Monday, October 29, 2012

Catching up, starting over... (again)

You can thank my reappearance to blogspot on my as-of-late obsession with Pinterest.  Everything cool takes me to blogs for the recipes, etc, which then I realize just how brilliant some of these people are, and I want to follow them!  So looking back over the last time I blogged- plus reading what was going on in my life during those blogging days- I realize just how far I have come & thought I would share with the blogging world just what has been going on in my life.  Funny that one of the last times I had blogged, I was starting to count points using the old-school weight watchers points system.  At the end of April this year, I joined WW again & have been doing WW Points Plus since then.  I have lost almost 40 pounds.  Feels damn good.  I have changed nothing in my workout schedule, still teaching Zumba 2 days a week- I teach a Gold class (30 minutes) followed by a regular, 60 minute class.  I have gotten as far as making a poster to put in my basement across from my treadmill that maps out the first week schedule of C25K (Couch to 5K), but however have not found the gumption to actually *gasp* run.
Well, I want to keep this entry short, just 'waking up' my blog... :)

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Getting back into it

Hello again!  I have missed being here...  No wonder I have felt completely out of control.  I haven't made the time to get on here and just go on and on about whatever was crossing my mind that day.  I have let my chaos overtake me and this past month has been pure hell.  But now I feel much better, like I am back in the driver's seat of my life, and that now I can make some significant progress- in every part of my life. 

I started off by making a list on Sunday night of all the things I wanted to accomplish this week.  Once everyone was quieted down for the night, I sat in bed with my notebook and pen and just wrote.  I wrote things I wanted to accomplish, things I have to get done, things I want to get done.  I have a sheet for 'online' stuff and a sheet for home stuff.  Then I even broke it down on Tues & Thurs what I wanted to get done in what time slots.  I feel like I need a schedule or nothing will get done and I will spend the day playing Baking Life and watching episodes of Dexter. 

Let me back up a moment and update you on what has been going on that has been good this month.  Classes have been AWESOME!  Great energy, lots of sweat and smiles! ;)  Everyone has been so patient with me and my knee issues..  Severe pain sidelined me from this month's Saturday Zumba Nights, but I was able to go to my muscle activation specialist and she fixed me right up!!!  Apparently my ribcage, right hip and right ankle were all locked up, muscles not firing right.  That put a heck of a lot of torque in my knee, which led to the severe pain.  But she did her magic (that one day I will know how to do!!!) and I was better immediately.  I have felt myself slipping back, especially in my ribs, so I have been trying to be really careful about how I am moving and supporting my body.  Especially in massage class.  I was in tears yesterday at the end of the hour b/c my back was screaming at me.  But I realized what I had done wrong, and I will be certain to correct that next time!!! (no bend in the knees= OUCH!)

We have also started our Weight Loss Support Group at the church on Sunday nights.  We begin with a weigh-in, then have a short time where I talk a bit on a topic, then we have an open discussion.  Two weeks in and I must say, I think we are all benefitting from this.  Some accountability and education-- a great combo! ;)  I am going to use this blog as a place where people can see what we discussed at the meetings- that way if they have to miss a meeting, they will still have access to the material we covered, ask questions, start conversation even throughout the week!  There is no reason why we can't support each other through the week as well!!!  So even if you aren't a part of the group that meets weekly, please feel free to post thoughts, etc...

Hmmm, well, I don't want to write a book (too late, I know) on here, but I had so much to catch up! lol
I will be back to post the topics from the 13th and the 20th here sometime this week.  But for now, I am going to consult my list and continue on so that I stay on task for today! ;)  I can do this!!! (thank you coffee!)

Friday, January 28, 2011

I logged on this morning and caught up on reading the blogs I follow.  One of which happens to be a weight loss journal of an old friend.  She had a quote that she found and had posted on her blog earlier this week and I loved it too much not to pass it forward as well.  It was exactly what I needed to hear and HOW I needed to hear it today!!!

“Stop being a moron and start getting skinny! If you can’t take one more day of self-loathing, you are ready to hear the truth: You cannot keep shoveling the same crap into your mouth every day and expect to lose weight.”

