Biggest Loser -- Get Texas Fit 5K

What an exciting day it has been! I just got through watching the episode of The Biggest Loser that was filmed a little over two months ago in Dallas. I participated in the 5K and had the opportunity to meet and talk to the contestants that were still on the show. At last I am able to share with you about the most inspirational day of my life!

I went to the 5K not knowing if I was going to be able to participate in the actual race, but arrived early JUST IN CASE! At the time of the filming, on TV we had only seen 6 weeks of taping, but the contestants were actually in Week 15. So since it was only 6 weeks I had not really gotten a chance to fall totally in love with anyone in particular. Let's face it, the yellow team was barely on the show after being sent home the first day. The person I most identified within those first 6 weeks was Ashley. She reminded me so much of myself, therefore I was hoping I was going to be chosen to be on her team (plus it would be a COOL PINK SHIRT). Well I was standing in line waiting to get my shirt and God was in control and the lady chose ME near the back of the Line to be on the ORANGE team. I can remember getting the shirt and thinking GREAT this thing does not even fit. I remember walking to the ORANGE team bending with my knees IN MY SHIRT trying to stretch it out. Since there was still two members of the GREY team and YELLOW team, there teams were enormous and LOUD! Our little Orange team bonded and got to know each other a little before heading out to the Cotton Bowl.

Once we got out to the Cotton Bowl, they lined everyone up and instructors from 24 Hour Fitness proceeded to warm us up. WARM up was more like Aerobics! I remember getting out of breath and thinking, "and I still have to run a 5K". After the workout they lined us up in front of the starting line by team colors. We then turned around and could see the contestants at the top of tunnel. It was extremely exciting! I got goose bumps and it may as well been a Rock Star walking down that path! We broke into groups and asked Daris questions. I kind of stayed in the background during that process being shy, but when we were lined back up in front the starting line, I started asking him questions. My concerns were how I was going to overcome the soreness the day after the 5K. I used to do the Susan G Komen 5K every year (without training) and my feet and legs would be killing me afterwards. He had told me to drink plenty of liquids, take some ibuprofen, and ice my knees if I needed. Since I had only seen the first 6 episodes the main thing we knew about Daris at that time was he had never had a girlfriend. Well before the race all kinds of girls kept coming up to him and wanted to get their picture taken with him. I smiled at him and told him I did not think he was going to have ANY TROUBLE getting a girlfriend now! I did not think of it then, but I wonder if him and Ashley like each other more than friends? Their mom's sure were close. Only time will tell.

Since this is "filming", the director had us do the "START" three times. I jokingly told Daris, "does this count as our first mile?". Daris told us that he was planning on running the 5K as fast as he could trying to beat his own time. Then he would be back for every last one of us. I jokingly told him "OK, I will be at the end waiting on you!" He told me not to worry, he would be back for me. So the REAL start began -- and we were off. Daris told us good bye and I told him I would see him soon!

Once out of the Cotton Bowl, the crowd started breaking up a bit and I was able to find my cousin, Amy, who was on the pink team. We caught up with Ashley a little bit up the way, and I told Ashley how she reminded me so much of myself and how much of an inspiration she was for me. She shared some of her own struggles with me, and Amy and I shared ours with her. A little bit later, we started doing sprints with her. She was AWESOME! She was leaving me behind. When I started the race, I had my inhaler in my pocket, but my goal was not only to finish the race, but not have to pull the inhaler out of my pocket. So when I got out of breath, I stopped and walked and my cousin ended up coming back to me.

Next we caught up to Michael. Michael is the one that on DAY 1, Episode 1, I looked into his eyes and told my daughter that HE is going to be ONE HOT MAN! So let me tell you, he made my day! In front of each contestant there was a golf cart with a camera, sound, and producer (maybe that is what they are called). He asked the producer in front of him if he could talk to JUST his team or anyone. They told him anyone, and he did a bee line right to me! While doing so, the producer yelled for him to ask about my story. I proceeded to tell him about my blog and how I was determined to get Thin in 2010. I told him that I have been overweight for the majority of my life, and this is the year! He shared a lot of his own experience and once again my cousin recommended that we do sprints. So we took off with Michael and once again I hung with them for a little bit, but had to back off. My cousin was a full quarter of a mile ahead of me before she stopped and waited on me. : )

About that time, Daris ran by and told me -- "I will be back for you." He was going to make sure there was not anymore Orange members further behind. There wasn't. I was the last and he soon returned to my side. We talked for a while. He asked me my story. I told him that I had gotten above 200 lbs while pregnant with my 1st child at Age 18 and have not been below 200 since. I again joked and told him that I can not blame this on baby weight any longer. : ) He told me that I sounded like his mom. I guess that was her reasoning as well. We talked all the way to the finish line, jogging once we got into the stadium. As soon as we crossed the finish line, I gave Daris a hug!

