Zumba at La Rumba

I have to take some pics at Zumba one night and post them on here. It's a crazy good Zumba party of a time. So it's a Latino club by weekend and these to girls Courtney and Kat rent it out on Monday - Thursday nights for Zumba addicts who need a place to work da body! I have a love/hate relationship with Zumba! I love to get out there and do the moves, learn new songs and time really seems to pass quickly, not like strength training class. Ugh!!! I hate the sore muscles and how tired I always am. So much tiredness that I think something might be off with me. I have a Dr. visit and probably need to get him to check my B-12. Hope I can get this under control before FR.

Only 11 more days til I set foot on the campus!!! I am so excited. I learned they are going to build a new Fitness Ridge on the East Coast. I think it will be at Peachtree City, GA Pretty sweet if I ever get to go again! Or, maybe I won't ever need to go again:) Here's to hoping!

I can't wait to meet all my wonderful friends I have met through Facebook that will be out there while I'm there. Good luck to all of you and have safe travels to Ivins.

Mother's Day Hike - Hibriten Mountain!

The first one is with my terrier mix Newton and the second one is with my two boys Isaac 11 and Dorian 9. The hike is a pretty steep incline the whole way up and it's 3 miles to the top. I wore my Polar and burned 549 calories in about 2 1/2 hours. The weather was beautiful and I was excited because this hike is only 15 minutes from my house. I got home and took a shower and started having severe nerve pain in my hips and arms. Went to lay down and couldn't sleep so I got up moved around. The pain is still with me but much less severe. Hopefully it will go away soon. Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Today is hiking SUNDAY!

I love Sundays. Love to meet with my church family. Love having the afternoons to work in the yard and hang out with my family and the neighborhood kids. Sometimes we have a fire in the firepit and roast something on it. We hang out with and watch the animals. Our new past time is hiking the 5 mile trail in the mountains. It is grueling, but you feel so good when you hit that last turn and know that you made it.

Two weeks from right now I will be boarding the shuttle in Las Vegas. I will have been in Vegas for two days soaking in all the fun. I don't gamble, but from what I hear Vegas has so much more to offer. I hope to get to hike with my couchsurfing family at the Red Rock Canyon. If you have never tried couchsurfing.org get out there and live a little.

I have hit a wall with my weightloss but I can tell I'm getting stronger. I have more stamina and better posture. My chiro had less to pop and said I was doing so much better. My blood sugars are still holding well and I feel amazing.

I hope everyone has an amazing Sunday and Mother's day. See ya on the trail:)

Have You called Jenny?

I only thought they couldn't work me harder in the gym... Now the gloves come off. So far I've endured the classes and lived to tell, did Zumba til the cows came home, hiked, kettlebelled, used the heavy bag and I'm still kickin. Then I met with Jenny today! Not the one who has a meal plan, this one has a game plan. And lets just say she was out for blood. I needed to learn how to work the machines. I'm not very coordinated and find it hard to do the treadmill without flying off the back. The only time I got on the elliptical I lasted about 20 seconds. And the stationary bike made me feel, well, weird. BUT, I needed to learn how cause I know it will be required of me in two weeks. Jenny thought it would be better if I ran all over the gym, lifting all forms of heavy objects then hopping on each of the machines and in between striking poses such as planks, mountain climbers, and squats: All the while holding big weights and doing it all at a jog. OK so it wasn't that bad, but this afternoon I was feeling it so bad I almost didn't make it to Zumba. Jenny works! Now, I don't! Good thing I have a chiro appt. tomorrow with Dr Fullam. What would I do without him popping me back into shape when I get popped out. Gadzooks! What will I do without him at the Ridge?

Tomorrow when I wake up my countdown is at two weeks. Two weeks left to train. Two weeks left to love on my husband. Two weeks left to smooch my kids. Two weeks left to be in the life I know, walking in my comfort zone. Two weeks before we shake things up. Two weeks before I meet some amazing people who will change my life forever. It feels like the moment you are about to bungee jump off a bridge. You inhale and shaking you see your foot start to move away from the bridge. That moment where there is no turning back. That's where I am, somewhere between reality and zombie.

Tomorrow is a big day. I'm mailing a bunch of goat milk soap orders for people. Got some more orders to fill for locals. Chiro appt at 8 am. Boys end of year testing for homeschool at 10:30 am. Fit in a workout at some point. Grocery store and prepping food for the big dinner party Saturday night for the Arts Council. Go buy some rock dust to make trails in the yard. And add some more to the garden. Hummmm...I should just call in dead. I guess I should just go to bed. Oh wait, I really need to ice down my butt.

Say Cheese

It's my weakness. Melty, ooey, gooey, and delicious and it hates me! We all have our weakness and mine is *sigh* cheese. Why couldn't it be beets, or spinach, or radishes? Although I do like all those things, nothing compares to cheese. Today as I ran around trying to get everything done I thought about my relationship with the foods I eat. I could eat cheese on everything. Literally!!! It stems from a way back memory in my childhood where I would want a snack before bed and somehow my family thought a rolled up piece of cooked ham and cheese would be a great before bed treat. Today I have a hard time functioning without it. So what do we do with that? Do we crush the craving and never look back, totally eliminating it from our diets forever? Or do we learn how to have a non emotional relationship with it, knowing at any minute it could bring us to our knees. One of those relationships that, if it was a real person, my friends would be talking intervention! Just a thought. Don't have an answer to it. I have started to appreciate food more now that I am limiting it. Things taste better when you only have so much to savore.

