6 weeks and counting

All of sudden I realized my daughter is coming home from England in 6 weeks.

 I'm always trying to be good example for her, but lately my weight has been creeping up.  Despite the fact I teach cardio and weights three times a week.

 My Iron issue has never resolved itself, so I go in for iron infusions every few months and get massive doses of iron IV .  I know iron affects the thyroid, which already is a problem for me.  When I was 23 I developed a goiter and had to go on Thyroid medication, and even though the test results  for my thyroid  were normal.  Now trying to get doctors to understand that seems to be a difficult thing, that I know when its not OK, even though the test results are within normal ranges.  Sigh.  I saw one specialist who told me that it takes 6 weeks for thyroid medication to clear your system, and I would have to go off of it for him to get a good study.  I don't think I could function, since occasionally I get up in a hurry and forget to take my morning medication, and by afternoon, am very tired. Between the iron deficiency and the thyroid, I figure I would be wiped out and unable to teach my fitness classes.  So now I'm heaving a big sigh.

I'm back to using the body media, really controlling my diet, and increasing my exercise.    I lost 40 pounds a  few years ago, and I'm hoping I can get myself back to there.  Just the 15 that have creeped on the last few weeks would be good.   So here's to the next 6 weeks. following my diet religiously, along with increasing my exercise. At least here in Seattle the weather is pretty decent this time of year, so its easier to do some outside cardio work.

100 calorie snack idea

I'm always looking for new ideas for snacks that run in the 100 calorie range.  I don't want to pay high prices for inferior snacks.  I've also found by keeping the little snack size bags at home, I can divide up a box of crackers, or through some fruit, seeds or crackers to grab on the way out the door, or just to make it easy to have at home.
Anything in a single serving bag makes life easier.  So here are a few ideas that might make your life easier prepared ahead of time. These are approximate value of 100 calories give or take depending on size and brand.
1 small orange peeled
13 animal crackers
3/4 oz of cheddar or jack cheese
2 TBSP mixed nuts
3/4 cup bran cereal
28 grapes
5 Dates-dried pitted whole
1 cup of blueberries
25 jelly beans
3 TBSP of raisins
1 peeled hard boiled egg or 2 without the yolks
These are just a few ideas.
Because my husband does his own lunches I prepare lots of little bags each week so he can pull things  together in 2 minutes or less. (this is what he allows for creating lunch)
In addition to things like the list above, I also buy individual servings of hummus, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt,individual guacamole by wholly guacamole individual cheese like the bon belle, for variety from cheddar or jack.  I make bags of pita chips, whole grain crackers, pop chips, pita breads, we rarely have regular sandwich bread at home. I boil 1/2 dozen eggs-peel and bag them.  I make bags of veggies as well with carrots, celery, jicama, red or yellow peppers, sometimes radishes or cherry tomatoes. These are easy to eat and use with the hummus or guacamole. We both draw from these pre-made(at home) bags of healthy choices.  Ok Jelly beans may not be the healthiest but into each life a little sugar should fall.

OH MY its almost Fall!

Well my blog followers, my summer was absolutely CRAZY!..  We sold our home and had to leave the 18th of July.  However we weren't going to close on our new home until a month later in August.  Plus our daughter was coming home from London for the summer months vacation. Enter pure Mayhem.  We moved about every 2 weeks staying with friends and house sitting, until our final move into the new house.

  My daughter is used to being in constant motion, so she was constantly after me to go to another Zumba or exercise class. She was always wanting to do or go. I was worn out, and starting to have and iron drop but couldn't find time to do anything about it. Needless to say she kept me in a semi exhausted state.

 I quit wearing my arm monitor several months ago, but I'm about ready to get back into the habit again.  I miss knowing where I am on the numbers.

I just came home from a weekend workshop of  Healthy Lifestyles Behavior Changes.  Its about making small changes to achieve your goal over a long period of time 10 months  in fact.  I'm so enthused to start this, but I want to apply it to myself as well.  I have some more learning to to do with it, becoming efficient at learning to ask open ended questions and not trying to fix other's problems but help them to come to their own answers.  As a mom that is kind of tough.  You do for your little ones, and as they get older, you have to step back and let them do for themselves.  Well, this is the same philosophy, only we never do for the people in class, they must learn to do for themselves. The next few months will be a time to hone my skills before engaging a class.
 I know this is short, but I just returned a few hours ago, and have much catching up to do. Have a good week!

Memorial Day Weekend How will you spend it?

Memorial Day Weekend is here!  Do you have plans?  Will this be a physically acitve weekend for you, or one of drinking and eating while hanging out with friends? I plan on golfing at least one of the 3 days.  I'll be cleaning the garage another day, and working on choreo for enhance and Zumba.  I will also be taking a bit of time to think about the people in my family who currently serve or served in the military.  My grandfather was in the Navy during WWII, my daddy was a marine, my step father was in the army both during the Korean War, My husband and an Uncle served in the Airforce, My Great Uncle, brothers and one of my nephews served in the army, and another nephew served in National Guards, he went to Turkey, Afghanastan and Iran. The military teaches honor and respect for others, and selflessness. My Great Uncle was injured during WWII and lost a leg as well as his ability to have children.  If you've lost  someone or had someone injured, who's fought to protect others, they are hero's in their own right. 

