This is how I lost 25 pounds in 2 months, but first let me give you some background to my journey.
After I graduated from college back in 2000 I realized i didn't look like I did when I started college. So begin the forever long "Battle of the Bulge".
I have tried so many things and nothing really made a big enough change for me to stick with it. Just to name a few: Weight Watchers, Nutri-System Meals in the Mail, Diet Doctors/diet pills, Boot Camp, Training for a 10 miler, working out with a gym partner throughout the week, No Carb Diet. Despite always being on some sort of weight loss plan I seemed to still increase in weight each year, which made me even more frustrated.
Even though I was frustrated, I still continued to watch what I ate and realized I did have a healthy diet. I had my apple a day, dairy (low fat yogurt), my veggies, never cooked fried food instead I always baked. But still I would see no significant weight loss.
Finally in November 2007 I discovered all the right tools.
FIRST TOOL:
I started counting Calories on Friday November 9th 2007. Yep, something you hear people say all the time but never bothered to do. I went to a new Diet Dr. that gave the same pills Phentermine and b-12 shots. He also gave me something new that I never had before called Citalopram, that I only take a half a pill a day. It is supposed to put you in a good mood among other things. The previous diet Dr. I went to, just gave me a list of foods to eat and to have 3 dairy products a day. This new diet Dr. told me to only eat 1000 calories a day and I would lose 12 pounds in 4 weeks (3 pounds a week). And if I exercised I could lose an additional 4 pounds. 16 pounds in 4 weeks, yeah right!
SECOND TOOL:
A Good Friend of mine kept talking about this yoga class she had been taking and how I needed to go. She had been talking about it for over a month, but I already had gym membership at Gold's and didn't see why I should go someplace else when they had Yoga at Gold's. Plus I never really got into the Yoga thing. I was trying to lose weight so always went for the Cardio type of stuff. Well November 9th my girlfriend called me and asked again, "You should go to Bikram Yoga with me 2morrow morning". I was like "You are right on time with this, I am willing to give it a shot".
So I met her at 8:00in the morning on Saturday. I had no idea what I was in for, all I was told was to bring a yoga mat, towel, 2 bottles of frozen water, dress light(half naked) and be prepared to sweat!!!! So I walk in with my friend with an open mind. There is a small lobby and everyone takes their shoes off when they walk in and place them into cubbies. The aroma of Lavender is in the air. I see a lot of slim folks walking around with really skimpy outfits on. Anywhoooo, I take my socks and shoes off, take of my sweatshirt and head to the Yoga Room.
I walk in and this blanket of heat hits me in the face. The room is about 110 degrees and my skin already feels moist. I lay my mat down in the back row, sit my frozen waters beside my mat and take a seat on the floor. My friend and I are whispering back in forth like two school girls. I notice a lot of people are laying flat on their back, just basically chilling. My friend says we are supposed to do that so that are body can warm up and get use to the air in the room. It also helps relax you before the class starts. So the instructor walks in. He is a very lean man with some really small tight Speedo booty shorts on... That's enough about him.
On The very first exercise we did, I almost busted out laughing. We had to breath in deep with are head pushed forward (people sounded like vacuum cleaners, I have never heard such deep breathing in my life) and then breath out pushing are head far back. We did this like 10 times. 15 minutes into the class I am bending down touching my toes and a water fall of sweat comes pouring down my face, blinding my site. I pear through my lashes and noticed my legs are drenched, as if I just stepped out of the bathtub. When I stand up straight, all the blood comes rushing back to my head and my heart is pounding as if I just ran a 100 Meter dash. Several times I just had to stand there and breathe to keep myself together. The instructor tells us, whatever you do, "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM" just sit down and breathe, but "DONT LEAVE THE ROOM". So we are approaching about 45 minutes into the class and I'm thinking "thank goodness, I am just about 'WELL DONE', and ready to be taken out of the oven". I stretch a little harder and hold the poses a little longer because I know we are almost done. Then the instructor says "Ok, that concludes the warm-up, now let's start Yoga". My thoughts go blank, then I regain consciousness "WHAT THE #%@&!, THE WARMUP". I look over to my Girl and ask "How long is this class", she giggles and says "90 minutes".