After crossing, my cousin is yelling for me to come into this tent. Little did I know they had all sorts of freebies in there. I was able to get a Brita pitcher, Brita water bottle, and a Biggest Loser game for my daughter's DS. I had been wanting a workout video and especially the wii game, but those were all gone by the time I got across the finish line. As we came out of the tent, a producer came and tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he could interview me. I remember thinking, OMG maybe I will get to be on the show! Well he put his head right next to the camera and told me to look at him and NOT the camera. Do you know how hard that is? EXTREMELY! I was smiling during my interview and I now know WHY the contestants always cry on the show! That man was trying to get me to cry! Seriously! Well the director hollered that the last of runners were coming through so they wanted everyone near the finish line. So I went back to the crowd and joined my cousin. We cheered them on and then a lady came and asked me for my contact information. I still was thinking OMG, maybe they really like me. LOL

Once everyone was assembled, Allison announced that 7 lucky people were going to be given a week at The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge and a year membership to 24 hour fitness. I remember I was so nervous and wanted this so bad, I was getting sick to my stomach. I remember seeing Daris off to the distance, but I did not want to look at him because if he had not picked me, I did not want him to feel BAD! I mean he could only pick one member from his entire team! Well they called him to the front and to be honest, I don't remember exactly what he said -- something like the person he picked had an inspirational story and he chose STEPHANY! At the moment I was in SHOCK! And had I been more focused, I would have realized that there was a camera man strategically located directly in front of me! LOL As soon as he announced my name, that camera guy turned the camera right on me. I made my way though the crowd and gave Daris yet ANOTHER HUG! I talked a few moments in front of everyone to Allison Sweeney. I remember she asked me if the 5K was more than I had anticipated. I told her "NO, this is the Biggest Loser and I knew it would be GREAT!". I really figured that would have ended up on the show, but am a little disappointed that they did not show us get chosen.

Well after the interview with Alison, the same producer came back to me and asked if he could "finish our interview". I said sure. He pulled me off to the side and while I was waiting for him to find the camera and sound guy again, it sunk in. I WON! I AM GOING TO GET TO GO TO THE BIGGEST LOSER RESORT! OH MY! I HAVE NEVER WON ANYTHING!! A field of emotion came over me and I started to sob! It was out of control. Just in time for my interview. There was a time that I had the "ugly crying face" and I said "I can not wait to call my mom. She wants me to lose weight! My daughters want me to lose weight". I REALLY figured that would have been shown tonight! LOL I am relieved that it was not! LOL

So that is my story! I am EXTREMELY excited that I will be taking my journey to The Biggest Loser Resort May 16th, less than 3 weeks from now! I have really come a long ways since I participated in that BL 5K. In my preparations for FR, I have increased my workouts and intensity. On Sunday, I walked 7.5 miles! I am so thankful for all the GREAT family and friends that have helped me through my weight loss journey. I am officially down 41 lbs. Since the show was recorded, I have lost 31 lbs. I had wanted to lose at least 20 before the show aired and I surpassed it by 11 lbs. Now I am working towards losing at least 8 more before I head to The Biggest Loser Resort. I want to thank you all for your continued support !!

One last thing -- GO DARIS!!!! I HOPE YOU WIN!!!! I WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO YOU!!!

My TV Debut!

The Biggest Loser - The Biggest Loser Next On - Video - NBC.com

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE AFTER YOU READ MY BLOG

Wow the time is almost here! The time when I will be able to share an important part of my journey to getting thin in 2010. One of the most inspirational days of my entire life! If I can not be an actual contestant on the show, this was the next best thing!

When you watch the video, I am the short haired blond in the Orange shirt with my hands by my mouth. Tune in next week after the show and I will blog about my experience that day! I will also post pictures!

It was that day that I decided to REALLY kick my weight loss in high gear and I plan on posting a picture of how I looked that day and how I look today. I still have a LONG way to go, but mentally and physically everyday I am growing into a person I now love! "THAT" is saying a a lot.

