Can fat girls do yoga, too?

Like… are we allowed? Is there a secret rule book somewhere or am I straight?

Think on that a bit, and I’ll come back to it.
So, life threw me another curveball. After my crazy hcg cycle, I’ve been feeling soooo great. Moved down into my “skinny fat jeans” (cuz nothing at this size is truly skinny, but they’re smaller!) and I’m actually liking being in my own skin.  *Just for clarification, when I use the word “fat” it’s totally a tongue in cheek, I could give two flips if anyone thinks I’m big or not. * All in all, I’m doing pretty good on the “getting healthy” front.

Now I’ve had hives for years, don’t know what causes them, but I do believe it’s stress. I’ve gotten them so bad they make the capillaries burst in my skin, essentially they’re bruising hives. I’ve also gotten them in my lips and mouth, which warrants a trip to the ER to make sure they don’t travel and close my airway. When they get that bad the treatment is a round of Prednisone. Well, 2 days ago my lips decided to swell up to the point that I had to go to the hospital (not of my own volition, I must add). The ER doc of course suggested a steroid shot and the Prednisone. Now as much as I hate hives, I hate steroids even more. I’ve been on 2 rounds of steroids which translated into a 30 pound weight gain for me. Plus, I feel super yucky on them. Add that 30 pounds to the other nightmares I’ve been on because of medication over the last 2 years, and it’s not pretty. Given all I’ve been working on lately, steroids is the absolute LAST thing I want to deal with right now. However, things don’t always turn out the way you want them to. I’ve been dealing with this weight thing for so long, what’s a few more months, right? I did deny the shot, but couldn’t get away with not getting the rx.

So, I’m on the ‘roids, waiting to start my next hcg cycle on January 31st, and praying that I don’t gain any weight, but my appetite rages when I’m on this medication.

Meanwhile, I’ve made a decision– which brings us back ’round to the yoga discussion. Having been a marine, my whole fitness mindset has always revolved around running. Gotta run, gotta run, can’t lose weight or be in shape unless I’m running. The problem with that is I haaaaaaaate to run. Straight hate it. I was talking to my husband and sister-in-law (who are both hardcore runners) about it, and I realized that there was only one time in my whole running life that I actually enjoyed it. Sadly, I don’t mean one time as in a period–I mean ONE TIME. I ran the Susan G. Komen 5k in Hawaii, and I actually enjoyed it.     That was it.      So, being bigger + hating to run + not thinking anything else is worth doing has equaled me being sadly out of shape. Like, I’m in the worst shape I’ve been in my whole adult life, and I hate it.

Yoga has always intrigued me. It’s beautiful, low impact, and I see how strong the people who are good at it are. I have family members who love it, and after doing some reading and noticing a few pics of some facebook friends, I really think it’s something I want to give a try. Being the big beautiful woman that I am, and being so ridiculously out of shape, I’m going to take it slow and easy and in the comfort of my own home. It’s hard enough to go to a gym when you’re a bit on the soft side, I’m not about to go to a class of tiny little things and downward dog my business for all to see. I’m pretty flexible, and even though I know yoga is hard–holding up my own body weight isn’t going to be a walk in the park–I really think I’m going to enjoy it and benefit from it.

I’ll let you know how it goes,  and hopefully I’ll answer my own question, that yes, fat girls can do yoga, too.