Picture #310: "He knew he shouldn't..."

I was never actually a fan of bendy toys growing up, primarily for the reason that they generally can't stand on their own. The movement and pose-ability of action figures were always of great concern to me as a kid - I could never quite fathom why toy manufacturers chose to make figures which couldn't bend at the knees, raise their arms to the side, or even simply stand up or sit down. The G.I. Joe figures of the 80's were the ideal for my money - full joint articulation and they could (mostly) stand up. Of course, in reality, I never actually had that many action figures of any sort - my parents weren't big purchasers of toys; lots of socks and sweaters for holidays from my mom and from my dad... not much at all, actually.

All that said, Jack Skellington here is pretty cool for a bendy toy.

Today, I went back to Bikram Yoga for the first time in a long while. Actually, it was technically just "hot yoga" at Yoga to the People, since they're not officially licensed. Bikram Choudhury was never able to actually copyright his posture sequence, just the dialogue associated with it, but who needs specific dialogue? It just felt great to move through the practice again.

Afterwards, feeling looser and more relaxed than I have in ages, I went to catch a 1920's hot jazz band called The Hot Sardines at the rooftop bar of The Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. I generally hate the "scene" in the Meatpacking area now, mostly because of the shallow excess of it all, and partially because I can't afford any shallow excess. But there wasn't a cover and I'd caught the band playing on the subway platform before and knew how great they were, so I was happy to go stand at the bar and listen to them be awesome. I mean, they have a tap dancer as one of the musicians - what's not to like? Plus, the view from the Standard rooftop bar is nothing short of spectacular, and the bar itself, well... take a look.

167.2

So yesterday I bought a scale. Yes, yes, I realize weight isn't a measure of physical fitness, but for me, it's a good benchmark. Plus it was shiny. Now, right before bedtime (and again, yes, I realize this is when you're at your heaviest), I weighed 167.2 lbs. This is after a week of slowly beginning to get back into my exercise regimen with running 4-5 miles a day. This is, by far, the heaviest I have ever weighed in my entire life.

A bit disturbing for me to say the least. At 5'6", with a small to medium frame, I am clinically overweight. To look at me, this would be a ridiculous assertion to most; I carry this extra weight pretty evenly across my entire torso. But for the creative projects I'm interested in, this is a nightmare scenario. Aesthetically, this extra weight doesn't suit the roles I'm both pursuing and writing for myself. Aside from the simple visual aspect, I can't move or perform with the needed speed, power or grace for any of these roles either.

Just 4-5 years ago I was 140 lbs (138 lbs in the picture) and in some of the best shape of my life, and I let it slip away. Years of hard work wasted. And of course, now I'm older, it makes it that much harder for me to get back in shape.

At least it's not a mystery. I know how I got here - through injury and being distracted by the drama of romance and heartbreak. And of course, not controlling my eating and exercising regimen.  

There's some good news, though. While it'll be more difficult now to get back to where I was, it's not impossible. I know exactly the things I need to do (yoga, martial arts, running/cardio, weight training, count calories), and I've gotten myself to a point where I have the luxury of being able to do those things. 

It's just a matter of doing the things I need to do for myself. Unfortunately, that's always been the hardest thing in the world for me.

We'll see.

So I finished 30 yoga classes in 30 days and all I got was this lousy shirt!

Actually the t-shirt was rather nice. I generally hate the whole American Apparel style, but damn if they don't make a nice t-shirt.

So this past week I completed the "30 Classes in 30 Days" yoga challenge at my local Bikram Yoga, which I mentioned in an earlier post. I had meant to post more updates along the way, but it would have gotten rather repetitive to keep writing, "Went to class, got sweaty, girls pretty, eat food now."

And yeah, look, I'd be lying if I said attending a class of toned, sexy folk wasn't a major motivation for strapping on my yoga mat and heading out the door every day. Maybe I'm missing out on some of the "meditative" benefits by stealing glances at the hot, stretchy goodness all around me during class, but if it gets me in the room, I'll take it.

And I NEEDED it - I hate to be yet another in a long line of Bikram preachers, but really (for me anyway) the practice is pretty close to miraculous. It does so much to repair my joints (knees and hips in particular), improves my strength and flexibility, as well as my cardio-vascular fitness level. I've slimmed down and toned up, and even though I'm going to have to start layering on other workouts to get back to the physical level I was used to at the beginning of this decade, it's still a great kick start.

So here I am, 30 days later, and my body's feeling MUCH better, and I have a rather nice new t-shirt.

I still seem to be beginning my sentences with conjunctions, however.

30 Days of Bikram Yoga - Day 12

On the 12th Day of Yoga, my yogini gave to me... hyperventilation!

My body is falling apart. Due to an injury, I slipped off the exercise bandwagon for the better part of 2007, so my sudden rediscovered love of pick-up soccer and hiking had been wreaking havoc with my joints, muscles, bones, skin, nails, etc... So on December 9th I restarted my Bikram yoga practice in order to fix myself up.

Now for those of you who don't know, Bikram yoga is "hot" yoga, meaning that it takes place in a heated and humidified room, about 105 degrees and at least 40% humidity, I believe. It's a set series of 26, static postures designed to compress and stretch joints and muscle groups, forcing oxygenation and repair of the tissues. Or something like that, I don't really know, I'm pretty much just making all this up as I go, but what I DO know is that it works for me.

Further, most Bikram studios offer a "30 classes in 30 days" challenge, whereby if you complete 30 classes in a month, you win a t-shirt, a week of free classes, some passes and your name on an Internet plaque somewhere. I decided to embark on this challenge, mainly out of financial consideration; these classes are expensive and I need to get the most bang out of my buck, as well as the free extra week to offset the cost. But also because my knees were on the brink of exploding from the soccer.

So basically I'm doing yoga to support my futbol habit.

Being a room for an hour and a half with hot, sweaty, scantily clad people doesn't hurt either...

Anyway, nothing too exciting to report. Some days are easier than others, and the practice gets easier every day, with the possible exception of a super hardcore class I had on the 11th day that left me gasping for air on the floor of the lobby in a pool of my own sweat a full 5 minutes after class was over.

It's okay... breathe... focus on the half-naked people in Spandex... Ommmmm.