Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Health/Fitness Update!

I know...I know...I'm playing catch up with my blog! It's a good thing while I have the help :) Besides, I have a lot things I want to cover! This post is going to be about my health/fitness journey. In a previous blog (right after Valentine's Day), I was writing about trying Zumba. Since then I have been a very loyal Zumba participant. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Zumba, it was created by dancer/choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia in the 1990's. It combines a mix of latin dances, including salsa, cha-cha, cumbia, bachata, and many many more. It almost doesn't feel like exercise! It's kind of like going to the club in a way lol! In my Tuesday night class, which continues to grow each week, the women are friendly and we have a lovely instructor. I am also seeing the results of my exercise! Since I have been running (I live a block from a park), doing Yoga/Pilates at home, Zumba, and eating better (i.e, snacking more throughout the day and eating less at one time), I have broken into the weight bracket below the one in which I was experiencing a plateau. I have new running shoes with inserts for my crazy high arches and I'm really enjoying exercising with them.

I have decided that I will run a 5K this fall. I want to give myself time to prepare and Dimaya will be older (nursing less, which totally helps the breast scene). I have 2 weddings to attend this summer, one in Little Rock where I am a bridesmaid, and the other in Milwaukee. Right now my focus is to just lose weight. I'll start training after all of these events take place. Keep in mind that I'm still running, just not training! I also have decided that I want to become a licensed Zumba instructor by the end of the year! I really love this fitness style and feel that it is one of the best choices I've made for myself in a long time!

Since I've been visiting my parents in Texas, I knew I wouldn't make my Tuesday night class so I've been using YouTube to do a few of the routines posted by other Zumba instructors. Since my mother is starting her path to Yoga certification, we do Yoga together in the mornings. Dimaya does really well as she tries to imitate some of the poses herself :) All in all, I happy to report that I am still confident in my health mission and the goals are set and clear!

Silver Screen Madness

Sometimes when I'm feeling down in the dumps, it really helps to have my mother come up to visit me from Texas. It always cheers me up! That is one reason I'm glad she's only a 4 hour drive away. One of the best things about moms is that when you have a child, they are more than thrilled to entertain your child while you clean, eat, sleep, shower, or do things you normally have to do in a hurry. Or sometimes...even come with you to the movies and entertain too! I must say, I am a very lucky person to have a mom as awesome as mine! Dimaya, now a little over 9 1/2 months, loves to be out with her Gigi (my mom). She's always busy doing things and doesn't like to sleep because she's afraid she'll miss something. Before Dimaya was born, Steve and I would go to the movies with family and friends (or each other) on a regular basis. Now, one of us normally stays home with the baby while the other goes out. We thought about taking her with us to a matinee in the middle of the week when no one would be there, but decided against it each time. My mom suggested (last Saturday) that we all go to the movies and take Dimaya with us. She said that if Dimaya got loud or antsy, she would take her out of the movie and hang out with her. We all agreed! It took only a second to decide that we wanted to see Limitless. (Great movie by the way)! So...we got to the movies a little early and got our seats. Probably not the best idea since we had really loud previews and they didn't turn the lights out until forever. (Making a note about this for next time). Dimaya did really well in the beginning, but she wanted to talk and there weren't many people around...except for this one girl (whom I will speak of here in a minute). We tried to pick an area close to the exit and free of people. When the last of the previews were showing, Dimaya decided to start talking EXTRA loud. Keep in mind...the previews were also REALLY loud so Dimaya could barely be heard. Now...the woman who came and sat in front of Steve kept turning around mugging us like Dimaya was such a problem EVEN THOUGH she was facebooking on her bright phone through all of the previews. (Hello people out there! Yeah, you! If you're reading this, please know that Facebooking in the movie theater is just as annoying to the people behind you that have a big bright spot in their view of the screen!) Before the movie even started, my mom told me that she was going to see if she could take Dimaya to a movie for kids. We went out in the lobby where I decided to nurse her before sending her off with Gigi. Off we went to see Mars Needs Moms. Gigi led the way, choosing a seat in front, and sat down with Dimaya. I made sure everything was okay before I started walking back to my movie. Dimaya was so excited about the movie that she never saw me leave, and apparently didn't give it much thought later when she noticed I wasn't there. I watched Limitless in peace with my brother and husband, and when the movie let out we went outside looking for Gigi and Dimaya. Couldn't find them! I was for sure their movie was out too! I had a slight sense of panic when I searched and couldn't find them! I called Gigi's phone a million times and texted to find out their whereabouts. No answer! So finally I went back to the theater (whose marquee said Lincoln Lawyer, which threw me off in the first place). Inside I found a smiling Gigi, holding a peacefully sleeping Dimaya. All was well! Later, we got the report that Dimaya had watched the movie and laughed like the older children. She also watched a young girl sitting next to them for a great portion of the movie. When things work out like this...alll you can do is smile!