30 minutes later I am laying flat on my back, just chilling in "Savasana" with an ice cold wet towel on my face that has been soaked in Lavender. I am soaking wet from head to toe and feel like I just ran 10 miles in 90 degree weather. The funny thing is, I feel GREAT!!!!! I always love that feeling you get after an intense workout, I just usually really dislike or don't enjoy the exercises you have to do to get to that point. But I actually liked doing those Yoga poses and I was eager to try it again to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I signed up for the Intro Month and went back the very next Day. After that I was hooked and going 3+ times a week. That's 600+ calories burned every class
THIRD TOOL:
I didn't believe the calorie counting thing would work when I first started, so I went out and bought a Food & Fitness journal to write everything down. I wanted to have proof, so I could say "Look, I put all the calories down, didn't go over and still no weight loss". I wrote everything I ate and drank down with the calories. I even put down when I did the Yoga and when I would take my Dog on 15 min walks (about a mile walk). The calorie counting was not difficult and since I was already eating relatively healthy I didn't have to change much about my diet. It just made me more aware of what I was eating on those days when I wanted to eat out. Something I used to think would be healthy actually has like 500 calories so I would pass it up because I wasn't going to waste 500 calories on one thing. Most of the stuff I used to eat I still kept in my diet. Like light yogurt 40-50 calories, small apple 60 calories, cup of coffee with equal and coffee mate 16 calories, frozen meals 180-380 calories, frozen mixed veggies 30 calories a cup. I don't have a sweet tooth, so no problems there. My biggest weakness was chips. But I found the Pringles light sour cream chips that are like 70 calories for 14 chips, compared to the regular kind that's like 140 calories for 10-14 chips. So there I was counting out my chips into little baggies to take to lunch, or just to have it available to grab for a snack.
THE RESULTS AFTER 4 WEEKS
After the first 4 weeks of counting calories, going to Bikram (HOT) Yoga, and writing everything down I lost 16 pounds. The only thing I could say was "WOW, IT REALLY WORKS". I lost 12 pounds in 4 weeks and an extra 4 pounds if you exercise.
THE RESULTS AFTER 8 WEEKS
It's January 7th and I have lost 25+ pounds. I did not lose the 16 pounds in the 2nd 4weeks because I couldn't afford the Yoga during the Holiday Months.
That class is expensive ($150 for a unlimited month), and if you sign up you want to be able to go to class as much as possible to get your dollars worth. So I opted out for the month of December with all the holiday parties, time off from work, shopping for gifts ect... I still continued to count my calories and even started taking Kukuwa Dance workout at Gold's Gym, since I did have a membership.
The reason I think the calorie counting worked for me is because I could calculate exactly how many calories to eat in order to lose weight. Before I never knew exactly how much of something was ok, I had nothing to calculate. With counting the calories there was no guess work. You eat over your amount, you don't lose weight, you stay on point then you will lose weight. It is just that simple.
Today I will be going back to Bikram Yoga, I miss it so much. Every time I took that class I left feeling like I could breathe so much better, the best restful sleep, tons of energy the next day, skin looking better than ever. I just felt GOOD. I will let you know if this euphoric feeling returns after the class.
AFTER BIKRAM YOGA ON JAN 7th
Wow, it was sooooo Great!!!! I was running late and rushed to get there and when I arrived, the room was packed. I have never seen so many people in the class. we usually only have 2 rows of people and today we had to squeeze in a third row. The class was great and I was sooo surprised at my performance. I have lost a little more weight since the last class I took about 3 weeks ago. I could really tell the difference...I was hitting poses I never hit before and didn't need to take as many breaks as I used to.
To find out more information about my journey with Bikram yoga and counting calories visit: ms-dmv.blogspot.com ms-dmv.blogspot.com/
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