Last week I had a tough week. After working out 6 out of 7 days in one week and only losing 2/10's of a pound, it was hard to keep up the workouts everyday. I only worked out two days last week. I did Zumba on Tuesday night and Turbo Kick and Hip Hop classes back to back on Thursday night. On Sunday it rained so I missed my 7 mile walk.

On Monday my husband received news that he was going to be laid off. So on weigh-in day for lunch I went to Chili's. I would never dream of doing that, but I was severely depressed. I mean I have my trip next month and now is not a time for financial trouble. I have felt bad about spending all this money on "ME" this year for my health and have been saving all my Scentsy money for my trip expenses so I would not feel guilty. Anyway, I ate a Mushroom Swiss -- just the meat with a side of steamed veggies. It was soo good and although I was "feeding" my emotions, I did not go overboard. I went to Weight Watchers -- ALONE -- all three of my weight watcher buddies bailed on me. =( Good thing about weight watchers is, even though the people you know "out" of weight watchers is not there with you, you bond and become friends with people that you MEET there. So I did not feel alone.

I DID IT! I am officially in the 260's! I lost 3.4 lbs this week. I have now lost 39 lbs total. I am REALLY trying to do good this week! I want to surpass that 40 lb mark this week. And my goal weight that I have set for when I weigh-in at The Biggest Loser Resort in Utah May 16th -- I am now less than 10 lbs away! I CAN DO THIS!!!

Yesterday after work I met a friend at the park and walked 2.5 miles in 45 minutes. I usually do a 10 minute 1/2 mile, so I have shaved 5 minutes off my time. Holly and I were walking fast. I was practically running down the hills! I was walking fast because I had planned on leaving at a certain time so I could get home in time for the Biggest Loser to come on. What an episode!!! What a sad week for O'Neal and Sunshine! I was crying right along with them. I don't think there has ever been a contestant on the show that is more inspiring than O'Neal. I have found myself through many workouts telling myself "if O'Neal can do it, I CAN DO IT". He was truly AMAZING last night during his work outs in the gym.

Today my oldest daughter joined me at Zumba. We had a GREAT time! I LOVE MY POLAR WATCH! Usually when I go to this class, I burn about 450 calories. I set a goal before I got there, that I wanted to up the intensity and burn over 500 calories. I amazed at how much more I can do physically each day. I was kicking butt! End of class -- I burned OVER 600 calories! I ROCK!

Zumba -- I guess!

I had another stressful day at work. I tracked my food all day. A co-worker and I are keeping tabs on each other this week and trying to motivate each other to have a good week tracking and keeping focused. She has had some really tough times lately, so we are good motivation for each other. I want her to be successful so she does not give up on her weight loss journey. I am hoping to be able to start my own water aerobics class this summer. I have access to a pool near my parents house and I have gone to enough classes that I think I could teach others. We could do it right after work maybe two times a week if the owner did not mind. And then, I have another friend that I have worked out with that has a pool. Maybe she would host us once a week. My co-worker has severely bad knees so I think the water aerobics could help her get started on exercise. I was proud of her on Saturday at the picnic, she walked down to the lake with us and back. We figure it was about 1/2 mile total, but on the way back it was all uphill.

I ate the majority of my points during lunch, and for dinner I did go over my daily points allowance, using 4 points of weekly flex points. Tomorrow is my boss' birthday, which means eating out at Chili's. hmmm I LOVE CHILI's, but I have a hard time figuring out what to eat there. Any suggestions?

I am not so sore today from my walk Sunday. I did not exercise last night after Weight Watchers because I was still pretty sore. Since I felt better today, I MADE myself go to Zumba. I really missed Zumba last week, so I figured it would be a good choice. I messaged Lola to see if she was going because I wanted to go back to her class. She was not able to go tonight, so I REALLY thought about not going. I was tired and just did not feel like going. But I keep focusing on my upcoming stay at The Biggest Loser Resort in Utah and I KNOW I have to keep pushing myself. I CAN NOT stop working out. I really need to be pushing myself more than ever considering this Friday, I will be EXACTLY one month from check-in at the resort. I guess I am still focusing on the negative on the scale. Not losing after working out 6 out of 7 days last week.

