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

What a weekend!

(Sorry Kristy- I really was going to use that title and then I saw your blog first, but I'm too tired to come up with something else)  :)

Friday- weigh in day- I expected a loss and I got one...1.4 pounds this past week, for a total of 7.4 pounds lost.  I was very happy with that.  Losing at a consistent pace and at a healthy pace - right on target.   Bill weighed in this morning and he has lost a total of 7 pounds so far.   My sister after her first week has lost 4.8 pounds...very excited for her as well!    I had a busy Friday with work- tried to get two groups wrapped up with contracts, but unfortunately, only one group finalized with the paperwork- I am confident the other will finalize tomorrow- making tomorrow a very crazy day as then I'll have about 30 airline reservations to get done.   By the time I was done with work Friday night, as much as I wanted to get out and go dancing- I was exhausted.  I think all of my extra workouts - I did have a total of 9 workouts this past week, with some great walks in the hills that my body needed the extra rest.   We stayed in Friday night and hopefully that is the last Friday night we stay in for a long time.

Saturday was a busy day- started with a trip to the gym to take Body Pump- Kristy taught a great class and afterwards I ran a few errands, came home had lunch and then took mom out to Kohl's and Safeway.  A couple hours later, we were home and putting everything away, time to cook dinner and relax a bit before Bill & I got showered and ready to head to the Little Fox for an 80's dance party to benefit the Juventus Soccer League.  Kristy had advertised the event on Facebook the other day, and I thought a dance night close to home might be fun and help raise money for a good cause.  Bill  & I hung out there for a few hours- and had a good time.  We did a few line dances when the dance floor was unoccupied and then did a lot of freestyle dancing - it felt SO GOOD to DANCE!   We finally rolled into bed around 1am...it was a good day- some gym time, some relax time, some productive time and some dance time.  YAY!

Sunday I actually FINALLY got up early to get to church.  Part of Pastor Eric's sermon had to do with "why people don't go to church" and what reasons do people come up with- well the first reason someone shouted out was "it's too early"- Pastor replied back with an "AMEN to that"- he is NOT a morning person!   It felt good to be back to my spiritual family and listen to a good message.  Stood outside afterwards chatting with my brother and another couple from church for over an hour - it was a beautiful morning and I actually got a bit of a sunburn standing out there.   Well, then duty called so I went back to home and got ready to head to mom's house for "Project Get it Back Together Again" -  The entire family was on hand to move furniture, bring up lamps, hang pictures, etc.  We had quite the the project ahead of us and we started at 1pm and went full steam ahead until 830pm- no breaks, just go-go-go.  We did not get everything done, but we made a lot of progress.    By the time we got home, picked up dinner from Villa Lucia's on the way home, had a yummy pizza dinner, glass of wine and then off to bed by midnight!  We were exhausted and I'm sure earned a ton of activity points...it's very hard to calculate...but as always I will under-estimate.  I'd rather think I have fewer activity points vs. overstating it!  

Monday (this has been the longest holiday weekend EVER!) - I hauled my dead butt out of bed at 8am to get to the gym.  I took Body Pump- which was taught by one of my very first bosses in the fitness industry.  I've taken classes from her over the past few years and it's always a huge disappointment.  For someone who has been in the industry for such a long time and has all the certifications for group exercise and personal training, I am always baffled with some of the contra-indicated stuff that she teaches- like encouraging participants to go as low as you can with squats and her "model" shows her ass going almost to her ankles- and I'm not kidding here at all!    During the bicep track she was shaking her ass enough that it might as well have been a Zumba class-- I mean she was literally dancing during the bicep track.   And to top it all off, she was not teaching Body Pump- she was teaching Group Power- which is a HUGE no-no!  These are both licensed programs, well to be honest I'm not really sure if Group Power is "as licensed" as Body Pump is- so I will speak to what I know.

Body Pump is a licensed program and each instructor who is certified signs an instructor agreement, each instructor has to be "sponsored" by a licensed facility to stay "active", by staying active you receive new music and choreography every quarter- I'm beginning to wonder if this instructor is on the active roster with Les Mills or not.  I know she teaches Group Power (which is a similar, but far inferior program to Body Puimp) at another facility and she probably figures nobody at PAC would know that she's not doing Body Pump music/choreography/program.  It was very disappointing to see such disrespect for a program like this.   It makes me very angry actually.  I'm not really sure what to do about it.  As a dues paying member, I can complain.  However, I am also a substitute teacher at the facility and am afraid that a complaint coming from me would appear to have ulterior motives since I have made it clear that I would love a class at this facility- so I have a dilemma.  But honestly, someone like this should not be allowed to teach a format with such a blatant disregard for the rules of the program.   Perplexed.

