What's Your Excuse

I celebrated my one year anniversary as a Zumba instructor in January.  I have enjoyed each of my classes, meeting new people and of course, staying in shape.  I have even gotten a reputation amongst my fellow Zumba Instructors for "Going Hard" with routines that leave people running scared.  I take it as a compliment; that means I go to work!!  In my year though, I have had some people stop coming to class, some for reasons I'll except but others, I just won't.  Let me give you a few examples.

#1 - One of my students, over 50, has only missed class since she started coming over 6 months ago and that was for her birthday.  She does not take a break during my entire class, she keeps moving and smiles the entire time.  She is always on time and determined to stay healthy.  Her doctor has commended her for staying active and being the example for African American women over 50 who stastically have high rates of Diabetes and Heart Disease.  Though she won't tell me how much weight she has lost, she does brag about being able to sleep through the night (y'all know a woman's hormones mess with our sleep as we age), she has more energy than her 22 year old daughter and she's no longer embarrassed to go to a gym and work out.  She has also decided that she will be in Jamaica with me for my wedding :-)

#2 - I had a new student came to my Saturday morning class.  The director of the facility called me before I arrived to say, "Make sure you use a lot of hand signals today.  You have a new student and she's hearing impaired."  I just said, "Okay" without really considering what he'd just told me.  When I got inside, she was all smiles and had never taken a Zumba Fitness class before.  As I walked up to her, she and the director were using her phone to write messages back and forth to one another.  I introduced myself and she read my lips pretty well - but then I was mad I couldn't remember a lick of sign language (DAMMIT!!)  I gave lots of signals and like an idiot, I mouthed everything instead of yelling aloud like I would normally do (like an idiot) forgetting that the rest of the class could hear just fine.  With limited hearing though, she kept up the entire class, rhythm and all.  She smiled, she shimmied, did the imaginary hoola hoop, moved with the class and had a good time.  So good a time that she's bringing her mom back next time.  She made me realize that once again, there is no excuse.  There is no good reason, if you have the reasonable activity of your limbs, to sit on the sofa and do nothing.  I mean, turn on some music and do your favorite ol' skool dances, have a jump rope contest against your daughter, play tackle with your son, bust a couple push ups between commercials AND since you paid for the WII or XBOX, use the damn thing!!

#3 - A new student came to my Tuesday night class; she'd never taken a Zumba Fitness class before and she told me she had already purchased her wedding dress, 3 sizes too small.  Her goal is July to get into the dress.  I too have a wedding dress in my closet, but it fits perfectly, I just have to avoid gaining weight.  My warm up and cool down are the only routines that don't require too much exertion but I knew if she could hang with me, she would have the ability to focus and drop those three sizes.  But not just for the wedding, but for her health.  During the class, I could see the fight in her face; she was NOT going to give up and she didn't.  If it hurt, she would just march in place or walk around in a circle but she was NOT going to sit down.  When her arms got heavy, she threw them up with determination and after class she said, "I was determined to keep going; as long as I watched your feet moving, I was good.  I can see that dress and I see me in it."  We also talked about food choices and portion control; I'm definitely going to stick with her and do what I can to help her get to her goal.

#4 - I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning this but she's on my list of S-heroes.  She is a member of the ZIN Street Team MD and is pregnant with TWINS!!  Uh . . . yes, she is still teaching her weekly Zumba Fitness Classes.  And while she may not be able to workout as hard as she did before housing TWO babies, I hear she is still breaking it down!! 

So tell me, what is your excuse?

Time? I teach 5 classes a week, have a fianceé, still work full time and sing with a band, not to mention writing my blogs and working on music. 

Money? While being a fitness instructor is a job, if you are committed (and honest) most instructors will work with your budget.  How about skipping that extra value meal or the morning chai latte? Those few dollars add up . . . they can either add to your health or add to the pounds (and your empty pockets). 

Children? Pack a book bag, homework, snacks and bring 'em along.

Coordination? Can you wave your hands in the air? Wave 'em like you just don't care?  Aiight, then you're good.

Look at yourself in the mirror and have a little talk.  Decide what you're going to do.  And that means, we're not coming back to the same place next year, the same way.  You know what you need to do.  No more excuses, get moving!

Weight for Love

I met my fiancee just short of a year ago. He's a chef but loves to eat rich food, high fatty foods, he loved Kool-aid, drank Mountain Dew, and frequented the local "Greasy Spoon" restaurants and carry-outs. When we met, I was still a new Zumba (r) Fitness Instructor but absolutely married to eating healthy. I couldn't afford to go back to my 200lbs and sick life. He would fix me food and plop mashed potatoes or rice on my plate. At first, to be nice, I'd eat it, but then I finally told him that I was serious about my health and if he wanted to be with me, he would take his health serious too.

