What has a month of doing Pilates and Yoga twice a week done?

It’s been a little over a month now since school began and I can honestly say that my excitement for school to END is not because of the work load, it’s because I’m so excited to see how my body turns out.

I was super smart and decided to take Pilates and Yoga back to back through my college, knowing that I would be forced to stick with the classes because if I dropped them,  I would lose my financial aide.

So every Monday and Wednesday from noon to two, as I practice feeling my pelvic floor and sun salutations, I think to myself how proud I am for choosing to take these classes.  I started taking yoga a few years ago but would only go at random times so didn’t feel the full benefits from regular practice.  Now that’s it been a month of regular routine, I feel stronger, leaner, and more grounded than ever before.  I notice that my waist, though still fluffified with fat, is getting these cool lines going down the sides of it, as if I have DEFINED ABS. Haha!  I also noticed that my back rolls of fat are basically gone, which I find to be a HUGE accomplishment considering it hasn’t even been that long of classes.  I’m sure doing my hula hoop has helped with that too!

One of the amazing Pilates moves I learned – Click on the photo for more from ultimatepilatesworkouts.com

Pilates has been making me discover muscles I  never knew I had before.  For example, in class last Wednesday we did these crazy leg moves where we were on our hands and knees and along with the standard up and down leg lifts, we also had to move our legs from side to side.  When we were done with those, we laid upon our mats on the cold and polished floor, eager to rest.  BUT NO!  Instead, our teacher had us bend our knees up and practice lifting our pelvis and thighs off the ground, while still keeping our knees and stomachs on our mats.  Pilates introduces many moves that seem so hard the first time that I try them, but now that we’ve been repeating them, they keep getting easier and easier.

Like Pilates, I have progressed very nicely in my yoga class as well.  I have a goal set to be able to reach my “nose to my toes” and this previous class, for the first time in my adult life, I was able to reach my forehead to the tops of my toes.  I didn’t expect this type of achievement to come so soon so you can imagine how happy I felt after class when I gave it a shot.

Yoga has given me so much confidence in what my body can do.  I feel so proud of myself when I am able to do the harder poses my teacher labels as “level two and level three”.  I love yoga because it has yet to make me feel once that I was simply too fat to achieve the poses.  Plus, between doing the Pilates and yoga, my posture has improved and has made me take note of when I’m slouching more.  My Dad’s days of pulling my shoulders back to teach me to stand-up straight might be coming to an end!

April doing “Half Moon”

I am also very proud to report that since I began again on my weight-loss adventure on January 2nd, I have lost eight pounds.  This week alone provided me with a four pound loss because of the detox I have been doing.  As I write this, it’s the night of Day Four, and I have been going strong!  Every day is easier than the one before and while I still hear the faint voices of the caffeine Gods calling out to me, my determination to complete the week puts ear muffs over me and refuses to respond to their calls.

I look forward to reporting back in another month what TWO months of regular yoga and Pilates has done for my body.  This is probably the best positive change I have ever been able to make for my body and I have a solid belief that my practice of both won’t end when the semester does.

What kind of positive change have you made in your life that has had a great effect on your health?

Lots of love,