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!

Wedding Day Jitters AGAIN

Well, here I am, getting myself ready for another wedding. It is unnerving trying to find something to wear to a wedding, especially when you're in the midst of trying to lose weight and look great. I went to a wedding last month and wore what I was always told was the forbidden color - BLACK. But it was an evening wedding so figured it was appropriate. I looked good; actually I looked great!! And so did my friends from college. We all looked good for being 10 years out of college!

But now, I've got to do it all over again! I'm going to see the same ladies since another one of the University of Richmond sisters is getting married. DAMMIT!!! That means I can't wear the same thing. Here I go scavenging through my closet trying to find something that will accentuate my shape and hide the small kangaroo pouch I'm still working on. I'm in my closet and the stuff that I look completely fabulous in are well, not appropriate for a wedding - at least, I don't think the Red Hot dress is appropriate. The other items in my closet, uh, you can tell I wore them when I was a different size and they don't quite demonstrate the va va voom woman that I am.

(SIGH) I think it's the "Semi-formal" attire throwing me off. I have an evening gown but that would be too much, right? Then of course, you gotta pick something comfortable to dance in at the reception; something you don't mind sweating in and since I'm travelling, something that will travel well. Where do they make that? Events like this make me second guess whether I've been as diligent as I should be with my workouts. I'm teaching 4 Zumba® Fitness classes a week, eating well, strength training but you know, I haven't had much sleep and I know I can't lose weight without sleeping. Yeah, I need balance all around or else, it just doesn't work. I could just go out and buy something that next year, I'll probably NOT want to wear again. That always happens with my last minute purchases; they're usually not useful after the initial purchase.

With these events, I worry that I've somehow gained enough weight to look like a completely unrecognizeable person. And then, I'm concerned that I picked something homely and safe. Who cares about what the bride looks like in these pictures?!?! I will be forever etched in the memory of that day too!!

Okay, breathe. I'm clearly overreacting at this point but I have had that anxiety and almost NOT gone to someone's wedding because I didn't want to be the fat, single girl at the wedding trying desparately to catch the bouquet (To date, I now have caught a total of 3). Uhm, just so you know, I still have nothing to wear. Today is Thursday, the wedding is Saturday in NY. HELP!!!!

Wedding Day Jitters

Got my shoes on, jewelry, make up done, the photographer was ready and everyone was waiting for me to come down. Then, there’s the moment when your helper asks, “Are you ready to put on your dress?” The feeling of excitement begins and then the fear . . . the fear that the dress you had on a month ago ain’t gon’ fit!!!
“Maybe I shouldn’t have had that cake at the office party,” you say to yourself as you pray that the Spanx® and long line strapless bra you purchased from my favorite store, Bare Necessities, will hold in those few inches you psychologically gained between the last fitting and the day you actually walk out in your beautiful white gown. That’s enough to make anyone say, “Man, bump dis!” There are a myriad of emotions for a bride on her wedding day and I got to experience them briefly during a photo shoot for Seven Events Unlimited, an event planning company. No, it wasn’t my wedding day but it was sort of like practicing especially worrying if that dress Michelle purchased for me was going to fit. The gown we chose from Lefty’s Bridal fit perfectly across my back, waist and hips. Since I was wearing a perfectly fitting bra, there was actually too much room in the boob. The truth is though, I had expanded enough in the dreaded spare tire to feel self-conscious about how I looked in this beautiful empire waist cream wedding gown. I began to wonder how I would look on my real wedding day. Would that day’s pictures be an indication of the real day? I was nervous my back fat had grown and was hanging. My chubby arms appeared chubbier than normal or was I really just overreacting?
I had taken a month off from teaching my regular Zumba® Fitness class because of all the singing engagements and band rehearsals that were stuffed into my schedule and I was beginning to feel stuffed into that dress. My long line bra was a 36 instead of my usual 34 band and you know how going up a size can make you feel. I hadn’t completely slacked off; I had done some substitute Zumba® classes, gone to the gym and was really watching what I put in my mouth. What could it be? Am I doomed to this 10/12 destiny? It’s not a bad size but dang, I’d like to show my midriff just once and be proud – at least before I’m showing a pregnant midriff one day.
Guess what next . . . another photo shoot 6 days after the wedding shoot. That is NO time to get that waist line together. I began to panic thinking should I starve myself or workout till I pass out. Then my good sense kicked in. Ain’t no way I was going to lose anything with those tactics and keep my sanity. Wait, sanity. And there it was, right in front of me. I had been running in 6th gear all month, going from rehearsal to rehearsal, to ZIN Zumba® Street Team Party, to Dance Ministry rehearsal, learning new dances and new songs, working on my business legal status, sending my song off to industry reps for review, entertaining my boyfriend, sleeping 4 hours, going to my 9 to 5 everyday and losing track of days. Stress had got me. Not the stress that makes you give up but the kind that puts your body in constant motion and survival mode. I wasn’t eating poorly, but I wasn’t eating on schedule because everything else had taken over my schedule and my body was WAY out of wack. I had to come up with something cute and funky to wear that didn’t show I had gained any weight.
Okay, wait weight. Weight! I don’t care about the number, do I? Keyona had to get a grip. I went to my closet to attempt to find something to wear without crying. I chose a funky little T-shirt I’d purchased from Walmart, a black cropped sleeve jacket and dark jeans. I sucked in as I slid the jeans up and buttoned . . . I’m tripping. These jeans actually fit, why am I sucking it in? The T-shirt, fits. Jacket, fits . . . arms not screaming from suffocation. You see how our brains can fool us into thinking something is real and it ain’t? I really thought I had lost control but it was the stress of everything else throwing my normal schedule off balance that made me second guess how sexy I still was!!! (Sorry, had to toot my horn a little).
We panic when some special occasion is coming up. We go on crash diets – grapefruit diet, cabbage diet, fruit only, no carb, low carb, who carb? and anything else we can think of but really, it’s the time we take 6 months prior that counts. Remember the episode of the Cosby Show when Claire was trying to get into this SUPERBAD sequined dress and needed to lose about 5 lbs (I think it was 5)? No one can lose 5 lbs in a week unless you are exercising half a day, every day for an entire week and eating barely enough to survive – you’ll be sick and dehydrated in no time. We have to stay on top of our game. If I hadn’t been on my game those months leading up to the photos shoot, my practice wedding day really could have a disaster (WHEW, thank God for Zumba®!!) I say this to say, do it now while you have the time, before you have to panic, before you buy a dress two sizes smaller in hopes that you’ll be motivated to lose the weight (yeah, I watch Say Yes to the Dress, so what).
Until next time, take care of the body you got, keep your stress down and smile! “You look so much better when you smile” (Kirk Franklin)