Enhance has been working going well.  My class is growing a little at a time.  We do about 40 minutes of cardio and warm up, and then follow with some hand and leg weight exercises, and some flexibility.  I have some stability ball exercises thrown in as well.  I have a ten minute break between my gold zumba and Enhance Fitness. My endurance has worked up nicely, and I'm getting some weight lifting in as well.  Next week I'm going to be adding some personal training clients into the mix. 
I saw this little pic above on face book and thought I would share it with you.  I know she's crying about not going to the gym, but not all of your exercise has to be there. Some people never go to a gym but have excellent exercise routines.  So take heart if its five days or five years do whats best and FUN for you.  Fitness should be about fun and healthy living, not about drudgery and misery
Have a great weekend and doing something active .

I'm currently working on increasing my endurance despite low iron levels.  This past week I've attended at least 2 classes a day either 2 Zumba's, or Zumba and power yoga. I was doing well until I hit Thursday.  I was so burned out, that I spent a couple hours working on new choreography for my Zumba gold class and thinking about what I was going to do for the Active older adult (AOA) class I was subbing on Saturday morning. But I wasn't able to handle and actual class outside of home. I did find on average that the Zumba classes I've been attending are about 6000 steps on average for a 50 -60 minute class. My own is usually about this much as well.

In May I will be teaching a Zumba Gold class back to back with an Enhance fitness class (fitness for seniors) and I want to make sure I have the energy for it.  The first part of the Enhance class is 30 minutes of warm up, and cardio, so its quite important to be able to handle those parts together.  That is followed with weightlifting exercises and stretching to end the class. I'm looking forward to teaching this new class at the Y. It will be 3 times a week and I will be sharing with another instructor. 

Subbing this past Saturday went quite well. You never know in that situation whether students will be OK with a sub, so it can be a bit nerve wracking going in.  Instead of trying to duplicate the class of another instructor, I went in with my own format, including my favorite piece of workout gear the stability ball. I love this piece of equipment for all levels of fitness.  When I'm working with clients who are rehabbing I feel they may relate and feel comfortable from experience in physical therapy exercises.

The teens and dance students I work with feel the playfulness of it, and for seniors its a great way to work the core and balance along with offering them a  less traditional equipment which can often seem overwhelming. I actually had a couple students ask if I teach any other classes there on Saturdays. Unfortunately for them I don't. 2 glorious days of sunshine have occurred this weekend. After days and days of grey and rain its so lovely. 

reflection and hydration

I picked up a book my daughter won as part of a fitness night during the summer.  Its kind of a mind body book, and has many quotes & sayings with reflections from the author.  Today this one has really hit me as I came home from my 90 minute hot yoga class. When the room is 108 F and the teacher doesn't open the door at all hydration is soooo important. 
The thought here was : They hydration principle - When you're thirsty it's too late.  When you exercise you should be drinking a 1/2cup of water every 15 minutes to replace the sweat loss. This is especially important in activities where there's lots of sweating .  To go on the author discuss some healthy habits for .both life and physical fitness(these may not be the list of your choosing but you can always make your own).

• A glass of water every morning
• regular exercise
• daily vitamins ( I think its subjective to the individual)
• daily action items (you know all those things you have to do today)
•  balancing budget (life is easier if you know what you have to work with)
• phone call to mom or family member
• support group meetings (these can help you through all kinds of things)
• sex with spouse (OK this can get lost in a marriage as you have kids etc)
• Church attendance ( i know this isn't for everyone, but it offers a support system that you may not get anywhere else- not just spiritual, but also as way to find your own place)
• regular prayer- I believe that at some point we all turn to prayer, it may be the loss of a loved one, the desire for a different kind of life, the birth of a child, prayer is found in all types of spiritual thought. 

Find a way to replenish your body everyday.  Where do you go to find encouragement for yourself?

• podcast
• uplifting movies or TV shows
• books
• conferences
• inspiring friends or individuals

Do you have people who you find encouraging and uplift your spirit?
Just something to reflect on today.

certification craziness

The last month has been crazy doing education for fitness.  I work for the YMCA and needed to get a couple classes  done.  So I've been studying and taking some general fitness about healthy living followed by group fitness training, choreography and music. Last week I was certified as and instructor for a senior fitness program called Enhance Fitness. We will start this program at our Y as a pilot program instead of offering silver sneaker programs.  Today I took a 3 hour exam for the ACE national Group fitness trainer exam.  I passed, and I can't tell you what a relief that was.  Five years ago I went to school to study fitness and nutrition.  It was my intent to transfer to another program on graduation, but expenses at the time, and our family weren't permitting. Even now the opportunity isn't presenting itself to go back to the nutrition program at this time, however the opportunity to expand on my education and utilize it offers some satisfaction.
So now that the current exam and class schedule is completed, I can start to concentrate a bit back on my own fitness as well as the my current classes. I'm ready for the weekend, my friday zumba gold class and some Hot yoga.  With all the rain going on in our area its totally acceptable to take Hot yoga for warmth.  Happy days ahead.