quit things like this with chemicals that r killing ur guts.Ive had the sweats bad,some neasua.bad taste in my mouth..the bug spray thingy plus just being aintsey and not sleeping at night.Today its a little better and hopefuly it will be gone soon.
When I was going to the store this morning I saw some ppl joging along the road,I thought ..oh my I shure would like to be able to run again..maybe it can happen at some point.

[Ryobi]

Originally Posted by Rockinonahigh

Its been nearly a week since I made water my main drink of choice,ive had a sip of soda when I really needed one..the last sip tasted like bug spray beleave it or not...and its in a bottle in the fridge.Yuck,im done.Corse im also dealing with some drawbacks from not drinkiong soda as well as totaly quiting the ciggy habit,ya know the awful stuff that happends when u quit things like this with chemicals that r killing ur guts.Ive had the sweats bad,some neasua.bad taste in my mouth..the bug spray thingy plus just being aintsey and not sleeping at night.Today its a little better and hopefuly it will be gone soon.
When I was going to the store this morning I saw some ppl joging along the road,I thought ..oh my I shure would like to be able to run again..maybe it can happen at some point.

This is great, Rockin!
I'm actually happy soda tastes like bug spray to you. 1)what a great reason not to drink it. 2) you're actually tasting the chemicals in the soda, you know now for sure there is bad stuff in there.

Stick with it! Winning small battles will help you win the war!