DAY 50!

Holy shit. 50. of 64. Whoa. 19 yoga classes to go. 9 Full days, with one Saturday...who knew!

This week I took on a few of my patterns - which Christian helps me be aware of (clearly he's been feeling much better! :) in a supportive way. Last week, I gave up:

• My lavender-scented washcloth (I was, during rough classes, wiping my face with it. Inappropriate!)
• My Orange Tower of Shame - no more icy lime goodness for me.
  
• Caffeine - largely in response to my, er, intestinal distress, I thought any dehydrating factor needed to go. I've never had an issue getting off caffeine, and this was (thankfully) no exception. No headaches, but I sure do like coffee, so I mostly just miss enjoying the taste. For now, decaf black tea with cream. That'll do.

And I added:

• The Stairs! I've taken the stairs down to yoga a lot, but not until this week did I consistently start taking them UP. I am on Floor 7. But, though I'm not 100% committing to it every time, I'd say I'm at 90% of the time, which is fine. Never hurts to burn a few more calories and get a little more leg strength. I think back to the early weeks of this training and I would've died if you had suggested I take stairs! Now, it's really no biggie.
  

Eating overall is going good. I am still at about the same weight, but inches are down a little more - of course, not all are inches I want to lose. Most of it is upper body - 2.5 around my shoulders/upper chest; 2.0 around my (every shrinking) boobs (Jill said, "Um, I didn't sign up for that honey." ;) and 2" off my mid-chest. I've long since forsaken my 36C bra (I've been wearing a little cotton white bra around), and expect I'll be squarely into a 34B upon arriving home. Still no sugar during the week, though I have caved for a few M&M's when people have had them in posture clinics or at evening lecture. I definitely eat some sugar on the weekend, especially since I'm working this hard and I like it! I did change up my eating routine this week to address the runs; and had to add the Pedialyte (which is 100 calories and has glucose - but took away my afternoon peanut butter 1/2 sandwich in exchange to balance the calories). Again, (and I'm reminding myself of this too), the goal isn't losing weight, it's staying healthy and strong here! And that I have succeeded in so far!!

Like the class itself, it seems we really are on Spine Twisting Pose. At the end, ready to be done and hurry up so we can move on. The challenge in Week 8 will be staying present! I can already see and feel it now - I'm antsy, wanting to hurry up, fearing that somehow I've held on and I'm going to have some breakdown, and still being semi-excited at that prospect (I am warped, indeed). Focus. Focus. Focus.

Next Friday is the Talent Show! I wrote a little piece to read - it's my list of suggestions to help improve training ;) I'm sure it will be well-received by Craig, to whom it is directed. I got some good laughs, and will of course post the prose here once I've done it for the group. Maybe I'll post a video! We'll see....

Pix: Scotland taking a risk; Ah, Sunday by the pool!; My little vitamin packs; and me & Niki!