Kenny's Married!

Chelsea and Kenny got married in a beautiful wedding on September 14th! Congrats Mr. Mans and Mrs. Mans! :)

Kenny is coming to Madison!!!

Sorry, I know you all aren't in the Madison area. In fact, most of you aren't. But I am and he's coming here!!!

I don't have details yet, but I am excited regardless. Here is Kenny's website so you can keep track of him too! http://www.zimlinghauscomedy.com/

My Weight Loss, Days 45-60

I know, I know... It has been a half month since I've updated. I'm sorry. But truth is that my routine has been more of the same since it seemed to be working. Saturdays and Mondays are Zumba classes with my friends. The other days are a mix of Zumba on the Wii, sit ups, Zumba DVDs, Zumba on YouTube, walking, or rest days. My nutrition/calorie intake has become routine now where I am watching what I eat or consciously making the decision to eat something not-so-good. It's amazing how much of a transformation can take place when you put your mind to it and how quickly the new routine can take hold.

This past Saturday I had my final weigh-in for our work Biggest Loser competition. If you recall, I started this journey at 208.5 lbs. I now weigh.... Drumroll please.... 197.5! 11 pounds lost overall! And I feel like I am just now gaining momentum . So this journey is really far from over. I will continue to share my successes (or setbacks) here on this blog. I'd also love to hear your stories and even publish them here if you let me!

Finally, here are pictures from just before my final weigh-in as well as pics from before my first weigh in. I can feel the changes and my husband and friends have noticed the changes as well. That's where all the hard work pays off the most. :) (and you can see I'm a little more comfortable wearing tighter clothes now;)

My Weight Loss - Days 37-43

Today was weigh-in day... only 2 more weeks left in the competition!

I was 1.5 pounds down from last week. Since I was up 1 pound last week, that means I've only lost .5 pounds in the last two weeks. Less than spectacular. I've been working my booty off... so I'm still leaning towards the idea that I am toning up what I've got.

Over the last week, I attended the Saturday Zumba class and I added the Monday Zumba class. I also finally received my Zumba DVD's (with toning sticks) in the mail on Wednesday, so I did a 45 minute Zumba workout at home.

Tomorrow morning, I am looking forward to another Zumba class. It has definitely become something that I need to get me through the week. It's a great work/life balance to relieve stress and know that I am working towards my weight-loss and healthier lifestyle goal.

This past Monday night I brought my daughter along to the daycare at the health center. She made a new friend and she told me that, even if her new friend isn't there, she would like to come with me because it's fun there. I talk a lot about exercising in front of my kids and make sure that they know why we are going to the health club. I want it to be something that seems normal to them as they grow older - and eventually they will hopefully take on this healthier lifestyle... naturally.

So... With 2 weeks left in the competition, what is my goal? My biggest goal is to get under 200 lbs. Ultimately, I'd love to get down to 190 by the end, but based on how it's been going thus far, I don't think it's realistic to expect a 11.5 pound loss in two weeks. I would love to see myself hit 196 pounds by the March 22 weigh-in.

After this Biggest Loser competition, I absolutely intend to keep up the habits I've acquired since the beginning of this competition. In fact, I really don't think I could stop doing Zumba... it has kind of become an obsession. :)

So... I'm hoping that by next week this time I can report that I am under 200 lbs! And the following week, March 22nd... hopefully 196! One thing is for sure, regardless of what I weigh... I will be continuing on with this weight loss and exercising regularly! I have a girls' weekend in late July to look forward to and it's a hard goal for trying to look my best!

My Weight Loss - Days 33-36

It's weigh-in day! I went to weigh-in feeling really good about it. I ate well this week, kept up the workouts and didn't drink wine. So I was frustrated and amazed that I went up a pound this week!! Aghhhh!

When I told my husband the news, he did make me feel better when he told me that when he had his hand on my waist yesterday it felt tighter. He says it has to be because I am turning this extra weight into muscle. I really hope that is the case. I haven't taken any measurements yet, so I am going to do that this weekend to have some other numbers to go by.

Yesterday I worked out to GET UP AND DANCE BY PAULA ABDUL (DVD) from 1994. Wow did we have some fantastic hair and clothing back then. :) It was actually a pretty tough dance to learn... it's fast. But it keeps you going the whole time and there is lots of repetition... so when I play the video again, I know I'll be able to do it better and better. I sweated my butt off (I wish that was a literal statement). Once the dance part was over, there was a cheesy section of dancing to YMCA with some weird football dudes. It's kind of fun, but totally cheese-tastic. After that, you cool down with lots of stretching and sit ups. I enjoyed that because I haven't had anything else that incorporates the sit-ups; I do want to start incorporating more sit-ups and push-ups. I don't think I have ever been able to do one push up in my life. I listened to Jillian Michaels on the radio the other day and she gave some suggestions on how to start building up to doing a regular push up. I will start by doing some on the back of the couch. Once I feel good with that, I will move to doing push ups from a chair seat. Then a low stair and finally down to the floor. It will be quite the accomplishment if a single floor push up ever happens! :) 

