Posts Tagged ‘bikram yoga’

Being a Bikram Yoga newbie is not easy, I’ve been practicing now for almost a year and it doesn’t get any easier. One day you can have a great practice where you seem to progress and then the next session feel like the very first time you’ve been in the hot room. 37-41 degrees with 70% humidity. But even on the bad days it’s better than not doing it all.

I had a two week layoff due to work and travel and got back into it last Thursday, tough class. Good Friday was awesome, Saturday was strong at a new studio in Melbourne’s Bayside and then Sunday was a bit rough. You just never know what you’re going to get.

Today I took the young fella off to the South Melbourne studio for the 9.30am class, and we were joined by former Richmond footballer Nathan Brown doing his very first class. He hung there all the way without sitting out any postures, a great effort for a first time. It was hot and humid in the room, I found it really tough and obviously had added a few cms as I struggled with postures I can normally achieve.

ex Footscray and Richmond player Nathan Brown's first Bikram Yoga session. Pictured with Declan, myself, Jacqui and Karen.

Nathan now does some work for Triple M Melbourne, and I think this session was an on air challenge of some kind. After class he interviewed Declan, who had joined the class for the floor series, and also Maggie the studio director who has been an amazing supporter of Saving Alan. So tomorrow, sometime between 4 and 6 pm we may hear Declan and Maggie on Triple M. If they podcast the section I’ll post a link later.

I love Bikram Yoga, some days not as much as others, but if I am away from it for more that 2 days my practice really suffers, so I need to find ways of making sure I can get there every second day as well as building in the personal training gym that I am also enjoying. The last piece of the puzzle is food, they say that food is 80% of weight loss, and my experiences are telling me that that is right. So it’s time to put some serious effort into getting the food balance right and watch the kilos strip back off.

Now to get my family members into the heat, so far I have three of four willing to take the step, anyone else up for joining a Saturday morning session? – I promise you’ll love it!

A gift to myself really.

Since the weigh in at the end of November I gave myself a fair bit of leeway on food and exercise and the result was adding 6 kilos over 3 weeks and quite a few cms.

For the first time I can remember the addition of cms felt damn horrible, I did care (that is a big change). My suit felt tight, belt slipped forward a notch and exercise became that little bit tougher (I had some very rough Bikram Yoga classes through that period) and I could see the changes in my shape, specifically my gut.

It was all about my intent and how I was thinking about things, I was getting that old victim / self pity crap going again. Well toughen up young fella!

So at my last weigh in on 21 December I set a target of 117 kilos for weigh in on January 7 (today). Up until Boxing Day things weren’t looking so rosy, I had exercised a lot, but food had been a bit hit and miss but not a blow out.

From Boxing Day onwards I just stuck to my guns, even though I so desperately wanted to eat garbage for the sugar hit or to feel full. Holidays are traditionally a tough time to lose weight as the routine goes out the window, if we look back at my progress and check out the holiday weeks during 2009 I think I added weight in each holiday period.

Not this time though, I set out with the intent of making 2010 a great year on all fronts and most importantly my health. I will get to 85 kilos this year (a total loss of 73 kilos since the start of Saving Alan). I have made a flying start with a 6 kilo loss over the past 2 weeks and I’ve set a target of another 2.5 kilos by next weigh in on January 21, my intention is to surpass that. It’s not that hard to do really, it’s just hard to action, to stay in check, not to give in, not to say “oh, it’s only one thing”. Fat Food Friday helps out a lot in terms of providing a release of anything I may be craving, it gets it over and done with, I feel horrible after it and then I move straight back into the plan.

So I am currently 115 kilos, (-43 kilos), and am really keen on breaking through the 108 mark as quickly as I can, not taking another 20 odd weeks to remove the fifth 10 kilos like it did the fourth.

I am walking every day (40-50 minutes), doing Bikram Yoga three times a week and most importantly eating well. Simple plan, simple outcome.

I ventured onto a tennis court yesterday for the first time in 10 years, it felt good, it felt comfortable and I am looking forward to adding a weekly tennis game to the routine in the near future, I am just not quite mobile enough at the moment .. good news ….. the serve is as mean as ever.

