“As surprising as it may seem, diets which are rich in dairy products, including cheese in moderate amounts, are associated with lower body weight,” Associated Content.

Good things: Protein, Calcium (which I otherwise only get with the milk I add to my coffee or boxed macaroni & cheese), Zinc, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12. A single serving contains less than a gram of carbohydrates. One serving, on average, is about 100 calories, not awful, which is less than the suggested serving size of most crackers, for example.

Things to be wary of: The calories can add up. It’s prepackaged, which means not fresh & local, full of added preservatives. Not good source of fiber.

“If a high-fiber option isn’t available, calcium- and protein-rich cheese has a high satiety level, so you’ll feel like you’re getting a heartier bite,” diet.health.com.

Why it’s my pick: Despite the calories it may contain or the fat found in pretty much all dairy products, the fact that I have to peel the strings means it lasts longer, so my craving for a snack can be subdued for longer with a smaller amount of food and I don’t gulp it down all in two bites.

For all the guys who think that Yoga is just a lot of light stretching and meditation and voodoo chakra cleansing / aura readings, I’m here to report that the boyfriend (who generally does a lot of weight lifting) was pretty much dead after class.  Don’t let him comment here and tell you otherwise or blame it all on some pre-existing condition. There was definitive wincing/whining/heavy-sighing. I believe the words, “I hate you” were silently mouthed while the rest of the class was moving on to the Bird of Paradise pose (how-to video below).

I don’t think he’ll be back to Yoga in some time, but it’s not for everybody. I do think that he’d be able to enjoy it more if he does it again when he’s more familiar with the poses. You lose a lot of necessary concentration if you’re having to look up at the instructor a lot. But maybe (?) he gained some new respect for Yoga as a legitimately difficult workout, not just some fad for people to participate in for the sole purpose of saying they “do yoga.”

The boyfriend’s favorite yoga poses:

Balasana “Child’s Pose” & Savasana “Corpse Pose”

Note to all (especially him): He didn’t have a lack of respect for it beforehand, I’m just using him as an example to stand for the stereotypical weight lifting man who looks down upon useless yoga classes. He’s actually incredibly open-minded & willing to try new things. He did seriously say “I hate you” though :)

I’ve lost major endurance, lost muscle tone, but more important really is that I lost motivation to start again.  It’s nice when you get on a regular schedule, when you start to see effects and you want more… you don’t have to pep talk yourself in the car at the intersection of home and gym.

But then I go one day, because I just don’t think about it.. and I get my stuff together as quickly as I can, and I start driving there without having made up my mind on whether or not I wanted to go, and I go. By the time I get there I have to walk in because I’ve already driven all the way and got my ticket in the garage and it won’t be free unless I walk through the door so I do. and I went. What helped, too, is calling the gym in the morning and registering for spin classes. If you register (they fill up quickly) and you don’t show up and they catch on to you, you aren’t allowed to register anymore… so I have to go, and it’s worked. And the classes are what I need because once I’m in there I can’t just walk out when I think I’ve had enough, because I’d be too embarrassed in front of the class. And I’ve gone now, as regularly as I could manage in the past week and a half, and I’m back. I’m back to that drive, that want, like a horse that’s been broken in. and it becomes routine and then it becomes nice again.

So here I am, and I’m 127lbs. Let’s not let that get higher, OK? That said, I’m still a size 2, so as I already knew, the pounds really mean very little and what counts is the tone/sculpting. the look. I still think I’m going to start taking photos of my progress but I’m still unsure of posting them publicly. Though maybe I’m not setting a very good example if I let my shame show over my confidence.

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9:45pm now and I’m back from spin class. During my breaks at work I’ve taken to hula-hooping.  A co-worker brought in a large weighted one (5lbs? not sure) and I’ve heard that 20 minutes a day will shed 2 inches in a month. I’m skeptical of that… but at the very least it’s cardio and building up my endurance again.  10 minutes straight of hula-ing is no joke.  I’m going to go downstairs and start my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD. I’ll let you know what I think of her routine.

“Honestly, dieting results in more obvious “weight loss” – but you aren’t a toned person. You’re a skinny person who can’t lift heavy boxes.”

I’m going to leave men out of my post for now… because my view on men remains that I find them attractive all the time, whatever their size! It has always been a woman’s body that I’ve studied and criticized more closely, and it’s all because I’m comparing her body to mine. I won’t say that women are more critical and self-conscious than are men, but to speak for myself.. I am more self-conscious and critical than are a lot of other people. I’ve berated my own self-esteem, starved myself, tried insane diets, caused myself to vomit and delayed my own self-satisfaction (like most teenage girls, probably).

Since forever, I found the women in magazines and commercials and runways attractive (duh). I still do, but to a different extent. I no longer want to look like them, I no longer envy them; I see them more as sickly than sexy. As less womanly and more childlike.

I don’t mean to offend anyone personally in the process of talking about what I consider beautiful but I realize that the possibility exists of my doing just that. I’m being purely superficial right now and these are the bodies I envy and strive for… and not necessarily the ONLY bodies I think are attractive, in general. If you’re skinny with a high metabolism, more power to you. As always, if I touch a nerve, give a holler.

