June 2011
When
Angela first asked me to write something for the Zumba Newsletter, my first
thoughts were “what am I going to write”, “how can I influence someone to
Zumba”, “who would want to hear from me?”. Knowing that I needed to lose
weight and exercise, I began my trek to a healthier life style by first joining
Weight Watchers in February 2010 and in April 2010, I attended my first Zumba
class with a friend who was currently attending and urging me to go with her.
Intimidated by watching Zumba commercials on TV, I was somewhat skeptical
that I could even do this type of exercise because, Yes, I was overweight and
wasn’t doing any type of exercise currently. Well, how wrong I was!!! Not
only could I do Zumba but enjoyed what I was doing. I couldn’t do
everything that was being taught at the first class I attended but I was moving
which was more than I was currently doing.
The music was great, the people
were wonderful, the encouragement was terrific, and now a year and a half
later, I’m still a “Zumbachicka” and enjoying the class more than ever. Zumba
is exercise but not the traditional programs that I was accustom to that
required laying on floors, lifting weights, etc – Zumba to me was enjoyment –
dancing, moving to the music, and attempting things that I didn’t know I could
even do.
The one basic of
Zumba is that it isn’t traditional, you are there to move and have a good
time. Traditional exercise wasn’t fun and at times on the verge of
boredom. Boredom isn’t even a word that can be associated with Zumba.
Yes, it is challenging at times but only requires that you move what you can,
in any way that you can and have FUN. I would encourage anyone to try
Zumba just once because you will find it is one of the best classes you will
ever attend, get the exercise that all of us need, and have a wonderful time
with amazing leaders and fellow ZumbaChickas. And yes, since February
2010, I have reached my lifetime goal weight at Weight Watchers and have lost
65 lbs. and contribute this to not only my “food program” but my current love
of exercise since I found ZUMBA!!
As
the Zumbachickas always say: Love, Peace and Zumba.
July 2011
I came about this as trying to find
something to do in my spare time. I had wanted to lose weight for a very long
time and didn’t have the confidence in myself that I could do it on my own and
had thought about surgery. They started a Hip- Hop aerobics class at the
hospital and I love to dance so I thought I would try it. This class didn’t
last long and soon there was a Zumba class. I loved it and had so much fun!!! I
couldn’t do all the moves but kept
moving and soon learned the steps. Next thing I soon noticed that I was losing
weight so I thought about watching what I ate. I confided in the girls at work
who joined weight watchers and started watching my portions.
A friend gave me
free passes to a gym here and I tried the equipment there and decided it was so
boring and not for me. The music and challenging myself to follow along with
Zumba was so much fun and more motivational for me. After awhile I went from a
size 24/26 to an 8/10. It never seems
like work, but lots of fun, and with Zumba I was able to make a lifestyle
change and because of this I am no longer a diabetic. Now my 10 year old
granddaughter has joined the party and I have watched her blossom out and not
be quite so shy. In fact she helped teach a Zumba with her school teacher and
that was amazing. I encourage anyone to try Zumba if just to come and have fun
with all the ZumbaChickas.
August 2011
Zumba
has truly changed my life forever. I
have been attending Zumba a little over a year now. In that year I have gone from an overweight,
unhealthy, and unhappy person, to a very happy healthy person. I have lost a total of 51 pounds. I am not done with my weight loss yet!
I
have been a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic for 25 years. My blood sugars are better now than they have
ever been in the past 25 years. I am
only taking ½ the insulin that I was on a year ago. I have stopped taking cholesterol
medications. My cholesterol is now
“perfect”, according to my endocrinologist.
My joints no longer hurt. I have
so much more energy. I used to feel like
a “slug” with no energy and I never felt I had enough sleep, even after
sleeping all night long. I now have
energy and require less sleep to feel well rested. My husband is happy because I no longer snore
and keep him awake. I am much happier
because I look and feel better.
Through
Zumba I have been able to help others. I
work in an OB-Gyn office as a family nurse practitioner. Patients are always asking me what the best
way is to lose weight. I try to
encourage people to be and live healthier.
I am no longer a hypocrite when I tell a person the best way to lose
weight is to watch what they eat and be active.
I don’t say exercise because Zumba is much better then any exercise I
have ever done. A patient came to check
in a few weeks ago to see me. She asked
our new receptionist if she was seeing me and pointed to my old picture. Our new receptionist told the patient that
the person in the picture no longer worked here. She did not realize that person was actually
me!
I
hope my story will encourage you. If you
have never done Zumba, are just starting Zumba, or if you are an old pro stick
with it! It is so much fun and so
rewarding. I thank God everyday for
sending Zumba into my life. I will
forever be changed!