Like most men, he hadn't been to the doctor in a few years. When he finally went, the doctor told him he was a candidate for all the things I had tried to warn him about: High Cholesterol, Hypertension and Diabetes. She gave him 30 days to make some changes but he couldn't get around the Diabetes in 30 days. Now, he had reason to listen to me when I said, "No, we're not eating that." That ended the last night stops to Wendy's and McDonald's and when we do, we get Chicken. I encouraged him to stop over eating or piling the plate or at least, SLOW DOWN and chew. Yes, he is a victim of eating everything on the plate as fast as you can and we now know this to be one way we over eat since our brains don't calculate the "STOP EATING" message quite that rapidly. We don't make Kool-aid and we don't buy sodas. Water is our main drink. I've tried to get him to try my fruit and vegetable blends but I don't think he's ready for the green machine (Spinach, Blueberries, Pineapple, Kiwi, Pear, Granny Smith Apple).

I am proud to say that approaching our 1 year anniversary, my sweetheart has lost about 30 lbs AND is quitting smoking. I've even gotten him to wear a suit!! OW!!

July 2011

February 2012

We took his mother out to dinner recently and y'all know how tight those booths can be. As we slid into the booth, she asked him, "Do you have enough room?" Then she chuckled, "Oh yeah, you got plenty of room now, you fit just fine," as he proudly looked down at the space between the table and his shrunken belly.

I'm also down to my pre-Love weight (WOOO HOOO) but still on my journey to try to drop just one more size.  I've added more Zumba Fitness classes so I'm currently teaching five times a week, whew!  I've moved to a satellite office at work and there is a FREE gym in building so I will definitely be lifting before the Spring Swings all the way in. 

His family says they tried to get him to lose weight and change his eating but I guess it just took a different kind of love to make that change.  We're looking forward to living happy and healthy lives together and teach our future children better.

Do What Works for You, Just don't Quit

All diets are not created equal . . . that’s really the bottom line. There is only one method I know that works for everyone, eat good food and exercise but for a lot of us, that’s easier said than done. How much exercise is necessary? A 30 minute walk everyday is enough for some, for others, it takes hard core cardio and strength training to drop the pounds or maybe you need to train to run a marathon in order to push pass the weight your body is holding on to. And food, some need high protein diets, others need a healthy balance, some need to just leave all meat alone and go hard core vegan.

Now, I have been challenged - or rather I opened my big mouth and gave a number – anyway, I have a challenge of 20lbs or so to lose. Actually, peeps, The Collective. Let’s see how far I get by the end of the year but hell, as long as I can fit into my favorite red dress without wearing SPANX, I’m happy.

I have heard a lot of advice on how to make it happen. Do Weight Watchers (nope, but I’ve seen the results work well for others), Go Running (this actually works but I HATE RUNNING), Try an all liquid diet or all raw food diet (this is a great jump start actually, check out one of my friends doing it - Under200poundsby40). Do a Cleanse (I have NO problem with the exiting process), and cut this-cut that, so I have decided I’m going to do what I know works.

This morning, at 5 am, I put in a new Zumba® Instructors video (shout out to all my ZIN family) and got it in.

Thirty minutes later, I was in the shower and feeling good. I actually feel thinner already, no really, I do. I put on a skirt and tucked the blouse in . . . I look HAWT! #Pixiedustpotent. I’m also using the principles of the Flat Belly Diet promoted by Prevention Magazine. This diet actually promotes eating well and concentrates on eating Monounsaturated Fats which are good for you and keeping each meal to 400 calories. It even includes what you can eat from a fast food menu and make that belly go away. Why I like this diet? This one helps me keep my energy up all day long instead of having those crash and burn sessions. I’m eating on schedule and eating enough to keep me going until the next meal. But this is my mental challenge: When people start heating their food before its time for my next meal, my brain goes, “Mmm, smell that? You could be eating too. Oh, go ahead and eat now.” But I’m not finished burning the fuel I have, I have another hour to wait; besides I’m not hungry, am I? Discipline yourself girl! Take a sip of water, that will tell you if its time . . . nope, not yet. I can hold out.

Its funny that when I tell my friends and family that I’m attempting 20+ more pounds, they look at me and ask, “Where you gonna find 20 more pounds from?” I have one place in mind but that would require surgery and uhm, I ain’t got the money for that . . . besides, I kind of like the “girls.” In additiona to my early morning Zumba ® sessions, and teaching class 3 days a week, I’ve put strength training on a schedule too – Mondays and Wednesdays. The third day is sort of a floating holiday because things always come up with my crazy schedule. I thought I didn’t have time and I was really considering letting the challenge go. I then realized that I could be the encouragement someone else needs to get up and get moving (and I look PHAT TA DEF in that red dress). Is that what you need? Be honest. You need someone to dig in that tail and say get up!! Okay, GET UP! If you’re sitting on Facebook, just take a 15 minute break and go walk around the office. Go ahead, Facebook will wait for you; so will YouTube and Twitter, go ‘head. My challenge to you is to make a determination right now what you’re going to do about your body, your weight, your heart, your blood pressure, your sugar, your cholesterol. Write it down, make a plan and make a schedule. Then put the goal in big letters and say, “Whatever it takes, I will not QUIT.”