I regret not taking a real before picture so I could really compare the Old Me with the New Me. I was avoiding cameras at all cost, though. I think this’ll do. The before picture was taken in April and the other was just a couple weeks ago. I’m telling you: Zumba works.
After my little crisis a few days ago, I feel better knowing that I am almost on my way. I met my goal of losing nearly thirty pounds by the time I turned thirty. I could not have done it, though, without Zumba. It changed my life. My friend Mary Ann introduced me to Zumba way before I was pregnant with Timothy. I felt I needed time off from it, though, and during the year after Timothy’s birth, I pretty much held on to all of the baby weight–it redistributed itself into my butt and thighs.
Once I committed myself to a fitness goal, the pounds really started melting away. I had to seriously commit, though. Now that I’m here, I want to take it one step further: teaching. I want to share Zumba with the world! Heck, I’m up there twice a week so I might as well get paid. I am terrified, yes, but I have so much support from friends and family that I can’t turn back now!
I am $35 shy of my workshop fee. After that, if I want to attend the December 12 workshop in San Pedro, CA, I’ll need airfare. The tentative plan is to fly to San Diego where I’ll stay with my lovely sister Thryn, we’ll drive up to San Pedro where I’ll obtain my coveted Zumba instructor certification, and I’ll fly back. Airfare will steadily increase as the days tick by so I need to raise money FAST. Plus, if I commit to the Zumba workshop in CA before it sells out, I don’t want to have to cancel if I can’t afford to go. The workshops sell out quickly so I want to register before I lose my chance.
How can you help?
There are a few things one could do:
I am so excited about being a Zumba instructor. Not only will I be helping people get fit and healthy, I hope to bring just a little bit of joy to their lives as they dance their butts off–almost literally. Zumba makes me happy. :)
I don’t prescribe to any weight loss plan. In fact, that never crossed my mind when I finally decided to get my ass off the couch and back into the gym. See what had happened was I found myself growing more depressed as the winter changed into Spring. That depression turned into laziness, comfort food, and the wearing of drawstring pants. I hated what I saw in the mirror. I hate the way I look in the family portraits we had done. When I visited the doctor to make some medication adjustments, he recommended I get a complete metabolic profile, thyroid tests, and cholesterol tests. To my surprise, my cholesterol was high. He suggested I go on a low-fat diet and get more exercise.
It was pretty simple, actually. We changed our e-mealz plan to the low-fat plan and once I had adjusted to a higher dose of Zoloft, I was no longer terrified of getting out of the house and into a couple classes at the Y. I try to get into the gym at least twice a week. A typical week consists of Monday night Zumba & Yoga, Tuesday night Pilates, and Friday night Zumba & Yoga. Now that they’ve cancelled the Advanced Yoga class, I had to scratch that off my Tuesday night schedule. There is a Zumba class to go to after Pilates that I tried last week. Maybe I’ll keep going to that. We’ll see.
One of the biggest things I actually did to keep myself on track was to write down everything I ate. Everything. I spent all summer keeping tabs on my calories in vs. calories burned. I have a free app on my iPod & one on my phone so I can make sure not to overdo it when we go out to eat. But I indulge every now & then. I have to! I try to do it sensibly, though.
All-in-all, I’ve lost twenty pounds since the beginning of Summer. I can proudly wear some of the jeans that I was about ready to give up. Woohoo!
Writing this made me want a cheeseburger. That sucks.
Untitled by alonis, on Flickr
The Advanced Yoga class that was brand new a couple months ago got cancelled. Granted, there was a big demand for another Zumba class. I’m not a hater–I take at least two Zumba classes a week! But I was just starting to fall in love with my advanced yoga class. It was challenging in a way that I had never been challenged before. Without this class, I would never have ever found the confidence to try Bakasana (crow) again.
What I can take away from these short few weeks is a newfound core strength. Before Simon & Timothy were born, I practiced regularly both in and out of class. I lost the dedication to my practice and what I learned from the advanced yoga teacher helped me to be more self-motivated. In fact, while Timothy napped yesterday, I grabbed my mat and went through a long practice that had me breathing through Bakasana for a good minute. And I wasn’t terrified of falling on my face.
I’m also really close to an unassisted headstand. At least I have that going for me…
It’s the truth: Timothy has learned how to hit people and cats and anything that is within arm’s reach. He learned that and how to stomp his foot when he’s angry. There isn’t anything cuter than a 17-month-old baby trying to stomp a stubby, chubby leg that is still plump with cankle. What isn’t cute, though, is getting popped in the face when I am not allowing him to touch one of the wind chimes hanging from a light fixture.
Communication skills: we’re working on them.
The bruises I have on the back of my arm are actually from yoga.
“But isn’t yoga supposed to be relaxing???” you may ask.
Why, yes! Advanced yoga is quite different, though. The class I just started taking a month or so ago is more workshop-style. We spend the first half of class warming up by flowing through Surya Namaskar A & B (sun salutations). Once we finish, we work on the advanced pose du jour. Bakasana, or Crow, has always, always, always given me trouble. Coincidentally, my yoga teacher absolutely loves arm balance poses. It makes sense that she should be the one who finally pushes me into finding my balance again. I have always been terrified of falling on my face as it hovers four inches or so over my mat–it has happened. It isn’t Bakasana that gave me the bruises, though, it’s Astavakrasana (Eight-Angle Pose). Even though I have been doing yoga on and off for over ten years, I have never tried some of the more advanced poses. I was able to do it, yes, but not without consequence. The “practice” part of yoga is what gave me the bruises since it took a few tries to wrangle my limbs in the proper places and manage to squeeze my arm with my legs.
Anyway, before you go calling the cops, just know that I did this to myself.
And it was worth it because I pulled it off and then was able to get into this pose.
edited to remove Flickr pics. My bad.
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