Changes

I had been working in Austin for about 9 months when I realized that I was putting on weight. That's when the diet and exercise regiment began (It was the 5th of May, 2002/3/?). My goal was to drop 45 lbs. That would bring me to the most I could weigh and still be healthy for my height. I started with yoga. That first day when I got done and stepped out, I knew I wanted to do this for as long as I could. Since it needed only a change of clothes and no special shoes, I found it convenient and that helped me stick with it. But it wasn't easy. The first day I tried yoga, it was hatha, gentle and loving, it was 'easy'. But after that first day, all the yoga I practiced was the more aerobic variety (called flow or hot or sport and it's more traditional cousin, Ashtanga). This was hard. My body wasn't used to handling my weight and there were days when I just wanted to stop and walk out. I don't know what kept me going but yoga changed the way I think. I'll explain in a bit.

6 months later I added Kickboxing then a year later Vale Tudo. I even ran a 1 or 1.5 miles once in a while. I don't think I had ever felt stronger. One of the best things I ever heard was from Sandeep. He said that he wanted to start fights just so that I would be able to step in.

The combination of kickboxing and yoga were great. I dropped weight even when I was building muscle and getting stronger. However, adding in Vale Tudo might have been, in many ways, a big mistake. I lost track of my goals at that point. It stopped being about losing weight and became about the color (or stripe) of the belt I was wearing. I tried to tell myself that I was still building muscle but if that had been the case I should have noticed size or measurement changes, both of which had also stopped happening. I wasn't eating well anymore because I had convinced myself that I would burn it off. I did burn what I ate off but not what I was carrying, my weight plateaued 10 lbs short of my goal.

Then during VT one night, I got chopped wrong (ironically by a guy at my level or maybe just a level below me). I thought it was a sprain at first but the MRI showed ACL and MCL tears. I didn't have insurance at the time so I decided to see a physical therapist before a doctor. He suggested weight lifting and running while waiting for reconstruction.

3-5 months later Sandeep and I got married. Thanks to the PT I was in amazing shape (sans an ACL). I was also my lightest at 8 lbs short of my goal. Then that December I got ACL reconstruction surgery and things changed a bit. Literally.