Love it!! lol

This week has been a weird one for me.  I have felt, in simple terms: FOUL.  Last night I didn't even want to be around myself.  I was mad because on Thursday nights I ALWAYS go to Chick-fil-a while Morgan is in dance and I get her a sandwich to eat right after class (and of course enjoy my usual while she is dancing!).  I thought Michael had picked up my purse on the way out the door while I had grabbed my backpack.  Well, evidentally he had put it back down because I had no purse (aka no way to pay @ chick-fil-a!).  To say I was pissed didn't even begin to cover it.  I was hungry, I was tired, and I was SUPER irritated.  Morgan was actually pretty upset too when she got back in the car.  So when we got home, and I was relieved that my purse was there (it had in it all the cash to pay rent AND my car payment, another reason for my panic!), I then got online and ordered Domino's pizza.  And not just pizza.  I also ordered the lava cakes that are offered for dessert with a 2liter of Coke.  It was wonderful.  Every last bite.  I will say, the lava cakes made me SO much happier.  Sad, I know.  Food was my solace, my comfort.  THIS is what I have to get away from.  This feeling of being so behind the gun, being so REactive instead of being PROactive.  How am I going to do this?  I have no freaking clue.  Not today.  I am still recovering, I guess.  I didn't realize until last night just how stressed I have been, how SAD I have been.  AND I DON'T KNOW WHY!!!!  I mean yes, school can be a bit stressful, but is that a reason to be a mess all the time?  NOPE.  All I wanted to do was cry last night and that just pissed me off even more.  See the vicious cycle I have adopted?  This is not me and I don't like it at all! 

I think my week off made me a bit lazy.  That didn't help at all.  Yes, I got a lot of housework accomplished, yes, I got my schedule planned for February- I hit all the goals I had for myself at the week's start.  But along the way, I lost my pace from before.  Now I just have to focus on getting it back.  Hopefully I can make some of that up today.  I have a full day planned- teaching my Zumba class from 11-11:50, then on to the house I clean every other week.  That will put me home about an hour before the rest of the family gets here, so I can have a moment to sit quietly.  Then we have a relatively quiet weekend planned, only teaching a class tomorrow morning, & church on Sunday, so hopefully I can get a lot of studying done, and get back on track with my workouts and my point counting!  I am going to try again today.  I looked at the other pop-tart from Morgan's breakfast and thought to myself "nope, I don't want this- I don't want to spend 4 points on a tiny little pop-tart!" lol  I guess that could be considered progress...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Monday, January 24, 2011

the crud

I woke up this morning feeling just like I have every morning for the past 3 days.  Like crap.  My stomach is rolling, I felt just plain awful.  So I sent emails off to my instructors and got Morgan off to school and I went back to bed.  I woke up at 12:30 and let me tell you, I feel like a different person now!  My stomach still feels a bit under the weather, but overall, I feel a lot more human.  Hopefully I can move forward now, I am so tired of feeling awful.  I miss my workouts!
I have been in a funk for the past week, I am sure that hasn't helped my overall feeling one bit.  It is amazing how you find yourself feeling low, and everything you encounter just pulls you deeper and deeper into that funk. I see now how people fall into deep depressions during the winter months.  The walls are closing in around you, everything seems to be a real pain in the butt.  I realize now how people have a difficult time sticking to New Year's Resolutions that involve improving physical activity.  It is hard to motivate yourself and keep a positive outlook on things when it is icky outside.  One small step back turns into a major leap backward.  My knee swelling up last week was the start of my spiral.  I was upset because I couldn't do the Shred- and I started feeling bad in my guts- and I just wanted to crawl in bed and not come out.  I should feel better- I did exactly that on Sunday and today!  lol  It is just finding the strength to battle the downward pull.  I even got to the point where I was questioning my decision to be in massage school.  I was ready to completely quit.  I just felt drained.  Thank goodness that I was able to get my head out of 'there' and get back into a positive, happy mindset.  I am glad that I took today off to get my head on right- and my grades will thank me as well. (I just have to remember this while I am sitting in class making up my time!!)

Today I started logging my foods- and using the Weight Watchers points system.  I know that it has probably changed and evolved dramatically since I was a part of it in 2004, however, I am using that system because it is what I know and hey, I have all that paperwork! ;)  All I have to say is thank goodness for activity points!  lol
I hope that everyone has a wonderful Monday- I wish everyone a great week that is positive and powerful!

