Progress

Well, after a period of denial, I finally did it. 

I measured again. 

It's a tricky thing, becuase I wasn't as faithful at the end as I wanted to be to the hot yoga, and hot yoga is pre-destined to help you un-blimp (I mean, think about it: twisting out all of your water weight every single day? How COULDN'T you lose inches?!) but I was very naughty and didn't take the complete advantage of my situation as I wanted to. 

I can't explain this, other than human fear and laziness. Although all I want in this frigid winter is to be warm and sweaty, I also LOOOOVE being at home. Any excuse to sleep in, or "work out" (meaning I don't when I intend to) without leaving the house is spectacular. And I hate myself for it, but I can't help it. 

Why? Why is it so difficult to just go to the gym when I have the means? 

No clue, but either way, these results are based off of little work out time in the few days since the Modo pass ended and slightly before. I feel a definite physical difference everywhere, especially in my arms, but I will say that I feel much "puffier" than I would have had I posted this earlier. I think the hot yoga did AMAZING things for my body and especially my stamina, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested. 

Also, keep in mind: my diet hasn't changed that much since I started. I still have my wine and cigarettes, still eat meat and cheese and bread, etc. Had I done a total diet makeover as I began the yoga, the results would have been much more drastic - but that's the point, right? I want to know how much activity influences my size, and to try to balance the two. The diet is next on the list, because I know that overindulgence doesn't actually satisfy me, and that it isn't working towards my goals - but I DO NOT want to be an ascetic. So, I have to find an equilibrium and that's what I'm after. 

Here are the measurements after two months: 

Arms:   12"

Waist:   40"

Ass:      47"

Thighs: 26"

So, according to measurements: I lost one inch in the arms, almost two inches in the waist, and nothing in the legs. In terms of how my clothes fit, I find this off - my pants (especially legs) feel MUCH roomier than the measurements would suggest - but I suppose the tape measure doesn't lie. 

Either way, I LOVED my two months of yoga and am actually scrambling to find a way to replace it. I'm considering purchasing an Xbox-One with Kinnect - does anyone have thoughts on this? Any advice would be great!

Finish Point

Well, it's been a strange few weeks since I last posted, but it's official - my two Modo months are up!

I'll be following this post up further with some more defined thoughts on the experience, but I can say overall that it's been very positive. And I'm amazed how much my body feels to have changed. I don't think it looks that different to a casual observer, but I  can definitely tell that I'm much, much stronger, in better shape overall, have more stamina and endurance, and am on a good path towards my ultimate goal.

Now  I have to decide what to do next! I think through the end of the year I'll follow through the second half of my Fitness Blender program - it's already paid for and can be done at home, which is perfect. My boyfriend talked me into considering getting an Xbox One for future workouts - so there's a good chance that I'll have some reviews for you on that in the future! I'm especially hoping to check out some Tracy Anderson videos - I've been following her for a while and I'm SUPER intrigued.

What would you like to see me work on next? Send me your thoughts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a glorious holiday Thanksgiving is! 

It's always been my favorite among holidays - I love the idea of carving out mandatory time for everyone to spend time with their loved ones, eating great (and HOMECOOKED!) elaborate meals, giving back to others, and the general lack of corporate takeover (to some extent, the anti-XmEastoloween). Granted, Black Friday is trying to ruin this gentle mood, but I'm confident the people will fight that one. 

My favorite Thanksgiving dish has always been mashed potatoes. I'm famous for it. Literally. My family basically makes an entire bag of potatoes because they know I can (and probably will) down at least half of it within 24 hours. I love mashed potatoes in a meal, as a snack, and particularly as a breakfast - they're amazing.

Everyone needs their indulgences, and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to have them. My body's already changed a lot in the last month and I anticipate that I'll be taking it a little easier than usual this year, but that's okay. Do you have any Thanksgiving favorites? 

I hope all readers have a fabulous holiday - I know I'm looking forward to it!

