New love, new life.

I have a new love in my life.
It's name is Bikram yoga. This is yoga in a 'hot room'.

Tomorrow I will start my 30-day bikram challenge. 30-classes (AKA 45 hours) of bikram yoga in 30 days.
Before I start I thought it would make sense to explain a bit how I came to love Bikram.

I have worked out quite a lot until about I was approximately 15 years old (dancing/ running). When I hit puberty I started to give preference to alcohol, junk food and nicotine and unfortunately gave up on all exercise. This is also when I started to gain weight. Fail.....
At 23 years old I got engaged. A wedding is the perfect way to get back in shape and with weightwatchers and exercise I lost 20 kilo's to fit into a pretty dress! My husband loves food just as much as me and so I gained 25 kilo's again over the next 3years...

Moving to Australia when I was 27 has changed me. After about 4 months of settling in my new country I decided 'enough was enough', as I felt awful most days and was unhappy with myself. After all it's kind of hard to hide all the fatty bits when it's this good weather almost all year round.
I put myself on a successful diet and pushed myself to to gym almost every day of each week. After losing about 10 kilo's I wanted to; 1.Loose more weight (15kg) and 2.Tone up. With these 2 reasons in mind I tried a Bikram Yoga class and got hooked immediately. I easily lost the additional 15 kilo's and slowly but surely I felt improvement in my whole wellbeing. I have now quit the gym and on my way to become a yogi superstar.
Obviously there are also times as well that I hate being in that hot room, asking myself why I had to put myself through this 1,5 hour of torture that day. But afterwards I always feel great and I am always still excited for my new found love!

Goals that I have set for myself till April 30:
* -/- 7 kilo's before April 30.
* Push myself to the next level (and row) in classes
* Become 'Front row yogi good' by April 30
* Stick to my diet
* Feel awesome

Ready....... set..............

Today is the day.

Today is the day, I am excited!

I am excited because I am starting my 32-day journey towards ‘heath’!

Lately I feel tired, unhealthy and I have just gained 8 kilo’s after I just lost 25. It’s time!

The main drive in this journey is a 30-day Bikram yoga challenge which is scheduled for April by my Bikram Yoga College of India in Sydney. The goal of this challenge is simple; complete 30 classes in 30 days. Luckily I am not too nervous because I have successfully completed this challenge last year. I love how Bikram yoga makes me feel. Even more so, this time I want to up the stakes. I will withhold myself during this month from alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, meat, take-away, home delivery... well kind of all those things that sadly enough bring great joy to my life ;-). Noted differently I can’t have anything that is not extremely beneficial and of great nutritional value for my body. And yes, my friends, this does make me a little nervous. The challenge starts Thursday, April 1.

Today is Tuesday and I have started today with a 21 hour gall bladder flush. Cleansing the liver of gallstones dramatically improves digestion, which is the basis of your whole health. This flush will make all evil stored in my body disappear and will make me detoxified and energised to kick-off my bikram challenge. The downside is that this also makes me hungry and freezing cold but I am strong and I can do this (I chant to myself like a real yogi). Experts recommend doing this flush regularly. When you are a healthy eater then once every 4 years will be fine but if you find enjoyment in deep-fried food, if MacDonalds put’s a twinkle in your eyes and you can sing along with the pizzahut tune (and therefore can remember the telephone number for home delivery) then twice a year is recommended. I remember feeling awesome after doing this flush the last time.

On a final note I would like to apologise prior to even actually starting. - I’d like to apologise to my husband as I might be grumpy and emotional at times throughout this journey. Also an apology to anyone who reads my blog as I might start off many days writing the sentence’ I am hungry’ and a last but definitely not least apology to my friend as I will need to avoid and therefore decline all social get-togethers during this month. But I will feel amazing by April 30!