Tonight after work, I am planning on busting out my weighted hula hoop and hoop dance DVDs. I used to hoop all the time and I haven't done it in quite a while. It's great for your mid-section and a lot of fun. After I got used to the 4 lb. hoop, I find it hard to go back to my 1.7 lb hoop. There's not enough resistance. When you first start out with a hoop like the one pictured, especially with the inner "waves" on the hoop, you will probably feel bruised around your waist. But that won't last long... your body will get used to it and you won't feel that anymore. If you are looking for some variety in your workouts... definitely get into hooping. It might take practice to be able to do it, but once you get it - it's like riding a bike. Another great thing about hooping is that you can do it with a DVD if you want to learn to do some hoop dances - but you can also just turn on a TV show and hoop while you watch TV. The time flies by! I've heard you can burn as much as 100 calories every 10 minutes. But there are a lot of variables to consider to get a more accurate number. 

My Weight Loss - Days 27-32

Been a while since my last update... sorry! Been busy!

So last Friday's weigh-in frustrated me. No weight loss or gain. zero, nada, nothing. What the heck?

I've continued to do Zumba and other dances. My ankles and my arches on my feet are really sore. Back when I used to run track in high school, I spent more time on the exercise bike than actually practicing. Apparently I am prone to chin splints and a tendency to have a quick flare-up of tendonitis in my feet. I ordered some new shoes today that had good reviews by those who teach or take Zumba classes. I think I need to also spend more time stretching. Stretching always feels so awesome anyway. :)

This last weekend I had a girl's night out and I was worried how awful I would do with calories between the meals out and all the drinking. But we ate at Cubanitas (Cuban food, of course) and I think the meal was probably more healthy than what I eat at home... and holy ish, it was good! I had Pollo Tropical which was grilled chicken in tropical juices and garlic. There was pineapple and mandarin oranges on top of the chicken. It came with some roasted vegetables (zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, peppers) and some yellow rice. I didn't eat a lot of the rice. I also ordered two black tiger shrimp on the side because they looked so amazing... and I am so glad I did. As far as the drinking... when you have a good 6 hours or so of drinking, there is nothing low calorie about it. I mostly drank red wine and mixed in a couple other specialty drinks. The key drink of the night was lots and lots of water. Made sure to order water everywhere we went and keep it full.

I decided that after girl's night I was going to try to go the rest of the Biggest Loser contest with no alcohol at all. So about 3-4 weeks. I need something to give me a good weight-loss boost and apparently my diet and working out aren't doing it. My mother-in-law said that she's going to do it with me! Let's see if one of us caves in first. :) We both really like wine.

Today I burned over 500 calories doing a 55 minute Brazilian dance. I bought this video on Amazon Instant: http://www.amazon.com/Brazilian-Dance-Workout-Vanessa-Isaac/dp/B000A59PQK

I liked it. The moves are a lot faster than Zumba... or maybe they just require more coordination? They show you the moves in half-tempo and then at tempo. I usually prefer workouts without the dance instruction, but with this one I needed the direction and they kept it fast enough that I didn't lose momentum like I had with other videos.

You'll have to let me know what you think if you try this video!

My Weight Loss - Day 26

I hit a bump in the road today and I am determined to not let it get me down. I did so well the majority of the day... then we had my daughter's first big concert of her life today (she's in first grade). We were so nervous for her - mostly because the last time she had a very little concert in 4K she FREAKED out and wouldn't do it. So we treaded lightly with this and made it seem like not a big deal and told her how people won't be watching her because there are so many kids on stage... yada, yada. In the end, I think I was more nervous than she was. But she was fantastic at both performances today and she was so excited that she wasn't even nervous. We went out to celebrate with a dinner at Chili's (kids eat free on Tuesdays... hee hee). Normally, if we eat there, I stick to a half turkey sandwich, a salad and steamed broccoli. Comes in around 430 calories. Not bad for that place. Today they presented me with a brand new selection of personal pizzas and I almost started licking the menu. I was really going to do the regular, safe order -- but I couldn't resist. I ordered the pizza. On the up side, I didn't eat the whole thing... left about 1/4 of it. On the downside, I washed it down with a glass of wine. And, since dinner and the concert took up our whole night - I didn't work out today. I kind of want to scream a little bit after confessing all of that... sounds worse after you type it all out. And to top it off, I think I've started the week countdown to my next period... I feel fat, bloated, crazy in the head and just want to sleep forever.

The one thing I have learned is that as of right this second, I'm starting again. I don't need to wait until Monday and say screw it to all of the dieting and working out I've been doing. I am going to jump right back on the horse. I have a weigh-in on Friday to be concerned about. I have a lot of working out and a little eating to do between now and then.

Keep on keeping on...