I’ve made it through the first week of my 30 day Bikram Yoga Challenge! Yes, 30 days of consecutive yoga: 7 down, 23 to go!
When the week started it was rough. I wasn’t used to the 105 degree heat + 90 minutes of yoga and I finished the class feeling a little defeated. Throughout this first week I’ve had some great classes and some less than great classes but overall I’m really enjoying the experience. It’s interesting to see how different my body feels class to class. One class I’ll feel great, like I’m becoming more flexible and improving my poses and then the next class I feel like I’ve taken two steps back and can’t touch my toes. There are a lot of variables that go into how you will feel in a Bikram class. Here are a few:
- Time of day
- How crowded the class is
- Who the teacher is
- How often they open the doors to let air in
- How much water I drank that day
- What I ate that day
- How tired I am
Since all those variables can change day to day, so can the way I feel in class. I’m looking forward to week 2 and seeing how I progress in my practice.
Another thing I’ve been trying for the past week is the Paleo Diet. That means I’ve had zero dairy, artificial sweeteners (splenda, I miss you dearly!), wheat, beans, potatoes, peanuts, processed foods. I feel pretty good after a week on this diet. I’ve been eating much cleaner than normal; focusing on fruits and veggies for snacks, lots of egg white + veggie scrambles and homemade dinners made from things like free-range organic chicken.
Later this week I’ll fill you in on some of the delicious recipes from week 1. Here’s a pic of one such meal to tide you over- pulled chicken lettuce wraps, SO good.
