Joy supports ZUMBA...

I was so pumped to learn that Joy is part of the Zumba Gold program and endorses Beto in this effort!  I was walking with my mom in Costco today and saw that they had Zumba Gold DVD's that you could buy.  I thought they only sold the regular Zumba stuff in stores.  I turned over the box and saw Mrs. JOY!  Two of my favorite people on the same box.  How cool is that!  I have to show off though. I love Beto a ton not only because of his fitness program....but because he was so thoughtful and kind when I got to spend the day with him in Rockefeller Center in 2007.  Such an awesome guy!

My ZumbaHIPS were shakin' tonight!

Look how proud I look!  This is one happy girl!  So, this is what you look like when you shake around aprox 300 pounds for 70 minutes during your first Zumba class in 6 years.  It felt soooo good to be back in my element and to be movin' my body.  I had sweat drops rolling down my face and I didn't wipe away even one of them.  Sick, right?  Why?  Well, because I deserved every one of them!  A few months ago, I thought that my "work-out" days were over.  Today I proved to myself that I still have it!  I was out there keeping up with the instructor and getting my heart pumping. I just may have shed a tear or two during the cool down song...yes, I just may have.  I feel like an empowered and unstoppable woman with a goal to love herself and become more heart healthy.  This is my year....my time!

Camping the HEALTHY way...

Wow, I have been around a lot of yummy looking food and even more FANTASTIC smelling food this weekend!  These friends of mine really know how to make up an awesome camping menu!  I helped whisk together 35 eggs this morning and cooked up 12 pounds of bacon for their big extended family.  I have to admit that at first I was tempted/sad not to be able to eat the bacon....but as I kept watching the fat boil off of it....I just almost felt bad for everyone because they were going to be eating all of that grease.  Their BLT sandwiches this afternoon looked AMAZING!  Although all of their meals have been looking delicious I haven't wanted to break my "promise" to myself to follow this challenge with exactness.  This morning I did a stir-fry with zucchini, asparagus, onions, spinach, and 2 egg whites.  I ate it with a 100% whole wheat sandwich thin and it was yum-o! See...you can be healthy while camping after all!

Getting those STEPS in!

I am camping this weekend with friends and it has been a blast!  I have had so much self control that I cant believe it.  I didn't realize it would be so hard to get my steps in though.  I thought I would be running around and hiking a lot more but we have had some rain and all the card games and fun chatting has kept me sitting a lot of the time.  I have never been a late riser when camping...just like my dad, I am up at the crack of dawn.  I got up around 6 this morning and decided to get some steps in early before everyone woke up.  I didn't prepare well enough to have taken my tennis shoes out of the tent and I didn't want to wake up my friend and her baby...so I headed out in flip flops and had to make do.  I walked around a few loopy roads at the entrance of the camp site and even did crab squats and walking lunges across a field.  I am supposed to get 10k steps in during the day and getting almost 3k before the day really even began is pretty dang good! What do you think?

Keeping Hydrated!

I am learning that it is so important to stay hydrated.  I have cut out all soda from my diet.  Well actually, I had a couple Diet Coke's over the 4th of July but they were pretty watered down and I didn't finish all of them.  Anyway, I have noticed that I crave water all the time.  It really fills me up and can take my mind off of food.  I carry a bottle with me everywhere I go and sip on it all day long.  I never used to have to fill up my bottle but now I do it multiple times a day.  I think that besides filling us...it hydrates us as we work out and go throughout the day AND it flushes and cleanses.  I am learning to love how refreshing it truly is!

Picture Perfect Picnic...

I am in Colorado all week and it has been amazing!  We are hear during the wildflower festival and have been hiking through waist high flowers.  We stopped today for a picnic and thought this would be a good setting.  What do you think about my turkey sandwich?  It was super tasty! I'm not sure about all the sodium in the peppers but I ate some of them because I didn't have vinegar with me and it was delicious!

Meal prepping is the key....

I am heading out on a trip to Crested Butte, Colorado today.  I am super excited but I am a little worried about staying on my plan when I get munchies in the car.  I am learning that prepping your meals and planning is the key.  I have packed a dry box of all the non perishable items that I might need on this trip.  Then when we get there, I will go to the store to buy my meat, yogurts, and other cold items. I made baggies and containers with my snacks already portioned out so that when I get hungry, I can just grab a baggie instead of overeating out of the bag.  This is my lunch and snack box for the car ride.  I have a sandwich thin with some turkey meat inside and I have a container with carrot sticks for snacking. I also have some spinach leaves and a tomato to put on my sandwich when we stop for lunch.  I think it is a pretty good plan!

Am I ready for this?  Today the "Challenge" begins!  I had an awesome conference call with Joy and her team as well as Abby, the Health Director, at Woman's Day magazine.  They went over the program and explained it all to us.  We were able to ask questions and hopefully prepare ourselves to start this.  It was fun to hear Joy's voice and be able to speak to her personally.  What a fantastic person who is full of ideas and ways to help us be successful on this journey!  I am ready for this and I am super psyched.  I know with the support of these amazing women, I will be able to do this.

Getting Motivated....

I'm getting motivated to start this program!  I got together with some girlfriends today to make inspiration/motivation boards to remind us of our goals.  We busted out a bunch of magazines, of course there was Woman's Day magazines, and we got to clipping away. I still need to finish mine up...but I got a pretty good start.  What things do you do to get motivated?

What is this CHALLENGE all about?

I recently found out that I am 1 of 6 women who have been chosen for the Live Longer, Live Strong Challenge with Joy Bauer and Woman's Day magazine. Yes, I had to pinch myself when I got the call that I had been selected.  I actually called the Health Editor's office in NYC and left her some crazy message full of screams and "Oh my gosh's" and lots of other unintelligible language. I apologized to her later for the burst of excitement and of course she understood perfectly.  So, ya, I am going to be on a health journey guided by Joy and her team for the next 6 months.  I will be assigned a health coach that will help me with emotional support and questions that I may have about the nutritional content of certain products, the program, healthy living, my goals, and my fitness.  I think this really is a dream!!