Countdown to 30 Fitness Challenge

So here's the deal.  I turn 30 on October 20th.  I'm excited about it and want to celebrate it with all my friends by doing something healthy.  So for the next 20 days I'm those who are so inclined to join me in a 30 until 30 challenge.  Each day will have one exercise - do 30 repetitions of that exercise and Tweet, Facebook, Instagram or comment on the blog to let me know you joined me in the exercise of the day.

Your prize for joining me?  My love and affection forever!

For those of you who are local and come to my Zumba classes - I'll be doing these exercises at the end of class so we'll have each other support.  So join me already!!!

1. 30 Jumping Jacks
2. 30 Air Squats
3. 30 Lunges
4. 30 Plie Squats
5. 30 Bicep Curls
6. 30 Tricep Kicks
7. 30 Pushups (wall or floor, any modification)
8. 30 Sit ups
9. 30 Bicycle Crunches
10. 30 second Plank
11. 30 Jumping Jacks
12. 30 Air Squats
13. 30 Lunges
14. 30 Plie Squats
15. 30 Bicep Curls
16. 30 Tricep Kicks
17. 30 Pushups (wall or floor, any modification)
18. 30 Sit ups
19. 30 Bicycle Crunches
20. 30 second Plank

Chicken and Veggie Pot Pie Stew

Tonight for dinner I made an old recipe but I gave it a new, veggie full, twist. I present the nutritional information for Chicken and Veggie Pot Pie Stew.

And as far as cooking?  Super simple.  Chop everything that can chopped and then put it in the crock pot and let cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10.  You can also add spices as your taste requires.  All I added was some black pepper and a pinch of herb and garlic seasoning salt.

As for the biscuits - when you chop them roll them in to little balls and they turn in to dumplings in the stew.

It's still a little higher in calories than I want but the higher fiber content and protein makes me happy.  Next time I will work on making the broth from scratch.  This time around I used frozen chicken breast and canned cream of chicken but you can adjust to what you have in your pantry.

Everyone seemed to like it. My tummy is super happy now! :)

And when I thought it couldn't get worse...

I woke up today feeling like I had been hit by a train smoking grizzly bear with an attitude problem.  

You see, Friday was pretty much the worst day I have ever had.  Nothing truly dramatic happened but it was the epitome of one bad thing after another.

It all started with Marshall being up too late on his computer and being loud.  He woke me up three times Thursday night/ass early Friday morning.  The third time... well let's just say we had words.  By the time it was time to get up and go run with Matt I'd had a total of maybe 4.5 hours of sleep and I was grumpy.

I got up and met Matt for a jog that wound up being more of a long fast walk. I was late to meet him, I couldn't find my car keys, it was dark and my car was fogged up and couldn't see shit BUT I got there.  I really hoped the endorphin rush would help.  They didn't.

When I got home I just wanted a damn shower.  So I took a long hot shower, where I broke my razor, and got out feeling at least a little bit better.  Until I drank the damn Gatorade protein drink thing I had bought to try.  

Now, I LOVE kiwi strawberry Gatorade but this after workout protein drink? Yeah, I took a very long swigs and then immediately ran back to the bathroom and threw up.  Dear Lord, that stuff was AWFUL. So there I am washing my face and brushing my teeth again and not being too entirely sure if I was sick or if it was the Gatorade.  I know I still have to go to work.

I kept getting my stuff for the day ready.  My laptop was being a pain in the arse while trying to sync my iPod but I was almost ready to go.  

Walked back in to the bathroom to put mousse in my hair, flip my hair over, take a mini step to balance and trip on Marshall's shoe.  Roll my ankle and fall forward over the sink and counter.  I bumped my head on the mirror a bit.  Fucking lovely.

And work?  Not much better over all.  Trying to meet a deadline, had to skip an all day staff meeting, computer problems for me and some of my team mates.  Not cool. 

When I got home, an hour and a half later than usual, I was pretty pissed off at the universe.  We went to dinner at a friends house, it was a glorious, delicious dinner and I got to play with their 6 week old kittens.  So the day ended FAR better than it started.

But today?  I feel like I was hit by a truck.  I don't know if I was already getting sick and that's why everything yesterday got to me or if this was just bad luck but I have a sinus thing going on that's really unpleasant.  

I slept in today until 10:30.  Normally I'm finishing up my first Zumba class on Saturday at 10:30.  I know I needed the rest though.  I did go grocery shopping and we met some friends out of dinner tonight as well.

