The Yogi Reflects: Yogi v. Hacker Challenge 1 Complete

It’s been two weeks since we completed the Yogi v. Hacker Fat Loss Challenge. Comparison pictures and final numerical results are here, but the reflections took a bit more time.

And so… a marathon race, two transcontinental flights, and several California beaches later, I’ve had the time to reflect and to put into words what this challenge has meant to me.

Workouts

Daily Core & Meditation: This was instrumental in setting the tone for my day and instilling mindful attention to my intentions, goals and how I treated my body.

High Intensity/ Strength workouts: Being consistent with strength and agility had a huge impact on my fat burning capacity. I am confident that these workouts induced a faster metabolism, increased muscle growth and transformed my body composition.

Running: This was key for my mental sanity and overall fitness. I always felt revived and renewed from runs with friends or more quiet moments on my own. During this part of my training, I had the opportunity to either work on my inner strength or not. Basically, I showed up and did the work… or I didn’t. Although I often ran with others and reported back my training to my coach, ultimately the responsibility was with me to put the miles in or not.

Day after day, I had to believe that I was capable of even beginning the workout ahead. And then, I had to dig deep and find the grit to continue believing in myself until the last rep or the last mile. It was and continues to be a test in balancing grit and humility — pushing hard enough that I go further or farther than I have before, but not so much so that I can’t complete the run or that I can’t complete future runs.

Yoga: I owe my overall health, and my ability to keep showing up — to my yoga practice. Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally — yoga is my foundation. On the mat, I lengthen my hamstrings, find more symmetry in my hip movements, and ultimately am seen and cared for by my teacher and myself.

I find the ability to listen on my mat and here, my body’s truth is revealed. Whether that means that my body is open and strong when I was sure that I couldn’t complete a practice, or whether I become aware of the imbalance and overuse of my different glute muscles when standing on one leg. And sometimes all I notice is a distracted intention, or the glaring message that I need rest or prayer… or usually both.

Nutrition

Nutrition had the biggest impact of all the changes we made last month. It has the ability to elevate or deprecate my physical and mental health on a daily basis, and also the ability to continue to surprise me.

I thought I knew what type of diet best served me. And although I’m open and continuing to explore, I am motivated to test out a further commitment to ketogenic eating habits. I have not felt so lean, strong, agile and healthy in close to 10 years ago… maybe ever.

The biggest difference between eating ketongenic, versus my previous diets (gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, you name it) was that with this approach, I did not need to “cheat”. I was completely satiated at all times and did not crave sweets. I did not feel the need to binge or overeat. I did not feel starved or that I was missing particular nutrients. And I did not need to constantly police an internal battle on whether to “cheat” or not. And in not doing all these things, I was free from the binging backlash that has always resulted from too much restriction.

In ketosis I was always eating in response to hunger. Although this seems like a given and the way we should strive to eat, when I tried to eat in response to hunger on other diets, my body composition and weight didn’t change. I had to restrict and eat less than my body demanded in order to see changes.

But this was different.

I never restricted myself; I listened to my body & ate according to hunger; I felt satiated; I lost weight, body fat, and transformed my body.

I transformed my relationship with food.

I can now trust my hunger cues and respond to them without constantly feeling the need to limit or restrict.

Personal Growth

Although the confidence, happiness and satisfaction with my transformed body was largely aesthetic — as alluded to in each of the above sections — the lasting changes were internal.

At a yoga training last year, it became clear that my biggest obstruction to growth is a mantra or a lie that I often repeat(ed) to myself:

I am too powerful. I am too big, too strong, too assertive, too outspoken, too selfish. My power is distracting and disruptive and disrespectful. It shines in people’s eyes, is garish and rude, scares men from approaching me, tampers with relationships, makes me masculine, unattractive. I am too powerful.

In the process of having my physical strength affirmed daily and weekly by completing challenging workouts; going head to head with Daniel in all realms including discipline, nutrition, even sprints; weekly pictures of my exposed body; observing huge leaps in my running paces & distances, my ease in yoga inversions and my comfort in jeans… I began to view my power as a positive… even more than positive — something I haven’t even begun to tap into its depth.

It has been transformative to meet and work with someone who matches my drive, discipline, intensity and passion towards health, wellness and fitness. I never felt like I what I brought was too much, I always felt like I was valued for this moment but always seen for what more I could bring.

So thank you, Daniel, for this gift of believing in and valuing myself. And for the continued inspiration that more is possible.

More IS possible and I am completely filled with light, joy and exhilaration at the prospects.

Challenge #2 begins tomorrow. Join me.