So let’s see what I can achieve in the next two weeks, feeling very motivated after the weigh in.

Sometime over the next couple of weeks is a story on Today Tonight, not sure when as yet but that will keep me on track a little as I couldn’t think of anything worse than walking into a fish and chip shop and someone asking me if I was that guy from that TV story.

So here are this weeks results, enjoy the heat (if you’re in Melbourne)

Very happy, during a time when most people put weight on, I was able to remove 6 kilos. Not as many cms as I would have liked but they will come.

It’s been a hard haul over the past 4 weeks and the results have shown that, and also the regularity of blogging always drops off when I am struggling, although this past week work has been the cause.

I really resoved to exercise hard this week and not to cheat myself with food during the week, and although I was poor with food over the weekend, I still managed to drop off 2.2 kilos last week. For the first time in probably 5-6 years I am below 120 kilograms. I am now just 12 kilograms away from my minimum target of 50 kilos and somewhere closer to 60 kilograms is looking more like a reasonable target .. imagine if I could get below 100 kilos by the end of November or even by Christmas .. what an amazing change that will be from last Christmas and from where I am right now.

I knew I had a good week in terms of results, I could feel it in my body shape, especially my stomach. An old belt now fits, I am now into my 4th suit in the progression down, jeans that were tight now fit but I still have a bunch of jeans to get back into in probably another 8-10 kilos time. It’s going to get expensive in regards to clothes – suits, jeans, shirts etc and the things I hadn’t thought of are shoe size is reduced so new shoes, underwear is starting to get baggy and uncomfortable – all good problems though.

Off to the footy tonight for the last time in the season to see the Bombers take on the Lions. Food choices may go out the window .. I’ll have to work extra hard over the week to minimise the collateral damage.

Took my 8 year old to Yoga this morning, he joined in for the floor exercises, I love having him there, he’s turned into an amazing support always on the look out for the food choices I make, questioning whether something is ok to eat or not. And oh for his flexibility!

So here’s this weeks results, I’ll post a Cooking with Al tomorrow, with my new invention test – Chicken and Vegetable Stew.

That's better!

It’s interesting speaking with different fitness and health related people and getting their view of what is the absolute best method of exercising to get the maximum results in wieght loss.

Some of the Personal Trainers I have spoken to are so hardcore in their view that there is just no way I would consider following their program or working out with them. I am not fit, I need to understand my body and its limitations until I can handle more intense workouts. Them being so rigid in their view misses the whole point of the ‘personal’ in their job description. I think most people would think of personal trainers as taking a purely cookie cuter approach to fitness and health, that you follow this to get a certain outcome. having said that I am sure there are some absolute rippers out there who can combine all the different elements needed to help someone reach their goals.

I am stubborn, pig-headed and at times a damn know it all.

What do I want from exerise?

I want to be amused, challenged, entertained, I want solitude, I want to meet other people with similar challenges and I want to see results. If I can package this all up, I’ll be so motivated and committed to the plan that I will end up with all and more of my goals met. But I am doing this on my own, and pulling in the help when I need it. Why?

Not all of us can afford months away from work and family to go on Biggest Loser, spend weeks at health retreats, afford gym memberships and the like and we need to find ways within our budget and commitments to reach our goals. Sometimes this means adjusting budgets and commitments to place different priorities on different aspects of our lives.

So now I have a priority on my health -  combination of physical health (exercise and food) and mental health.

I think I have worked out what is a good exercise balance for me – Bikram Yoga 3 times a week and a one hour walk 3-4 times a weeks, seems to be getting the best outcomes for me. I’d like to get back and do the occasional aqua aerobics session as well, and look forward to when my feet and ankles will stand up to playing tennis once a week.

I understand as I get lighter I need to become more intense in my workouts / exercise. I tripped across a spreadsheet the other day that showed the level of  variance in effectiveness of walking and running and the weight factor www.brianmac.co.uk/excel/energyexp.xls. So for me being very heavy, I get good outcomes from walking at the moment, but the day will com when it is not intense enough and I’ll need to up the ante, I’m looking forward to that. One thing that interests me is kayaking on the bay, I think that would be a great way to get some sun and exercise at the same time.

