Running and me

It all started sometime in September when my company offered to pay to participate in the Austin 3M Half Marathon and relay. Its not like I was against exercise, but running.. that was a totally different story. I found multiple excuses not to run, but not a single one supporting it. My friend at work encouraged me to just try it out and gave me a training schedule too. Of course the fact that it was free for me just tipped the edge my way:)

I started training and found it really tough the first week, but thankfully I stayed on. I went on to run the relay at the Half Marathon in Jan. IT was a very cold day and I did not do too well. but totally loved it. I followed this up with another 10K run last week and enjoyed it even more. I guess I want to continue doing this.. let's see how this goes.

So if you r thinking about running, I am positive you can do it.. just think about me:) If I can do it.. anyone can.

Believe me..

.. when I say that my feet have grown by at least half an inch.

I thought it was a myth when they say that your feet grow during pregnancy ( yeah like every other part of the body growth was not enough for us!!!)... but its sadly true.

I discovered this sometime back but refused to acknowledge it and was able to use some shoes that did not show too much difference between x and x.5.

Today as I was trying to squeeze myself into a pair of pretty shoes that I bought in the yesteryears, I just could not even get my feet into them!!!!. I did not want to admit defeat, so I did wear them and to say I am sorry about that would be an understatement!. I am sitting at work, with the shoes off and every time I want to take a restroom break or coffee break, i keep postponing it. A lesson well learnt for my stubborn self!

So pregnant ladies out there - get a size larger than what you wear currently.. better yet, wait and buy them later.

Do I feel great or what!

My colleague looked at me today and said : " Wow, you have lost so much weight.. what happened? Eat well"

Can you tell I am on 7th, 8th and all the heavens above?!

The little truth that I dint tell him was that my shirt was probably covering all the flaws , but who cares:)!

So you see, when I get down from this elated level, I shall come back to earth and blog some more!

Are you hot ?

So what was your first thought when you read the label on the post? Be honest!

Well, have you recently felt hot, sweaty and totally good about yourself? WAIT, before you jump to conclusions and put my link on your Block list, hear me out:) I am actually talking about " Bikram Yoga" which is also known as " hot Yoga". The room is heated to 105 degrees, around 40% humidity and there are 26 Yoga postures, each repeated twice. What is really to like, you may ask?:) I asked myself the very same question the first time I tried it.

I signed up for the Yoga thinking to myself : " Well, I am from a place in India where I grew up with high heat, so the heat will not bother me at all". How wrong I was !

I went into the room and felt like a desert wave had swept me. The heat, humidity, the people, the stink of sweat - I thought I was crazy to be here. I still decided to go through one class and then quit! As the class progressed, I got more excited to try out the postures and during the balancing poses, I dint care who I was hitting- sometimes the one in front, other times the ones to my side. Everyone quietly moved their mats a little away from me at some point.. " Watch out for that crazy girl who cannot balance, but can definitely trip yours" !

But I did manage to go through the entire class and I did attempt every posture too. When I came out of the class, I was very happy. I cannot explain why but I felt such a surge of happiness!. I did end up going back of course for another 10 classes and felt great after every class. A few classes later, you begin to ignore the heat & sweat, since all your concentration would be on which person to hit with precise aim:) .. ....just kidding, your focus will be on getting the postures right and that requires a lot of concentration.

This was about 4 months back. I stopped going because I lost help with my little one in the evenings and my husband was travelling like crazy. I am back into it now and have gone for 2 classes. My whole body is sore from the first couple of classes, but that will not stop me from going again. Its a great 90 minute workout, but you really need to work hard to get your results from it.

I have been trying to convince my husband to go, but he stands upside down once a week for 5 minutes and claims he has done his share of Yoga!!. ... now if only I could convince him to stand right in front of my in class during the balancing pose.........!

Shopping

My husband is always amazed at the way I shop. Dont be mistaken, he neither encourages nor is appreciative of my methods:) he is plain amazed and sometimes amused too.

I hate making lists, but I do make one on most of my grocery shopping. Now, how difficult can shopping be with a list right? Make a list and stick to it! I wish... I go to the shop and while I am trying to pick things from my list, my eye is constantly scanning other corners for stuff that I may or may not need. I end up contemplating for a long time about buying something that did not make it on the list, or worse, something that I dont even need right now! Of course I do end up buying it as well. Its afterall food, why would it go unconsumed:)

I pretty much do the same with my mall shopping, making it all the more nailbiting for my husband, since I dont bother to make a list... who makes a list for the mall? I first walk around , taking a glimpse of everything around the section i am interested in.. then I begin my process of elimination. Finally by the time I get to what I like, I have pretty much sapped my energy and time. Now I am in a state of panic and frenzy, since I dont have time and I have not made my selection too... so I decide to take the best out of the choices I have ( YEs I have choices right till the time I pay the bill:)) and head to the counter. God forbid I see something on the way I missed earlier... I would not even venture to tell you how my mind would behave then.

When i reach home after all the hard work and show my husband what I bought, he goes : " Wow that's nice, so when are you returning it?" Guess what he actually means that question quite seriously:) and I dont blame him for that. Infact he thinks that my reason for buying is that I could back again to the shop! According to him, my shopping process goes through these 3 steps:
1. Scoping
2. Buying
3. Returning

He used to tell me he was happy as long as I got to the third step.. but of late , he has been wanting me to go through all steps in a single visit, given the gas prices! Yes, he does like to dream the unthinkable:)!

PS: I strictly believe that only unused goods should be returned!.. so no silly ideas from my post please:)