So I went to Zumba and boy was it hard! I was having a hard time getting the rhythm down. I did get my heart rate up to the 167, and stayed in the high 140's most of the time, but after about 40 minutes my face was so BEET RED and I was HOT! At the end of the class, I burned 500 calories! Not as much as I could have, but definitely more than I would have burned if I would have stayed home! I drank ALL of my water I brought so it was not that. But you know, I still am not drinking enough water. I know this because I am not getting up at night to use the restroom. Goal for tomorrow -- DRINK MORE WATER! It's hard putting it down when I am so busy at work I barely have time for restroom breaks! Yeah, I know -- MAKE TIME STEPHANY!!! This is MY LIFE we are talking about! I want to get THIN IN 2010!!! Must stay motivated! I CAN DO THIS!!!

Walked 7 miles!

Well I met my goal for the week. I walked 7 miles yesterday! I was kinda depressed because it was appearing Sunday morning that I was not going to have anyone to go on the walk with me, and since it is going through some wooded areas the signs post that you should not walk it alone. I was trying to pump myself up into maybe doing the busier section maybe twice, but it still would not have been the same. So my niece and nephew were at my mom's house, so I headed over there to avoid the disappointment that was sure to come on if I did not go. Well after only being there for about 30 minutes, I got a text from Lola and quickly had to head home to get changed and geared for my walk. Since I was hurrying and could not find any high socks, I chose to wear my tennis shoes instead of my hiking boots.

When I got to the park, Lola had invited another friend, Misty. So there was three of us. They are some fast walkers. I did fine keeping up with them the first couple of miles, but after that my toes on my right foot started hurting. Another mile, then the ball of my right foot started hurting. I think my toes might have been hurting, but the ball of my foot hurt so bad I did not notice any of the other. LOL. It was hurting so bad that we stopped at a bench and I took my shoe off. I could have swore something like a rock was in there. I even checked the bottom of my shoe because it felt like there was a nail or something in there! I did not find anything and the pain continued the whole way. I found that the faster I walked the less it hurt, so I would go really fast to catch up with the girls and then slowly slip back. They were great motivators. They kept saying "Stephany you ok, you coming?". I don't know how it would have gone if I would have been on that walk by myself. We finished the walk in 2 hours and 23 minutes and I burned over 1100 calories! Super awesome for the night before the weigh-in. So you would think. : (

I went to Weight Watchers tonight and I did have a loss, but only .20. That is 2/10th of a pounds. I am bummed about it because that to me is like a wasted week. Remember I am trying to get in the 250's before heading to the Biggest Loser Resort. That leaves me at still needing to lose 13 lbs in now 5 weeks. It is not looking like I will make it, but I am going to give it all I can. One reason I am disappointed is because I worked out 6 out of the 7 days this week. The only night I took off was Friday night. In most cases, I burned over 1000 calories a day during exercise. I may have gained muscle because I know the other night I was noticing a bulge on my shoulder. I thought "what the heck is that?" Then when I noticed the other side had the same, I came to the realization it was muscle. LOL. I have been getting lots of compliments on my legs. Everyone keeps telling me how tiny they are. Something on me TINY? Whatever! But I will gladly take the compliments!!

Something I have not blogged about because I pretty much did not want to admit it, is that I have not been tracking my food entake. I have gotten really busy at work, and with all the exercise, just have not taken the time to do it. I had told myself today, that if I did not lose at least 1 lb, I was MAKING the time to track. Ironically our WW lesson tonight was on the importance of tracking! I learned the hard way! They say that you can be eating more than you think you are. I really did not think I did bad except for Saturday! Saturday was my day of JUNK! My company picnic was Saturday. I ate two hot dogs on white buns with chili that you know was not Turkey Chili or turkey hot dogs. I did fore go the bag of chips offered and drank a Diet Coke. I went with a group to walk down to the lake. Played Volleyball and Dodge ball, not to mention the water balloon toss. So I didn't just sit there.

Then I went to my friend Brenda's house. Do you have friends that when you get together with them you like to eat? Well I have a couple and Brenda's house is one of those for me. It was her daughters birthday, so I had yet again another two hot dogs and some Sour Cream and Onion Chips. I can not even remember the last time I had chips and they were my favorite, I could not resist. It would have been fine if I would have stopped there, but later that night the adults were playing cards and we had MORE chips with dip and she pulled out a bag of Hershey Minis. I think I ate 3 of the Hersheys and too many chips. I don't know what possessed me! So the fact that I did NOT have a gain, I should be THANKFUL! And I am!!

