M.I.A.- that has been me with blogging this week! 

Not even sure where to begin...but guess I'll start with WW updates.  I found that I was very focused this week, kept within my daily/weekly points and got in a TON of activity.  Ended the week with 73 Activity points and I didn't use any of them.  It's amazing how many points you earn with line dancing!   I finally made it back to my WW meeting this past Friday and of course it seemed like I lost more than I did on their scale since I have been updating and weighing at home the last 3 weeks.  However, my total loss is now 11.2 for 8 week total- which is not bad.  I had hoped to reach 12 pounds at this weigh in with all the activity, but oh well- scale does not always cooperate! 

My workouts this week were a combination of teaching and doing my own thing.  Body Pump twice- once in my living room to start learning the new release that I'll be launching in two weeks and one night subbing at Fitness 101- I really do love teaching BP!  Hoping soon I will be regularly teaching BP!  I subbed a spin class and taught my own Friday class and also subbed Zumba for the first time in about 6 months and it went amazingly well I thought.  I went on several walks- the weather has been gorgeous and I have a serious "farmers tan" that I need to do something about.  Ugh!   At my Friday spin class, I had a special guest- my boss Michele.  It's that annual time for class audits/reviews and I was very pleased that after class she had very good things to say about my class- so that helped to kick off my weekend! 

Friday was Bill's birthday and we had an amazing time celebrating- took him to see Cars 2 at the movie theater and then out to dinner at Spasso's.  We were joined by the McClymond family and Yvonne & kids- a great time at both.  Then we were off to the Saddle Rack where we were joined by Tiina & Chris and later Diane & Mike showed up to continue with the celebration...Bill was very touched that they were able to join us.  Danced a fair amount and got home late.  We slept in Saturday, I went for a walk to meet friend Kristy & her daughter at the park, had a nice visit and then I walked back home.  Bill & I watched movies Saturday night & relaxed.  Today was a productive day (once we got up at noon), I got some work done, Bill & I went for massages and then had Mexican dinner out.   I'm going to have to be careful here on out for the week with points. 

It has been a great week and I'm looking forward to having another great week.  We've now been going dancing on Wednesday nights and we are loving it- extra activity doing something we love and learning new dances...lots of fun! 

EXHAUSTED!  But boy what a couple of pretty great days!

Friday morning I woke up still having pain in my foot/leg/hip and decided to sleep in a bit more and forego my WW meeting, but then found that I really didn't think I could teach my spin class.  I was lucky enough to find a sub at 8am for my 915am class (thanks Blair)!   I was then able to go to the Chiropractor early in the day and after a wicked adjustment, I was 95% better- it amazes me, but I am thankful!    I ran a few more errands and had a pretty busy work day as well trying to get two groups booked to Vegas..but once 6pm rolled around, I was ready to have some dinner with my hubby and get ready for a night of dancing and thankfully, I felt like I could!   

It was a GREAT night at the Saddle Rack, danced almost non-stop from 9pm-1am, spent quality time with BFF  Tiina and her honey Chris, did not get sucked into any drama- because as my friend Heide says "drama does not belong on the dance floor" and we had such an amazing time.  The bottom line regarding drama- I know that I have not done anything wrong nor has anyone that I love- karma is already beginning to work its magic and I just need to be patient to see it all unfold.    I didn't get to bed until after 2am, slept in a bit on Saturday.

Saturday I was able to do Body Pump in my living room, experiencing the new release- which was AWESOME and then Bill & I went for a 75 minute/4 mile walk.  Well, this was my first walk using one of my new pairs of shoes and unfortunately, I was in pain a good portion of the walk- had to stop and stretch a few times, but made it back home.  Bill hooked me up with a foot massage before we headed out to pick up my mom and all her "donations" for the Thrift Store.  We then went to the movies to see "Midnight in Paris"- which was great for the scenery (Paris), but the story line was a little slow.  We then had a great dinner at Kingfish- overall a good day/night!  