I used to strive for this:

And now I strive for this:

I’m aware of the fact that I should just strive for personal happiness and general contentment and not be so idealistic or perfectionistic, but that’s not going to happen…  so I appreciate that at least my new view of beauty is more healthy.

When I dieted and tried to be thin, I was tired and unhappy.  Now, at least, the exercise gets my endorphins flowing and gives me a more natural sleep schedule and glowey skin and happy organs.

And I soooooo do enjoy the security of my own new found strength.  You can be catty and immature with me all you want but in the end I’d rather be able to literally kick your ass.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html

Try as you might, going to the gym will not make you thin. Why? Because when we work out, we eat m0re, and we never seem to work out enough to justify the amount we eat more afterwards.

Not to knock the benifits of exercising. Not at all. Just don’t think that you’ll be dropping 3 jean sizes because you go to the gym every day. Put down the doughnut and THEN go to the gym every day and we’ll see…

Spinning bright and early tomorrow morning, though!

The only thing I would love more than my Spinning classes… is KARAOKE SPINNING!  Too bad I’m not in Pittsburgh :(  Somehow, though, I feel like singing while riding a bike is a really bad idea; I have a hard enough time breathing normally as it is

There’s one part about Billy’s class I hate, hate, hate.  We have to pick a partner (I go with the closest person to me, basically), one person lays on their back and holds the ankles of the other person, standing above their head…  the person on the floor lifts their legs up, the person standing pushes them back down to the ground and the one on the floor can’t let them touch the ground and must then lift them again.  Those fellow bloggers who were Kit Kat Girl dancers in the musical, Cabaret, with me will remember these ab exercises as the ones Ms. Tracy Hall made us do at the beginning of every dance rehearsal. Lou and I used to do these together at our gym in Cumberland, RI. They’re a wonderful and painful and totally awesome abdominal exercise.

HOWEVER,

I hate them in this class at the gym because I will always, without fail, be partnered with the craziest bitch in the class. The one today was digging her nails in my ankles and kept putting her feet on the ground… missing all the resistance and thus the entire point of the exercise. She may as well have just lay on her back not moving at all and groping my legs.  When I was on the ground, whenever I would lift my legs, she would grab my feet and lift them, pulling my back up off the ground. She then proceeded to stand all over my hair which was firstly odd and dirty and annoying and secondly pretty painful when the exercise was over and I tried to sit up.

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Considering taking the day off from the gym tomorrow, because I’m definitely going to Spin again on Sunday morning but I think that many days in a row (if I went tomorrow) wouldn’t be the best. We’ll see, maybe I’ll go but just do something less intense

I would so recommend you try a spin class if you never have. Not everyone becomes a fanatic but I haven’t heard anyone who has totally hated it…  and it’s a LOT better workout than the elliptical or treadmill.  There are varying speeds and resistances, sitting and standing..  it’s great for burning calories plus building leg muscles; there’s the added pressure of keeping up with everyone else in the class and the instructor pushing you on, and awesome music to ride with (most of the time). You will begin to sweat within two minutes guaranteed.  My hair is drenched right now, it’s both gross and amazing.

The first few minutes after being away is pretty painful, and then it feels soooooo nice to be back.

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Naturally, do not flex or suck in or slouch or anything else while taking these measurements. For them to be as accurate as possible you should be in the normal standing position (yup, let that gut go!), or for your legs, sit in a chair and rest your leg up higher on a table. If you’re embarrassed about the measurements, don’t share them…  but take them honestly or they’ll be no help to you.

1. Bust: Don’t squish yourself — measure all the way around your bust and back right at your nipple line, and make sure the tape measure is not lower.

2. Chest: Measure under your breasts but as high up as you can go, keeping the tape measure parallel to this line when you reach it around your back.

3. Waist: Measure wherever it is the smallest (if you have “no waist” go around yourself right at the navel line).

4. Hips: Measure at the very biggest part — even if that is so low that you are almost on the top of your thighs. (go over the middle of your butt)

5. Midway: Measure midway between the very biggest part of your hips and your waist.

6. Thighs: Measure wherever they are the biggest.

7. Knees: Measure right above the knee.

8. Calves: Measure wherever they are the biggest.

9. Upper arm: Measure wherever they are biggest above your elbows.

10. Forearms: Measure wherever they are biggest below your elbows.

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Also, let these sit for a while and come back to them in a few weeks or another month, inches take some time to come off..   don’t frustrate yourself.

Mine:

Bust – 34.5″

Chest – 29″

Waist -29.5″

Hips – 37″

Midway – 34″

Thighs – 23″

Knees – 15.75″

Calves – 14.5″

Upper arm – 11″

Forearm -  9.25″

But I’m back now, and I’m going to step it up because I don’t want to sacrifice my body (or my sanity) like that again.  I wish that now (bikini season), I was in the shape I was in this past winter, but c’est la vie.

I’m excited to get started again.  My gym doesn’t have Budokon class anymore :(  but tomorrow morning I’ll get my blood pumping nice and early in Spinning class.