I did have a moment of success today. My boss scheduled a working lunch meeting today, which means PIZZA. I told him, on weigh-in day are you crazy? Well I volunteered to go pick it up and made myself a salad and only ate 1/2 a piece of pizza. Breakfast I had fruit - some watermelon and two bananas. I did drink about 32 ounces of water. So my question is this -- does everyone have a 2-3 lbs weight gain through the day. This morning when I weighed at home, which I have become addicted to, I weighed 3 lbs less than I did tonight. =( Be sure to share your wisdom!

Well I am still in pain from my walk yesterday. Mostly my back. I noticed that when I walk I lean forward. I need to get that under control before I head to FR, I bet that is why my toes hurt as well. Hmmmm! See this whole writing everything down IS helping me! Not to mention all the wonderful support I get from my fellow bloggers and followers. =)

Adventure Week continues ...

Well I did another first today. After a rather stressful day at work, I headed to the gym. I had a mission in mind, and it required me to make it to the gym by 6:30 pm. Not hard for some of you, but I drive 45 minutes one way to go to my gym. I made it there with 5 minutes to spare. While I stood in line, I talked to a lady who has lost over 100 lbs. She said that she had the gastric bypass. I told her I was to scared to that, but the thought has crossed my mind. I was not going to say anything negative to her, of course, but I really think I would be much prouder of myself if I did it the "old fashioned way". I am not knocking the surgery, it is just not what I want right now for me. It probably also has a lot to do with the fact that I have never had any type of surgery before and it scares the hell out of me. We talked about the class we were about to take, Turbo Kick, and she said that it was her third time and she loved it. I told her I was planning on doing it and the Hip Hop class right afterwards. She looked at me like I was crazy. I thought "oh no, what did I just say". LOL

Well the class was a lot of fun. A lot of kicking, punching, jumping around like you are in a boxing ring but rhythmically to the music. There was one song that came on that I was having a hard time following the moves. NOT because they were hard, but because it was a song my regular Zumba class does and I was getting the two confused. LOL It's funny! I told my husband the other night that I did not realize how much I had actually memorized some of those dances until on the way from the gym last night. I had the radio on and one of the songs came on. I was dancing and shaking my tush as much as you can in a drivers seat. LOL. Glad it was dark outside, I imagine I would have had some people laughing at me. Who cares! Burns calories by moving, right?

During the Turbo Kick class I was sweating like crazy and kept drinking out of my 64 ounce Brita Water Bottle. Near the end of the class I started getting worried because it was almost all gone! At the end of the class, my watch showed I had burned 500 calories in Turbo Kick.

Now for Hip Hop, the lady I talked to before class told me good bye and in walked one of my new friends who quickly was called out of class because her son was upset in the Kids Club. He was really upset and she was not able to come back. :( Well, after doing a warm up routine, the instructor started teaching the same dance from the week before. While we were doing it slow, I actually was getting it down. Not good enough to want to try to do it at a talent show or anything, but enough to not look as much as a fool as the previous week. I burn lots of calories in that class. I think I don't realize the effect it is having on my body because I am thinking so much trying to remember what step comes next. I found that if I did not think about it, I usually did BETTER! After the hour was up, the instructor excused everyone that had to leave and invited us that did not have to leave to stay and dance some more. I stayed for ANOTHER 30 minutes. 700 calories in the Hip Hop Class! A total of 1200 for the night! The instructor really is sweet! She makes sure to tell everyone bye when they leave. I headed towards the door and she ran after me and thanked me for coming and hoped she saw me again. That really impressed me! There was over 50 people in that class.

Well I have taken a HOT SHOWER, a couple of ibuprofen, and I am icing down my knees as I type this blog. I know this is NOTHING compared to a day at Fitness Ridge, but the pain is giving me a glimpse into my future! YEP! Need to save LOTS of money for massages! :)

Hang in there Cat Chez! I love reading about your days at Fitness Ridge each evening before I go to bed. Give Diane a hug for me! I saw she is too tired to blog about her day.

Week of Adventure!

This has been a week of new adventures.

