Last night I returned to yoga. The teacher Mary, was my first yoga teacher. We had a yoga class at secondary school as an elective activity and I started when I was about 16. I have attended classes on and off throughout my life and I love it.
It has been a wonderful assistance in my life. The awareness of breath and my breathing has supported me in many of the critical times, such as exams and stressful times. The stretching is something that has always been a pleasure and given relief when I have been sore.
I enjoyed my class last night and Mary is amazing. I am glad to be making the time in my week for something so good for me.
Feedback, statistics, where am I?
Since I have returned from holidays, I have been on a quest to lose weight and get fit. I have already lost a few kilos, so it’s going well.
I have an exercise machine and I have spent 20 minutes a day on it with my heart monitor and my mp3 player, sweating as much as I can. I intend to do some weight training and exercises soon, but want to get this cardio stuff made into a habit as that is my weakness physically. I find if I attempt to create large and complex habit, it soon evaporates.
I’m heading back to yoga next week, and I am excited about that too. I have done yoga on and off for many years and I love stretching and being flexible.
I have decided on the gradual approach as far as dieting goes. I am paying attention to what I am eating and reducing the chocolate intake, which was becoming enormous last year. Chocolate had become a daily staple rather than an occasional treat. I am cutting back mainly on sugar, and processed foods. Nothing extreme though, no measuring or weighing or excluding of any food types or groups. I generally eat a variety of food and am now eating less of that same variety, minus the extremely unhealthy foods. I am also having a protein drink for breakfast as it is easy for me to get into the habit of skipping it because I never feel hungry in the mornings. By morning tea I am starving and straight into the chocolate or any junk I can find at school, usually processed unhealthy food.
I think the thing that helps me most is that I have been weighing myself more regularly and entering stats into an excel spreadsheet. I had actually thrown my scales out and decided I would never diet again. It was a good theory, but it didn’t work. I need to monitor myself. I gained too much weight whilst I wasn’t watching. I have created a few measures and I record this daily. It is keeping me on track.
Trip to Wollongong – Final thoughts
I learnt I am very afraid of heights on the trip. I am getting worse. Andy, in one of his amusing moments took a rather unflattering clip of me getting down from a monument that I had climbed thinking I could get a better shot. I suddenly felt overwhelmed by fear. You won’t find this video, because it hasn’t been put online. This horrible ‘fear of heights’ feeling came along several times during the trip, particularly on the ‘Suggan Buggan’ road and some of the lookouts.
I learnt that I prefer to stay a while in places rather than pass quickly through. We usually spend a week at a place we holiday to and I found this website today Slow Travel, and I totally agree it is the best way. I guess when we visited Broken Hill last year for a week and traveled to and from taking a week either way, it was the same. The most enjoyable part is the week long stay at the destination. We think we will spend a couple of weeks next year in the one spot rather than spend as much time travelling. We do like to take roads off the beaten track though, which takes longer. I thoroughly agree with the concept of ‘slow travel’ though. You need time in a place to appreciate it and to really relax there.
I learnt that I prefer smaller places and larger accomodation. I need to get fitter and healthier to continue to enjoy walking and camping. Wollongong was a beautiful place. It was not the industrial city I had thought it was.
I really enjoyed Andy’s company and appreciate the care and planning he puts into these trips. I wouldn’t see a quarter of the marvellous thing I get to see without him.
The coast is so populated. I was quite astonished by this. The price of real estate is high along the coast.