Sunday we both slept until noon, probably would have slept longer if it wasn't for my brother calling- but guess we needed it!   Talked with him for a bit, was great to catch up and then after watching a bit of the Giants game, I set out for my walk in my 2nd pair of new shoes- today I did a little better, walked 45 minutes to Sunny's house and then another 45 minutes back home.  I needed to get instructions on taking care of her kitties this week while she travels.   Felt good to get the workout in.  Bill gave me another fabulous foot rub after dinner.

I think my foot problems are solved for the most part- I believe the new shoes/inserts will do the trick- I think the pain I've still been experiencing is just leftover from the two days of abuse this past week in my old shoes added to that 4 hours of boot scootin' on Friday- I think I need new inserts in my boots!   

I have already earned 35 activity points for this week- just over the weekend.  You earn a lot of points line dancing!!  YAY me!     I did not lose any weight last week- I gained 4/10 of a pound- but I was still level at 10 pounds!    I expect great things this week!  Sometimes you have to take a step back to take many forward- I've been down this road before- so I'm prepared! 

Time for Change....

...change of foot attire that is!   After my 7 mile walk Tuesday and a 6 mile walk yesterday, I felt energized, but I also felt some major pain in my left foot/ankle and up eventually into my hip.   This brought back memories of my Nike 1/2 marathon last year and how I felt so crippled for days following.  Now I did attribute that to the fact that I had trained very little and that I had developed a blister and had probably walked funny to protect that blister.  Well, the more I got to thinking about this last night (after experiencing pain while line dancing - NOT ACCEPTABLE) - I got to think that my Superfeet inserts really have not been all that super.  They never did feel quite right - ever, but I worked with it and they never caused me too much pain on short walks- so the light bulb went off today- they just were not working for me at all.  

Since we went dancing last night and I stayed up later than I had wanted, I decided to sleep in until 745am, giving myself just enough time to get ready, check emails and head out to my hair appointment.  Decided afterwards to go to Runner's High in Menlo Park and get some help with my feet.  Ended up buying two new pairs of shoes, new inserts (NOT Superfeet, but rather a brand that I had used 10 years ago) and went home wearing them.  Amazing how much better my leg feels now after a day in properly supportive shoes.  I was planning on going for a shorter walk this evening, followed by Body Pump in my living room to do the new release that just arrived yesterday - but work took over and I didn't get done working until 645pm- although I'm never done- still have much to do.  Decided today was going to be a day off of activity, whether I want it or not.  Probably not a bad idea to let my foot/ankle/hip recover a bit more and I know that I am out of alignment- tomorrow's chiropractor appointment is going to feel so good! 

Looking forward to the weekend, going to dance all night long tomorrow night- our second Friday night since my mom's hospital ordeal...so this will feel great.  Will put in some time walking, doing Body Pump and getting some work done and Bill & I plan to go to mom's to pick up her Donation pile and take care of that..overall though a pretty low key weekend.  Maybe even get some sun worshiping done - assuming there will be warm enough sun to worship! 

So I will end this week with a Negative 19 weekly points- I didn't make up the entire 52, but I did make a serious dent in the deficit, more than I thought possible.  I would love to weigh in tomorrow and see a loss- but I will be happy with staying the same with all the challenges that have been put in my path this past week. 

Focused...18 Activity Points earned today! 

Well, last night I honestly thought there was no way I would rid myself of my 52 point deficit for the week...

maybe I was wrong!   Today I set my alarm to get up at 515am to go to Body Pump, but I was just too tired..and Tuesday is one of those days with options- 3 Body Pump classes taught by 3 instructors who I love and respect..so since 6am was not going to happen and it was my first day back to work after two days off, I knew leaving for 1020am class would not be a great idea...so 630pm it was going to be with Amy! 

After a quick check on my email, to find not much new going on (sure a long "to do" list of things to work on) but nothing pressing..I decided to go for my walk.  My BFF Diane is in Tahoe this week, so I was going to be walking solo - I set out at 915am and didn't return until 1115am...just started walking my familiar route from my house and then decided to expand upon it.!  For Redwood City folks- I left my house on Kentfield- walked to Redwood and then to McGarvey, all the way up to Farm Hill, up to Emerald Hill, then down Bret Hartt to Glennan, down Farm Hill to McGarvey to Fernside- all the way to Massachusetts to Alameda back to McGarvey, down to Redwood, Valota, Palm and finally back to Kentfield.  It turned out to be a 7 mile walk...gee guess I'm training for the Nike in October and maybe this year I won't have blisters for lack of training!   It was a beautiful day and a GREAT walk!   

