And the answer is, “The one weight loss activity that will actually work for you.”

Insert Da-da – da-da………

What is yoga?

Correct for $2000.

Who knew? After years of trying just about everything, I finally started some private yoga lessons. I just had my fifth lesson, and already I am feeling a huge difference in attitude, appetite, and flexibility. I’ve looked for years, and with the vision and balance issues, I was beginning to despair. I was tired of counting calories and hating the way I looked. It was so much negative energy all the time. Years ago I bought “Yoga for Dummies.” Lots about philosophy, but nothing about the actual practice or poses. In January I finally said, this has got to be the year that I either succeed, or give it up entirely. I am tired of wasting so much energy on this.

I started with basic breathing with my first lesson, and for three weeks I worked up to 20 minutes of meditation and breathing. How wonderfully calming. I wasn’t able to continue with the first teacher because of cost. My friend recommended another woman, my age, who looked 20 years younger. We traded art work for lessons. She has me doing things I never thought I would be able to do after only four hours.

And I’m not sore. Not like using weights and attempting bad aerobics. I can feel the stretches, but it is a very good feeling. I did make a visit to the chiropractor, as my knee was bothering me. Turns out two lessons, and my gait was corrected – walking with one foot turned out since ankle surgery. Well, once the gait was corrected, the knee evidently said, What about me? So we fixed the knee alignment and the problem that caused with the rib cage alignment.

Now I’m working on opening the chest, opening the hips – no more sitting in a chair to meditate. I’m actually getting down on the floor – and back up again, although not nearly as gracefully as I would like. But the fact remains I haven’t been able to do that in about a decade. Now I find myself doing stretches at odd moments during the day, stopping when I’m walking to do a series of movements.

Best of all, a friend commented that she can see a huge difference in how I hold myself after just these three weeks. And she said I look younger, too.

How can you argue with that? Plus……I’m not munching and eating all the time. Part of that is stress over our living situation (yes, we’re moving again…..), but it’s nice to not be eating all the time and then hating myself for it. I can’t remember a time in the last 40 years when I wasn’t obsessing over food and calories. And I gotta tell ya, I don’t miss that part at all. I also have two blouses that no longer gap when I button them…..can’t wait for the pants to start showing it!

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