September 2011
46 Pounds GONE!
I am 46 years-old, I have lost 46
pounds, and I feel like a new person. I
attribute much of my weight loss to the fabulous exercise dance-party called
Zumba. Since last September, I have been
going to Zumba 3 times a week. Of
course, I have also been doing other things like counting my calories using the
SparkPeople app on my phone, eating 5 servings of fruit and veggies a day, and
walking. But the majority of my weight
was lost because I LOVE going to Zumba so much.
The mantra “Lifestyle Change” is
repeated over and over by weight loss programs.
Exercise, Nutrition, and Sleep are the key components of your
lifestyle. Lifestyle just means consistency. My success has been achieved by knowing how
to make myself consistently get enough exercise, good nutrition and sleep. Here are the keys to the key components of
lifestyle changes!
Exercise:
Love your exercise
The key to exercising consistently
is to REALLY enjoy what you are doing. If
you hate the treadmill, then don’t do it.
Otherwise, it will always be something you dread. Personally, I have found that any exercise I
do while moving to my own beat and listening to fun music is enjoyable for
me. Right now, that includes walking/running
outside with my iPod, and Zumba classes.
Exercising consistently has elevated my mood, made me feel sexy again,
makes me want to eat nutritious foods, and gives me the energy to spend more
quality time with my twin girls.
It’s amazing how just one hour of
exercise changes my whole outlook. Each
night I return from Zumba, I say to my husband, “I feel great! Exercise makes a huge difference in my life”. This has truly been the cornerstone of my
weight loss efforts. The time passes so
quickly. When Zumba class is finished
each night, I have burned over 600 calories.
Once I get my body to Zumba class, the music and enthusiasm take over my
psyche. It’s like I get an adrenaline
injection. I make every move count,
sweat pouring down, face turning red, looking ridiculous but not embarrassed at
all, pushing myself to finish each dance as well as I can, and enjoying every
moment of it.
Nutrition:
Plan for stress
This is the second biggie. I know that my nutrition and my emotions are
all tied up together. Stress leads me to
the refrigerator or snack machine or the fast food line. The key to combating the stress eating is
planning. First, have foods in the house
(or with you when you travel) that you enjoy and are nutritious (for me,
Baby-Bel Lite cheese, milk, raspberries, red pepper slices, healthy trail mix
with soy nuts, whole wheat bread with peanut butter). Eat before you are too hungry, measure your
foods until you know serving sizes in your brain, and count every calorie. Second, plan for activities other than
food/alcohol to reduce your stress (for me, bubble baths, decorating magazines,
watching HGTV, Zumba, walking, reading, gardening, music). Lastly, if there are foods that you really
love, eat them (for me, ice cream, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, cashews, chocolate,
lasagna). Just do it in moderation, and
count those calories. And don’t accept
any substitutes because they won’t satisfy you.
You’ll find that when you are eating nutritious foods consistently, some
of your favorites will make you feel sick if you eat too much.
Sleep:
Get exercise and nutrition under control
Good sleep falls into place
naturally when exercise and nutrition are under control. I was getting my 8 hours of sleep before I
lost weight, but it wasn’t quality sleep.
Since I slimmed down, I sleep a million times better. I was plagued by acid reflux disease,
insomnia and terrible allergies before losing weight. All those symptoms have been alleviated. My body is truly happy and tired by the time
I go to sleep at 9:45 pm. It’s
miraculous, really. There is a natural
rhythm that my days and nights have achieved since the exercise and nutrition
have fallen in place. My body needs that
quality sleep to heal the muscles that I have agitated when I exercise. The type of foods and the amounts that I eat
don’t leave me over-full with heartburn at night. I can breathe. The blood circulates through my arms and legs
even with my body weight resting on them.
I sleep like a baby now unless my exercise and nutrition keys are out of
whack.
I still have 45 pounds to go to be
at my personal “ideal weight”. Even
though my BMI still indicates that I am obese on the charts, I don’t let the
scale stop me from doing what I want to do.
Whatever the situation, my brain tells me that I am a healthy person
that makes healthy choices. Do the
healthy thing unless you plan the unhealthy thing - haha. I have no other choice because I don’t ever want
to go back to that unhappy lump that I was.
I want to live life to the fullest.
With this change in attitude, there
is no real end to my journey even if I reach my ideal weight. My challenge will be to forgive myself for
slip-ups, knowing that one over-eating binge does not make me a failure. I think about my lessons learned after these
incidents, and determine why it happened and focus on how badly it made me feel
later. This constant learning about
myself helps me avoid the same mistake in the future. It is so exciting for me to watch the changes
in myself, emotional and physical. This
time I am doing it for real, in my own time-frame, because I understand the
underpinnings of each of the key success factors for my weight loss. Watch me!
Got an amazing wellness story? Share it!!
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