Oh, the Irony! Yoga is Causing Me Stress...

I've finished three weeks of yoga now and though I enjoy it and leave feeling relaxed (0nly to get home to the blood-pressure-rise inducing routine of putting the reluctant children to bed), but I don't know that I'll be able to continue it when this round of classes ends. My knee was quite sore after last week's session and remains sore even today. I still exercised three out of the last five days, but had to ride my bike on level two this morning.

On week one of yoga, I thought I'd have time to go home, make dinner, eat, and get to yoga on time. Um, no. I made dinner, gobbled mine down in three seconds, and arrived five minutes late. On week two, I got my family dinner at KFC (and was so rushed that I left without the chicken -- my dh had to go back for it), raced home to change my clothes, and grabbed a handful of nuts on the way out the door. I arrived 2 minutes late and was so hungry by the time I got home that I ate too much. For week three, I was determined to be early and well fed. I took my yoga clothing to work, put dinner in the crockpot for my family, packed a dinner to take with me, and told my dh I'd be home AFTER yoga. You know what they say about the best laid plans? Yeah. T called me at 4:40pm to say that there had been a bad accident and he was being sent to the scene. He had no idea when he'd be home, but ordered me to find someone to watch the kids and go to yoga.

I called my sainted neighbor, who promptly said she'd keep the kids but would have to take them to the "Oliver!" audition at the high school. I picked up the girls, raced home, packed the girls off to the neighbor's house, changed clothes, gulped down my dinner, put the crockpot dinner in the fridge, and raced to yoga. I arrived 1 minute late. I did leave feeling much less stressed, but after picking up the girls, helping them finish homework, dealing with C's whining and throwing herself on the floor (caused by exhaustion), and tucking them in to bed, I was tense and crabby. T got home around 10pm, poor guy (he starts work at 5:45am, so it was a long day). Week four....we'll see what excitement will ensue this Thursday.

ARGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SICK

OF

SNOW!

(cute little girl though, huh?)

Day 11 -- Whew!

I can't believe I made it 11 days in a row without getting sick, having a breakdown, or strangling a patron! Tomorrow I finally have a day off; R is having an overnight guest tonight, another one tomorrow night, both girls have gymnastics tomorrow, and I have to take C to see the Doodlebops in concert tomorrow afternoon. So much for a restful day off. I'm off work for the day in 8 minutes and I plan to do nothing more strenuous than bake some cookies and walk the dog this afternoon (and watch C and her friend, and take R and her friend to "Parents' Night Out" at school, and....).

My second yoga class went quite well -- no pain, or soreness. It doesn't feel much like exercise, but I feel stretched out and relaxed by the end of class. I then had to go home to a stressful atmosphere of trying to straighten up for the cleaning lady. Oh well, at least I HAVE a cleaning lady.

Yoga Convert!

Yoga went quite well. I grabbed an extra foam mat for times when we had to kneel and it didn't really hurt. I realized that my knee definitely bends a bit farther than it used to, though I still can't quite sit cross-legged. There was only one thing I couldn't do (put my foot on my inner thigh while standing -- I think it's a tree pose) but heck, most of the class couldn't do it either. We put our feet on our ankles instead. It was only the first class, but so far I don't think anyone would know that I am any less capable than my classmates. I was pleased to find that I can still stand with straight legs and put my hands flat on the floor. I felt so relaxed and lovely after the class was done.

Bowling yesterday was also a success. My average is now 71, and I bowled an 81, 105, and 98. I saw a Hello Kitty bowling bag online -- I think I must have it to go with my bowling ball. I found a Seattle Seahawks bowling ball at the same site as the bag, so I think I have T's birthday gift all set. His birthday isn't til May, but I like to be prepared.

Though I have still been successful at having no sweets on only two days this year, I have cut my consumption of them way back. It helps that we don't have anything besides chocolate in the house, and work hasn't been the usual treatfest lately. I'm on day 7 of my 11-day stretch of working every day. Oy. I'm glad this coming week is busy with five storytimes and a meeting.

