Thursday, October 18, 2007

weight loss: what worked for me

My running has been in a funk. Even with my new running partner, Millie, I can't seem to find a regular routine. I've been trying to run during the kids' naps, but they haven't been regular. My son is like clockwork going down but my daughter won't be ready right away. Some days she'll fall asleep just as he's waking from an early nap. Ugh. It's a real problem. Forget about first thing in the morning and in the evenings? I'm exhausted from caring for my two young children all day. I need to figure out a time I can run and schedule it as a recurring appointment on my calendar. No Ifs, Ands or Buts!

Ahhh, but all that aside... I'm seeing a common theme in our posts with our desire and/or need to lose some weight. I have recently found something that worked for me so I thought I should share.

Bikram Yoga.

I hake been taking a class twice a week for the past 5 or 6 weeks and I have lost 12 pounds. When my daughter was born in April, I topped out with a pregnancy weight of 180. I've always been in the 125 to 130 range as an adult so that was hard on my body and self-image. I chalked it up to being pregnant and vowed to lose the weight quickly (hey, it happened the first time so it should work the second time, right??? NO.). The first 40 or so dropped really fast. Then I totally stalled. I weighed around 142 for about three months. And I was very unhappy about it. Like, really really unhappy about it. None of my clothes fit. I was uncomfortable and I didn't like what I saw.

This Bikram Yoga has been amazing for me! The pounds immediately began to fall off again and I couldn't be happier. My "fat pants" began fitting again and are now "loose". I even purchased a few clothing items to reward myself. This morning I weighed 130 and I am absolutely ecstatic. My girlfriend who is taking the classes with me has also lost weight since we began. She's down about 7 pounds (she was thin to begin with, has no children and didn't need to lose any weight).

I feel like an infomercial, but I was really at my wit's end and this yoga has really done the trick for me. I feel like telling everyone, "Hey, you want to lose some weight? Try Bikram Yoga!" Good stuff.

5 comments:

JP said...

what makes Bikram yoga different? I'm intrigued. I've always wanted to know. After I'm done training so much, I can't wait to get back into yoga...I think my oldest daughter really wants to join me, which I think is awesome.

Also, about feeling like an infomercial - I feel the same way when I tell people about things I love. I feel like I'm trying to sell them something when really I just want to share the wonderfulness that I enjoy. My friend started calling me "the ambassador of good things". I like that title much more. :)

cherl said...

The room is heated to something around 105. Often referred to as "hot yoga". Good stuff!

Kelly(M&M) said...

Congrats on the weight loss! I am jealous and I would love to try Bikram Yoga. We don't have one close to us, as far as I know. So, I do think I am going to try a spinning class to get out of my plateau. It is amazing how your body just gets "used to" running, isn't it?

foxontherun said...

Kelly, I went to spinning today. It's a killer. I usually just get a little sweaty but this morning the sweat was dripping from my hair. That's got to be good news. Come join me!

Polliwog said...

So, in an earlier post, where I said "the pounds will melt off" and someone--jp?--called me on it, I really should clarify. 1) I am not super skinny. I'm sure I could stand to lose a little more, but the running DID really melt away the excess baby stuff I was carrying around. However 2) the running was combined with a 6 month refined sugar free diet and that, I am sure contributed to the melting away. If only I could find the will power to do that again. (sigh)

Bikram yoga sound fun, though. I'll look into that. Great post.