I bought a pair of Nike’s just so I could use the Nike+ sensor in the shoe with my iPod Nano, but now I have the iPhone 3GS and it’s all integrated it’s even better. So from today’s workout here is the screenshot;

So I have set a few challenges. i) to walk 285 kilometres by the end of November, this is 15 kilometres a week for the next 19 weeks.  ii) 48 walks minimum over the next 16 weeks. I should be able blow these out of the water, and if I do then I’ll see some great results.

Today’s walk was great, new socks meant no blisters, but I did suffer really sore ankles and feet, so I obviously need to build back up again after the two week layoff. I am so lucky to live close to the bay and be able to walk along the coast, fresh air blowing and no traffic roaring by.

The city of Melbourne in the background

I know laying around somewhere I have some exercises that I can do at home with dumbbells to strengthen my shoulders and arms as well, so I am going to try and get a routine with that going 3-4 times a week, as well as setting a push up / sit up challenge in the weeks ahead.

All this combined with the strengthening and toning that Bikram Yoga provides, not to mention the calorie burn which I have been able to find estimates between 350 calories and 1845 calories per session. Let assume it’s down between the middle and lower third of the range for me as I cant get into all positions as yet – 500-800 calories.

Anyway, I’ve been for my walk, done loads of washing and cleaning and now it’s time to get some work done.

A great start to the weekend, just returned from a Bikram Yoga class.

The generosity and support I am receiving is just astounding, I am trying not to dismiss it, but to take it in and use as fuel for my discipline. Not as a fear that I’ll let anyone down if I don’t change my life, but as a positive to know that others will get a kick out of it as well.

Maggie just proves to be an amazing woman, inviting my son in to the last part of class and having him participate. He loved it and is already talking about the next time he can come along. I’m just happy he gets the opportunity to see what I am doing and what it is all about.

Anyway off to Ballarat for the afternoon / night and then tomorrow am going to hit the gym for a workout before taking the young man to Tennis. Then off to see the mighty Bombers take on Geelong.

I feel great at the moment, opposed to Thursday and Friday when I felt massive. I feel thin today which is great.

I think at times everyone thinks I am being totally hardcore on my eating and exercise plan, I wish!

I let the weather put me off going for a walk tonight, I should have gone to the gym. I justified with being busy and needing to do some work at home and prepare for tomorrow. I then went a step further and ate take-away because I forgot to take something out of the freezer, where as within the same amount of time I could have easily have bought something from the supermarket and cooked in the similar time frame. So now I am staring at a poor weigh-in this coming Friday.

I am feeling a little flat, coming off a little bit of a chest cold, and having not exercised since last Thursday I am letting myself off a little bit too much. My emotions rule pretty strongly at times and give me a sense of justification and I really need to be more aware and  little tougher on myself or maybe find a tactic to help me avoid this behaviour. Maybe a little Temptation vs. Me scoreboard on my phone, makes me conscious of what I’m doing, gives me a chance to see the moment with clarity and gives me a pay-off, a victory.

I am going to Bikram Yoga in the morning, which means getting up at 5am and getting into a hard session, and it is hard. A friend Georgina sent me a personal note saying “the first 3/4 was great, the last part made me swear never to go back – then, driving home I felt like I was 8 foot tall and could conquer the world!!”, so I am looking forward to heading to the office in the morning.

I have some exciting news to share tomorrow about the fundraising aspect of SavingAlan, so make sure you come back tomorrow.

In the meantime make sure you visit the Support Alan page and sponsor my efforts for the benefit of Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute.

Well I did it again, I jumped on the exercise bike tonight, and peddled hard for 30 minutes. 110 watts, rpm around 98-100, 227 calories added to yesterdays session of around the same but the calories I think were 232 or 223, wither way it’s a good backstop to have if I don’t get to gym or get to go for a walk.

In a couple of weeks it may get ignored again as I start Bikram Yoga. I am looking forward to it with a certain amount of trepidation, not sure how I m going to handle a 90 minute session in 39 degree heat. But the pressure is on, I can’t back out now and I wont. Plus Maggie’s not giving me much choice, she’s posted on her site that I’ll be there and asked her students to give me the support that I need .. I guess I can’t slack off down the back of the room.

Maggie gives me no room to manouvre