Slackerrrr

So... I've been slacking. Haha! I got a teaching job (yay!) so I've been really busy trying to get my classroom together this past week. Hellllooooo fast food and adios Zumba. :( I know I should have at least made some lunches or attempt to go to a Zumba class, but oh man this week was rough. I'm hoping that I can start getting myself into a routine as school rolls around. This week I'll do my best to work school hours and leave when I would during school. I think my toughest part of my school day will be lunch hour. I'm gonna have to start playing around and googling lunch ideas. I need something that filling, but not where I'm wandering around with a food baby for hours. Any suggestions?? If I find any lunch recipes that are worthwhile, I'll be sure to post it on here! :)

Progress Already... What?!?!!?!??!

So, I've been taking Zumba classes for the past couple of weeks. I've been trying to go 2 to 3 times a week. I've noticed some changes. Like, I'm sucking my gut in more (working on the core, ya know?) and I'm moving around much more. And I can't stop dancing after Zumba! I've really really really enjoy taking Zumba! 


And, I think I've already made some progress. Wait a minute... I don't THINK... I KNOW! It's nothing that obvious. I still have a belly. My butt and thighs still jiggle. I still don't look at myself naked! Hahahahaha! But, my pants are fitting a bit looser. I actually had to buy a belt! Fat is starting to shift so my clothes are starting to fit me a little bit differently. It's a weird experience. I know there's no changes that you can see, but I can definitely feel whatever is going on.


I also noticed, even though I'm not really trying, I'm incorporating more vegetables and fruit in my diet and snacking less. And if I do snack, it is the more healthier options. Like popcorn with no extra butter and it's taking me a whole week to eat one of those small bags of mini-Reese's cups! Dude, that bag would have been gone in a day! Hands down. Haha! I'm also eating less red meat and more poultry.


Overall, I'm pretty proud of the progress I made. No one is dragging me kicking and screaming to go work out. No one is leaving me in a dark kitchen until I've eaten aaaaaallllllll of my veggies. :)


Thank you, again, for your continued support! It is greatly appreciated!


Oh, and in my last post I was talking about stepping on scales and not looking at the number. I had a doctor's appointment last week and, well, I looked. I gave the nurse a heads up that I was going to look so if I burst into tears it would be okay to walk away from me. I looked and I didn't cry. It wasn't as high as I thought it was going to be. Yayyyyyy!!!!

Maaaaaaybe I Might Peek This Time

I've stopped looking at the scale. I honestly think the last time I looked at the scale was like my senior year of high school. I've been able to avoid looking even at the doctors. I step on and cover my eyes. I always tell the nurse, "I know it's gone up! I don't want to know how much I weigh!" They always giggle, but it's true! I HATE looking at the number!

Monday, I have a doctors appointment with my gyno. I've been with the same group for years and they've come to know me and my ways. I think I might surprise them and not shield myself from that unholy, ghastly, baby-vomit number that is my weight. At least it'll give me an idea and add more fuel to my fire. And I can't wait to tell my GYN about starting Zumba and this blog! She's always mentioned stuff about my weight and I know I should have started this a loooong time ago. But, it is what it is!
Speaking of Zumba, the humidity is up really hiiiiiiiiigh still from our rain storm last night. It zapped everyone's energy pretty quickly. I knew that the environment can kinda  have an effect on your performance, but holy buckets of sweat am I beat! I'm definitely gonna be feeling it tonight!


Until next time!

70 and Over

Thank you all for your support and encouragement! I thought of you as I woke up at the butt crack of dawn (well... it was like 7, but close enough!) to go to my second Zumba class! I was planning on going to Subrina's class tonight, but my scatterbrained self forgot I had another class to attend to.


This class was muuuuuuuch different than the other class. I walked in and like 95% of the people were 70 and older. Haha! The other 5% would be me and a 40 year old lady. But, whatever. The instructor today was Kat and she was awesome! Granted this class was much slower than the other class, but its about what you put in. So, I worked my butt. Not as much as Saturday, but enough to finish my water and have a damp towel. :) Kat played a freestyle song where we got to do what we wanted. It was a song from the 50s and, well, I don't know the dance moves. Some old guy wanted to dance with me. Awwwwwww! But when I told him that I didn't know the steps, he left me for another woman! What the crap?! Haha! Oh well. I'm not that hurt. ;)


I know that I've been talking cardio and that strength is a HUGE part in losing weight. Well, just let me hooked on working out before I start incorporating that.


I also know that eating right also plays a HUGE role. Like I said in my preview blog, I didn't eat veggies when I was little. Bologna sandwiches and Twinkies aallllll the way! I've gotten SO much better. I'm over bologna sandwiches and I can't stand Twinkies. I don't eat out at fast food nearly as much as I used to  a year ago. But my diet always seems to go bad when I head over to the boyfriend's. He said that he'll help me with this whenever I go over. We shall see about that. Dun dun DUN. As far as fresh fruits and veggies, I'm not as good as I should be. I have my moments. I've started incorporating tomatoes in my diet (*gasps* I HATED tomatoes up until recently) and other vegetables, but it's just a few. :D I can't get over the taste of some of the vegetables. Blegh. How do you eat your vegetables? I can do asparagus, salad fixings, and zucchini (and now tomatoes), but that's about it. Sooo, suggestions?? I'm learning how to BBQ if that helps??? :D!


