Zumba BOOOOOOM!!

I had the amazing opportunity to be part of a training called Zumba Jammer Session this last Saturday. It was great to learn more choreography and teaching tips, but better than that it was a rare chance to be in the same room as so many other great Zumba instructors. I am continuously blown away by the love and passion that so many instructors have and how much they want to share with others. The instructor who taught the session is an amazing instructor but also an amazing person. She is truly in it for the desire to teach others. I never want teaching to become stale or ordinary. I walk away inspired and blessed to be part of the Zumba boom!

Fresh Cut Through a Plateau

Three straight weeks without the scale moving a smidge. Boy have I struggled to keep my eye on the prize. I am within 20lbs of my goal and have excepted that it may take an entire year to achieve it. My body has mastered adaptation, but my mind is going to be a doctorate in it! I will continue to find new ways to catch my body offguard and sneak through it's desire to "preserve" itself.

Last Friday in the attempt to overcome, I had my hair cut and colored. It is amazing what a fresh cut will do to give a fresh prospective on a three week desert. I am ready to break the bondage of plateaus and have great hair doing it!

How Dare I Say I'm Starving!

Today I heard a report on how starvation is worse then ever in Haiti. I started to think about how daily I made the comment "I'm starving." The reality is I have no concept of what that means or feels like. My minor hunger pangs are not even a glimpse of what a child who has gone a week without food feels like. My suspicion is most in this country have never felt what we have made so cliche'. My thoughts have changed so much about food this last year and my motto has been "food is fuel not comfort" but for someone who is truly starving it is probably fuel and comfort. I want to continue to evaluate what and why I am eating, but to also know I am never starving.

Fundraising is Fabulous!

I had the privilege this last Friday night to be part of an amazing fundraising event. A fellow Zumba instructor is also a high school teacher at a continuation school here in Utah. She and her marketing students put together a Zumbathon to raise money to send these students to a marketing convention in April. Myself and 9 other instructors basically just showed up and taught a couple songs for a crowd of about 150. I had the easy part, but these kids did all the work, I mean they put together one great event. They sure earned every penny. What really blessed me about this whole night was to find out that these are the kids that have been pushed aside and really given up on. Thank God for teachers like Tomee who know and see potential in everyone no matter what, who or where they came from. I am still on cloud nine thinking about what these kids will experience this year and all the opportunity that awaits them if they are willing to take it.

I'm so proud to be part of an organization that can help raise funds and awareness for all sorts of charitable organizations. This week my plan is to go to another instructors class I have never gone to. I'm not sure who or when, but definitely something new. There are so many amazing classes to choose from and I want to learn from them all!

Containers Trick Your Brain!!

As much as I would love to say Zumba is the answer to all your weight loss needs it's not. Nutrition is a huge factor to the equation. I just spent the last weekend thinking I could indulge in a little more sugar, fat, carbs and larger servings then usual, because I worked so hard all year. Tonight was proof I was dead wrong. I felt horrible through my class tonight. I mean I felt gross. You really are what you eat and tonight I was a marshmallow!

The bottom line is, what is the point of working out if you are not going to provide your body with the right fuel to do it's job. Nutrition is everything. People now ask what is it that I do different when it comes to eating? There is a lot, but if I had to name one behavior that made the most significant change it would be packing my lunch. No matter how tired I am I force myself to pack my lunch every night. Never the day of, it has to be in advance. The more important part is what I pack my lunch in. Little containers. I mean like half cup to a cup containers. This is how I learned portion control. If the container is just a little larger than the portion it looks like more. I need to trick my brain in every meal. My thoughts of food and portions where completely out of whack. Most portions are never over 1 cup. In a large bowl I always felt it was not enough, but it is. Oh and I went from spending about $5.00 - $6.00 a day on lunch, now my cost is anywhere from $.50-$1.50. More money for Zumba wear!!

New Year Resolution

Last year I made a New Year resolution to lose weight and begin living. This has been my resolution for at least the last 20 years. I finally did it! After experiencing two of the most difficult years of my life, I finally hit the bottom and said enough is enough. Last January I began my journey, I joined a gym. I began to inspect every ounce of everything that went into my mouth and hopped on the treadmill for 45 minutes. Within the first week my resolution was quickly beginning to fade. Purely by fate, I happen to be there on a night the gym had started a new Zumba class, I reluctantly went in. Wow! Really the day my life changed.

I have been taking a class 4-5 days a week ever since. I am down 50lbs and have gone from being in the "at risk" category to "below average" category for serious health risks. I never imagined on the first class (which I struggled even making half way through) I would in 6 months be a certified Zumba Fitness Instructor. I was certified in July and have taught weekly ever since. What a difference a year makes! I am so inspired to share what so many incredible instructors cared to share with me. God willing, my resolution for 2011 is to take what was shared with me and hope that maybe someone ,like myself, a year from now will be rejoicing in success! Remember physical and mental limitations are challenges not barriers.