Dayjamas

Slimming down dog

The Vet just put Boo on a weight loss program.  He has a bad leg (Boo, not the Vet) and the extra weight he's gained since Kiku started eating solid food and throwing it on the floor is preventing it from healing.  Apparently he needs to lose 15 lbs (whoa), so we're feeding him special low-cal dog food akin to dried sand pellets and he can have one treat per week.  Poor guy. 

Boo and I have been taking lots of walks & runs this week and his collar already seems looser.  My pants, on the other hand, have gotten tighter.  What's the deal?  Maybe it's just bloating.  It better be.  Although I guess I shouldn't have eaten penne with roquefort on Monday.  Or Thursday.  But I had cravings and it's not like I can just turn off my hormones.  I even used low fat sour cream instead of creme fraishe!  It's just not fair.

Nia rocks!

I went to a Nia class this morning and I feel like a million bucks.  I've been trying to shake the weather-induced blues lately and it really helped me break out of my rut.  I feel light and energetic, and can feel a bit of creative energy percolating.  I want to shout out, "hello me!  It's nice to see you again!"

What I love about Nia is that it incorporates different types of movement (dance, yoga, and martial arts) and focuses on strengthening the mind, body and spirit from the inside out.  It's low-pact and really allows you to let go and enjoy your body.  I remember going to aerobics classes in the 80's and the instructor shouting, "feel the burn!  No pain, no gain!"  Those classes always felt like more of a chore than anything else.  After a Nia class, I always feel one step closer to being in tune with myself.  I look forward to going as much as possible, and this is coming from someone who once joined a gym and only went seven times in one year (yes, seven - it was a very stressful year).

I'm really looking forward to getting back into shape.  I gained 55 lbs. while I was pregnant and although I managed to lose most of it, I'm still holding on to ten extra lbs. - which is significant on a 5'3" frame.   I really miss the old me.  Sometimes I look in the mirror or at a recent photo and cringe.  Is that really me? 

With the help of Nia, lots of walking, and good nutrition, I'm going to get my old self back.  Dammit. 

Oprah and Acupuncture

I was amazed to see an acupuncture treatment performed on the Oprah show yesterday.  Dr. Oz, who is a frequent guest on the Oprah show and known for his straight talk on poop, brought an Acupuncturist with him to demonstrate, on Oprah herself, how the needles were inserted.

Dr. Oz explained, in simple terms, what acupuncture was and how it worked, and then said this:

"The reason I'm so excited and passionate about alternative medicine is … [because it is] the globalization of medicine."

Alternative medicines, Dr. Oz says, deal with the body's energy—something that traditional Western medicine generally does not. "We're beginning now to understand things that we know in our hearts are true but we could never measure," he says. "As we get better at understanding how little we know about the body, we begin to realize that the next big frontier … in medicine is energy medicine. It's not the mechanistic part of the joints moving. It's not the chemistry of our body. It's understanding for the first time how energy influences how we feel."

What?  A highly respected Western doctor promoting energy medicine on national television?!  The times they are a-changin'. Oprah even said that ten years ago she couldn't have found a doctor to come on the show and say that.  I did find it funny, though, that she described acupuncture as "something new," even after Dr. Oz mentioned that it was developed in China over 2000 years ago. 

I'm sure the skeptics are coming out of the woodwork, but it's time for Americans to open their eyes and see what other countries have known and practiced for ages.