Monday, October 17, 2011

Week 7 Reflections

Week 7 has definitely been my favorite so far. I am proud of myself this week because I tried new exercises, resisted temptation and received a lot of positive feedback. Additionally, I feel so much closer with our group now, like we are a family that takes care of each other and not just like we’re together because of circumstance. I truly look forward to seeing everyone at the end of the day to workout, and this has motivated me more than once to get my booty to the Underground even on days when I’m really tired.

I started going to Bikram Yoga with Flo on Saturday, and I really like it so far. I was nervous since I had read about the heat and people feeling uncomfortable...and I can see why it’s not for everyone, but even after two classes I know it is definitely for me. Bikram was very relaxing yet at the same time very demanding. It took me by surprise how my heart rate was up even though I wasn’t moving very much. When we would lie down between poses I could feel it pounding against the floor.

Another great part about this week was seeing one of my New York friends who came down to visit for the weekend. I hadn’t seen her since August, and as soon as I picked her up from the bus the first thing she asked me was if I had lost weight, and she said tell just from my face looking out car window. It’s nice to hear because I see myself every day so I don’t notice the changes, and still have this image of myself as I was before. But I am changing.

Since my friend was visiting, I did go out pretty much for the first time in 7 weeks. And I was able to socialize and enjoy myself without drinking. One trick I found was useful was just having a glass of water with ice...it looks like I could be drinking a vodka tonic but I’m just staying hydrated and sipping on my water. If someone asked I would tell them and explain why, but this way not as many people noticed that I wasn’t even drinking.

Food wise, I have to admit that I haven’t been keeping track of calories like I did in past weeks. However, I mostly eat the same types and quantities of foods every week and when I was keeping track of calories I was sticking to my 500-1,000 calorie deficit per day I’m probably still in the same range. I’m not sure if calorie counting is for me, but I do like still having the option of looking up the calories for foods when I don’t know them.

But one thing that I am very good about recording now are my exercises...Maia suggested I write down a schedule so I don’t miss a workout, and I’ve found that is what works best for me is planning on week on Sunday. It is my “ideal world” schedule, meaning I write down every class I would like to make it to even though I know in real life I won’t have the time or energy to make it to all. At the end of the day, I highlight the workouts I actually completed and at the end of the week I tally them up.

I like it because I can keep track of what I need to do and what I’ve done and I’m proud of seeing all workouts that I’ve highlighted by the end of the week. For example, I worked out 14 hours this week. Of course not all hours are as intense as the 4 hours per week of bootcamp are, but that is a long time to spend working on myself...and it feels good, as I wrote before, to be selfish for my own well-being.

And finally, a rant: I was researching gyms around my house and I went to one for the day that has great facilities but of course it is expensive. Since I had a day pass I tried one of their dance classes that was supposed to have international music but it was literally the worst dance class I’ve ever been to in my life. The instructor did only ONE song the entire class, so basically it was 45 minutes of breaking down the choreography and 15 minutes of doing the song (a swing song no less...not exactly the “global beats” it advertised). I didn’t even come close to breaking a sweat once the whole hour.

So this week I am ESPECIALLY thankful to have Bootcamp and Kazaxe in my life. Not only are they awesome classes and great workouts, but they are also affordable and, even better, fun. There’s no beating that.

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