I could have been done at that point- but after a day of work and 2 loads of laundry (which still need to be folded and put away)- I decided to close up my office at 445pm and head to the gym for 515pm yoga followed by 630pm Body Pump.  Over 4 hours of Activity today = 18 Activity points earned...so heck maybe I can end this week without a negative Activity Point deficit.  We will see.  

It was a good day and I am feeling very good- back on track with eating.   Hubby and I had a discussion today about how gross we both felt last night after dinner at Chevy's - although I did not order the 35 point Quesadilla that I used to eat ALL of the time...I still felt cruddy after that meal- makes you wonder what the heck they put in the food.  Funny thing is we never felt that way after any of the cruise ship meals....but it certainly felt better to be back on track. 

Tomorrow I am hoping for the early alarm clock- I looked up kickboxing and seems an hour of that earns like 12 activity points- so heck that sounds good to me!  Then hubs and I plan to go dancing tomorrow night.  One of our favorite dance instructors is teaching on Wednesday nights and we would love for this to turn into a permanent gig for her and perhaps even grow into other nights...so we have to show our support and love! She usually draws a very good dance crowd- people serious about dancing! 

Off to dreamland- I am sure I will sleep like a baby...just hope I can move in the morning! 

6 Weeks = 10.4 pounds....but what will happen this week?

I was delighted to step on the scale Friday morning and see the loss of 2.2 pounds to put me at a total of 10.4 lost in 6 weeks!!  Elated, excited...I wanted 10 pounds by the 10th - just sounded good and realistic.   So then we were off to the airport early for our flight to Long Beach for our 3 day Anniversary Cruise...so a HUGE Challenge-- you just don't stay on program when you are on a cruise- it is pretty much impossible.

Now I will say that I didn't FILL myself up at mealtime- I ate until I was satisfied- but it's very hard to gauge how many points you are eating when you do not have a hand in the preparing of the food.  You just know there are a ton of behind the scenes things used in cooking that add 1 point here, 1 point there...so I decided I would not stress about it, but would try to be conscious of when I was hungry and how much I would eat and drink.  I did not gorge myself on desserts every night- we did have a special Anniversary cake the first night that we shared with our table mates- it was light and delicious...the remainder of the nights I ordered ice cream.  It's hard to avoid the bread and butter- so most nights I had 1-2 rolls and/or slices of bread, I did order soup every night, which I hardly ever have soup- it's a treat for me to have soup when on a cruise.  Two nights we had late night snacks- but I did not load up my plate- got the one thing I wanted and that was it.

However, having said all of that- I am currently sitting on a NEGATIVE 52 weekly point deficit - which means I have used all of my daily points while away (no surprise), all of my 49 weekly points AND the 32 Activity points that I earned this past weekend....so I will try, but will find it very difficult to earn enough activity points in the next 3 days to offset that 52 point deficit...gee that would be what...more than 15 points per day-- not going to happen.    I hope that all of my food logging from the weekend is overstated and that reality is not as bad as I have portrayed it - but guess we'll see on Friday when I go to weigh in.

I am incredibly sore - my entire body hurts- and I chalk that up to a combination of the fact that we have not been dancing in two months and just got done dancing 3 nights in a row  PLUS yesterday I wanted to make the most of our visit to the gym that I pushed myself to do 4 miles in an hour- this meant running a good part of one of those miles...kept positive self-talking to go just another 30 seconds, just another minute, just get through this song...and I'd say that I ran probably 8/10 of that one mile...but OUCH!

It was very nice to put on my jeans each night and have them feel loose..it was also nice to not feel like I wanted to rip my belly button ring out- for months it has been so uncomfortable to be wearing that darn thing, but I've been stubborn- that discomfort was a reminder of the weight gain!   It was also nice to come home tonight and run into a neighbor who automatically said, "you look like you've lost weight".  As anyone who has tried to lose weight will agree- those words are music to my ears!   Even Bill mentioned that he never felt winded while dancing...amazing what 9-10 pounds difference can make!

