Yoga

Well today is Sunday and it's my usual yoga day and man I look forward to it all week! Sitting at a desk all day and tightening up from sitting and anxiety can really do a job on your body. I didn't realize until I started doing yoga how much you keep stress and anxiety on your hips and how much you grip because of sitting funny or just being tense. Today I did yoga with Rodney Yee and my fave vid of his Power Yoga Total Body. It hits every part of your body and you feel so stretched and relaxed when you're done! I can feel my body opening up and getting more flexible as the weeks go by which I love! Before I discovered yoga I didn't realize how much I let my flexibility slack and how tight I was getting. I saw how bad my posture was getting and how bad my back was starting to hurt. Man some mornings I would get up feeling like stiff as a board! My back would hurt so bad and I would be so stiff I knew something had to be done. I didn't get my first exposure to yoga until I started doing P90X and that changed my life! I had done it for ten months once a week which really improved my flexibility so much! For a while I had gotten away from yoga and man did I feel a difference! My hip flexors locked up, my low back began hurting again my hamstrings were another story. I couldn't touch my toes anymore! I know it sounds strange but I love feeling flexible and keeping up with your flexibility is good for your spine and for your body in general. Of course I was letting my back getting bad again and I was not liking this at all! I think I was falling under the false comfort of being young so I didn't have to think about it. With my body screaming at me I still tried to ignore it, how insane is that? My breaking point was when my husband and I were on a trip I could feel my hip flexors just tighten up so bad that when I would stand up it would hurt so bad! I couldn't ignore the impeding stiffness any longer and knew that I had to take action. I searched online for other yoga vids than Yoga X (nothing against the workout I just like variety) and I discovered Rodney Yee! His videos looked great and he was such a soothing individual. So I got his Power Yoga DVD and I was hooked from the first yoga "class"! I loved how it opened up my body and how relaxed I was when I was finished. After that first time doing his DVD I went on gaiam.com and bought all of his dvd's! He's a great instructor and I would recommend him to anyone who wants to see great improvements in their flexibility fast!

I am sure this is not my first rant on about yoga and it's benefits but man I love it! I love how relaxed I am and what it is doing for my body. Anyone that talks to me about it I always them that maybe they should incorporate a yoga practice once a week to stretch their body out from a week of hard exercise. People always look at me funny because they hear the word yoga and they think they have to bend themselves into a pretzel and they are scared on how to do that LOL. I always tell them I am nowhere near being able to do that and I get through a yoga routine every week! There are yoga instructors that started out with limited flexibility and it took time and practice to get to the level they are at, so you have to start somewhere! Do it for your body and well being, you'll be glad you did!

Hit those weights!

Well I have heard time and time again that "I'm afraid to lift weights, won't I get big?" NO!! For women we just don't have the hormones to get big and bulky like men would naturally. For women it makes us smaller tighter and leaner which is want we all strive for right? Have you seen a female that is in good shape but has curves? Guess what she is doing, lifting weights! Not only is it good for your fitness, and endurance but it's good for your bone health! Calcium is also good for your bones, keeping them strong and preventing breakage but you will also hear from you dr. and any other article that explains both health that weight bearing exercises are perfect for keeping your bones strong for life! No one is saying that you have lift 100 lbs at a time and be a she-hulk but it is good in adding to your fitness results. There are proven studies that state that your resting metabolic rate is much faster when you have more lean muscle in your body versus fat. Muscle is more dense, so it won't bulge out like a pound of fat will, doesn't that sound nice? well it's true! What the resting metabolic rate means is that you will burn fat and have a faster metabolism even in your sleep! I don't know about you but burning calories and fat in my sleep sounds awful good! Look, I used to be scared of weights too. When I was first trying to lose the 50lbs I had gained I thought "Ok I have to do a ton of cardio and I will drop all this weight" Man was I wrong! Yes cardio is good for you and is one of the main elements of losing unwanted pounds and strengthening your cardiovascular system, but weights is a huge way of losing fat deposits and tightening those areas that we all love to have tight (our booty and thighs!) Of course other areas too ;-) Not until I started lifting weights three days a week is when I really saw my metabolism speed up and started to see the weight really come off! The same will happen to you!

So my rant to day is don't be afraid of the weights! They are your friends! Just remember you are speeding up your metabolism, shrinking your fat deposits, and strengthening your bones among other benefits! Women: you will not get big and hulky like a body builder unless you are lifting crazy heavy weights or gaining muscle in an unnatural way. Men: weights are your friend too! The more muscle you have the more fat you burn and of course the longer you live! If you want to check out some pretty awesome muscle building fat scorching workouts check out http://www.beachbodycoach.com/esnyder81

:-)

Addictions

Okay I am going to put it out on the table I used to smoke 1-2 packs a day for years. I had started when I was 16 and quit when I was 24. Thankfully I was young when I quit but man I smoked like a chimney! Of course it was the whole trying to fit in, trying to be cool but I didn't expect to get addicted by any means, at least how seriously addicted I was. My parents knew I smoked my mom really didn't say anything but my dad was pretty open about it and tried many things to get me to stop. He worked at a mental hospital and saw people with all kinds of diseases. Namely respitory diseases from smoking. he would tell me about people who had tracheotomies, lung caner, COPD and other horrors that can start from the smoking habit. It scared me but I soon forgot about it when I wanted to smoke again. How stupid is that? I mean he is sitting there telling me about these people that are DYING from smoking then I turn around and do it! That is addiction right there and that was I really knew that I was hooked on those things. I had tried to quit so many times it's not even funny. I tried cold turkey all those times and everytime I would get around the crowd I hung with and went right back to smoking. Then another tactic would be me and a friend would decide to quit smoking together and we would do good for a while and do pretty good but then the partying would start and guess what? We would smoke... *sigh* it was a battle for sure and I couldn't believe I was hooked at such a young age. Back then cigarettes weren't too expensive but they cost too much for a teenager to be buying them. I mean why would you start such a habit at such a young age? Oh the perils of trying to fit in... I guess I thought everyone was doing it and that made it okay for me. Plus EVERYONE I knew smoked! It seemed impossible to quit, a huge mountain to climb. I knew I would not be a lifetime smoker or at least I had hoped but I had no idea how I would quit.

