Happy Spring and Cellulite!

This is the first year in a long time that I am loving the springtime. Usually I would start to get anxious and nervous about the next cycle...summer and the shedding of clothing followed by the dreaded quest for a bathing suit. This year, I am looking forward to pulling out the shorts from long ago (hope the waists aren't too high...LOL) and later on in the season, shopping for a new bikini. Oh, it's happening this year so moms of Cape May, watch out! :-)

My biggest issue with the warmer weather hasn't been as much about my weight as it's been about the cursed cellulite. You can't hide that in the summer. There is not a bathing suit in the world that can cover the wonderful dimpled, cottage-cheesy (ewww) skin that has made its home on the back of my legs. I have been fighting the cellulite battle since the first dimple (probabaly around 18). I had done a pretty good job up until the birth of my sons. Not their fault, of course. I haven't researched cellulite enough to know how much of it is really genetic and how much of it is lifestyle, but I have researched the topic enough to know that I can improve it some, but most likely I'll always have it - along with 90% of other women. So, I've made the decision to accept it for what it is and move on. I have spent too much time and money trying to fix something that is so unimportant in the grand sceme of life. I've decided to just stop looking at it. Literally. I'm not sure how I'll be able to do that once I start shopping for my bikini, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I owe this new way of thinking to yoga. Most importantly, I've learned that yoga transforms you from the inside out. As I've been working on myself internally, my physical self is falling into place natually. This is good stuff. I used to work out at the gym or run on the treadmill with a picture in my head of six pack abs, tight legs and buff arms. Now, I practice yoga with the vision of a healthy marriage, happy children and an uplifting enviroment for my family and the results from my new way of thinking are a happy place to be. Oh and guess what else is happening as a result of my new mindful way of thinking? Six pack abs, tight legs and buff arms.

So next week starting the 29th. I'm embarking on a 40 Day to Personal Revolution journey at my second favorite place to be, Princeton Center for Yoga and Health. (1st is home, of course).

Here is a blurb from the website: SHOW UP AND STEP UP INTO YOUR OWN POWER! COMMIT TO YOURSELF! Explore Your Edge and Radically Change Your Body Discover Your True Self and Allow Your Authentic Personality to Shine Awaken the Sacred Within and Transform Your Life Developed by Baron Baptiste, founder of the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute, this six week transformative journey incorporates daily yoga and meditation practice, journaling and an approach to conscious eating.

I have heard from other people that this is life transforming! Can't wait to start the revolution and continue the evolution of me!

First Post

Many thanks to Jenny for talking about her blog so much, she made me interested in starting one of my own!

My first thought in creating a blog was: what am I willing to share with total strangers and even more daunting, what was I willing to share with people I know? But, as I get older, I am less concerned with what others think of me and more hopeful that what I share can help others or at least open their eyes to something different. Maybe something wonderful. So, for that, I am throwing the censors out and letting the truth in.

I wanted to do write something about weight and getting into shape...blah, blah, blah, but after my husband threw the scale out of the window, I changed my thought process. Granted, getting into shape, weighing less is always something I've strived for in my life, but I'm slowly releasing that burden. Without that "monkey on my back" I'm actually feeling much more healthy and lighter on my feet than I've been in a long time. By any means, I don't think it's okay to be unhealthy and overweight, but once I stopped obsessing over it and once my mind was in a better place, the choices I made became easier and the weight-loss part followed. I still have a ways to go, but my goal has changed from wanting to be a certain size/weight by summer to wanting to feel good about myself (regardless of a number on a scale or the size of my pants) every season of the year, not just when the weather's warm and there's no hiding in bulky sweaters. It's a process. It's a journey. It's pretty much never ending, but it's also fail-proof. Eliminating the pressure of trying to look an unrealistic way in an unrealistic amount of time was too much pressure and if I wasn't "there" by June, I was a failure. That's not the route I'm interested in taking anymore....the road less traveled is for me. I would love one day that "the road less traveled" would be jammed packed with tons of traffic because everyone would decide this is a much better way to travel.

I have found this epiphany through yoga.


to be continued...