For probably the first time ever, I was happy to see the class end- in fact, I cut my ab work short and did my stretching and then left during the official stretch.  I had plans to take spin immediately following with Kristy- so I wanted to make sure to have time to set up my bike.  It was a class taught by my ex-husband Ron and it was a GREAT class.   I have not taken his class in a long time and he really does teach a fantastic class- good music, great coaching, great workout- it was refreshing.  He has certainly improved over the years, but with his triathlon background was always a pretty good spin instructor.   Once class was over, we chatted for a bit and then Kristy and I walked to our cars and chatted a bit before going our separate ways.   I picked up Rob's birthday cake and then got to work once I was home- had to clean up the house before company- Bill and I worked a good 2 hours on cleaning everything and company arrived around 330pm and we put on a very nice Birthday BBQ for Rob's 16th birthday.  By the time everyone left around 930pm, we were pooped!   I sit here not to far away from bed time.

I can't believe tomorrow is Tuesday already.  It's going to be a busy week with work- I have several projects that will all be coming to a head this week.   I am doing pretty well with WW this week thus far- my weekly points are gone and I have 42 unused activity points.  I probably have more than that- but trying to log conservatively.   I've had all sorts of favorite foods this weekend- pizza, Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, steak, baked potatoe, etc.  I did send the leftover cake home with the Birthday Boy, I had my treat and that was good enough.   I will continue to get in my workouts this week and hope to see a good number on Friday- I'd love to see 2.6 as that would put me at 10 pounds- but it's probably a bit over-ambitious.  We'll see.  Time for bed....well after I finish crying- watching one of the old Criminal Minds episodes and it always make me cry!

HEARTBROKEN.....

Today the air got let out of my Body Pump Balloon.  I received a call from the person who is covering for the Director at the JCC (I think she is the boss of the Director/person who hired me) and the long and the short of it is I no longer have a Wednesday Body Pump class to teach.  POOF, here today, gone tomorrow basically.  

Judy was very nice and felt very awkward to have to have this conversation with me, someone she doesn't know.  She went onto say that it has nothing to do with me or how I taught last night, they didn't receive a single complaint about me or anything like that.  In fact, she said that if people didn't like "MY" class, she would have heard about it because the membership at this facility is very vocal.

The problem lies in the fact that months ago members lobbied and made their voices heard that they wanted Instructor X to have a Body Pump class on the schedule and supposedly this request was overwhelming and Management promised that when something becomes available, they would offer it to Instructor X.  Well, someone goofed and offered this class to me, when it should have been offered to Instructor X.   So the members were pissed that their promise had been broken, that their voices had not been heard or that their voices had been ignored when I showed up on the schedule.  They complained and they complained loudly to all the places that count:  General Manager, CEO, etc.   So there, BodyPump Class-less once again..back to being a 'bridesmaid'..and not the "Bride".

They did ask me to email them my schedule and availability and that she really wants to make something work on the schedule for me to be able to teach there, so I sent her the email with this information, tried to convey my HUGE passion for Body Pump- so now I wait and see.

So I am heartbroken, pissed off, deflated and have been in a serious rut all day long.  Can't believe I woke up feeling so good this morning, had a kick-ass walk in the hills, was feeling like I was going to attack the day and then had that conversation and have felt numb the rest of the day.   I still have a crapload of work to get done because I just have not been able to motivate or get focused on what I need to do-- been having a "pity party" as my friend BobbyJo would say....stuck in "stinkin' thinkin'" mode!   But at least I have not self-sabotaged myself with poor eating...although I did have lunch out with my mom today and had a juicy cheeseburger- YUM!  Only 5 points left today..so I will be dipping into weekly points once again, but only a few.  Sigh.

WOW- now that was FUN!!!

Today was just one of those days...nothing seemed to go right, I was stressed about several trips that weren't getting confirmed the way they should, got slammed with a group of 50-75 hotel rooms for NEXT Friday, which means I have to drop anything else I am working on - it's all good.  By the end of the day, I was done and I got a very nice email from a client- very simple, "Pam, You're Awesome! Thanks!".  That was exactly what I needed to get my mind in the right place!