Endurance

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm a pretty busy lady.

Between a full time job, a supplemental second job, and running two blogs, there often seems to be little time for eating and sleeping, let alone exercise.

I'm proud of the fact that I've been pretty consistent with the exercise (generally going at least five days a week, sometimes with more than one class a day), but I have to admit: I'm feeling a little run down.

I'm sure there are many factors involved in this: the darkening of the days as winter whirls in, not going to bed quiiiiite as early as I know I should, and likely not enough of the right foods.

I have a tendency to overshop at the grocery store as odd groceries and unfamiliar foods are one of life's greatest pleasures for me. Also, since I'm cash-strapped, it seems more fair to allow myself a splurgy food treat here and there to experiment with multiple times in a kitchen rather than going out and blowing a bunch of cash on one night. So, I love cooking and I mess around with a lot of awesome healthy and unconventional ingredients.

That being said, I'm having a hard time knowing what is the right amount and kind of food. I eat mostly cooked whole foods, especially in soups, and I feel really full when I eat - but I seem to have a crash after a couple of hours, particularly in the afternoon. 3 p.m. rolls around and I'm ready for a mad nap at my desk.

So, there must be some way (other than exploding from copious amounts of coffee) to try to keep my energy levels up all day. Do you have any suggestions?  How do you keep yourself going in between early mornings, late nights, and general busy-ness?

Hitting Your Stride and the Power of Habits

I'm a voracious reader. In the last year or so, I've gotten very interested/invested in some great non-fiction and self-help books, from finance to personality differences to cooking and beyond. 

A wonderful book I read is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, which details the process of creating, maintinaing, and breaking habits, both good and bad. Its one downside is that it doesn't offer a step-by-step program (if you're looking for one), but there is still a lot of great insight into ways to improve your habits to benefit your lifestyle. 

A key component of Duhigg's theory is the Keystone Habit, which is essentially a small part of one's day/lifestyle that, once changed, has an immense domino effect on other habits. It's different for everyone, but everyone has them. Should one wish to change their habits, identifying and appropriately modifying one's keystone habit is perhaps THE step towards a successful life change. 

I've long debated which of my daily habits is a keystone, but I'm realizing through my Modo challenge that it is probably the time I wake up every day. Starting my work day with a *very* early morning workout not only changes my perspective on the day, but the way I live throughout it. I notice, if I'm up earlier, that I tend to want to be more active, to need more nutritious food (starting with a filling, protein heavy breakfast), to smoke/drink/eat fatty foods less, have a cleaner house, and most importantly, to be tired enough to go bed early enough to wake up the next day for another early workout. In fact, I ENJOY waking up early for this workout. I can now attest that, since I'm used to doing it (at least on weekdays), I feel so bad about not waking up in the morning if I miss a class that I am highly compelled to do so the next day. 

I have never been this person. I have never wanted to "sacrifice" sleep, or especially late night enjoyment time for myself, in order to exercise. Exercise has ALWAYS been at the very bottom of my priority list. 

But it turns out that the rumors about habits and movement are actually true. When you realize how good you can feel by sweating out your toxins in the morning, learning you are capable of immense discipline, and how awesome GREAT sleep is (which is very much aided by moving at some point in your desk-ridden day), you can't help but crave it every moment you get. In fact, I've started almost resenting my workplace for limiting the amount of physicality I can have in any given weekday. 

Please keep in mind that I am not on a pedestal here. I still have multiple glasses of wine, the enjoyable daily cigarettes, and etc. However, I find I want and need less of these things if I'm satisfied with my activity level. There seems to be a very direct correlation between the amount I move and my general happiness and work ethic. And that is entirely dictated by the time I wake up each morning. 

This post began due to this morning's workout, which was by far the best I have ever felt after waking at the ass-crack of dawn to sweat my balls off. It is very possible that tomorrow I will feel terrible (since of course I wanted to celebrate tonight after a long work day and feeling hopeful about every morning workout in the future.....we'll see.). But I realized as I was formulating my thoughts that this entire process has boiled down to the simple fact that I will wake up in the morning in time to work out, and that I WANT to do so. It's a great feeling to acknowledge. 