Tomorrow is a day of prepping - cooking in the crock pot for the week, learning new Zumba choreography, and basically getting my life straight.

Also? Finishing the outline for a challenge to lead me to my 30th birthday.  Stay tuned for details! 

FitBloggin '12: The Workouts

Ok, this really should be titled "THE ZUMBA" but first let's talk a little bit about the walking and the running and the CrossFit.

Firstly - CrossFit is now my frenemy. I want to hate it. But I secretly love it.  The pain I was in until MONDAY just shows me how good it is for me.  I LOVE to feel like I've had the crap kicked out of me by a workout.  I'm totally a masochist in that respect.  I love my cardio and how it hurts so good but this was that ache times 50 and I like it.  So much that Matt and I are checking out the CrossFit gym that just opened here this weekend.

Then there was all the walking and the running.  Matt and I toured the harbor like three times around.  It was great to just walk and talk and not feel winded by the exertion.  Then came Sunday and we went out to do the 1 mile run that turned in nearly 2.5 miles with our new friend Sana.  I probably could have done the whole 5k but my butt muscles were not happy with me and were seizing about 2 miles in. It felt nice.  I couldn't have done that a year ago.  Not and run as much as I did.  We probably did 3 4-5 minute sprints.  I think.

That's right. I worked out so hard that my ass was shaking of it's own accord.  Right the frak on!.

Then of course, there was watching Matt rock out in the JumpSport class.

And even more of course - THE ZUMBA.

Let me first say that it was a total fraking honor to dance with everyone on Saturday morning.

And then let me say how touched I was to watch a room of 100+ people sing Happy Birthday to my beloved Mrs. Fatass.  That's family. That's love.

It was freaking exhilarating to be on that stage - like I felt like a rockstar.   I just about died when Tara yelled out "Sam, you are SO SEXY" when I started teaching my cha-cha.

In that moment, in that HOUR, I actually felt sexy.. I can "play" sexy but at that moment, I really felt sexy.  I felt sexy like I feel when I'm dancing around my house, in my underwear, pretending to be a PussyCat Doll while I clean the house. When it's just me. I felt that at home.

Then there was YOU.  YOU was a brain child of Mrs. Fatass and I.  She heard the song at a masterclass and wanted it to close out the FitBloggin session. She wanted it to feel like a party.

I listened to the song and I loved the vibe, the lyrics, the way it made me smile and all I could think was SOUL TRAIN LINE.  It was amazing  Seeing everyone laughing and dancing and playing with each other while the song just blared in the background.  I teared up.  It was so moving.  That was exactly what we wanted - joy.

I LOVED watching people in the crowd "get" a move and start to add their own flair.  The smiles, the joking, the wiggling and laughter when they were trying to figure out what they were doing.

And after? When people were begging to take pictures with me? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.  People wanted to touch me, talk to me, take my picture and I made eye contact and I posed.

I normally hate having my picture taken but this was just about the most natural thing in the world. I wanted to stand at the door and hug everyone as they left.  Everyone was my family right then.  Hell, I didn't even need a Xanax to do it either.  I wasn't anxious for even half a second.

I loved talking to folks who said they were shocked they did it, that they had a great time, that they were skeptical about Zumba but wanted to do it again.  I loved that people shared their stories with me.  I really loved that several people expressed interest in getting licensed to teach.  I felt like the Zumba Instructor I want to be all the time.

That's what Zumba is to me. It's sharing, and family, and love, and togetherness.  It's dancing your cares away *clap, clap* and just being with each other.

Anyway... all that said THANK YOU FITBLOGGERS for making my first experience with you one to remember, one to hold on to.  I went in to this thinking I'd just be the lovely assistant to Mrs. Fatass - I never thought you'd embrace me that way you did literally and figuratively

And I haven't even finished the post on the weep-fest sessions that, in a real way, have changed my life.  More to come

NOW - someone asked for the playlist.  So here are the songs and the artists. All but #4 and #5 are easily found on iTunes. Enjoy!

1. Ice, Ice, Baby - Reanimator featuring Big Daddy and Vanilla Ice
2. Danzo Kuduro - Don Omar
3. Party Jumpin - R. Kelly
4. Do You Dig It - Zumba cover but original version is by Ray Baretto
5. Loco - Zumba original
6. Fuego - Pitbull
7. Bolo Ta Ra Ra - Daler Mehndi
8. Esta Cache - Oro Solido
9. Fever - Winsin & Yandel
10. This Boy's Fire - Santana
11. De Lao a Lao - Reggaetones
12. Por Arriba, por Abajo - Ricky Martin
13. Los Campeons de la Salsa - Willy Chirino
14. You - Machel Montano
15. Love on Top - Beyonce

To Jam or not to Jam...