Tonight was my first class at the Palo Alto JCC teaching the Wednesday 7pm Body Pump class, this is my new time slot- I can't wait to see my name on the schedule when the June one rolls out....finally, I am back in the Body Pump Saddle again, teaching the format that has always been my favorite & my first love in the fitness industry.   Ever since 24 hour fitness got rid of Body Pump back in 2002/2003 (sometime around then)- I have just been a "sub" for this format.  For a long time there was only one club in my area that had Body Pump, so I had to settle for subbing and eventually I was just "ok" with that.  For a very long time I have felt like "always the bridesmaid and never the bride" when it comes to teaching Body Pump.  Over the last two years, I have auditioned at numerous clubs, been put on the sub list at many of these clubs- but never offered a class of my own even though I made it very known that I would LOVE to have a class.  Well, it finally happened- a timely email to the director at the PAJCC letting her know that "should something come available, I'd be interested"-- well low and behold, not even a week later and POOF- an opening and it was offered to me- I jumped on the chance in a heartbeat- I didn't care what day, what time- that was all irrelevant - to be able to teach Body Pump again and to share this wonderful program with others, that is all I've wanted in my fitness career for a very long time!    Class went really well, there were 20 participants there, one of them I recognized from a class I subbed Monday morning and he was surprised that I remembered him and his name...I had several come up to me afterwards and thank me for a great class and said they'd see me next week.

I had one newbie who fortunately, I got to talk to him before class began outside of the GroupX room and explained everything about Body Pump that he needed to know..  I was even more thrilled that he placed himself front and center so that I could coach him discreetly during class since he was the only new one.  So often new people will hide in the back of class.  I just can't even begin to explain just how much fun it was to be up there and teach this class...it was exhilarating, it was fun, it was so cool..did I mention that it was fun?   So just a fabulous class...it was awesome!

This week has been going pretty well on the WW front- I have used all my weekly points as of today and did dip into my activity points (only 3 of them) today- I still have 41 untouched activity points- so I am confident that I will have a weight loss this week at weigh in.   Going to get a good night sleep tonight- starting the day off with a walk with Diane and hope to get in another workout at some point-  I'm already at my 8 workouts for the week- so should end the week with 9-10 before Friday's weigh in. YAY me!

Feeling pretty good....

I can't believe it's Monday already!  Had a good weekend overall.  We didn't make it dancing Friday night as planned and I really wished that we had, but the evening just came so quickly and we still had some prep work to do for the Redeemer family fun day picnic.  So it was a lazy Friday night.  Saturday was a busy day, I got up early and went to the gym to take two classes.  I decided to try a Step class and it was very good- a cross between step and internal weight training, followed by Kristy's Body Pump class.    Rushed out of the gym to pick up my mom and Bill to head to Family Fun Day at Huddart Park- it was freezing, but we had lunch, helped to clean up and then headed on our merry way...

Next stop- Lenscrafters where Bill & I dropped $1100 for 3 pairs of glasses (2 for him, 1 for me) - OUCH!  Sucks to get old.  LOL  Then to Aaron Brothers to get our sketched portraits from Paris framed, as well as, some frames for some prints we purchased.  YAY!    Safeway and then we finally made it back home around 8pm for some dinner and more relaxing time.   Sunday we slept in- I feel horrible that I have not made it to church in such a long time.  I realize that for many Sundays I was occupied with my mom and her recovery- but these last few Sundays, it's just been me unable to get up to the alarm clock.  I can only figure that it must be all the extra activity that I'm doing during the week that is catching up to me by Sunday and my body just needs the rest.  I had hoped to get out for a walk, but I needed to go shop for my mom's birthday gift and by the time I returned, ate some lunch, there wasn't enough time to walk before Bill & I had to leave for our massages.  Oh well, it is what it is.

I made up for it today, taught 7am Body Pump at OFJCC and then went on to do 40 minutes on the stair mill and another 15 minutes on the ellyptical trainer-- all in all a good workout.  I hate machines, so boring- but I didn't have a choice and I felt the positive effects of changing it up.   Ran a few errands and then came home to work and help my mom celebrate Birthday #82.  She had a good day and loved every part of it, makes it all worth it.

