Hi! Welcome back! Don't feel bad at all- feel happy that you are back on IP.
It takes courage to do it! Good job. Think positive and speak in a positive way to yourself. Just try to change whatever it was in the past that made you not maintain well.
I am also back on IP as of June 10. I did IP first in 2010 and lost 23 pounds in 10 weeks. I did it again in April 2011 for just 2-3 weeks to lose 13 pounds. Eh, life happens!
Then LIFE really happened to me and I had a really healthy summer followed by waking up on Sept 2, 2011 with severe pain in my neck/spine. It felt like someone was sticking 2 fingers right into my spine through the back of my neck, and I couldn't even sleep. Turns out it was a herniated disc. I lost all function in my legs on November 14, 2011 and had constant tingling in my hands/down the arms which I was also losing feeling in. When I finally had an MRI and went to a neurosurgeon, and he told me I could be paralyzed if we didn't do surgery right away. Less than 2 weeks later, I had ACDF surgery on Dec 21, 2011. Recovering from that surgery has been really hard and it took a lot out of me. It has healed as it should (the body had to grow a new bone where the disc once was, around titanium plate and screws).
I gave myself a break on pretty much everything else in life other than recovering and working. I didn't take any unpaid time off. In hindsight, that wasn't good. It made healing slower. I had no energy for about 2 years.
In September 2013, I felt that if I didn't do something physical, I would never feel good again. I started kundalini yoga at the community center. It has changed my life. By May 15, 2014, my back pain was gone.
I'm now in training to become a kundalini yoga teacher. That is changing my life again. I can do some things that I never imagined my body would do. Kundalini yoga is great because it's not required to bend the body into a pretzel.
I really want to lose the extra weight I've been carrying around. Kind of makes it sound like I am pulling a wagon full of fat, eh? It's really not that much but I still have all my clothing that is too small and should fit but doesn't. But right now I feel healthier than ever! I can move my body, I have no more back pain, and yoga has gotten rid of the cellulite on the back of my legs. My stomach is the problem area, and it never gets smaller until I really lose a lot of weight.
So here I go! I have the tell-tale ketosis breath so I know I'm in the zone. I'm happy every day that I wake up healthy and not in pain. Having chronic back pain for 8 years was really a drag! Oh, and I have hypothyroidism which I have also had for 8 years and doing IP is the only way I can lose weight at all! I did IP for 3 weeks in Feb-March this year and lost 10 pounds. So that was a good start!
I also walk pretty far every day during lunchtime with my dog. We walk around the lake near my house and I get pretty sweaty on the walks. It's good to get your body to sweat once a day. Otherwise, well, your body won't be working for you like it should. If I don't get my lunchtime walk, my back gets tight by the end of the day. I volunteer at the yoga center 2x per week- Monday and Wednesday and I take the classes those nights. And being in a state of ketosis with IP makes yoga a lot more intense. I have a feeling this is going to be a wild ride this time around!
Off we go to lose weight. Best wishes to us all to be able to power through IP and continue maintenance so we won't have to do it yet again!
Back and starting over...