Monday night I rode the bike for the first time in over 20 years. My butt hurt for 2 days!! LOL

Tuesday night I met my cousin at a new 24 hour fitness gym. I did the elliptical for a little bit while I waited for a Water Aerobics Class to start. It is funny how much my endurance is getting. It really takes a lot for me to feel like I am getting a good work out. I keep pushing on though because I KNOW that will NOT be the case when I go to The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge. The class lasted for an hour, then I swam two laps, sat in the jacuzzi and the sauna before heading home. I have not bought the waterproof belt that goes with my Polar Watch so I have no idea how many calories I burned. I was a little disappointed in myself because I was STARVING after I left the gym. I did pack an apple to eat on the way home, but I fell into temptation. I think the main reason I fell was because I was near one of my favorite restaurants that are NO WHERE near where I live. I have to drive at least 30 minutes for this treat. I am talking about Chipolte. Every time I am hard on myself, I always tell myself "well you did better than the OLD you would have done". The old me would have gotten the BIG Burrito with all the fixings including a 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup guacamole not to mention EXTRA rice! Well the new me got the burrito bowl to go. I DID not ask for extra rice, I got a little bit of chicken and barbacoa as my meat, pico de gallo, rice with cilantro, and a pinch of cheese. I ate my apple on my way home. When I got home I did add a little bit of my 2% shredded cheese and a Tbsp of Lite Sour Cream. It was good with not ALL of the guilt.

Tonight I went back to the same gym with my cousin. I did the stationary bike for 20 minutes and walked on the stepper for 10. I tried a new class tonight. It was called Cardio Mix. I LOVED IT! The instructor had such a GREAT personality. I actually caught myself smiling some during the class. My HRM said my heart rate stayed in the high 150's and 160's through most of the class. It was non-stop. Some stopped to get a drink, I really wanted to but I just kept moving! I think I did pretty well. I am SOOO motivated to lose right now. As I mentioned in previous post, I am getting into weight figures I have not been in over 10 years. My goal this week is to be in the 260's Monday night when I go to weight watchers. I have seen that number on the scale in the mornings, but not in the evenings. I am determined for this to be the week. So when I wanted to give up and stop moving, I kept repeating in my head - 260's 260's 260's. I had told my cousin that I was not walking out of that gym until I burned 1000 calories tonight! So at the end of the class I still had 200 calories to go. We decided to do the rowing machine. I set my meters to 2500 and when I got done with that, I was over 1000 calories burned. We walked down to the locker room and decided to get into the Sauna. Man was it hot! It was not that bad the day before getting in there WET from the pool and jacuzzi, but already sweaty? I could barely stand it. I kept an eye on my heart rate and since it did not get above 130, I figured I was fine. We stayed in there long enough for me to burn another 80 calories. I kept the watch monitoring until I got to my car, so I burned 1100 calories tonight! All in all, it was a pretty good day!

I am wanting to find local fundraising activities to participate in. I know a fellow blogger that climb a bunch of stairs for I believe the American Heart Association, and of course there is the Susan G Komen 5K and Race for the Cure. I will do those, but I think for me to continue my motivation after I get back from the FR, I need to keep setting goals. I have a lot of great things going on this year. I want to be in the 250's before leaving for the FR on May 16th. I will set another goal after FR on the weight I want to be before going to the Scentsy Convention in Denver at the end of July. Then in October, I will have my 20th HS Class Reunion. Then the end of the year goal which right now is set in the 220's. Since I started out weighing 307, I realize I am not going to be "THIN" this year. I am fine with that! But I like goals, the more the better! So if you know of some activity based fundraiser I might be interested in, let me know! I am totally doing the Stair one next year!! Anyone want to join me?

Down 35 pounds!

Ok guys! I just realized I have not blogged since last Monday! Sorry about that. I have been busy busy busy! I have my full time job, then the candle business. Since my full time job pays the same no matter how many hours I work, I have been working my candle business BIG TIME getting extra spending money for my trip to The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge in 6 weeks! My team's sales from last month were AWESOME and if this month is about the same, I am going to have PLENTY of money to get as many massages, tests, etc I want while I am there. : )

I had a GREAT week! I feel I made LOTS of GREAT eating choices this week. The only day I stumbled was on Saturday night. We went over to some friends house and although I knew it was a bad idea, I brought a cute little Easter bunny cake (with Butter cream Icing) and a cookie cake. I did have a piece of each. :(

I did not exercise everyday this week. But when I exercised I made sure it counted!

Monday night was Weight Watchers! I usually don't do anything on Monday nights because weight watchers does not get over until 7 pm.

Tuesday night - I was invited to a different Zumba class with a friend. The room was smaller than what I am used to and there were TONS of people there. It was a GREAT workout. I had sweat poring off of me. My regular Zumba class I burn around 450 calories, this one I burned 600. Definitely worth going back for that extra 150 calories.