What is your keystone habit? What wakes you up in the morning? I still struggle with this, so I would love your thoughts!

Accountability

Weekends are so hard. 

I work a lot, as I'm sure many of you do. I wake up early (even earlier since I started this working out thing), and I get tired after long hours and two jobs. Saturday and Sunday seem like the only time I get a chance to stay up late, sleep in, and live that "fantasy relaxation life" that I think seems so appealing. 

The fact is though, that the up-late-on-the-weekends-and-less-sleep-on-weekdays makes me feel like shit. It's extra hard to bounce back from that kind of living during the week, and I'm exhausted by Friday, and by the time I hit my stride on Sundays I'm totally unprepared for the work week and the cycle starts all over. 

I let a Friday night argument get in my way of working out Saturday morning for a class I waitlisted for. I was super excited to do back to back days  of barre this weekend, and I'm really disappointed with that result. I still worked out Saturday afternoon, which was nice, but it wasn't what I really wanted and it didn't display the willpower I need to go all the way. This morning's Sunday barre was wonderful, and just reinforced how much I wish I had gone yesterday.

On another note, I truly believe that to be really accountable about achieving goals, one must have some measureable resultas and, overall, accountability for their actions. 

So, in that vein, I'm taking measurements. I'm about three weeks in to my Modo/everyday workout challenge, and I meant to do this earlier and of course let myself get busy. Here's my current body measurements as things stand. I'm going to do everything I can to stay on top of my class schedule, no excuses, and in 5 more weeks we'll see if anything changes.

Arms:      13"
Thighs:    26"
Ass:         47"
Waist:      41.5"

Good luck on the next week!

Unplanned Interruptions: Staying on the Wagon

Sometimes, as always, life really doesn't go as planned. 

I woke up this morning as I've tried to do every day since I've activated my Modo Groupon at 5.30. A. FREAKING. M. And like all of the other (successful) mornings, I went through my quick routine, grabbed my pre-packed bags, and headed to the car. 

Two things: 1) Weather changes are the worst when traveling. 2) Stoplights are the bane of my existence. 

Minneapolis had its second hard frost, which led me to an unanticipated window scraping delay. And aside from killing my mileage, I have learned the hard way in the last few years that stoplights are the one difference between being early and being exactly on time. 

So what happened?

Two too many red lights later, I arrived at Modo JUST after they locked the doors for the session. Morning workout cancelled. 

I was mad, I was sad, I was ready to sleep in my car and drive to work in my smelly workout clothes. 

But then I thought: why not make the best of this? 

Normally, I would poop out, say "fuck it," and go straight back to bed. But my motivation to really DO this project, to stay honest to the blog and accountable to my readers, made me pause. 

Instead, I went back and hit a Fitness Blender workout. 

I'll say more about Fitness Blender in later posts (I've been experimenting with it for a bit now), but it's been a godsend in a pinch, and particularly this morning. I was pissed off after missing class, and instead of pouting or sleeping came home and put my every frustration and stressor into a badass kickboxing routine. I released my frustration, still kept up with my movement goals, and didn't spend any extra money or wasted time either way. SCORE. 

Also, I had just enough time to make a quick (small) batch of pancakes. DOUBLE SCORE. 

The point is, as I'm learning, setbacks are always going to happen, and it's highly unlikely that they'll be in your control. There are easy (but hard to electively choose) ways to make them less painful, and it turns out that what you hear about the rewards of exercise afterwards versus the rewards of doing nothing really are true. 

I'm super proud of myself, and although I know I can easily forget this, I am going to make a point of trying to remember that just getting up and making an effort is half the battle. Once that's done, it is silly to throw it away simply because of a locked door. 

What kind of interruptions get in the way of your workout routines? I'd love to know your solutions!