Blah

That's how I feel ...blah.... I've had a headache every afternoon for three days. I don't know if it's the change in the weather (we had a sudden warm up this past week), related to hormones, or what, but it's very wearing. The skies are grey and icky, as usual in January, and I probably am fighting the SAD that has plagued me since moving back north from Texas. I am also in the midst of working 11 days in a row. Actually I WISH I were in the midst -- I am only on day 4. Tomorrow I have a bit of a break since I have training all day to learn Powerpoint, but then I have to work the next 7 days in a row. Boo hoo.

Okay, enough whingeing. I can't stand myself. I just got back from a very long walk with the dog. I slept terribly fitfully last night and couldn't get up at 4:45am when my alarm went off, so I skipped my morning exercise (except for walking the dog). So we set out after I got home from work to go to the park. I'm not sure how far we walked -- my new pedometer says four miles, though I think it is suspiciously optimistic -- but we walked for 90 minutes. I know most people could walk four miles in 90 minutes, but since breaking my leg I am the slowest walker ever. It takes me 30-35 minutes to walk a mile with the dog. I imagine part of that is due to the stopping for peeing and sniffing and eating disgusting things that are mashed into the road. Ugh. Tonight is my first yoga class. I'm kind of excited, but nervous that I won't really be able to do it since my leg doesn't bend all the way anymore. Stay tuned.

Lately when I catch a glimpse of myself in a window, I can't help but see how round I've gotten. I feel somewhat embarassed by it, but I'm trying to convince myself that perhaps I could be both round and happy. It doesn't really work. Here I am at left with my dear SIL, who has also struggled with her weight since high school. It seems very unfair that she has four male siblings and a dad who were all skinny beanpoles as teenagers and young adults (one still is -- four struggle a bit with love handles). My SIL and I joined TOPS together about 8 years ago and became quite close because of it. We used to walk together every evening and chat about everything. We both lost quite a bit of weight -- I think she got down to a size 14 -- but alas, we both gained it all back. We've grown apart a bit since she got married and had an instant family of three stepchildren (whose mom died several years ago), but I still consider her my best friend. I know she too is terribly unhappy about being overweight and I wish I could wave a wand over both of us.

Resolving After All

New Year's Eve was a rockin' time, as you can see by the lovely jammies we donned the minute I got home from work at 5:30pm.

R was quite insistent that we had to make New Year's resolutions and put them up on the fridge, the better to keep ourselves on track. So, here are the family's pledges for 2008:

C:

Only pet Princess the right way
Keep my chair upright at the table
Always use a tissue or napkin instead of my sleeve
Get up right away when called in the morning

R:

Use good manners at the table
Keep my chair or barstool upright
Do my chores every day
Get more exercise
Take Princess on longer walks
Eat more vegetables
Learn to ride my bike

S:

Take at least one picture every day in 2008
From spring to fall, ride my “outside” bike at least once a week
Eat less sugar – abstain from dessert four times a week
Finish 2 multi-picture frames and hang them
Take golf lessons and play golf at least three times
Sort recipes and discard at least half of them

T:

Exercise daily
Do back exercises daily
Drink less soda

Hmmm..somehow my dh got away with only making three. R's are quite ambitious, but so far she's doing well. We put a change jar in the dining room and if someone keeps a resolution that day, he or she gets to put a coin in the jar. Then we'll do something fun with the money next December.

My eating has been quite uneven lately, but I haven't binged for several weeks. I haven't even overeaten at many meals, though I've eaten far too many sweets (I think you may have heard that from me before). Hence, my NY resolution. I've only gone two days with no sweets so far, but those two days weren't awful at all.

Unfortunately, my exercise has been spotty at best. Besides walking the dog, I think I've only exercised four or five times in the past three weeks. Now that the kids' vacation is over, I will be back on track tomorrow. I still have resisted the urge to weigh myself, but if anything, I've gained a few pounds since thanksgiving. All of my life has been a cycle of suddenly getting the "willpower" to lose weight, losing weight very quickly, maintaining the loss anywhere from a month to 18 months, bingeing back up to starting weight or beyond, maintaining the higher weight for the most part, and then starting all over again with the weight loss. Right now I'm in the "maintaining the higher weight" part (though it's been a slow upward creep for the past year or more). Every time I think of trying to lose weight, I feel defeated before I start. The idea of all that sacrifice...ugh. Then I look at this picture....