So enough of the WW doom and gloom- Bill & I did have a fabulous Anniversary Celebration, it was great to just "BE" together- alone, just us- we did meet some nice people, ran into someone from my childhood neighborhood whose brother was in my class 1st-8th grades...and then also ran into one of my H.S. teachers too...crazy, small world we live in!   Happy to have had this time with Bill to celebrate 5 years of wonderful marriage- we both agreed this was our 2nd favorite Anniversary celebration, right behind our 1st year celebration- which was also a cruise!  

Now for my "Monday" tomorrow....short week, but hoping to make it a productive week on many fronts!  Then a weekend coming with very little planned- YAY!!!!!

Reflections....the week, the last 5 years...the amazing marriage I am blessed with....CAUTION, this blog has potential to be completely RANDOM.

I can say whole-heartedly that this has been an exhausting week- I think coming off of the weekend with all the work putting mom's house back in order, dealing with various emotions surrounding that and then getting our life back to "normal".   Bill & I have been living "alone" again now for 5 nights and he still has his things in my bathroom..wonder if now the "guest bathroom" is going to stay that or if he will reclaim it when we return from our cruise.

So this "normal" week included, 3 walks for 3 miles each with BFF Diane, even on a rainy day we lucked out and the rain didn't come down until after we were done, I only got in one Body Pump class, was aiming for two, but ran our of steam, I went to the Giants game (have not been to one since Opening Day)- had some fun gal pal time there with Sunny and Marion, I made a TON of progress on work things; although I still have a bunch of things that will be waiting for me when I return Tuesday.  Had hoped to make it dancing Wednesday night to the Saddle Rack since one of our FAVORITE Dance instructors was going to be teaching, but Bill worked until 630pm, so that didn't happen- can't blame it all on him- I was tired too.

We leave tomorrow morning for Long Beach for a quick 3 day cruise to Baja to celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary- where has 5 years gone?  I am in total disbelief, it has been a wild, but wonderful ride for sure.  Each and every day I am reminded of how lucky I am to be with such a wonderful Husband.  We laugh together, we cry together (happy tears mostly), we dance together, we just 'are' together.  We are a perfect fit and accept everything about the other...it'll be so nice to just get away to a place where cell phones don't work, internet is too slow to try and we can just BE together- dancing 3 nights in a row, having some good gym time, catch up on some reading and of course- I must practice my Zumba playlist for Monday's class! Yikes! 

I didn't make it to WW this morning as I had hoped- so I will do my Friday morning weigh in- here at home and then I'll get back to my meeting schedule next Friday- but I feel confident that I've reached my goal for this week- I just feel it!  Now to be careful while away this weekend to not overindulge.  

I took mom to two Dr. Appts today and both went well- her foot Dr. said there just isn't much they can do for her toe that has arthritis- but she's ok with that- he called her a tough cookie and she smiled and said "darn right I am"...then the Vascular Specialist was not concerned at all about her circulation in the legs- she did some tests and said that she has good genes and is in pretty darn good health all things considered..pretty amazing.  For being such a good patient, I stopped by Mitchell's Ice Cream to get her a milkshake- she's addicted to milkshakes now and her weigh in at the Dr office was an even 99 pounds (it was 102.5 with her coat on- who wears a coat in June that weighs 3 pounds??? my mom!)...but she is up 2.5 pounds from the last weigh in at my house- so that is great news!  She wants to get to 105.  It's just wrong that she needs to gain and I need to lose....

So time to think about packing- yes it's almost midnight and I have not packed and we leave the house at 645am- do i ever learn?  Nope- it's just the craziness of my life I suppose!   I always seem to run out of day!

MOM is back HOME!

This was a VERY busy weekend- in fact I am still tuckered out tonight!   Friday night was a night at home- I actually was in bed before 11pm on a Friday night- I don't think that has happened in a very long time!   But I needed the rest, it felt good and I actually set an early morning alarm clock to make sure I got to the gym.  I took the 710am Body Pump class, followed by the 815am step class.  I am usually a pretty lame stepper- but I managed through the class- Amy was a great instructor and I got a fabulous workout.    I came home after a few errands, had some breakfast and shower, then we headed up to mom's house with her this time.

