Tai Chi Saturday

This morning, I had a Tai Chi make up class because our last class of the cycle was canceled. I can't make the class on the 10th because of a prior commitment to Boy Scouts, so we had a make up class today.  We met at one of the local malls that is reasonably quiet.  There were two of us there.  E and I were both there to take advantage of the additional training.  
I warned Sifu (Sifu means 'teacher') that I hadn't been practicing. We went over a lot of basics and picked up from the "Four Corners" in our form and went on through "Chinese Guitar" and then to "Carry the Tiger over the Mountain".  I think the form is really neat, even without the names of the sections.  
Today, Sifu caught some mistakes I was making and corrected me. During Chinese Guitar, I have a tendency to not use my hips...actually, I have a tendency to not use them during most of the things I do, but she corrected me today.  We practiced turning until I was able to turn my complete trunk.  In Tai Chi, the entire trunk is from your neck down to just below your hips.  I have a habit of forgetting that my hips are there, so when I turn, I put stress on my knees. Today was one of those "aha!" moments.  The light came on  After E left, I talked to Sifu and we went over Four Corners to Carry the Tiger over the Mountain, and then I showed her the opening of Kee Cho Hyung Il Bu (Basic form #1).  I am actually using my hips and NOT flopping around or losing my balance.  That's what I needed to be able to do.  That form felt so much better than it's ever felt!  I was pleased with myself for that!  I don't feel like I was reaching past my knees (that's something I need to watch out for in Tai Chi) and I wasn't losing my balance.  It made me happy to see how that went together.  Tai Chi is about balance.  I'm feeling like I saw a definite correlation between Tai Chi and Tang Soo Do.  

I won't have another Tai Chi class until January 24th.  I have a Zumba class starting on the 11th and running for a month.  I'm seriously hoping that I see some weight loss sparked during that class as I'm sure it's going to be intense cardio.  If that doesn't make me lose weight, I'm going to have a discussion with one of my doctors about that.  

The results are back...

I lose my patience when it comes to waiting on word of "big" things.  I waited until Wednesday, then gave up and called my doctor's office to find out the results of my biopsy.  I found out that he had the report but hadn't read it.  I left a message for him to call me back.  That was Wednesday.  Thursday morning, they called me back and told me that the results were back and the nodule and cyst on my thyroid are benign.  I get to go back in six months for another ultrasound to monitor the thyroid and see if the nodules have changed at all.  
So, no surgery for the thyroid.  YAY!!  That's a good thing.
I also have what they call a "branchial cleft cyst", which is a birth defect that appears in "young adulthood" (I'm a 'young adult'!  LOL!!).  It's a remnant from development that is basically just a bunch of cells that didn't divide/multiply/create anything else.  It's left over from developing the various parts of the neck.  If you're interested, you can read about it here: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/382803-overview
 
I asked the doctor's assistant if we had any ideas about when he was going to do something about the cyst.  She said "I don't know."  I asked if that was still going to be removed or if he's going to monitor that.  She said again, "I really don't know."  I asked her to find out, she said she would and would call me back.  That was yesterday.  I can't understand how she wouldn't have any information about that other surgery, but she doesn't.  I may have to call the doctor again and leave a message for him.  
I am not keen on the idea of being cut into, especially in the neck, but after my MRI, he said that the cause of the swelling in my face was caused by this cyst. He said that he was going to remove it since it is apparently 4cm.   I'd really like to know if he's still planning on removing it.  I'm not sure I'm going to get information from his assistant, so I may just write a letter to him and ask him IF he's planning on removing it and if so, when.  I'd really like to have the ability to plan a vacation to Hawaii or wherever I can travel. I don't have the ability to plan at present.  I have to wait until we know if I'm going to have surgery.  

Waiting isn't my strong suit.  I'm not patient enough (just ask my kids!) to wait...and wait...and wait. 
 

Starting over

It is extremely frustrating to know that 4 years ago, I was in the best shape of my life.  I was training for my black belt recertification test and felt great.  I had been sick in '07 with Strep, lost a LOT of weight and managed to work hard and keep it off.  Fast forward to 2011 and I'm back where I started with Weight Watchers in 2004.  I'm heavier than I've been for a long time.
I'm frustrated by that.  I'm irritated with myself for gaining weight.  I haven't managed to keep off what I lost.  I want to lose.  I gained weight between last week and this week (my weigh in day for Weight Watchers is Sunday).
So...I am looking at getting myself some Nordic walking poles.  I had the opportunity to get some last week but didn't. I have been reading reviews on pedometers as well.  I am determined to get healthier this year.  I had a biopsy of my thyroid on the 29th of December and am in a holding pattern, waiting to hear about that.  I don't feel like anything's wrong, other than I am perpetually cold (my boss says I'm "old") and feel sluggish at times. 

I'm going to borrow a thought a friend has.  I'm not going to make a resolution because I will break it.  Instead, I'm going to work on setting a few goals that are attainable.  I am going to work on eating healthier food and work on getting more exercise in.  In fact, my goal is to get my walking poles and walk this weekend.