Okay, so according to the scale on Saturday I weighed it at exactly the same weight as last month.  So I am down a total of 9.6 lbs since the beginning of the contest.  The reality is that I have actually lost approx 28 pounds since the beginning of the contest.  I attend each weigh in and then for the next few weeks I don’t really pay too close attention to diet or exercise so I gain some (if not all or more) of the weight back.  Then about 7-10 days before the next weigh in, I am good about watching my diet and getting in a little exercise if possible.  Luckily so far I have not posted a gain, but I am not sure how long that will last if I keep this up!  I wish that I was actually down 28lbs.  That would be fabulous!  I have a lot of admiration and respect for those in the contest who have managed to take the weight off, keep it off and keep losing!  My hat is off to you!

Well, I have been hearing/reading about many of the participants taking Zumba classes, but the times/places that they were offered were not convenient for me.  Fortunately a woman in my neighborhood has organized  Zumba classes to be held at the community room in my neighborhood.  The community room is just a very short walk from my house so how could I say no?! 

 

I attended my first class tonight.  I have to tell you that I wanted to walk out the door after just the “warm up” portion.  My hips and butt do not move that way!  But I decided to stick out the entire hour (although I know that very often I looked like a complete idiot).  I am glad that I stayed.  I certainly did not get all the moves, but in the end I was sweating, burned some calories and had a good time!  The only problem is that I tend to tense up in my neck and shoulders when I do things like this so my neck is a little sore.  I’ll have to take some ibuprofen before heading off the work tonight. 

 

The class is being offered 3 times a week so I hope to go as often as possible!

To control my diabetes, I try to eat as low-carb as possible without doing the full blown Atkins Diet.   I try to work in healthy carbs anywhere I possibly can.  So tonight I tried Dominex Eggplant Burgers.  We planned spaghetti for dinner.  We eat DreamFields low carb pasta and Giant Eagle Market District marinara sauce which are both the lowest carbs I can find, but sometimes I end up eating too much.  And we all know that even too much of good thing can be bad so I have been looking for something to eat with the pasta that has a little protein, but is low in calories and carbs.  The eggplant burgers have 90 calories, 10 carbs, and 3g of protein per serving.  They come fully cooked so I just heated them thru on my grill pan and served them atop of a small serving of the low carb noodles with a little sauce…..delicious!  My husband even enjoyed them!  I will definitely be serving them again!

I have previously written about the tradition in our house of Friday night pizza and a movie.  I have been searching for healthier alternatives to the pizza portion of the evening and I have come up with something that is much healthier.  Tonight I tried making pizza quesadillas.  I used Lawash low carb tortillas, a little Contadina pizza sauce, shredded low fat mozzarella cheese and turkey pepperoni.  I assembled all the ingredients in my quesadilla maker and hoped for the best!  I thought they were great, but my kids were not as convinced!  I have to admit that yes it did not taste as good as the oooey, gooey pizza that we are used to, but I think it’s an acceptable alternative for now.  I will continue to search for healthy alternatives, but I think we will leave the “real” pizza for special occasions!

I am proud to say that yes, I did see the inside of the fitness center while I was away this week. And I didn't just go in and look at it. I actually worked out! Granted I have been at the hotel for 3 days and only made it down there one time, but it was an accomplishment just the same!

Traveling is definitely a challenge though. The hotel doesn't offer refrigerators in the room so it is very hard to keep any kind of protein on hand so I have eaten way more carbs than usual so I am anxious to see what the scale says when I arrive home tomorrow night!

Well, my children are on spring break this week and my husband and I are on vacation as well.  It’s so nice to be off from work and just be together without the additional pressure of being at work.  However, it seems that I think I am on break from exercising and watching my diet as well!  I need to get myself back on track!  To make matters worse, I will be out of town at the end of the week for a conference which will present another challenge as well.  I am staying in a hotel that has a fitness room.  Hopefully I will be able to report to you that I at least saw the inside of it a few times while I was there!