Weight Loss

Sometime in 2003, I inexplicably started to put on weight.  In the beginning, I dismissed this to be due to a lifestyle change of being more layed-back, no stressful long work hours, quitting smoking, and nearing 30 years old.  Hence thinking it’s normal.  But when I tipped 140 pounds in mid-2005 (for a 5’1 short girl who didn’t eat much), I started to get alarmed.  Only then did I discover that I suffered from hyphothyroidism*.  My thyroid condition is now managed by thyroid hormone replacement therapy and my endocrinologist and I started on this therapy in 2006. 

Despite of this, I could not lose the excess weight that was brought about by my slow metabolism.  Only a few pounds were lost 6 months into the therapy.  For someone who is used to being 110 pounds in her younger years, this was a cause of anxiety.  I tried the gym and other sports along with dieting but the weight would not come off mainly because I could not stick to the “gym discipline.”  For about a year and a half, I would try different things but never really found a good match.  On the side, right about at this time frame, I had a dream wherein I saw myself really old with long white hair but very healthy and had a very toned lean body.  The vision made me seriously think how does one achieve that kind of healthy body: lean and not bulky muscular but had strength.

Around September 2006, I was reading Tessa Prieto-Valdez’s Inquirer column and found out about Bikram Yoga Manila opening in Quezon City .  I’ve never been exposed to yoga, much more Bikram yoga before going for my trial sessions.  But something inside locked – that perhaps this has a connection to the dream that I had.

The trial session showed the connection that was just initially a loose concept in my head.  Even if I looked like a fool with all my weaknesses exposed, I signed up for an unlimited monthly package.  Two weeks into the program, I dropped 5 pounds with just the Bikram yoga and no dieting.  On my first month, dropped another five.  And then I signed up for one year unlimited where during the first month dropped another 5 pounds.  My family, friends, and office mates took notice.  What was highlighted to them from what they saw manifesting in me was that I don’t look like I aged with the weight loss.  You know how some people lose weight and they look like they got older (skin lost juice, or they look like they have major problems)?  According to these folks who noticed, I didn’t look older.  In fact, to them I seem to have looked younger.

I like the honesty of the Bikram yoga practice.  You can not power-through to get the pose.  You will learn to pace yourself and see the race to be much longer than just one pose - one set - one session.   You will develop listening to different thoughts and shifting them, locking and unlocking them in your head.  And most important of all, you will learn when to hold on tight and when to let go…  All these applicable in the physical/practical to the non-physical -- whether Bikram related or non-Bikram related.

At 120 pounds and seven months into my Bikram yoga practice, I still have ten more pounds and a couple of more inches to go.  My Bikram yoga practice still presents annoying challenges like the occasional pimple break-out and heat rash break-out but just like in everything else in life, you figure out how to manage and control these things.  I’m sure more interesting experiences will come out of the continued practice.  And I look forward to eventually holding perfect postures even in my senior citizen years, just like Emmy Cleaves.

Cristina De Guzman
Started Bikram practice at age 31
May 2007

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I started yoga last July 2007 with nothing in mind but to check it out and try if I could finish just one class. It turned out that trial lesson - 3 classes consumed within a week- would leave me asking for more. On my fourth day, I enrolled in the one month unlimited program. Even then, halfway through the program, people started noticing that I lost weight and I would smile and tell them "I am practicing Bikram Yoga!".  I felt that I have improved my metabolism and I do not experience constipation anymore. I never felt so good about myself, much more with friends and acquaintances complimenting me that I looked younger and slimmer. So far, I've lost around 10 pounds and I have 5 more pounds to go to reach my ideal weight! 

MIchelle Cu- Martinez
October 4, 2007

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