earlybirds

Thanks for the reply ladies 🙂

Gabrielle,
I will try to answer your questions without writing a novel. Here goes:

I am mainly a vegetarian. I will very rarely have a few bites of chicken, but I do mean RARELY. I have tried the high raw diet a few different times due to some gut issues I have. My natureopath felt like high raw would be best for me due to the enzymes etc. While I did notice improvement in my health, I always felt like I was STARVING! I can not handle a lot of fat, but on the other hand I can not handle a lot of fruit either. I have Celiac, so no gluten and I also don’t do dairy. I have just recently started adding some gluten free grains back to my diet but try to not overdo that as it tends to mess up my gut. At the moment, I am eating a lot of cooked veggies, some GF grains, some soy products(yogurt and cheese), a little fruit and I do have dairy free ice cream some. Oh, and I LOVE chocolate but eat very little and always eat dark.

I usually eat three meals and a couple of snacks a day. Breakfast usually around 8, lunch around 12, afternoon snack, dinner around 5, and then a light snack around 8pm. Of course this all depends on when I practice. I have been practicing mid-morning (9:45 class). If I go to the 9:45 class, I eat a light breakfast around 7 or 7:30. If I don’t I feel sick during class. Then I will eat some sort of veggie stir-fry over raw spinach for lunch. BUT, this week, I have had to go to the 6pm classes. I eat a snack around 3:30. I don’t like the later classes because that means by the time I get home and can eat it is around 8pm. One night after class I had a green smoothie, but I woke up STARVING and TIRED the next day. The next night after class, I had an almond butter and all fruit preserve sandwich(gluten free flax bread). I felt better eating that but don’t like to eat that heavy at 8 pm. I would like to be able to eat less–fewer times a day, but can’t seem to get my body to cooperate. If I don’t eat enough, I end up binging!

I do feel bigger in my clothes! I have pants that I wore last summer that are tight on me now. When I was in the midst of my eating disorder, I lost pretty much ALL my muscle. At one point, I could not even walk for ten minutes! So, I have really come a LONG way over the last few years. I know I am gaining some muscle back and that is a good thing, but I thought muscle took up less space than fat. Am I just putting muscle on top of fat?

It might also be important to note that I am 40 yrs. old and I do have some hormonal issues going on. 🙂 I just want to feel healthy, which is something I have not felt most of my life due to undiagnosed Celiac. I want to feel toned, lean and strong and maybe even get rid of some cellulite!

Okay, that was pretty long and it’s time to go practice 🙂
Thanks so much for any help you can offer me!! I love this forum!!
Kimberly

Today will be Day 6 of Hot Yoga for me:) I am not doing any other form of exercise, other than my job of cleaning other people’s homes part time. I LOVE the new studio I found and can’t wait to go to class this evening. I went ahead and paid for a month of unlimited classes–yipee!

I am still feeling pretty hungry and am wondering if and when my appetite will reglulate?! I don’t feel like I’m stuffing myself, but I am definatley eating more. I have read that you will naturally want to eat less. Why isn’t this happening for me? Just curious–not freaked out about it 🙂

The other day I went to class and for the first time in YEARS was able to face myself in the mirror and think ‘I AM NORMAL’!! I have struggled with body image and eating disorder for a LONG time and am learning through yoga to appreciate my body! I was in a room full of college kids and was able to feel good about what my 40 yr. old body could do 🙂 That is a good feeling!

Thanks ladies for your input 🙂

I do love to walk when I’m not cleaning or doing yoga, but I enjoy it more if I don’t focus on it so much as ‘exercise’. The last time I went for a walk, I was trying to walk a certain distance in a certain amount of time and while it was nice to be outside, I really was asking myself why I was doing that! I just LOVE yoga and particullarly hot yoga! The hot yoga makes me feel SO good where as regular yoga would sometimes leave me feeling stiff and drained. My joints were hurting a lot when doing regular yoga too and they are now beginning to feel better–woohoo!

As for the hunger thing, I think I am not eating enough. I got on an online fitness website last night to figure out what I would eat today. I plugged in the foods that I would pretty much consider ‘normal’ for me and had a VERY hard time even getting to 1,000 calories. I kept adding food and I think I finally got it to around 1,300. I know looking at numbers is discouraged on this forum, but I wanted to see how much I’m really eating vs. what I think I’m eating. I have digestive issues (celiac and other allergies) and eat very little grains which makes it hard to get enough calories I think. No wonder I sometimes feel like I want to eat the whole house 🙂

Blessings,
Kimberly