As for WW, I did well- right now at the end of Monday, I have 8 weekly points left and I have earned 30 activity points which remain untouched.  I don't have any more eating functions on the calendar this week, so I should end the week favorably.  I have walks scheduled with Diane Tuesday, Wednesday and probably Thursday.  I am teaching my own FIRST class at OFJCC this Wednesday night and can't wait, I am so excited! I spoke to my sister today and she has now joined WW, so I am hoping that she embraces the program and gets good results.  I'm sure she will, she is a veggie/fruit eater and this new program is much easier on those who like their fruits/veggies.  It has been a challenge for me, but I'm learning more and more each day and finding more and more "favorite foods".   I am finding that more and more I can't wait for Fridays and not just for the obvious reasons, but I actually love starting my day with my weigh in and meeting!  Even at 745am- WTH?? LOL

It has only been 3 weeks, well I'm in my 4th week, but I really am starting to feel different and am noticing how thins are fitting differently...I'm excited to be on this journey!

WEEK TO WEEK POINT/WEIGHT LOSS ANALYSIS:

5/6 - Week #1 - 1 weekly point unused, 32 Activity points unused  = 3.8 pounds lost

5/13 - Week #2 - 0 weekly points unused, 22 Activity points unused = 1.8 pounds lost

5/20 - Week #3 - 0 weekly points unused,  44 Activity points earned/21 unused =  .4 pounds lost
5/27 - Week #4 - 0 weekly points unused, 48 Activity points earned/37 unused = 1.4 pounds lost
6/3 - Week #5 - 0 weekly points unused, 56 Activity points earned/39 unused = 1 pound lost.    (weighed@home)
6/10 - Week #6 - 3 weekly points unused,  49 Activity points earned/unused = 2.2 pounds lost (@home)
*******10.6 lost thus far *********
6/17 - Week #7 - **anniversary cruise weekend** - used all weekly and then some -19 weekly by the end of the week and I earned 65 activity points that I completely used up as well  = .6 GAINED  (at 10 even now -weight @home)
6/24 - Week #8 - 0 weekly points left, 73 Activity points earned and unused = 1.2 lost  (11.2 total to date)
7/1 - Week #9 - 0 weekly points left,  53 Activity points earned, 34 unused = .8 lost (12 pounds total to date)
7/8 - Week #10- 1 weekly point left, 60 Activity points earned and unused = 3.2 lost (15.2 total)
7/15 - Week #11 - 0 weekly points left,  56 Activity points earned/34 unused = 1.8 lost (17 total)
7/22 - Week #12 - 0 weekly points left,  57 Activity points earned/34 unused = 1.4 GAINED  (15.6 total)
7/29 - Week #13 - 0 weekly points left, 60 Activity points earned/39 unused = 1 lost (16.6 total)
8/5 - Week #14 - 0 weekly points left, 79 Activity points earned/53 unused =  2.8 lost  (19.4 total)
**********10% goal is reach, my first weigh in was 194...so 19.4 exactly today = 10%- woo hoo****
8/12 - Week #15 - 0 weekly points left, 82 Activity points earned/42 unused =  1.2 lost (20.6 total)
8/19 - Week #16 - 0 weekly points left, 76 Activity points earned/66 unused = 3 lost  (23.6 total)
8/26 - Week #17 - 0 weekly points left, 68 Activity points earned/39 unused = .8 lost  (24.4 total)
9/2 - Week #18  -  0 weekly points left, 80 Activity points earned/ 63 unused = 1.6 lost (26 total)
9/9 - Week #19- 0 weekly points left, 80 Activity points earned/ 44 unused = 0  (26 total still)
9/16 - Week #20 - 0 weekly points left, 33 Activity points earned/all used (-76 weekly pts) = 0 (26 total still)
9/23 - Week #21 - 0 weekly points left, 65 Activity points earned/45 unused = +1.6  (24.4 total loss)
9/30 - Week #22 - 0 weekly points left, 43 Activity points earned/18 unused = +.6  (23.8 total loss)
****basically back to where I was on 8/19 - however, measurements are smaller****
10/7 - week #23 - 0 weekly points left,  70 Activity points earned/ 30 unused = -.8 (24,6 total loss)
10/14 - week #24 - 0 weekly points left, 69 Activity points earned/ 39 unused = -1.2  (total 25.8 loss)
10/21 - week #25 - 0 weekly points left, 43 Activity points earned/ 14 unused =  -2.8 (total 29 loss)
(it is now January 23rd and I have failed to keep this blog going and not all info is available on WW**
10/28 - week #26 - ??
11/4 - week #27 - ??
11/11 - week #28 - ??
11/18 - week #29 - ??
11/25 - week #30- ??
12/1 - week #31 - 0 weekly points left, 75 activity points earned/13 unused = -1.2 pounds
12/8 - week #32 -  0 weekly pts left, 51 activity points earned/24 unused =  -1.8 pounds lost
12/15 - week #33 -  0 weekly pts left, 59 activity points earned/2 unused = .08 lost
12/22 - week #34 - negative 28 weekly pts..all activity (53) used =  +2.9 pounds (holidays caught up)
12/29 - week #35 - 0 weekly pts left, 68 activity points earned & used  = 1.3 lost
1/5 - week #36 - 0 weekly pts left, 73 activity points earned/9 left =  gain of .2
1/12 - week #37 - 0 weekly pts left, 69 activity points earned/7 left = gain of .5
1/19 - week #38 -  negative 15 weekly points, all activity (54) used =  -2.5 lost
I've been going up & down with the same 3-4 pounds since 10/20/11, but I did re-take my measurements and I am losing inches.  I also shopped and purchased a size 10 and size 8 pair of jeans..so I do feel it even though the number may not be cooperating!

