Sweat the pounds away...

Everyone knows for long term weight loss dieting and exercise are the key. So I knew it didn't matter how many mini cheesecakes from Pret I cut out eventually I would have to get up and actually do something.

Now I'm not a huge fan of exercise but I'm serious about losing three stone so it has to be done.

'Have you thought about Bikram yoga?' my desk buddy Becky said one afternoon as I fought the urge to run to the vending machine and grab a packet of crisps as an afternoon snack.

'It's meant to be really good for you,' Dominique pipes up from the other side of the desk.

Actually I had thought about it as my flatmate Rachael had mentioned it only a week before.

'Must be the latest thing to do, let's give it a whirl,' I said, not actually realising what I was letting myself in for.

With that we committed to a Sunday morning class. Who needs lie ins when you've got exercise in your life, eh?

For those who are not familiar with Bikram yoga it is commonly known as hot yoga. A 90 minute class incorporates 26 postures and is practised in a room of 40 degree heat.

Basically you sweat a lot and lose weight. Sounds just the ticket....

On Sunday morning I was up and raring to go. Even managed a few stretches on the balcony much to Rachael's amusement. And probably the neighbours as well.

We decided to walk to Bikram. I say we when actually Rachael decided, I had no idea actually how far it was.

So we walked. The whole three and a half miles. A work out in itself especially when you are running late and have to get a bit of a sprint on. By the time we arrived I was already sweating. Not the best of starts.

'Your aim is to just stay in the room,' the receptionist said.

Panicked? Er, a little. Why had I sign up for this again?

We head into the studio. Ever stepped off a plane into a a country with high humidity? Thailand, India? It's like that. But worse. A hell of a lot worse.

Becky and Dom sensibly placed their mats at the back of the class so we placed ours just in front.
Becky looked scared and a little bewildered. She's probably feeling how I am, a little nervous, I thought. Though later I found she'd been out the night before and had only had six hours sleep. Brave girl.

Right then, enter Nina, the 40-something yoga teacher.

'Good morning yogis,' she says.

I suppressed a snigger but looking round everyone else had serious expressions.

There is no messing around as she explains that we shall do the 26 yoga postures. Twice.

Right then. Off we go.

Already I was sweating. And we were only at the warm up stage. Warm up being ridiculous as everyone round is sweating buckets already. Surely we are warm enough already Nina? Already I was sweating in places I didn't realise you could sweat.

Nina flows effortlessly through the postures. The people on the front row gracefully touching their toes.... I however could barely touch my knees. What more do you want though? It was a miracle I was even there.

I caught sight off the clock thinking we must be at least half way through. But the clock suggested we'd only been in the room for 20 minutes. Eek. Did I tell you I was sweating already?

As I concentrated hard on the postures I was forgetting to breathe, then would remember and start panting. Combined with the sweat this was most definitely not a good look.

As Dom and Rachael fell easily into a crab like posture I barely managed to lean back at all. Hmmm, I knew my flexibility was bad but actually yoga confirmed it's non-existent.

With 20 minutes left of the lesson I really needed a wee. I put it to the back of my mind, concentrated on the postures. Must not think about it.

Now more floor work.

'Pull your legs into you,' Nina says. That wasn't a problem until I realised I was pressing my bladder into the floor making me need the toilet even more.

'Relax your mind,empty it of thoughts,' Nina said.

I couldn't though. Relaxing my mind would also mean relaxing bladder and Dom and Becky being directly behind wouldn't be too happy about that...

Now I know what you're all thinking right now, just go tot the toilet, right? Put yourself out of your misery.

But I couldn't! The only task was to stay in the room. I didn't want to fail. I'd already proved that I couldn't touch my toes. I didn't want to be the girl that couldn't touch her toes and runs out the room due to bladder weakness.

15 minutes left. I tried to tune my mind into positive thinking. I could wait.

Actually I couldn't. With every posture I felt like I was about to burst. The heat became really uncomfortable and I felt like I was about to pass out.

I threw my hand up in the air. 'Toilet,' I mouthed at Nina. I didn't wait to see her response as I was already leaping over sweaty bodies in interesting positions,

Oh the relief...

The rest of the class is pretty much fine mainly because it consists of the Śavāsana posture also known as the Corpse Pose which basically means lying down and breathing. Even I could do that easily....

Even though it was slight torture we all left feeling pretty positive and it gave me bags of energy for the rest of the day. I'll definitely go again. And I felt pounds lighter...

But did it actually do the trick and enable me to lose weight, pushing me on my way towards my goal?

Only the scales will tell....