Tonight, I learned what they were talking about.

Monday night, Kris was bs’ing with Carrie on GChat while I was playing with my sewing machine, and he came in and said Carrie wanted to know if I had ever considered taking a yoga class and if so, would I be interested in joining her for one on Thursday evenings.  I said sure, and we signed up for a class at Golden Heart Yoga on Thursdays.

Truthfully, I’ve wanted to go somewhere and take a class for a long time, but I was afraid.  I was afraid of walking into a class where I knew no one, afraid of looking like an idiot because I had no clue what I was doing, afraid of being the fat chick in a room full of skinny, uber-flexible goddesses… you name it.  Can you tell I don’t deal well with new situations?  Most people don’t believe me, but I am extremely shy.  Painfully so.  Like, sick-to-my-stomach, have-to-talk-myself-into-it shy about going somewhere that I don’t know anyone.  I hate it, but I’ve always been that way.

So, this time, I had an “in” – I wasn’t going alone!  There was one person there that I knew I could trust not to mock me, no matter how stupid I looked or how awkward it was.  So, I met Carrie there at 5:30 tonight, and for the next hour, I had the most amazing time.  Our teacher, Joan, was the sweetest, most welcoming person I’ve ever met.  I felt at-ease immediately, and she was really encouraging to all of us.  I left the class feeling energized, flexible, strong… and this was only the first night of a level one newbie class!  The hour went faster than the 20-minute dvd that Morninglight Mama and I do (theoretically) twice a week (when our schedules aren’t entirely screwy…), and when it was over, I could have stayed longer.

So, yeah.  I get it now.  Yoga = teh awesome.  And I can’t wait for next Thursday.

In other news… the progress on the lace gloves?

Not so much.  I tried them on at the Barnes & Noble SnB today… too small.  Gah.  So, I ripped them.  I’m going to start again with the medium size, because the fabric I was getting was nice.  Oh well.  It’s an easy knit, and I really want these gloves, so what else can I do?

So, after the weekend of debauchery that was Maryland Sheep and Wool, I was not looking forward to stepping on the scale or breaking out the tape measure this morning. So, imagine my surprise:

Weight: 223.4 (Down .8 pounds from last week)

Bust: 45 (Down an inch. Damn. )

Waist: 37 (Down an inch)

Hips: 46 (Down an inch)

Holy crap! Down almost a pound AND I lost three inches since last week. I guess all that walking did me some good after all. Who knew?

Honestly, though, I was pretty good at the festival. On Saturday, I only indulged in one hot dog for lunch (OK, with chili, cheese, and sauerkraut…), and didn’t even snag any of the ribbon chips off of Jas’s plate while Sharon was holding it for her. That was a struggle, let me tell you. Those were GOOD last year. Sunday, Betsy and I got there late enough that we actually grabbed lunch on the way rather than eating fair food.

The dvd continues to get a little easier each time I do it, which makes me happy. I actually have really been enjoying working out with Dawn twice a week. It’s amazing what a difference it makes when you have a buddy to work out with, particularly when that buddy has a fabulous dry sense of humor and you both spend much of the workout making snotty remarks talking back to Jillian…

Anyway, I’m not sure if you will get an update from me next week. I leave at o-dark-thirty on Thursday morning to fly to Seattle for the SeaSocks cruise, and won’t be back home until the 19th. I have no idea what kind of internet access we will have on the cruise, so I may be incommunicado until I return. I’ll be out there with Stephie and cpurl17, so I’m sure we’ll be keeping one another honest.

Cross-posted to Fitness-A-Long

Bust: 46 (no change)

Waist: 38 (up 1/2″)

Hips: 47 (up 1/2″)

Meh. Gained another 2 pounds this week, and gained back half an inch on both waist and hips. Honestly, I’m not surprised. I’ve been pretty good about working out, but I’ve really been eating for crap. Especially this weekend. Had a bit of a falldown in the junk food aisle at Target.

But! I have been working out, and I can feel a difference when I do the Evil DVD. I even noticed the other day while brushing my teeth that things around the middle are a bit less jiggly than they were. And I’ve been so busy getting ready for MDS&W that I at least haven’t been sitting on my butt.

