I may get past this plateau yet

So, here's my dilemma.

I stayed the SAME at my weigh in last night.  I have been the same weight for at least the last three months +/- 2 lbs. At least I'm maintaining, but the problem is I am NOT at my goal. I knew the last ten pounds would be tough and I knew that to really get that fit, I would have to amp it up, but I really didn't expect this. sigh.

I read an article today about plateaus and I have been trying to find it to post here, but I have been unsuccessful. Basically the suggestions were: add weight training 3x a week, drink more water, track what you eat and change your exercise.

So, other than the fact that I have been very lax with the program over the past few months, those suggestions are REALLY applicable to me. I have been working out continuously for well over a year, but I always do the same workout: cardio/Zumba. So it is time to switch it up and add some Body Pump for weights. This means I have to cut out a Zumba, or two but I think I'll survive. I remember when I first started Zumba, it was my goal to be able to make it the whole way through certain instructors' classes, especially the really high energy ones. I still sweat at Zumba, but I believe that my body has gotten used to doing it regularly and that it takes less energy (fewer calories) to move my smaller bootie and smaller hips around so I burn fewer calories per class than I used to. So, time to ramp. When you do weight training and you have a higher muscle mass, you burn you burn more calories so, weights it is. I have to come up with a new gym schedule. I will miss Zumba, but I think this will be good for me to shake it up and ramp it up. I also don't drink NEARLY enough water, so that's going up too.

So last night I went to Zumba with my friend Cheryl, she is a breast cancer survivor, and she had a double mastectomy over a year ago and she is starting reconstructive surgery on Monday. So, this was her last Zumba for a while, because she is having a series of surgeries. She is such a strong and brave woman. Oh yeah, and I met her at Weight Watchers. I will miss her at Zumba, she is so funny, she cracks me up. She also writes music and sings and acts and all kinds of stuff in addition to her day job as a Valet driver. I love the characters in this town! She'll probably never see this, but good karma is coming your way from me, my girl, and I know that your surgeries will be successful and that you will be great! I am thinking of you.

pre-workout (not sweaty)

post-workout (sweaty) with Cheryl (isn't she fabulous?)

VIP locker room!  I bought the membership as my reward when I lost 40 lbs!

So, last night I signed up for a 5k for this Saturday, YIKES!

So I figured I'd better run.....

pre-run

post run, no worse for the wear.  Scott said I looked like I was gonna collapse, lol.  He better not be saying that when he's photographing me cross the finish line on Saturday!

it's posted on the previous blog entry, but I wanted to prove to myself that I actually could DO a 5k before I tried to run it on Saturday....so I did exactly a 5k (3.1 miles)...

I have actually finished races before.  Last year I took up walking and I did three half marathons, a 10k and the breast cancer 3 Day 60 mile walk (20 miles a day for three straight days, camping in a tent at night).  I have medals from all three halfs and the 10k, but never from an event that I actually RAN.   SO this week - I run.  Wish me luck!

Rock and Roll announced yesterday it's Vegas 1/2 marathon and marathon are going to be ran on the Strip at NIGHT!!! SO, I'm tempted....

And I already signed up for THIS - MY DREAM RACE!!! But don't tell anyone, shhhhh... I haven't told a few key players yet....

This cold may kill me

I'm trying to feel better, I'm hoping, I really am.  It's just not happening.

Last night I couldn't sleep to save my life.  Well, between Scott (bf) snoring, Miller (pug) snoring, Alpha (pug) doing some OCD licking and me hacking up a lung I just had no chance.  So I bailed to the couch.  Of course by then it was almost 1:00am and I hadn't slept a wink, but at least it gave me some quiet.  I brought the vaporizer out to the living room and set it up by the couch and started playing an episode of Homicide on the computer and I finally fell asleep somewhere around 2:00am.  Of course, I had to get up at 0530 ACK!!!!

I was soooooo tired when I woke up, but I always set out my clothes for the morning and pack my gym bag the night before, so I don't have to make a decision at 0530 about whether or not I am going to feel like going to the gym after work.  It's a good trick, I recommend it, it takes away that "ewwwww, i'm tired...I don't want to go attitude", because the reality is, you never know how you are going to feel later.

So all day at work I kept thinking that there was no way I was going to the gym, and I excused myself - I did run yesterday, after all, even though it was LAME.  But as soon as it hit 3:30 and the workday was almost done, I started thinking about Zumba.  I have such a set work out schedule and I always go to Zumba on Mondays at 4:30 and it's directly between work and my house so it's actually difficult for my car to NOT pull in to the gym parking lot.  Speaking of the gym parking lot, WHERE DID ALL THESE PEOPLE COME FROM????? I have been a member of this gym for three years and usually the membership upswing is in January - you know, New Year's and all that, but this year the upswing happened in mid to late February.  For some reason there is never any parking on Mondays and all of these people are circling the first and second rows like vultures.  Seriously people? it's the GYM.  You can park in the 4th or 5th row and walk a few extra yards.  It's not like you are handicapped and can't walk, you are going into the GYM!!!  LOL.

Even one of the personal trainers said it to me in the locker room, "wow, there's a lot of people out there today".  yes, yes there are.  So of course I was late, I cut this class close anyway and the parking didn't help, so I had like 8 minutes to change and lock my stuff up and get upstairs for class.  I hate being even marginally late, because there is a certain spot I like to stand in all of my classes....serious dork moment, yes I am Sheldon Cooper incarnate, I have to be in the front row (I have to be able to see myself in the mirror and see the instructor and the instructor's FEET - most important for Zumba), I have to be on the left side (when instructors face the side, they usually face the right, if you are on the left and you turn, you can see them, if you are on the right and you turn, they are at your back, now granted they do sometimes face the left but not as frequently as the right), I have to only leave enough room for one person beside me to my left, and I have to be able to set my water bottle, cell phone, locker key and towel down on the box that holds the yoga equipment in the front of the class so that I don't set it on the floor.  If I'm late and I miss one of those criteria, it will negatively affect my workout (told you I was Sheldon).

So of course, I am just about 30 seconds late and I get to the top of the steps and the class is already in the room.  dammit, so I have to squeeze my way in to where I like to stand and I know people get irritated when you come and crowd in between them (I know I do) but so it goes.  I ended up working out next to the spastic singer lady.  I haven't seen her around in a while, I used to see her in almost every class.  She dances all crazy, and sings all the words to the songs in Spanish really loud as she dances.  She's kinda funny actually, she's easier to deal with than some of the other characters I see around.  One of the other instructors used to always play Pitbill's "Hotel room service" and this woman used to literally scream, I could hear her from the back of the room, "two plus two, I'm gonna undress you, three and three you gonna undress me, four and four WE GONNA FREAK SOME MORE!"  Guess she liked that line, lol.

So, I made it through Zumba, I did get pretty sweaty, and I did have a coughing fit about two songs in and my eyes were watering and I had to actually stop dancing and go get a drink.  I wasn't even warmed up yet, I just was coughing, but that passed and I did finish.  I didn't stay for yoga, but I figured I was doing pretty ok for being Typhoid Mary.

I wanted to get some pics of the VIP locker room at the gym but there were people in there both times I was in there - before class and after (and before I was running late), wouldn't you know it, the one time I bring my camera, and there's usually not a soul in there and today it's all crazy.

I told you, lots of people in there.  I'll get some later this week, I promise.