I woke up at 8.30am today and in a hazy sort of way I grabbed my phone to check what yoga classes were on. I could hear the rain outside and was thinking that my meanderings into the Edinburgh Fringe may have to wait till tomorrow. There was a class at 9.30am (my sleep head was saying this was unlikely) and one at 12.30pm (maybe more likely). This lackadaisical approach stopped suddenly when realisation hit that I haven’t done any yoga or proper exercise for two weeks. The hint really should have come yesterday; when I pulled on a work dress to accompany a friend to a formal appointment. My dress (and it was my ‘I can gain weight and still wear this dress’) was hugging my thighs a little more than normal. So much for my intentions a couple of weeks ago. Those type of intentions where you plan on doing a lot of fitness and eating healthily for the two weeks you have off work. Just over one week in and I have done absolutely nothing.
Excuses
Excuses that run around your head are great. All a load of bollocks, but during that conversation (with yourself…not in a mad way) they all sound sensible. My excuses: I had a busy run up to my leave with work so was getting home late, I deserved a glass of wine after a busy day at work, I am now on holiday (woohoo) and I deserve a lie in, its far too hot (see previous post on the heatwave we had) to exercise and the list goes on. I also pointed out to myself that I had been away with friends to relax and so this clearly should not involve exercising any more than a few countryside/beach walks.
Intentions
Setting aside all those excuses, which I can only now do three hours later, I know my intentions for the last two weeks made much more sense. I planned on working hard up to my leave so that I could focus on eating the right things and doing the right amount of exercise. Whilst I mainly do yoga, I had planned to incorporate some HIIT or even the longer type of Insanity maximum interval training into my routine. My view was that I would have a burst of cardio with the strength building in yoga. Then, when I got back to work, I would get back to fitting in some weight training again. I used to mainly do weights and know the benefits of all round training. My thighs clearly know the benefits of this too.
So the counter to my excuses: work was busy but I could always fit in an hour, my glass of wine could have waited as Shavasana feels just as good, I am now on holiday and so have plenty of time to do everything, I could get out of the heat and hopefully into a cool studio. The counter list goes on.
Getting re-motivated
After realisation hit this morning (like a thunderous slap to my increasingly thunderous thighs) I managed to pull myself together. It was teetering on the edge of decision making and I think I could have gone either way. Weirdly I re-read my own post ‘When you don’t feel like yoga: do yoga‘ which felt a little egotistical but it reminded me of how I feel when I get over the lethargic nature of indecisiveness. I also had a quick look at my post on the ‘Wheel’ and realised that I couldn’t use that one class as an excuse as a quick review of my past bookings at the studio showed a few attendances after the wheel class.
Back on it
I got up. I showered and pulled on my yoga pants and top. I pulled out my yoga mat and bag and shoved on my trainers to walk to class as it was still raining. Decision made – I clicked on the ‘book class’ button. Yep the 9.30am one. A Hatha class not generally for the fainthearted as Clara does slow and strong so I knew my core was going to be worked. On a side note if you are in Edinburgh Clara (her instagram link) is a wonderful yoga teacher who allows you to really focus on the moves, breathing and poses whilst working hard (and relaxed) to get there.
9.30am and I was working on my shoulders. Lots of opening up poses including quite a few times in Dolphin leading to forearm stands. I can’t get fully into the inversion yet but I did do a few hops up. I will practice on my inversion stool this week. 10.45am and I feel like I am back on it. I floated down the road. I do feel better for going and, better yet, I still have 6 more days of leave to reset my intentions. I am going to start logging my food again (this is the only thing that works for me when trying to lose some weight) and possibly do a walk or insanity dvd or even just a bit more yoga by the end of the day. Today I will be keeping my trainers on until this happens and I am not putting that bloody dress back on until I return to work. If I keep to my intentions I know my thighs won’t be protesting too much the next time I wear it.
Picture – trainers and yoga mat bag my own
My Forty Something Life 