The whole family was there, minus one nephew and we worked at getting more things in place and unpacking knick knacks, etc.   Mom was able to sort through some things and determine if she really wanted to keep things or get rid of some- Pick of the Litter is going to have a huge donation soon!   We worked diligently from 1pm until 10pm.   But we had made incredible progress, although had a few setbacks..,my mom's new kitchen shade was about an inch too wide and it can't be trimmed down- so we have to order a new one and one of her favorite table lamps met an untimely demise - so that also needs to be replaced.  It was a fairly stressful day for most of us, a little trying at times (way too many people in such a small house at one time), but in the end we accomplished quite a bit.   We got home around 11pm and made dinner and my mom and I stayed up until 2am chatting, Bill was with us until 1am- hen he slept on the couch!  

We all slept in Sunday- got out of bed around 11am and slowly came to life- we were all exhausted beyond belief.  But we finally left the house around 1pm and did a Target run, Bed Bath & Beyond and Safeway...4 hours later we were finally on the road to S.F.- this time it was just Bill, my mom and myself- we each had our duties and got her completely moved in - we left her house around 930pm and she still had a few boxes of things to sort through and put in their places, but overall the house looked really good- I am pissed that I forgot to take after pictures- but will take some Thursday when I take her to a Dr. appt.  

I think mom is very pleased with her house and all of the improvements, she is worried about being lonely now after living with us for a couple of months and I worry about her in that regard she is also lonely because her main activity while home was smoking and she has made it no secret that she does miss the cigarettes- she says she wants one, but that she won't smoke...we'll see- I just pray that IF she tries that she quickly realizes that they don't taste good anymore.

I have been feeling "Skinny" these past few days - so I have jumped on the scale and am fairly confident that I will meet or exceed my goal for this week's weigh in.  I'm going to try to get to WW on Thursday this week since Friday we leave for our 5th Anniversary Cruise...my goal is 10 pounds by the 10th- I'm really loving this program and it's getting really easy, I am loving my workouts and finding it easier to fit them into my schedule- trying to get 1-2 in per day....I still need to incorporate some yoga, I just have not had the right schedule at the gym to fit into my schedule- but plan to work it out.   I am sitting here right now with 25 weekly and 35 activity points unused...I am going out tomorrow night to the Giants game- but will be ok.

Starting to stress a bit over the fact that I am subbing Zumba next week for 4 weeks and I have not taught the class in over 6 months- I have to get my playlist together this week before we go away so I can review and practice while on the cruise...otherwise I'm screwed!  I should have gone to Zumba tonight to get some practice and review-- but was just too wiped out!

WHAT A DAY!!

Today was HORRIBLE!!  Well, I guess it wasn't all bad...but considering I worked until 2am last night - that just set the stage for a bad Friday.  I really wanted to get to my WW meeting, but the alarm sounded and I just could not drag myself out of bed.  I re-set my alarm for an hour later so that I could get up for my spin class.  I was still dead as could be, tried texting two instructor friends to see if either of them could sub for me - but no response, so I had to pull it together and get to the gym.

I felt like I was sleep-spinning, you know the equivalent of sleep-walking...but actually it was a good class, had a great group and I was beat by the end of the hour.   I did weigh myself at home and found that I lost another pound, so I am down 8.4 total.  I am really hoping and going to push for 10 pounds total by the end of this week- that would be a great Anniversary gift for the 10th of June!

So the horrible part of my day started once I got to my desk for work.  Just an insane day, nothing seemed to go right.  Worked my butt off all day on a last minute Maui package and then in the end they changed their dates and booked online less than an hour ago because they didn't want to risk losing the price...sucks because with the new dates I had the same price.  Another one bites the dust!    I had a corporate client trying to get upgraded for a Monday flight and no matter what we tried it just was not coming together...very frustrating.  I'm sure there was something else that I'm not thinking of right now- but it just seemed to all hit me at once.  OH yes and then Bill calls in the midst of all this with a "problem" - poor guy I darn near bit his head off - his problem wasn't anything terrible- he had a dead battery and AAA was on the way to help- but my reaction was terrible to him and would if there really was something awful that had happened and that was how I had responded to him.  I need to take some anger management classes or something.

