Balancing Act

Horrible news: I’ve gained three pounds! At first, I contributed this to PMS, naturally. But I am now three days post-period and no drastic water loss has swept away the extra poundage. When I first began my Starbucks tutelage, I swore to myself that I’d drink small beverages, not huge ones. It’s really the only way to happily consume free beverages. But then I discovered the beauty of white mocha, especially on ice. It tastes good mixed with nearly any syrup, and I can handle large amounts of shots with the sweetness of the white mocha. So I get completely revved up in one drink, rather than sopping up tons of fatty whole milk. My actual point to this ranting is that despite the fact that I am already amped, I keep drinking them! They're just TOO good. I'm having a talk with myself right now about needing to stop (you've just read the intro).

Anyway, to help thwart the beast this week, I’ve determined to keep a log of how I feel after I eat, rather than just writing down what I eat. I’m pretty sure that I’m just eating to be eating at least once a day, but I will sleuth it out and report back. I know last night I ate that last cookie just because it looked good and not because I was hungry. There are sure to be more instances like this that I can pinpoint.

Good news: I recently purchased a fantastic DIY yoga book at Barnes and Noble. It’s called “OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice” by Cyndi Lee, and it has tabs for each day of the week with a workout variation that takes less than 10 minutes (or more if you want to repeat the cycles). I flipped through it at Barnes, laughing to myself at the stick figure drawings because they’re pretty rough. But I like the simplicity of the book itself, and the layout. For example, on each day’s page there’s a series of drawings depicting the movements, but on subsequent pages Lee explains each pose in detail, including breathing and what you should be doing with appendages. So when you have the poses down and don’t need explanation, you can just refer to the opening spread. I got up to write this morning at 4:30 a.m., and the little bit of yoga helped me wake up more gracefully and be able to coherently think of words at the computer.