Share the Love: The Dailey Method {3/3}

I'm constantly trying new forms of exercise and drinking in fitness and nutrition information like it's a Blueberry Vanilla No-Milk Shake; the only type of exercise I've ever stuck with, though, is Curves.

Until probably now.

More than likely, I'm going to continue with The Dailey Method, a fitness class that combines barre ballet, yoga and Pilates in order to improve posture, develop core strength and promote long, lean, strong muscles.

It's not just because my posture has improved {oh, has it!}. Nor is it only because my core is so much stronger and I've actually toned some of my stubborn areas.

Although, I've been really grateful for these improvements in health, my desire to press on revolves around more than just the physical.

It's mental. 


While I'm in class my mind doesn't wander and chew over ideas or thoughts or situations or anything; rather, I'm focused solely on the task that's presented simply because the movements and poses require so much conscious effort and focus.


Some would call it meditation. 


I call it soul song. Because for those 60 minutes I'm in class, moving and stretching and tightening and pulsing and holding my muscles, very intensely and intentionally working extremely specific body parts, I'm thanking God for this awesome gift of my body. 


For a long time, I've struggled with body image issues and loving my body the way God has made it.

The Dailey Method classes have given me ample opportunity to get quiet in a peaceful, sun-drenched space; essentially these classes have given me time to tune into the body God's given me in healthy way.

Instead of focusing on what it isn't, what it can't do, what it doesn't look like, I center all of my mind-energy during class around gratitude to God for what my body is, what it can do and what it does look like.

Though I decided to begin classes at The Dailey Method to improve my posture and core strength, I also decided to document my journey via photo in order to see whether posture improvement and core strengthening can be measured visually instead of only by feeling.

Week one at The Dailey Method

Week four {14 classes taken} at The Dailey Method

I've been attending classes the recommended four times per week during this month I've been gifted in order to be able to share here honestly and knowledgeably about The Dailey Method. But after this week, I'll probably cut down to two classes per week simply because the studio is so far from my home {30 - 40 minutes} and I'm limited to times when John can care for the boys because the on-site childcare, while fantastic, is expensive at $6 per child when added to the cost of each individual class {$20} and gas money. 


However, if I lived closer to the studio, I'd definitely take advantage of the first month special {unlimited classes for $100} because I absolutely love the class flow, the energy, the encouraging and knowledgeable instructors and the warmth of the space in addition to the way I feel during and after classes.


My time spent at The Dailey Method has exceeded my expectations while enriching not only my understanding of the body and fitness but also my life.

Week One at The Dailey Method

Week Two at The Dailey Method

Fine Print: The Dailey Method of Lake Forest has generously gifted me with unlimited classes for 30 days in exchange for writing about my experiences. All opinions are my own, and I take seriously the responsibility to share my  true experiences and feelings. Please note that I've been engaging in my normal fitness routine at Curves while adding in TDM classes.

Share the Love: The Dailey Method {2/3}

So I've gained three pounds during my first two weeks working out at The Dailey Method of Lake Forest.

And to that, I say ... hurrah!

Hurrah? Really?

Um, yes, because though I have to battle this thought in my mind, it's a good three pounds.

Because these three pounds, well, they are three pounds of hard-earned, battled for muscle. 

If we listen to what society screams about the scale being the end all and be all for measurements of health or acceptable thinness, a celebration after gaining three pounds seems ludacris.

But when you know that muscle actually weighs more than fat

and when you know that every additional five pounds of muscle burns an extra 250 calories of fat per day

at rest


and you know that your body fat has actually remained stable and not increased {check, check and check}

it's super easy to celebrate such a victory because you know it's muscle!

{It's especially super easy after you've lamented about about those three gained pounds until you talk to a friend and the coaches at your club and a TDM instructor who all remind you that, yes, indeed, muscle gain is what's happening. What? I live in our culture, too! Scale number importance is a hard thought to break! Just keeping it real.}

Two full weeks and seven workouts {as of 7/1/12} into The Dailey Method -- a class that combines bar ballet, yoga and Pilates to improve core strength, posture and overall tone -- and my previously lesser worked muscles are happy muscles. 

Not only are these muscles stronger and bigger, but they are also improving their memory.

{Am I blowing your mind? Telling you about muscles boosting your metabolism first and then telling you they also have memories?}

And this muscle memory has been greatly improving my day-to-day life because I'm actually beginning to remember what it feels like to hold correct posture, which is taking a lot of stress and strain off of my neck and my lower back.

With my core growing stronger, too, I'm also feeling like it's easier and easier to hold my posture in these correct positions when I'm not thinking about it.

Of course, I have a long way to go, too. I find something new to improve on during each class. Whereas the first four to six classes were a matter of learning the correct positions, these latest classes have me striving for new challenge points to deeper engage the muscles we're working.

I've really enjoyed, too, the way the instructors have repositioned me as necessary, even taking special care to help me avoid further aggravating my neck while still pushing me to engage my core and push my own specific limits.

That said during class, I have to be conscious to actually focus on myself and not look in the room-and-floor length mirrors too often unless I keep my gaze on only my own body. As one of the largest people in the class, I have to constantly remind myself to focus on my own unique body, giving thanks for the way it moves instead of contrasting it to my neighbor's, which I find hard to do with the mirrors and in a group setting until I make my mind bend to these self-focused thoughts.