Three Weeks Under my Belt...TOTAL Weight Loss = 6 pounds even!

It really is amazing that if you listen to  your body it actually DOES talk to you!  The past two fridays, I woke up feeling skinnier, today- not so much.  I was pretty confident that I had lost some weight, but didn't expect a lot and on the scale and was happy to see .4 of a loss- not even 1/2 a pound- but that's ok.  I had a point filled weekend in Tahoe, Lunch out with mom on Monday, dinner at Chevy's with the girlfriends Tuesday and a business lunch on Thursday - .4 is fabulous, all things considered.

Even better is the average of 2 pounds per week- which I know is a healthy rate of losing weight.  I'm content.
But it really is amazing when you look at the facts- you can see how the points are relative to what the scale says.  Now I know there will come a week when the number on the scale doesn't add up to the points I've logged- that's just a mean body talking back at you for no reason.  For us women, it tends to be a hormonal backlash - but that's ok, I'm prepared for it, when it happens.

I am going to start a separate blog entry that I will update weekly - just to have a point/weight loss comparison that is visual because I think it's very interesting:

Week #1 - 1 weekly point unused, 32 Activity points unused  = 3.8 pounds lost
Week #2 - 0 weekly points unused, 22 Activity points unused = 1.8 pounds lost
Week #3 - 0 weekly points unused,  21 Activity points unused =  .4 pounds lost (note- I actually earned 44 activity points, so I used all daily, weekly and 23 activity points this week)

Ready for the weekend and hope to get a lot done.  Bill & I are going dancing tonight (mother's orders)- so lots of activity points to be earned, tomorrow I will hit the gym and hope to get in a walk on Sunday- but must also get some work done!   There is always something to get done!

The Moment of Truth....in about 8 hours!

I'm about ready to get to bed and am a bit anxious to see what the WW scale says in the morning.  I've had a very challenging week, but I am hopeful and maybe a little confident that I've lost some weight.  I am not expecting a huge weight loss- I'll be happy with anything after all of the eating out events this week.

My last eating event was a business lunch today, but I managed to keep lunch to 16 points- I had a bacon cheeseburger, no mayo- only mustard and a tad of ketchup.  And here is the defining moment- I did not order fries with my burger!!  I ASKED for a side of pineapple- yes just pineapple.  I know they have fruit salad, but since I don't like most fruits- I asked for the one I do like and I ate almost all of it!  How's that for a zero point side-dish?? :)  Baby steps.

I am ending Week Three with 0 Weekly points left and 21 Activity points remaining.  I did earn 44 activity points this week, so have used about 1/2 of them because of all the eating functions...but I feel that I've been honest with my food logging and probably not being so honest with the activity log.  What I mean by that is I am logging everything as "Moderate" effort even though I think some might be "High" effort- you get so many more activity points for High effort and I don't want to inadvertently have points that I'm not supposed to have!

As for my workouts...Friday taught my spin class, Saturday went for a walk in Tahoe, Monday Body Pump & Zumba, Tuesday a walk through the hills (in the rain), Wednesday Zumba & Body Pump, Thursday another walk....so 8 seems to be the magic number.