And fruit? Oh. My. Goodness. I LOVE fruit! But, I don't eat it on a daily basis. I suck. 


So, yeah. Short blog. I just wanted to thank YOU for your support and for reading this blog. It's really awesome to have your words of encouragement!!


Cheers!! :)

One Small Step for Chunky...

Since I've been little, I don't remember a time that I was average sized. I've always been big, husky, chunky, fat. I grew up on bologna sandwiches and Twinkies, eating ALL of the food that was on your plate, and sitting in the dark for hours after dinner at the table because I still did not finish my vegetables. I was never encouraged to be active. I was enrolled in ballet with my sister for a while waaaaaay back in the single digit years, but that didn't last long. 

In middle school, my mom enrolled herself and me into a Curves program. I didn't like it, mainly because I was forced into it. As an adult, I would love to give it a go again because now I understand more about the program and the idea behind it. We lasted a couple years before the location we were at closed down. 

High school was a very different experience. I was always the big girl in the class in every class, but high school showed me that there was lots of different shapes and sizes. I felt a little bit more comfortable in my body, but still ... not quite. I still tugged at the bottom of my shirt to pull it down and out of my rolls. I still sat at my desk with my jacket in my lap to hide my bulge. 

Then I went to college and gained even more weight. Still did the same tricks to hide my ever growing stomach. My parents always made snide comments about my weight, and even poked and pinched my tummy to make their point.  Needless to say, that didn't stop when I went to college. I gained quite a bit of weight in school. (Don't worry, I'm getting closer to present day. :D) (OMG, I have to insert one of my most embarrassing "trying to better myself" moments. I don't mean to make my parents sound harsh by all means. But, I was doing a work out DVD and my mom sat behind me with a bowl of popcorn and made comments the ENTIRE time. I was mortified and pissed off. That was a year ago, and the last time I attempted to work out.)

I graduated in spring of 2011 and found myself in a kindergarten classroom for most of the school year. So, I hardly did much sitting. Lots of standing and moving around. That's when it hit me. Looking out at the sea of 5 and 6 year olds and their different shapes and sizes. I did my best to incorporate movement in my lessons, which always left me huffing and puffing. I got asked ALOT "What month are you in?", "When are you due?", "Is there a baby in your tummy?" (and you'd be surprised who did the asking, too! Not just the students!) The school year ended, well about a month ago and the summer started with my goal of trying to starting working out.

Okay. Almost there. Last week, I started house/dog sitting for a friend. So I figure "Sweet. Perfect! No one is around to watch me workout!" Yeah... that lasted for a day when I decided to go for a walk-jog-walk thing on probably one of the hottest days of the year (FYI, I live in Vegas.).

Two days ago, I started checking out the YMCA. I really read through the website and saw all sorts of different classes they had. So, I grew a pair and went down to the YMCA that's by my house. I signed up. I got like a four-month deal for $28 a month. The lady asked if I was gonna be back later to take a class. Yeah... No... I chickened out. I made excuses yesterday not to go. I saw on the schedule that there was a Zumba class at 9am on Saturday (today). I've heard of Zumba and seen bits and pieces of it. I did some research and started to get excited. THAT is going to be my first class I'm going to take! So, of course, being me, I googled "What to expect from your first Zumba class?" (Yeah... I know, I'm a dork. Shut it.) That really helped me a lot. I was to expect to sweat alot, to bring water and a towel, and to have fun. I set my alarm for 7 am and couldn't fall asleep out of nerves and excitement! :D

I woke up this morning at 7. I was SO excited that I got ready, took care of the dogs and cat I'm sitting, had breakfast in less than 30 mins. Haha! I honestly don't remember what I did for that hour to pass the time, but before I knew it, it was time to go!

The class was being instructed by a really nice lady named, Subrina. She asked if there were any new people and I proudly rose my hand and informed her that I have never taken a Zumba class before in my life. She called me a freshie. Haha! I didn't really feel intimated by the class, but everyone in the class knew somebody. I'm kinda socially awkward. Subrina told me not to be overwhelmed with the moves, just as long as I keep moving. I kicked Zumba's butt for like the first 30 minutes. It was awesome. I kinda kept up, but I just wanted to prove to myself that I can actually do this and moved and moved and moved. I had to take a drink after every dance, wipe the sweat off my face and I wanted to lay down on the floor in exhaustion and my feet hurt, but I seriously had an awesome time! I did the WHOLE entire hour, granted during the last half my energy was diminishing but I still managed to move. I really truly enjoyed it. I told Subrina that I will definitely be coming back. I'm honestly excited for the next class! Her next class is on Tuesday, so I gotta figure out which class to take on Monday.

Okay, so the reason why I'm writing this is to help hold me accountable for trying to lose weight. As you've seen in my history that I've totally sucked at working out. I'm not the greatest at blog (the evidence is in my other blogs haha), but I'm going to do my best to check in like once or twice a week. 

If you've stuck with me this whole time and read this whole outrageously long blog, I really appreciate it. I know you didn't have to, but the support means SO friggin' much. :)

'Til next time!