holy sweat!
i blame my temporary insanity on my pair of gray pinstriped slacks.
sometime last month, while rummaging through my closet for something to wear to work, i kept finding clothes that were either wrinkled, destined for the cleaners, or for the wrong season (yes, around here, a ten degree change in temperature constitutes a season change). so i started looking through the batch of clothes that i had just picked up from the cleaners.
the first thing i picked out was a pair of lightweight gray slacks. it happened to match the black top i had already set aside, so i pulled it off the hanger and put it on. and quickly realized, to my chagrin, that the waistband was tighter than the last time i wore the pants... which was sometime before the holidays.
AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!
so not only was my bathroom scale telling me that i had gained weight, but now my clothes were telling me that i had gained girth around my midsection!
why? i know exactly why. the biggest culprit was my birthday marathon celebration; eating out for 50 days straight (or close to it) would make anyone gain weight :( then there were the holidays and even more food. add to that my easing up on my yoga practice because of my back issues. and i mustn't forget my new job where i find myself constantly munching on the goodies my officemates keep bringing in. and sitting around all day, either in meetings or in front of my computer.
so i tried modifying my diet. smaller portions, less fat, less carbs -- you know, the usual routine. at the end of two weeks, i got on the scale. i was down ONE whopping pound. i tried on those pants again. they were still tight. this was not looking good.
it was time to up my exercise. getting in more running sounded like a good idea, especially since i have another marathon coming up at the end of this month. so instead of taking a yoga class on the days i visited the physical therapist, i ran on the treadmill at the gym. and after a week, i was down one more humongous pound.
this was taking a dreadfully long time, and i was getting desperate.
it was time for yoga to come to my rescue.
i decided that i needed to take classes that would help burn away the fat and detoxify my system. the harder and more demanding they were, the better. so i set for myself a new goal: to take the hottest and sweatiest yoga classes in town.
... and no, bikram (aka yoga in an oven) was not an option...
on monday, i took matt reyes's hour-long level 2/3 class at yogahop in santa monica. i wanted to take his earlier (and longer) 2/3+ class, but i couldn't get out of my physical therapy appointment in time. the later class turned out to be just as effective; matt made sure we got 90 minutes' worth of yoga within those 60 minutes. it was pretty demanding, and i had to work hard to keep up. good stuff!
on tuesday, i drove out to u studio in the miracle mile district to take andrea marcum's inaugural 7:15pm all-levels class (up until then, her latest class was at 6pm, which didn't fit in at all with my work/commute schedule). with our city view out the fifth floor windows slowly getting clouded over by the moisture emanating from our bodies, i powered through the class and dripped about a pound of sweat on my yogitoes towel by the time class was over.
on wednesday, with the line of yoga junkies at bryan kest's power yoga east studio already wrapped around the corner when i got there, i still managed to land myself a prime spot in the middle of the room. even if it was "just" a level 1/2 class, it was strenuous enough to have me soaked in sweat before we even finished the opening sun salutation sequence. it had been a while since i had last taken a class with bryan, and i was happy to finally find myself, as he put it, hot and sweaty and touching myself all over...
on thursday, i barely made it in time for vinnie marino's level 2/3 class at yogaworks main street. in fact, i swear that the only reason i was able to find a parking spot AND a spot in the classroom was because it was spring break/holy week/passover. in other words, the usual marino devotees were out spending the evening somewhere else. having those extra two inches of floor space around my yoga mat was like getting a special holy day blessing! and vinnie and his class didn't disappoint; it was just as vigorous as ever. yeah!
finally today, friday, i opted to go all-out and took brock cahill's level 2/3 class at yogaworks westwood. the last time i had taken his class, i was totally intimidated by all the handstands and arm balances he had us do... so intimidated that i never showed up again... until tonight. and i have to say that despite giving my all and pushing as hard as i could, i was still leagues behind many others in the class. they were doing handstands with their vinyasas. and side arm balances to get out of twists. and an endless string of navasana crunches. i passed on all of those, but at least i managed to do one assisted handstand :)
so have five days of hot yoga made a dent in my quest to fit back into those gray slacks? i'll find out tomorrow when i weigh myself once again... after i run those 14 miles i have planned for tomorrow morning, of course. after all, every little bit helps!
sometime last month, while rummaging through my closet for something to wear to work, i kept finding clothes that were either wrinkled, destined for the cleaners, or for the wrong season (yes, around here, a ten degree change in temperature constitutes a season change). so i started looking through the batch of clothes that i had just picked up from the cleaners.
the first thing i picked out was a pair of lightweight gray slacks. it happened to match the black top i had already set aside, so i pulled it off the hanger and put it on. and quickly realized, to my chagrin, that the waistband was tighter than the last time i wore the pants... which was sometime before the holidays.
AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!
so not only was my bathroom scale telling me that i had gained weight, but now my clothes were telling me that i had gained girth around my midsection!
why? i know exactly why. the biggest culprit was my birthday marathon celebration; eating out for 50 days straight (or close to it) would make anyone gain weight :( then there were the holidays and even more food. add to that my easing up on my yoga practice because of my back issues. and i mustn't forget my new job where i find myself constantly munching on the goodies my officemates keep bringing in. and sitting around all day, either in meetings or in front of my computer.
so i tried modifying my diet. smaller portions, less fat, less carbs -- you know, the usual routine. at the end of two weeks, i got on the scale. i was down ONE whopping pound. i tried on those pants again. they were still tight. this was not looking good.
it was time to up my exercise. getting in more running sounded like a good idea, especially since i have another marathon coming up at the end of this month. so instead of taking a yoga class on the days i visited the physical therapist, i ran on the treadmill at the gym. and after a week, i was down one more humongous pound.
this was taking a dreadfully long time, and i was getting desperate.
it was time for yoga to come to my rescue.
i decided that i needed to take classes that would help burn away the fat and detoxify my system. the harder and more demanding they were, the better. so i set for myself a new goal: to take the hottest and sweatiest yoga classes in town.
... and no, bikram (aka yoga in an oven) was not an option...
on monday, i took matt reyes's hour-long level 2/3 class at yogahop in santa monica. i wanted to take his earlier (and longer) 2/3+ class, but i couldn't get out of my physical therapy appointment in time. the later class turned out to be just as effective; matt made sure we got 90 minutes' worth of yoga within those 60 minutes. it was pretty demanding, and i had to work hard to keep up. good stuff!
on tuesday, i drove out to u studio in the miracle mile district to take andrea marcum's inaugural 7:15pm all-levels class (up until then, her latest class was at 6pm, which didn't fit in at all with my work/commute schedule). with our city view out the fifth floor windows slowly getting clouded over by the moisture emanating from our bodies, i powered through the class and dripped about a pound of sweat on my yogitoes towel by the time class was over.
on wednesday, with the line of yoga junkies at bryan kest's power yoga east studio already wrapped around the corner when i got there, i still managed to land myself a prime spot in the middle of the room. even if it was "just" a level 1/2 class, it was strenuous enough to have me soaked in sweat before we even finished the opening sun salutation sequence. it had been a while since i had last taken a class with bryan, and i was happy to finally find myself, as he put it, hot and sweaty and touching myself all over...
on thursday, i barely made it in time for vinnie marino's level 2/3 class at yogaworks main street. in fact, i swear that the only reason i was able to find a parking spot AND a spot in the classroom was because it was spring break/holy week/passover. in other words, the usual marino devotees were out spending the evening somewhere else. having those extra two inches of floor space around my yoga mat was like getting a special holy day blessing! and vinnie and his class didn't disappoint; it was just as vigorous as ever. yeah!
finally today, friday, i opted to go all-out and took brock cahill's level 2/3 class at yogaworks westwood. the last time i had taken his class, i was totally intimidated by all the handstands and arm balances he had us do... so intimidated that i never showed up again... until tonight. and i have to say that despite giving my all and pushing as hard as i could, i was still leagues behind many others in the class. they were doing handstands with their vinyasas. and side arm balances to get out of twists. and an endless string of navasana crunches. i passed on all of those, but at least i managed to do one assisted handstand :)
so have five days of hot yoga made a dent in my quest to fit back into those gray slacks? i'll find out tomorrow when i weigh myself once again... after i run those 14 miles i have planned for tomorrow morning, of course. after all, every little bit helps!
posted by joni at 11:39 PM
4 Comments:
I definitely recommend Seane Corn's class for this goal! :)
since it's been a while since i last took seane's class, i may just take you up on that recommendation... thanks!
Good for you...but I have to ask...how on earth do you have the extra disposable income to be taking a different yoga class at a different yoga studio 5 days in a row? You're looking at upwards of $80 there. Just one reason why I have a bunch of yoga videos at home.
actually, i buy a series of classes at the studios i frequent, so the per-class price is much less than the single class rate. besides, yoga is my only "vice"; so while others might spend their money on designer clothing, spa treatments, fancy dinners, $4 starbucks lattes, and so on, i spend mine on classes. and when times get tough, i volunteer my time at studios in exchange for classes. it all works out somehow :)
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