Ok so off to bed and will dream of a weight loss on the scale!!

Chevy's is not WW-friendly!

So this has been probably the most stressful week on WW since starting almost three weeks ago.  Faced with one eating dilemma after the next over and over again.   Since the weekend away in Tahoe, I have had two more "eating out" occasions.   Yesterday, my mom and I had lunch at Mimi's Cafe while waiting for my wedding ring to be upgraded with the addition of my 5 year Anniversary band.   I tried as best I could to order decently- had the corn chowder soup and then chicken tenders- figuring that I would not eat all of them- which I didn't.  All in all, I stayed pretty close to my points- made sure I did two workouts yesterday (Body Pump & Zumba) so that I had activity points.

Tonight I had dinner in SF with the Alumane Board gals at Chevy's- our bi-monthly get together and I studied the online Chevy's nutritional information over and over again to figure out what I would eat.  Well, what I always get, what I really wanted- the Steak Quesadilla is 37 points- so needless to say, I did not order that.  Perhaps another week when Chevy's is the only eating out function and I have a ton of extra points- then I will have my beloved Quesadilla!   So I ordered a chicken and a beef enchilada- with black beans and rice...I am not a fan of black beans as a side (ok with them in something)- so I knew by ordered them, I would not eat them .  I ate my chicken enchilada and about 1/2 of the beef one.  I did have a good amount of chips and salsa- which I really should have just stuck with that and maybe had a bowl of soup...the enchiladas just aren't all that good.  I ate enough to feel like I had food in my stomach- but didn't over-indulge.

As I sit here right now I have used all my weekly points (did that days ago) and am now ahead of the game with 7 activity points.  I have looked back on my previous weeks.  Week One ended with 1 unused weekly point and 32 activity points in the bank and I lost 3.8 pounds.  Week Two ended with 0 unused weekly points and 22 activity points in the bank and I lost 1.8 pounds.  Now for this week three, I will be happy with ANY weight loss and I am going to bust my tail to end the week with 22 activity points- that means I need to earn another 15 in two days.  I think I can do this.  I wanted to get in 8 workouts in 4 days and so far I have 3 in 2 days...so now I have to get 5 in 2 days- going to do my best.

Still one more eating function- a business lunch at a coffee shop on Thursday- but I am going to try to either eat very little the rest of the day and have that be an extreme meal OR just go and have a cup of soup or something small along those lines that is low point.  I am looking forward to a new week with zero eating out functions (at least none that I currently know of)- there is mom's birthday on the 23rd- so I will do something fun to celebrate--maybe bake her an Angel Food Cake- which is very WW-friendly. :)

TAHOE OR BUST!

So just returned from a very nice weekend with the gal pals in Tahoe!  It was a great time with great friends in a place that I think is pretty darn close to Paradise- not sure why I don't get to Tahoe more often - oh yeah, time- that must be the reason!

Well, we left the Bay Area just before 1pm and didn't get there until darn near 7pm- it was a very painful ride up there.  Highway 50 was closed at Echo Summit, so we took one of the two detours offered, but in hindsight we should have gone out towards Stockton vs. up towards Sacramento- oh well , lesson learned and our return through Stockton only took us 4 hours compared to 6!   We were the last to arrive, so after we unpacked the car we got the appetizers together and started socializing. 

I bought the ingredients to make this Fiesta Dip that I found on the Weight Watchers website and it was a hit with everyone- nobody believed that it was a low calorie/low point item- it was very good.   My downfall though is that even though I did plan and brought lower point potato chips, low point cheese spread, dip, etc.  I have no control over cheese/crackers.   That in and of itself wouldn't have been bad except that we also made a McDonald's stop on the way up to Tahoe and I had a kid's cheeseburger meal- not bad, but not great.  It was interesting though to compare my points on my meal to Diane's points for her "salad" with chicken- my cheeseburger and fries were on 2 points more than her salad !  "SALAD" is not always a good thing!   None of us drank that much wine- just a few glasses and we ended the night with a chick flick on netflix, "Letters to Juliette"- great movie!

