DDP Yoga for 365 Days!

Today is a special day.

On this date last year, I did my first DDP Yoga workout.

The progress I’ve made over the year is pretty incredible. I’ve even been added to the DDP Yoga Success Stories on the official webpage. [And I’ve written about DDP Yoga a number of times on the blog before.]

Right before I started DDP Yoga, I was getting really burned out with my gym routine. I had my workouts split between weight training and cardio. The problem was that I was increasing the intensity, and I was at a point where I wasn’t seeing results. Because I was lifting heavier, my body was dead set on putting on muscle, and I wasn’t seeing any difference on the scale or in the size of my clothes. My belly may have been shrinking, but my lats were growing. Looking at goals, I was 55 pounds away from where I wanted to be for close to 3 months in 2013.

One year ago, I picked up DDP Yoga, and I set out to include the beginners plan with my normal routine. Basically, for beginners, there’s a schedule that doesn’t really exceed more than three or four of the shorter workouts (20-30 minutes) per week. The workouts are low impact, and you can do them at home in the space that a standard yoga mat occupies. At the same time, I added a high intensity kickboxing class once a week and eliminated the two 50 minute boring cardio sessions I did on weekends.

Within a month of making these changes, I lost 10 pounds with no changes to my diet. By the end of June, I cut back on my daily gym routine and started upping my veggie intake. First, I stopped weight training. By December, I completely removed cardio. In January, after I reached a total of 55 pounds lost since starting DDP Yoga, I stopped the kickboxing training.

Now, I’m maintaining my weight just by doing DDP Yoga.

My body is still continuing to adapt. Because there are lots of shoulder exercises in DDP Yoga, my delts are growing at a pretty high rate. I am starting to see definition in my arms, which never happened for me, even at my thinnest. I’m slowly losing mass in my midsection, and that includes some of the muscle in my lats, which were my most responsive muscle set. I’m gaining a ton of flexibility.

For me, the supportive online community is really what makes DDP Yoga special. With all the people getting into DDP Yoga, there are lots of resources to draw from online. People are incredibly helpful with questions about form, and, most importantly, everyone is so encouraging, including Diamond Dallas Page, who has interacted with me personally via email and facebook a number of times now. It’s an energy and camaraderie that I’ve really never encountered in all of my years of training.

Speaking of cameraderie, fellow capital region resident, Times Union writer, and DDP Yoga student, Stacey Morris, and I have bumped into each other at a couple of social events this year, since our social circles overlap a little. We made plans to have lunch, and it just so happened to coincide with my 1 year DDP Yoga anniversary. It was a perfect way to celebrate!

We had a nice little lunch and chatted for a good amount of time about dining, writing and blogging, and, of course, DDP Yoga. She’s such a great person and fun to be around!

The celebration meal was Mexican street food at a local joint that I’ve been meaning to try for a while now. Of course, I ordered the biggest thing on the menu.

Looking ahead, I’m planning on keeping up with DDP Yoga. I’m still working on a few of the more advanced moves, specifically, black crow and psycho extreme pushups. I haven’t tried the more advanced “DDP Extreme” workout yet, but I’m working up to it. I’m planning on visiting DDP’s Accountability Crib (aka house, and yes, I was invited) in Georgia some time soon, and one day, I’ll make it to the DDP Yoga retreat in Mexico. I’m even toying with the idea of getting certified in DDP Yoga, so maybe there’ll be an opportunity to take a yoga class with me some time in the future…