I Hurt So GOOD!!!

I'm starting to enjoy this...  why you ask?  #1 my energy is OFF THE CHAIN!!!!  #2 I'm down to 121.2 pounds from 125 on Sunday!  #3 I don't have cloudy thinking anymore!!!!  Do I still want things I'm not supposed to have, like sugar, popcorn, pizza, feta cheese, rice, oatmeal, quinoa?  Why yes, yes I do, but I want health and a fit body more!

Here are a few of my meals from yesterday.  Besides this, I had an egg veggie scramble, banana and an apple.  So yesterday I ended up eating only one hand full of nuts, and for me that's a miracle;  but after I ate them my stomach hurt, so I think I'm letting them go for real, at least for a time!  Today I haven't had any and I feel AWESOME.

Yesterday was "back and bicep" day at the gym and I just love the post workout sore feeling (that picture was from 2 1/2 years ago.  And trust me when I say I'll look better than this by summer).  Man, is my back talking to me today.  I LOVE IT!!!!  I also took the opportunity to take Yoga from one of my favorite teachers, Karen (her one and only class is at a really "horrible" time for me)!  She teaches Anusara Yoga http://www.anusara.com/ which is all about alignment.  Proper Alignment that is! She said something to us as an offering to ponder "on and off" the mat that stuck with me so much.

"Your pose doesn't start until you want to get out of it."  I examined that on the mat with the postures I want to run from as soon as I get into them (i.e. sleeping tortes).  What type of emotions does this posture bring out of me?  Feelings of inadequacy and frustration?  The voice in my head screaming, "Why can't you get your legs over your elbow crease and fold forward with straight legs and breathe calmly?"  Then I'm reminded to be present and breathe.  The practice doesn't start until I want to go!

Isn't that so life?  How many times do I think when my kids are at school, "I will not yell at them when they are disobedient.  Or, when they are fighting with each other I will remain calm."  In theory, I'm the chillest mom on the planet... but I just got into the "pose" not even a 1/2 second ago.  It's when I'm in the "thick of the moment" that I want to get out of the pose (motherhood...  Calgon take me away.)

that my practice begins!  Then I'm reminded to be present and breathe.  I love lifting weights and getting my pump on, but I so appreciate my yoga practice and what it gives me on and off the mat (grace, patience and flexibility).