While I had been attending KVCC of course I still had the smoking habit but I really wanted to quit and I mean I REALLY wanted to quit. There was a day called National Smoke Out Day where it was a day where smokers would quit smoking for one day. Little did I know this was the day I would put the smoke out for good... There were pics posted from this site called http://www.whyquit.com It's a site with all this info about what famous people had died from complications from smoking, young regular people who had died and current people who had been diagnosed with a smoking related disease who were chronicling their struggle with their disease and how hard it is to quit. These pictures that were posted around the school were two people who were in their early 30's that were diagnosed with small cell carcinoma. A very aggressive form of cancer. One person had started smoking at the age of 13 and the other had started at the age of 16. From the day they had been diagnosed they were dead in 9 weeks. NINE WEEKS. I mean you don't even have time to take in the fact that you are sick and then next thing you know you are gone, all because of smoking. When I had seen these pics and read their story I took my pack of cigarettes out of my purse and threw them away, since that day I have not looked back. I was literally scared out of smoking and that's what it took for me to quit. I felt so free! I loved not wanting to smoke anymore! I was still vulnerable so I would always go back to that site and read about other people who had struggled with quitting and staying clean off of cigarettes. One woman's story really caught my eye. Her name was Christine and she had been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at the age of 36. She had started smoking at 13 and now in her mid 30's she is struggling with this disease. She had a young daughter that was witnessing this struggle and had to be such a support to her mom during this time. I would go back to the site from time to time to check on her status, she would chromicle her treatments, how she felt physically and emotionally and keep everyone updated on how she was doing. you could see her getting better then getting worse with every entry but what I admired about this woman is she never seemed to give up and never seemd scared. What she was going through was absolute hell and for anyone having to deal with that at any age would be awful. She was not going down quietly and all of her entries made me want to read more, not that I had a morbid interest in her having cancer but just to see how she was.

Why am I telling you this? Why am I writing about it? Well I just checked back in on the site today it had been months since I have and I was pretty sad to see that Christine had died in June at the age of 39 from cancer. She had it for two years and that's one hell of a struggle considering she was diagnosed at stage IV. For some reason this is really bugging me and I am so sad to read about her passing. I mean she had a daughter and a family that loved her also becasue I had been reading up on her and seeing her struggle. A part of me was hoping that she would survive and be a miraculous story but being diagnosed at that stage is never good. For those who still wonder why I don't smoke or drink and why I am so passionate about fitness Christine is the reason why and those like her. Those habits that don't seem like a big deal are and they can kill you. Smoking too much, drinking too much, eating the wrong foods too much are nothing but a death sentence. It may take a while but the affects will show up. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Another lesson I got out of reading her story is cherish every moment and everyday because it is all a gift. You never know what challenges lie ahead....

Checking in

Well again I said I would be better about blogging and I have again slacked for about two months. Don't ask me what my problem is I have no idea. Well the weather is starting to loosen up and get warm. Most of this week was 60 degrees and man I am loving it! Back at home it's still cold but I have heard from buddies that it is acting more like spring there so that has to be a relief by my fellow Michiganders. This weekend has been a fun weekend of hanging out with my brother because he has finally moved here and it has been great spending so much time with him! I know it's a relief for him to have some of his family around him so he has that outlet of course. We went to the bookstore, got something to eat and just enjoyed each other's company. Family is really important especially when you don't live in your home state anymore. If you are lucky enough to live by one of your siblings and be close with them what a blessing! I love that my bro and I are so close and that we have the same sense of humor (because we are pretty hilarious ya know) so it's been a blast! I am holding my breath on whether or not they move again but for right now I am really enjoying everything. Today my hubby and I did some shopping at Whole Foods and man I love that store! I just wish we had the budget to shop there for all of our groceries but if we are successful in our business then that may become a reality! Hey it doesn't take much to please me :-) But man I love that we have such a healthy place to shop and eat right by us! Another reason I have to love Colorado so much ;-) But I am just sitting here getting ready to do some intense yoga and watching the food channel. This channel is bad and it can make you fall into bad eating habits if you are not careful but hey you can dream right? I am dreading going to work tomorrow because I have so much awaiting me but at least I can set my own hours so if I have a lot of work waiting for me it's my own fault. I do have to say I was pretty productive on Friday so I can't feel too bad. It just all piles up and at the end of the week everyone needs everything!! I mean you have the rest of the week why are you putting this in me now?? Sorry for the whining but man that really makes me pull my hair out sometimes. Oh well enough complaining work is work right? I feel blessed to have my own business that I own with my husband and as far as things look it looks like it is going well! Well I think that's all for today. I know it's short and sweet but from the title I just wanted to check in. I'm not going to say that I am gong to be the blog queen and blog everyday but I will sure try! Until next time...