Wednesday night - My daughters are in FFA and had their county show, so by the time we got out of there it was after 9 pm. I had packed my gym bag in my car to go afterwards, but it was too late.

Thursday night - Tried a new class @ 24 hour fitness. It was a "Hip Hop" Class. I was thinking this class was going to be a lot like Zumba or Aerobics only doing Hip Hop moves instead. The thing I like about Zumba is you are moving constantly and my heart rate averages in the 140's throughout the whole workout. This one reminded me of my ballet / tap / jazz days when I was a kid. I thought maybe since I had over 5 years experience in choreographic dance, I would have an edge. NOT THE CASE! My memory is not like it used to be. The first 40 minutes of the class was step by step instructions on how to do the dance. Then the last 20 was doing the dance with the music non-stop. I am not going to lie, the last 20 minutes were fun, but I DID not know the entire dance. When I was a teen-ager, I remember going to dance workshops where all day each hour you learned a new dance. And back then, I would nail them by the end of the hour. This one I felt more foolish than anything. I did not feel like I got a good workout, but my HRM said I burned over 500 calories. Before class, I had walked on the treadmill at a 2.7 speed which I know is not much, but my incline was at a 5. I burned 300 calories before doing that class. My goal for the evening was to burn over 1000 calories before going home. So after the class I headed over to the stationary bike and planned on doing it for 40 minutes. Like I said, the class must have worked me more than I realized it, because I was having a HARD TIME making even 10 minutes. My legs were burning! So I only did the bike for 20 minutes, burned my 1000 calories and headed home!

Friday night -- spent time with friends / ate some GREAT Jambalaya

Saturday -- Busy day! I attended my daughter morning bowling league, then attended a Scentsy Team Luncheon. I got to meet a couple ladies from my down line face to face. Ends up I had met one of my new girls before at a ZUMBA class. Isn't that exciting! Exercise has given me so many new friends. One of the girls on my team teaches Zumba and the other teaches a Hip Hop class that she said is fast paced like Zumba. So I am going to have to try her class out as well as Kelly's Zumba class. After the luncheon I wanted to use mowing the yard as my exercise of the day. Well, I have not mowed the yard since I was a teen-ager. I have always been fortunate to have wonderful men in my life that have done that task for me. Well little did I know, our lawn mower is self-propelled. Which means when you are mowing, I was practically RUNNING to keep up with it and do all the turns. LOL I am sure I was pretty comical to my neighbors. =) Well the lawn mower kept dieing on me, so my husband ended up mowing everything and I headed in the house to clean / do laundry -- things I am the expert doing around here.

Sunday -- Easter Sunday! Did not attend any lunches or get-togethers! I met a friend in Waxahachie to walk on the path! We walked 5 miles!! I burned over 800 calories. I was so proud of myself. I have really come along ways. It was not even two months ago and I was in pain for 2 days after walking a 5K. Today I am stiff, but no worries! This Sunday -- we already have it planned to walk 7.5 miles! I WILL be victorious! Just need the Texas Weather to cooperate! After walking the 5 miles, I decided to go grocery shopping. I left on my HRM an I decided to see how many calories grocery shopping burned. Believe it or not, the grocery shopping, loading the car, unloading the car, and putting everything away -- I burned 450 calories. Not too shabby! If I look at it that way, maybe I won't HATE to go to the grocery store!

Monday -- I hopped on the scale this morning before work! I was so amazed by the # looking back at me, I had to do it again! Yep it matched. Of course that was my first thing in the morning weight. If this mornings weight would have counted, I would have been down 5 lbs, but at the end of the day, the WW scale showed I had 3.5 lb loss this week, which I am EXTREMELY HAPPY about! That puts me down 35.5 lbs. I am 13 lbs away from meeting my goal weight I want to be before heading to FR. With 6 weeks to go, I feel I that goal is totally tangible! Tonight after weight watchers, I did something else I have not done since I was a teen-ager. Holly and I rode bikes around the block. We had really high hopes saying we were going to ride a couple miles away to a little store to buy her a bottled water since I don't buy bottled water anymore. Well we decided to just go around the block a couple times first. All I can say is OUCH that seat was killing me. We kept laughing and had to stop a few time to take our butt off the seat. Whatever happened to banana seats? Needless to say we decided to stop after two blocks. It was a good work out, my bottom AND my legs are hurting. Anyone have any suggestion or words of advice on the seat situation?