Sam on Maui

Huzzah! As of this morning I weighed 212.2lbs. Why is that such a big deal? Because when I started everything and ordered DDP Yoga back in mid-December, I was 223lbs! Today I've crossed the 10lb mark! Also, that's 7lbs since I started doing the yoga on January 1st. So ~3lbs was lost by diet alone! I'm quite thrilled with this, obviously. I've been doing Fat Burner more often in the program, and its definitely challenging again. I can do Energy! with no modifications on a good day, and even do it with my glasses off. Its nice being able to focus on doing instead of "what am I supposed to be doing again?" I'll get there with Fat Burner soon enough. I'm happy! I'm enjoying it! I'm doing DDP Yoga five times a week after work, as its stress relieving. I generally feel pretty good after, and dinner tastes better when I'm done.

So, done with my Week 5! Today was *hard* - Diamond Dozen and Fat Burner - but it was *great* The slower pace of the Diamond Dozen gave me time to think about what I was doing, so I made some improvements on my level of engagement. I don't quite know how to explain them (maybe I should draw it later?), but it really helped with Touchdown, Diamond Cutter, and anything involving my arms. In between DD and FB, I adjusted my heart-rate monitor from Polar's recommended zone settings to DDP Yoga's  (123-143). Fat Burner was indeed tougher due to the adjustments, but again, it was better for it. I was able to stay in the zone for most of the workout, and actually had to go to Safety Zone at least twice because I exceeded the top end of my zone. My average heart-rate was 119! That's an all time high average for me! Once I get some more practice in with Fat Burner, I'm hoping I can get my average up to 123... that'd be perfect! I wonder if I can do that for ...

A little early this week, considering I haven’t done my Friday training. That said, it’s the end of the month, so I want to see how things have progressed. I began on January 1, 2014, today is January 31, so that’s a good time period, right? Weight: 219.2lbs to 214.8lbs (-4.4) Chest: 42” to 41.75” (-.25”) Waist: 43.5” to 40.5” (-3”) Hips: 46” to 45” (-1”) Thighs: 23” to 22” (-1”) So, 4.4 pounds lighter, and 5.25” thinner! Not bad, eh? I did forget to include my bicep during my initial measurement, so I’ve had to record it as 14.5” in both the beginning and 30-day spots. Hopefully we’ll see progress there, although I’m not sure what things could/should look like. I’m getting better at doing the routine in Energy. Since I’m not fumbling about trying to keep up, I can work on doing things better. Last night I started tightening up and engaging muscles I hadn’t before, plus consciously not letting go on things as early as before. For some reason I’m having a little harder time ...

Closing in on the end of my first month, and I'm looking forward my updated measurements. This week was actually quite good! I did DDP Yoga Energy Monday through Thursday instead of just Monday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I got busy Friday, so I didn't do Fat Burner on schedule. Wasn't happy about that! So, I did it late this afternoon, and plan to do it tomorrow as well. What's interesting is I'm looking forward to do DDP Yoga, even on the days I'm unscheduled! When I come home from work, I often excuse myself, head to the garage, and spend the next twenty minutes or so doing yoga. I'm also finding I'm enjoying my cleaner eating. I felt like I overate Saturday night at my friend's house, even though I kept myself relatively restrained. Not too much spaghetti, but too much garlic bread. Starting next week (haven't been to the store yet) I'll be bring a large salad with me on my Saturday tabletop game nights. Also, I ate at ...

I'm on week 3! Yay! I'm at the point in Energy where I can do a good portion of it without a lot of modification. Some stuff is still difficult, but overall I'm getting the hang of it. Since I'm familiar with it, I can focus more on doing things than how I'm doing things. Of course, the third session of week 3 changes everything, and Fat Burner brought a good challenge to it. I'll need to learn the routine, get comfortable, and then it should be pretty awesome :) Eating is going well. I'm not yet 100% compliant with Phase 1 eating, but that said? I'm eating more vegetables and cleaner than I have in a long time. Possible ever as an adult. So, from the 223lbs I was around December 20th when I ordered the DVDs and started working on Phase 1's menu, to January 1st's 219lbs? I'm now 215lbs. So, total of 8lbs lost over the course of 5 weeks, and only 3 weeks of which actually had me doing DDP Yoga and dietary changes at the same t...

Aaaand Week 2 check-in! I managed to practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday! I'm 95% sure my allergies are being seriously set off by something, so while I wasn't feeling fantastic before, after this morning's session I was pretty beat. Monday and Wednesday were fine, and I actually started doing about 50% of Energy without as much modification on Wednesday. I was surprised by how much of a difference that made in my heart-rate! Wow! Hopefully the air will clear up or something so I can be back to 100% on Monday. Eating has been pretty good. Right now I'm having a late breakfast (two eggs, seasoned black beans, and about half a cucumber). Need to find healthy beverages I like, though! Ah well, one step at a time :) (originally posted on 1/11/14)

DVDs? Check. Heart-rate monitor? Check. A place to train? Check. And thanks to some folks at www.TeamDDPYoga.com, I've entered a "3-times a week" Challenge, as it seems perfect for a beginner like me :) So far so good, although I did Energy Wednesday, Thursday, and this morning (Saturday). The rest days seem well placed, but I sort of crammed them in to make the challenge. Well, that and I wanted to do it today! Little bit of trouble with the heart-rate monitor. Its a Polar FT1, and doesn't always get my heart rate. I don't know if its a bad unit, a poor quality unit, or if I'm doing something wrong (very likely). Starting Monday I'll start a food diary (yay smartphones), but I've already cleaned up my eating quite a bit since seriously looking into DDP Yoga. So, I've regularly had salads for lunch, my breakfasts have been pretty good (albeit nothing special), ...