Saturday, we all slept in a bit, I was the last one up- we had breakfast- which I had brought up my hard boiled eggs, yogurt, etc.  for myself so that worked well.  We all headed out for a walk and in the end only 2 of us the did the entire walk- we got in a 2.5 mile walk in about 40 minutes- the others turned back early, but I was happy to get some activity under my belt.  We then had a great time at the movies- saw "Bridesmaids", which was hilarious and I smuggled in my microwave popcorn for 3 points- I was very happy to have done that, so I would not be tempted to buy the popcorn at the theatre!   Dinner was at a fabulous Italian restaurant and again I did what I could- did not pig out on bread, had a cup of soup and then chicken and limited wine consumption.   We then went dancing, but my heart just wasn't into it...had more fun people watching.   We left the casinos late and was very surprised to see that it was snowing....in May!!

Today we woke up and cleaned up the house and headed home- in the snow- it snowed all night long and Tahoe got about 6 inches overnight- absolutely crazy!  So far doing better on the WW points today- same breakfast and did not buy anything when we stopped at McDonald's for a potty stop.  Instead had some of the string cheese snacks that I had brought in the car..and still have daily points left for dinner.

I am going to have to be very careful the remainder of the week because I am negative 2 on my weekly points and have used all 10 of my so far earned activity points....YIKES!!  So that just means that I MUST get in 2 workouts per day this week- no ands, ifs or butts about it!  It also means I need to be super careful as there are two meals planned out in restaurants this week- that is going to be tough!  Now to go plan my workout calendar for the week, have some down time with the hubs and get a good night sleep because I think my Monday is going to need to start early!

Fridays are great days!!!

As I sit here and wait to be picked up for the Tahoe gal pals weekend away- I thought I'd blog about the rest of this week since blogger site was down at 1am when I was going to do this last night!   Well, the week did have plenty of challenges after the weekend, specifically a trip to In N Out burger with my mom (I really didn't have to have the chocolate milkshake for 18 points- but I did)..but that was my extreme meal for the day and all in all, I ended using my remaining weekly points and 2 of my activity points.  Yesterday, mom and I had lunch at a Senior Independent Living facility and I limited what I ate.  Weird thing was at 11pm last night I still had 3 daily points and I wasn't hungry...guess that is how some foods really do fill you up, while others do not.  Calories are not equal!

So this morning was Weigh In Day and very happy to report that I lost another 1.8 for a total weight loss of 5.6 in 2 weeks.  It's amazing what you can accomplish with a bit of focus and determination!   I was thrilled to get to the gym last night and take Amy's Body Pump class and she complimented me saying that I looked like I had lost weight- wow can 5 pounds really show that quickly?  But even I was looking in the mirror while working out and thought to myself, I look slimmer- still have a ways to go, but it's amazing at how quickly you can see/feel a difference!

I did not get my 8 workouts in this week, but I did manage to do something everyday!  I got in Body Pump Monday and Thursday, walked 3 days for an hour and then taught my spin class today.  Several of my gal pals for this weekend trip to Tahoe have already lined up "walking" to the weekend of activities- so I am stoked and I know I'll be on track.

I remember a WW slogan from my friend BobbyJo from my first go around 11 years ago, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail"- so I have pointed out many snacks for the weekend that will be good for me.  I also found a low point Fiesta dip that I am going to make tonight for the group vs. my 3 point per serving Corn Dip...so we will see.  I am excited though and liking the way my WW journey is going thus far! 

So off to Tahoe I go and perhaps I will sneak in a blog or two while away!
Cheers!

2 down, 2 to go!

Today was a good day- I didn't quite make the 2 workouts in one day that I had planned- largely because somehow I managed to change the time on my clock to one hour ahead- so when my 5am alarm went off, it was really 4am and I sure didn't hear it...well Bill did and he thought he over slept because my alarm never goes off before his!   So my sleep was all goofed up, 6am yoga will have to happen another day.

Diane and I met for our walk through the hills- did a good 3 miles at a brisk pace (for hills)- felt good and felt the pain from my increased weights in Body Pump yesterday- what a GREAT feeling!  Got a good amount of work done during the day, got some things done that had to get done- still tons more to do, but I will persevere (eventually)...took mom to her Dr. appt in S.F. and that all went well. 

We then went stove shopping and mom picked out a new one eventually getting back home around 7pm.  I am sitting here with 2 daily points left (might have to have a Hershey Kiss or two before going to bed).   I am tired...I'm sure the rude awakening this morning has something to do with that! 

Time to get my bum to bed...plans to hit a Body Pump class in the early morning at the OFJCC- the club where I will soon be teaching regularly...they have a class time slot that works for me tomorrow and tomorrow is a Pump day!  :)