So – for next week, I’m going to keep working out (probably aiming for a M-T-Th-F schedule, unless I feel particularly energetic tomorrow), and at least attempt to eat a little better. Which means that if any of you see me at Sheep and Wool with one of those giant eclairs, feel free to take it away from me.

And just because my life is what it is, I was walking over to the couch just now to post this, and I managed to kick one of the handweights I use for the Evil DVD. Did I mention I was barefoot? So, yeah, the toes are a little sore at the moment. D’oh.

Cross-posted to Fitness-A-Long.

I know some people suggested that I not do measurements every week, but I fully expect them not to move for a while. I just know myself well enough to know that if I figure I’ll measure once a month, I’ll forget to do it when it’s time. So, I’m just going to get in the habit of doing it all once a week.

I was doing pretty well this week – I’ve done the dvd four times so far. I thought I was doing ok – I was getting less sore after each time, but yesterday was really discouraging. I felt like I had regressed to where I was the first day – no stamina at all. I had to keep taking breaks. It was really frustrating. I mean, I don’t expect to be doing it without effort yet (or ever, really), but it would be nice to see SOME progress.

What is the most frustrating to me is that I feel (whether it is true or not) like because I’m not really sore after working out, I’m not getting as much benefit from the workouts. Which makes the inability to finish one without stopping really irritating.

OK. Enough whining. Frustration or no, I’m going to keep working on this. I’ve got a new goal, though. I AM going to keep doing this until I can get through the level one workout without breaks. And then I’ll move on to level two and repeat. And then level three. I figure I’ll be able to do level three in, oh, three years or so?

Now, to grab the tape measure.

Weight: 222.8 – Well, THAT moved the wrong direction… Not shocking – I haven’t been eating well.

Bust: 46 – So far, so good – no movement

Waist: 37.5 – Holy crap! That’s down an inch and a half!

Hips: 46.5 – Lost half an inch here, too!

OK, so maybe there has been a little progress after all. And honestly – I wrote all of this before I measured. I won’t deny that it has helped my mood a bit, though!

Cross-posted to Fitness-A-Long.

We have our own blog! Fitness-A-Long!  I’ve sent invites to everyone who had already emailed me about joining, so you should have a Blogger invite in your inbox.  If you haven’t gotten it (or you hadn’t decided to join in and now want to), just email me (katydidknits AT gmail), and I’ll get you added.

I’m going to cross-post my updates on Tuesdays, so I apologize in advance if you see it both places. 

If you are wondering, Kris and I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. I loved it.  I mean, I wanted to see it because of JS and because of Kristen Bell (as in “Veronica Mars“, another FANTASTIC show cut down before its time).  It was funny, and sweet, and raunchy, and I really loved it.  It’s definitely not kid friendly (But, then it’s an R, so it shouldn’t be) and Kris agreed that in spite of his work pals’ insistence to the contrary, it was NOT a chick flick.

You know, there was a point to this, but now I don’t remember it.  Heh.

Fitness-A-Long update: We’ve got 17 people in already!  The button has been created and is on the info page at that link, along with the list of participants.  There’s no deadline to join, so if you were thinking about it but don’t have time right now, don’t worry about it – you can join in whevever!  I’m going to post my first update on Tuesday, so you can see how I’m doing then.

1. You can be in it to lose weight or just to get healthier – your goals are your own call.
2. IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH IT, I encourage you to consider posting your numbers. I won’t deny that it’s scary to hit that “Publish” button, but it’s also really damn freeing. And if you aren’t comfortable with it, I totally understand that. There will be no brow-beating or shaming anyone into posting.
3. Post updates weekly – how you are doing, what you have learned, what you need to improve, what you doing well with, etc.
4. Offer encouragement to others who need it.
5. NO JUDGING. Actually, this should be the number one rule. Everyone has their own goals, for their own reasons. I don’t care if you want to lose 5 pounds or 75 pounds, or zero pounds – that’s your call and your goal, and you don’t have to justify or downplay or anything.

So, who’s in? If there is enough interest, I’ll make a button (unless someone is feeling creative) and put a page on here with the rules and links to the participants.

And now, I’m off to tackle that dvd again. As soon as the Aleve kicks in.

ETA:  Wow!  You guys are quick!  Since I’ve already got five takers other than me, I’ve set up the info page here.  Just let me get the button made and posted, and we’ll be good to go!  Yay!