Not sure if it was just lack of sleep and all the stress of this week (there has been a ton) or what..but I have been a beast these past few days.  I am sure my mom is starting to wear on me a bit and she will finally go home this weekend- but that is probably also stressing me out also- how will she be alone- I know she's going to miss having the constant company.  Just can't win...I'm going to stress either way.

I am happy with this weeks WW results- a pound is a pound- I did do so much more activity and had hoped for more than that--but it is what it is.  Hubby lose 1/2 pound and he's not happy with that either- but he has not been using all of his daily points each day- which I told him that was probably the issue- he has to eat to the daily point limit so that his body doesn't think he's starving it!   I'm exhausted and am going to get to bed early..get a good night's rest and hopefully get up early and do back to back classes at the gym, and then late morning, "Project Mom's House" resumes, but we are bringing mom up there also so she can help go through stuff.  Sunday is move in day!

When one door closes...another opens?

I have always believed that and am hoping that it proves to be true.  I definitely believe that everything happens for a reason.  A week ago tonight, I had taught what I thought was going to be MY regular Body Pump class, only to find out the next day that it was a mistake, I was not supposed to be offered the class, someone else was in line for it before me, etc.  I actually did not take it personally - thanks to the way it was explained to me.

Well, two days ago another facility sent out an email that they are wanting to expand their Group X schedule at their main office in Newark and wanted to see which instructors who are employed at their Menlo Park gym would be interested.  So my first reaction was "Newark?"- but even the Director said in her email that they were a mere 8 minutes away from their Menlo Park Gym and I know this to be true.  When my friend Lisa said I had to come with her to the Saddle Rack sometime 7 years ago, I was like "Fremont- are you kidding me, that's so far away!"- Well, it's really not far at all and Newark is much closer.  I thought about it all day and then finally sent off an email with my schedule and availability.  Today I heard back from the Director that she thinks she will schedule me for a Monday and Thursday evening Body Pump class for the month of August- they are launching a Health & Fitness month to preview additional classes and then based on how that goes, the classes will become permanent.   So maybe this is my path to teaching Body Pump regularly- it's not the ideal location, it's not my first choice place- but who knows?  It shouldn't take me any more time to drive to Newark as it did to the Palo Alto JCC, I am optimistic, but guarded.  I'm afraid of getting my hopes up too high and then get deflated again!   So we will see, I hope to hear the final word soon.

This has been a crazy week and feels like it's been a full 5 days already, yet it's only been 2 days and I feel time slipping away- so much to do, so little time to get it all done.  My two groups for this and next weekend are coming together nicely- so that is a huge load lifted off my back, but I was so exhausted last night after working until 1am.  I ended up missing a Seminar this morning, I just could not get myself out of bed- I needed sleep.  I think my body has been in shock with all of the activity I've been getting lately. - I currently stand at having earned 52 Activity points this week- 43 of them unused.  Hopefully, that will translate to weight loss on the scale, but I am finding out more than ever that sleep has a lot to do with healthy weight loss and I need to make an effort with getting more sleep.  So what am I doing blogging at 1140pm?  It's my bewitching hour- LOL

I will have a busy two days left of the week with a lot of travel work that needs completing, mom has a hair appointment tomorrow and I am subbing Body Pump tomorrow night.  Friday, WW, Spin, might get to Zumba as well (I need to refresh my choreography before I sub for 4 weeks starting 6/13)...and then will enjoy the last Friday night at home with mom.  She moves back home on Saturday...a little over 2 months  after her hospital stay.  In fact, tomorrow- June 2nd will be two months.   It has been nice having her here with us and I would not trade having this experience for the world - BUT, it will be nice to resume to our normal life again.  She is driving me just a little nuts from time to time with her OCD and her Nervous Nelly idiosyncrasies.  She worries about the silliest things, but I guess that's what 82 year old ladies do.   

I am really looking forward to next weekend though- Bill and I get to celebrate our 5 year Wedding Anniversary on board a short cruise to Ensenada- it will just be nice to get away and be alone!  :D