Part of my homework for Spring Term Challenge 4 is to write about something that has helped you to remain steady on your course of weight loss/getting in shape. With me I've noticed that something that has really helped me remain steady is by having fun with exercise and eating a lot of fruits and veggies that I really enjoy.

An example is that I'm a total night owl. I love to stay up at night and dread waking up in the morning. If I had it my way I'd go to bed around 3am and wake up at noon daily. Since my life doesn't work that way I have that annoying alarm clock blaring at 7am and I think that's early. For the last two weeks I've been getting up at 5:45 or a little earlier to make sure I get to Aqua Zumba, R.I.P.P.E.D, and Land Zumba classes. This is totally unheard of. I'm actually looking forward to it. Not really when the alarm is going off but the night before I'm excited about it and pack my bags so I can have a stress free drive over to the gym or pool.

I love the dance classes that I'm in and I really enjoy the Zumba classes because I can actually keep up and I'm good at it! I'm so happy that I'm able to do the R.I.P.P.E.D class, I never would've thought I'd be able to do such a high impact workout but I'm able to do it and to even do heavier weights in some of the activities compared to the rest of the group.

I've been losing about an average of 1.7 pounds a week. This is a nice slow and steady rate of dropping pounds. At times I wish it was more but really I'm doing great and my energy is great. What I do find frustrating is that I'm not losing my midsection weight as quickly as I'd hope but the totally awesome part of it is I can do a lot of ab work, which is a total shocker. I haven't worked these abs in forever, I think 17 years since after the c-section and I'm able to do a lot of the ab work that people are complaining about it doesn't bother me as much. It sure did when I first started but I'm really building it up. I have nice abs under this huge amount of fat. I'm getting there!!!

I'm so lucky to have wonderful farmer's market and farm fresh organic foods all around me. Tomorrow is the major big grand opening of a local health food store. I can't wait for it. I'm going to be so excited to check it out because it's huge. The weather is great and I'm so excited for fresh fruits and veggies popping up everywhere.

This morning so far I've had a banana, apple, two servings of strawberries, two servings of papaya, two servings of mango, two servings of pineapple, and raisins with my oatmeal. That is 11 fruits and a 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Plus 3 cups of water and 3 cups of decaf tea. I'm ready to go and it's only 8am.

*********************

Five things I'm grateful for:
1. A variety of fruits to eat.
2. A variety of veggies to eat.
3. Determination.
4. Fun.
5. Happiness.