It All Started With Yoga

Starting this past summer, I've really been trying to adapt into a healthier way of life.  I have stayed away from fad diets, have been working on portion control, adding more fruits and veggies into my daily meals and tried my best to keep away from overly processed foods...with the exception of an occasional shameburger (AKA McDonald's $1 cheeseburger).

However, the most important change to me has been putting a workout routine into place.  In the past I have exercised sporadically, due to wanting to drop a few pounds or because I knew I should.  But I always felt the effort was kind of half-assed and barely lasted a month or so because I got so bored with a treadmill.  This time has been different and I'm pretty happy about it!  The big difference is that I discovered yoga.  I never thought I could really do well at yoga and these past 5 months have completely proved me wrong.  Now, I might look slightly ridiculous doing some of the poses (thanks boobs), but I do them nonetheless!

I eased myself into doing yoga just 3 times a week for 20 minutes a day (something most working at home moms can manage!).  After just a month, I really found myself loving it.  I dropped weight (always a plus), felt calmer, noticed my posture improving and even felt more in control of my eating habits.  I started adding on more days and soon I began practicing yoga 5 or even 6 days a week.

It felt great, but I knew I needed to challenge myself more now that I was more used to having a dedicated time to work out every day.  For the past 3 weeks I've added a higher intensity cross-fit-style workout routine 3 days a week and do yoga on the alternating days.  I'm actually enjoying the challenge and find myself speeding up, adding reps and challenging myself without dreading my workouts...something I never would have thought possible back in the beginning of the summer.  My next step, starting in December, will be to add some weight-lifting to my yoga days.

Have I dropped all the weight I want?  Not yet, but I've made a great start and am also now losing inches too, which feels great.  For the first time in my life I feel like I'm in control of my health (to some degree) and am actually making the changes I need to get the results I want.

I've also boosted my own confidence in knowing I can choose a habit and stick with it, so I'm seeing positive results in other areas of my life.  I've decided to set aside 30 minutes a day to work on my second novel, a book that has been sitting with hardly any progress made since before my daughter was born (16 months ago).  This week alone that discipline has resulted in 5 new pages!

I guess what my mom used to tell me was right, that if I could just focus my strong will and stubbornness in the right direction I could accomplish great things.  Thanks mom, once again, you were right!