As I said in my first review of TDM, I primarily began this class after being offered one month in exchange for writing about my experiences to improve my posture and core strength, so I'm not gauging success based on the scale number {which, if you must know, I have to monitor because of my extremely special diet to make sure I don't take any major dips}. However, I am sharing a picture weekly to see if posture and core strength improvements can be measured visibly instead of just physically.

So, here's after the end of week two:

Before:

{Note that I'm still engaging in my normal fitness routine at Curves while adding in TDM classes.}

The Dailey Method of Lake Forest has generously gifted me with unlimited classes for 30 days in exchange for writing about my experiences. All opinions are my own, and I take seriously the responsibility to share my  true experiences and feelings.

Share the Love: The Dailey Method {1/3}

Blame it on two babies in two years, unfortunate genetics or having spent most of my life overweight and under-toned.


Whatever the reason, I've come to accept that my core needs some serious work.


Though several health professionals have nicely relayed for quite some time that I've needed to engage in some serious core strengthening to target those minor muscles in the core and back that don't get much attention, I continued to live in denial.


I mean, I own a Curves for goodness sake, and I work out there. Certainly, I have strong muscles, I'd rationalized.


But the neck pain, the lower back pain and my posture were saying -- sometimes screaming -- something else --mostly they were echoing what my health-care professionals knew: indeed, I do have strong muscles in my body; some just aren't nearly as strong as the ones that were getting serious work four days per week at my club.

Nonetheless when recommendations of pilates and yoga were given, I scoffed. Both sounded unappealing and boring. I mean, I thrive on movement during my workouts and all I'd seen from either of those were small, quiet poses.

Call it an answered prayer I didn't know I'd uttered, but an opportunity landed on my doorstep in serendipitous timing when the words core work kept getting dropped in closer intervals: a 30-day unlimited membership to The Dailey Method of Lake Forest, featuring classes that specifically aim to improve core strength, posture and flexibility as well as promote long, lean muscles through a combination of barre ballet, yoga and pilates was offered in exchange for writing about my experiences.

Like any one contemplating adding {more} exercise to the week, I spent about 20 minutes making excuses. I debated internally about committing for several reasons, the first being that we own a Curves. Wouldn't this essentially be cheating on my beloved? But John and I discussed and I knew I really needed to supplement specific additional exercise to gain the core strength I so desperately needed, so I jumped. 

And I'm so glad I did.

After my first week of classes at The Dailey Method, I know I made the right decision for my body.

I spent the majority of the first class trying to keep up with the instruction and get a hold on these foreign-to-me fluid movements and poses.

After my second and third classes, I knew better how to engage, and I felt sore in muscles I didn't know I had, thus further proving that, oh, yes, they do exist and oh, yes, they do need to be strengthened.

The day after I completed my fourth class, my body began craving these new-to-me movements. Thanks to one instructor, Emily, who took the time to reposition me myriad times during that class, I finally feel like I'm really learning the intricacies of the deep poses and what engagement of some of these small muscles actually feels like.

Five hour-long classes later, I feel balanced and lean and energized. My posture has noticeably improved as my muscles are already holding onto the new memory of positions acquired while engaging in the poses and movements during the classes.

Of course, these new muscle memories were hard-fought victories; I silently cried through some of the poses we held as the class instructors rallied us to pull certain muscles even tighter and then add small pulses to the pose. That said, The Dailey Method workouts are quite challenging and require some serious mind-over-matter committment. One woman in my class who has been taking TDM classes since January said it really well: Once you think you've got it down and it's going to be easy, it gets harder again because you know what it means to really engage the muscles and pull them even tighter.

During the next few weeks, I'm excited to experience that for myself and discover whether working these sneakily hidden muscles and stretching them diliberately and thoroughly significantly decreases my neck and lower-back pain while improving my posture.

Though I'm tackling these classes to gain core strength rather than lose weight {my doc advised I let my weight stabilize after such rapid loss from last summer's Curves Complete challenge followed by more drastic loss while healing my GI issues this year}, I decided anyway to post pictures simply to show whether posture improvement and core strengthening can be measured visually instead of only by feeling. 


{Note that I'm doing The Dailey Method classes in addition to my regular Curves workouts.}

So here's week one, two classes in:

Stay tuned for the second of three updates next Tuesday. 

The Dailey Method of Lake Forest has generously gifted me with unlimited classes for 30 days in exchange for writing about my experiences. All opinions are my own, and I take seriously the responsibility to share my  true experiences and feelings. 

Living Healthfully: My Favorite Food Power Combinations

During my last Living Healthfully post, in which I shared how I switched my allegiances to my health and body instead of allowing cravings to take precedence, I mentioned how focusing on incorporating power combinations into my day actually helped me reach my 16.2 pound weight loss goal during the Curves 90-Day Challenge.

Because power combinations are not often discussed, it piqued quite a bit of interest, so today I'm sharing my top-three favorite power combinations that helped me stick to the 90-Day Challenge and meet my goals.

Happy Friday!

Important to note, many of these combinations are found in the Curves Weight Management Plan book, and the Curves Weight Management Plan has been researched and found to be scientifically effective and sound by researchers at Baylor University and Texas A&M University. Of course, this video was my own explanation of power combinations, and it shouldn't be viewed as words directly from Curves International. And, I'm not a doctor {as you know}. I think that covers all my bases. :)