One thing I am the proudest of is my bloodsugar. This morning it was 113 and I actually got dizzy several times. Guess I'll need to tweak it and start backing off from the meds some. They say at Fitness Ridge many people are able to get off their diabetes meds altogether. That's what I would look forward to most.

Tonight Grace and I went to Zumba at the Latino night club, La Rumba. I love the energy those instructors bring to the stage. I had some soup before I went though and decided that wasn't a good choice. That stuff started sloshing around and gave me a side cramp. Next time I won't eat til after class.

I only have 2 weeks and 2 days til I leave for Fitness Ridge and tomorrow is my third appointment with a trainer. I've opted to go with different trainers each week to get many opinions before I go. I'm glad I did that, because they have all been great. Love my gym!!

Goodnight to all and I hope your day was as rewarding as mine. Think about what I said with the food thing. Would love to hear what you have to say.

In The Groove

They say when you finally figure out what works for you in exercise, eating, etc. it will just fall into place. I think I'm getting there. I figured out I really, really love to hike. I love the fact that it burns loads of calories in a short amount of time. I also love Zumba. I love that it feels like you are dancing, which was a favorite activity of mine in High School and later after college. I look a little more clumsy now when I do it. Let's just say the mind is willing, but the body...well, it needs a little tweaking. I also love to swing the kettlebell. That makes your body rock hard and helps to burn more calories, another plus. So my weight is the lowest it's been in years, my blood sugars are completely normal and I've started having dizzy spells which is telling me it won't be long until I need to start reducing my medicine for diabetes. I guess I'm on track for the Ridge. I only regret that I have little time to work out this week. It's a killer. Goat milk soap parties, end of year testing for homeschool, Dr. appts, and arts council parties. All good stuff, but stressful and not much time for the gym or walking. Next week will be different. I specifically left the two last weeks pretty much open so I could focus on getting to where I needed to be. I really want to get into the Advanced Hiking group. It has been said that there are more fun hikes on it and less people. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers.

So I guess we all watched it last night right? Biggest Loser last chance makeover LOL! I'm here to tell you Austin was way over due!!! Steve figured out he looks like a young slightly pudgie Bill Clinton. I cried when the sistas came out in their dresses, smokin hot! You go Hannah Bear!!! Woot Woot! I cried again when Olivia's husband was there and they had both lost 99 lbs each. I cried when they won the cars, cried when Olivia sang. Geez...the drama!!! I can't stand it. So who do you think will win? I guess one of the guys has the most to lose, but the girls can make them go away quick. I would love to see an all girl final three. How cool would that be?

So what about you? Have you gotten your groove on? Take a little time today to remember what makes you happy, excited, energetic. My goat milk soap business has a motto: "Give Goat Love a Chance Man!" I'm asking you today to "Give Yourself a Chance Man!"

Yes, Yes, Yes!

I owe this day you, my readers. After church we ate lunch and headed off to the mountains to hike the Boone Fork Trail. This is the one we did last Sunday, 5 miles, 3 hours, and butt kicking for days! I must have eaten too much lunch (we had breakfast foods) and I could feel my blood sugar starting to rise. I got sleepy and the last thing I wanted to do was stare Daniel Boone in the face. Those 5 miles are filled with rock formations, roots, creeks to shimmy across, and up and down hill after hill. We started the hike and I told myself I would only go one mile and we could say we tried and come back. Two miles isn't that bad, huh? We had gotten about a 1/4 mile into it and nature called; the kind of nature that takes a lot of toilet paper! So I'm squatting in the mountain laurels and at this point I'm really trying to figure out how to call it quits, then I remembered the blog. I remembered that you guys are counting on me and I put one foot in front of the other and the next thing I knew we were done. OK well it didn't happen that fast, but wow was it better than last week. I only had to stop for two breaks. Last week it was a least half a dozen. My heart rate was faster cause I was booking it. And we cut a whole 38 minutes off our time from last week!!!! Now that my dears is progress. I am so excited I didn't quit. I love going hiking with my family. The weather was great and we grilled out when we got back to the picnic area where you start the hike. Next weekend when we go, I will take my camera and get some shots of the trail. I seriously doubt they have worse in Utah. At least out there they don't have all the roots and creeks to content with. The hardest step to getting fit is the first step. If Courtney can do it, I can do it. That's my new motto. She did great at home cause she had a winning attitude and utter concentration on what her goal was. We can do this people. We can beat the system. We can make the changes we need to. Stick in there and I hope to see you all on the other side. Oh, and my calorie burn: 900 calories during the hike and the following 3 hours of afterburn. This week decide you are going to do something. Don't let anything stand in your way, not even a trip to the mountain laurels;)