There are a lot of things happening right now in life and I would say I feel like I am transitioning into a new me. Perhaps this is part of my mid-life crisis? If so, it certainly does not feel like a crisis!
A New Journey: Yoga Teacher Training
I have entered a new journey for myself: yoga teacher training. I had not previously seriously considered this, but my current studio teacher encouraged me to give it a try and I am glad that I have. Yoga has been one of the only real physical exercises that I truly enjoy and want to excel at. Although I am not certain whether or not I will be a yoga teacher, I know this program is going to take my practice to the next level — and my physical and mental strength.
You Control Your Body. Your Body Does Not Control You
I am not who I used to be, in any way at all. During 2020 and 2021 I managed to gain over 20 lbs, imbibing and enjoying all of the things while we were all trying to figure out and get through COVID. This is not a unique story. Almost everyone I know gained weight during COVID and many of those people have already lost that weight. Now it’s my turn, which brings me to this blog post.
I have been spending my mornings in reflection and came to the conclusion that I wanted to fast. I have tried so many diets and what used to work for me, doesn’t necessarily work now. I seem to have a lot less discipline and drive than I used to as I move more comfortably through life and I’ve really struggled to stay consistent. I am hoping this process helps me stay committed to fasting and disciplined enough to complete it.
Jumping into something like this is aggressive for someone that lacks discipline and has never done something like this for any period of time. I naturally intermittently fast on a daily basis — I generally skip breakfast and won’t really crave a meal until the early afternoon. In fact, I am hungry as I am writing this post, around 2:00 pm. My first meal is usually something with a healthy amount of calories and on the weekends, it is usually a full-on brunch with plenty of mimosas and something like steak frites or a nice, juicy burger and a beer or two. If I have a lot of food, sometimes I will skip dinner. That isn’t often, though. Dinner could be a steak or something lighter than brunch, but not necessarily healthy. I’m not a salad person, or a person that eats loads of grains or carbs, either. Having said all that, although I don’t eat three meals per day, I still have not managed to sustain weight loss (not in a calorie deficit). I am also not the most active person; I rarely reach 6000 steps per day due to my desk job and overall laziness. But I want to change all this.
Part of becoming a yoga teacher involves practice outside of training at least three days per week. Since my weight gain, things aren’t as bendy as they used to be, and honestly, fat gets in the way of the postures being done correctly. I find myself needing to use props a lot more, having the urge to move my belly out the way, and just feeling overall unable to perform to the best of my abilities. I know losing the excess weight is going to help me immensely in my new journey.
The Great Fast
I am calling it ‘The Great Fast’ because my aim is to do this for 30 days. During this fast, I am relegating myself only to liquids, not including alcohol. As much as I enjoy it, it is empty calories.
The fast can be broken at 6pm sunset, whichever comes first.
I plan to practice mindfulness to help deal with the rigors of the fast. In fact, I am considering this post a part of that. I will practice this mindfulness mentally, physically, and spiritually by meditating, encouraging myself, not setting myself up for failure, and eating mindfully. I will also need to find ways to take my mind off of food. Since I never really get hungry until around noon, there are six hours where I’ll need to have the mental fortitude to refrain from eating until 6pm. I’d like to
- Exercise for an hour
- Remember WHY I am doing this fast
- Meditate daily
- Journal my progress
- Remember my hobbies or find other activities to do so I am not thinking about my stomach or watering mouth
- Practice yoga
- Remove temptation until it is no longer tempting. I already told my partner not to offer me food before 6 pm and there may be times where I need to remove myself from situations where I might fail. I’ll also just need to say ‘no’ a lot.
The Great Fast is a reset; a way to cleanse myself mind, body, and spirit. It requires discipline, sacrifice, and restraint. At the end, I feel I will always be changed when i do it.
The good news is, there are only three and a half hours left! 😊