Friday, January 21, 2011

minor setback

It never fails- when you get all excited about something- especially in my world of workouts- a minor irritation or other issue arises and makes it so that you cannot continue uninterrupted.  Lots of words to say that I am sick and my knee is messed up.  Either way, I am seriously ticked off because I can't workout today.  I don't know if I can tomorrow- we'll see how I feel after Zumba class in the morning.  While doing the final ab workout on the DVD yesterday (the exercise is bicycle crunches-SLOW), I could hear my left knee grinding.  I tried to flop it around, you know- get it back on track- so it would quit making that awful noise.  No luck with that, but I stuck out the exercise, because after all, Jillian is in the background yelling at you not to quit when you are almost done.  Well, unfortunately, my knee is now swollen, feels icky.  No sharp pain, thank goodness, just swollen and it feels like a loose tooth. Like one wrong move and it is toast.  I have too much at stake for my knee to be toast, so I will sit down and rest today.  And be super careful in class tomorrow. 
I was supposed to teach down at Dayton Daily News building today, but apparently I ate something that seriously disagreed with me, so there was no quick movements that were happening for me this morning- even if my knee would have been fine.  Probably was for the best all the way around, but I could have done without being so sick all night long and this morning. ugh.
I did manage to go get dog tags, pay the City of Clayton bill, and go to Krogers without incident this afternoon.  All without even being tempted by soda or fast food!  I just wanted to get some healthy stuff and get home and eat.  And I even had a big glass of milk to drink this morning.  Geesh, making changes all the way around.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!  Be safe (if you are in all this snow) & enjoy!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

extra energy? I totally forgot about that part!

Again, I am blown away by these past couple of days.  I have done 2 days of the shred, and I can tell a huge difference.  First off, I noticed that yesterday after I worked out, I ran up my basement stairs.  (you have to understand, stairs have always been an issue for me- and I am normally pretty reserved in how I go up or down on them)  THEN when I got to church, I skipped down the stairs there to get to the basement where Zumba class is held.  HUH?  How can 2 little workouts make me feel that much different?  oh wait, it gets better!  So, I felt pretty stupid on Monday when I had to cancel class because of my missing ipod-- well, I planned a pretty intense class to work everyone pretty hard to make up for the missed workout.  Yes, I was winded; yes, I was red in the face.  BUT I had this surplus of energy that I have not experienced in a long, long time.  It felt wonderful.  I am trying to get to the point where I do my shred early in the day, but I am SO NOT a morning person, and have had some difficulty getting up and going each morning this week.  (hey, it's my vacation, I'm allowed, right?) 
Next month begins a Weight Loss Support Group.  I am so excited about this.  I sent emails out to my students yesterday and have heard back from about 10 people so far who are ready to go!  I still have to write an article and put it on the online publication for the city.  Because it is the people who are too scared to come to Zumba because they think they are too heavy, or because they are so inactive they are overwhelmed about starting a workout program- those are who we truly need to reach.  Let them know it isn't hopeless- that slowly but surely we can all work our ways to healther bodies.  I can't wait for that fun to begin.  Plus I get to dive back into all of my material that I learned last year and get to share great information with people.  That is always a great feeling. 
Well, enough rambling for today...  Day 3 of shred- coming up.  Day 4 of no pop or fast food--  I mentioned to my boyfriend last night that I felt great and I totally attributed that to the workouts and the lack of pop and FF.  Now hopefully I can plan well enough next week that I can take my lunch and have snacks during school days so that I don't have to go anywhere near a fast food joint! 
Have a great day everyone!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I feel great!

oh, thank goodness I could get out of bed this morning!! :)  I was feeling pretty rough last night, my delayed onset muscle soreness didn't delay too much-- I was pretty sore!  But I took a nice hot shower and relaxed and I think that helped.  All in all, I feel absolutely wonderful today!  I am going strong on no soda pop, and being home all week has made it pretty easy to avoid fast food.  And we are out of cheese, so my problem food #3 is taken care of as well! :) 
I must say that it feels pretty good to sit here on the couch, drinking my cup of coffee, looking out at a drab, dreary day, and know that I don't have anywhere I have to be until much later this evening.  I do plan on heading out to the store, after my workout.  But there is no rush to anything that I am going to do today.  My ipod is charged and ready to go, just have to tweak the playlist based on how many new songs I can learn today... 
So back to the workout.  I must say, I love circuit training.  Especially Jillian's approach using the 3-2-1 combination.  You are never doing one exercise long enough to get burnt out on it.  It goes so fast, you are finished before you realize you are really working hard.  (the only exception is the final ab workout, that minute seems long, but it is the very last thing, so no big deal!)  :)
So Day 2 of the shred, I am ready to go!  Hope you have a wonderful day too!