This evening I an plagued with self doubt.  One of my biggest dreams in the world of Zumba is to become a Jammer.

I want to be able to go around and share my choreography with people all over the state, the country.  I want to hold master classes and Jam sessions and all of the other awesomeness that being a Jammer entails.

Today, I was informed that a call has just gone out for Jammer applications here in North Carolina.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I want to apply.  I know there are going to be dozens of applications from some of the amazingly talented ZINs here in NC and the chances of me getting the gig are very small but... I don't know how long it'll be till there's another chance to even apply.

Since finding out I've been playing the what if game and bouncing back and forth with reasons to go for it and reasons not to.

The big road block?  I'm not ACE or AAFA certified.  I'm planning on doing the group ex cert during the Februrary APEX event next year but that's the weekend before the Jammer training and I don't think that'l fly.

So if I can't do it during APEX, I'm looking at $300 to do the home study course.  I don't know if I can spare that kind of cash.  I already need to get two more Zumba licenses in the next couple of months and I need to be saving up for vacation and general savings and putting money away towards a new wardrobe and Christmas presents.

Still, I feel like I'm using that as an excuse to not take the leap and throw my hat in the ring.

I'm a good instructor. I'm a good dancer.  I'm a pretty good choreographer, too! The local ZINs are never afraid to come to me and say "I want a routine to this!" and I'm always willing to try!

I've choreographed a bunch of fun routines that my students love. Among them:

• A cumbia style pop routine to Tik-Tok by Ke$ha
• A reggaeton to Pin Pon by El Medico
• A cha-cha to Corizon Espinado by Santana
• A cumbia to Loco from ZIN 38
• A pop disco to Knock on Wood - the Zumba cover
• A tango to Material Girl - Madonna
• A Broadway toning to I'm a Woman - Smokey Joe's Cafe
• A pop toning to Boyfriend by Justin Beiber
• A funky toning to Bureo, Bureo - Zumba megamix
• A salsa toning to Conga by Gloria Estefan
• Hip Hop toning routines to Freak by Estelle, Lose My Breath by Destinys Child and Milkshake by Kelis
• A fun soca soul train routine to YOU by Machel Montano

I've got like 6 other routines in the works, an axe, two salsas, a merengue, another cumbia, and a Soca.  I LOVE doing choreography and I am always looking for any excuse to test out my skills on a new rhythm or genre.  I have a sketched out punk/metal/rock toning routine to Keep Em Separated by the Offspring.

I know I have a lot to learn and there's a whole world of music out there for me to dive in to.  BUT what if this is the last cal for Jammers for a long time.  What if this is the only chance I'll have.  Do I really want to wind up regretting not at least trying it, getting my name out there.

There's a lot for me to think about.  I don't have to decide tonight but it has to be quick.  I have to have my application in by November 1st.  And I'd have to have a plan for my AFAA certification in place just as quick.

AHHHHHHHH PANIC TIME!

FitBloggin '12 - Recap Part I: The People

I have so much to say about the amazing weekend I spent in Baltimore with my fellow bloggers, my tribe.

First thing that's amazing about FitBloggin?  I didn't need a Xanax, not once, the whole weekend.  Everyone at the conference was kind, generous, welcoming and embraced me as one of their own.  When Matt and I wandered in to the opening mixer I was shaking in my New Balance running shoes.

Then I started meeting folks and they started giving out free hugs and I relaxed quite a bit.  On the first night I met the amazing Kim.  I loved jut chatting with her.  We talked about all things fitness, health and boob related.  It was  great chat and I loved getting to hang out with her over the course of the weekend.

Then I got to meet and hug the amazingly awesome duo of Tara and Meegan. The warm welcoming hugs from both of them helped any last, lingering fear kind of just melt away.

I chatted with another dozen people at that mixer and I can't remember all the amazing conversations I had, but I really felt like I was at home.

By the end of the weekend I had also met and had the honor of chatting with my two biggest blog crushes.  Julie and Carla.

Other amazing folks I met?  Too many to link to, because I'm sleepy, but Christine, Cynthia, Elise, Steve, Jess, Kelly, Sana, and on and on and on and on.  I am so bad at names I'm still sitting here trying to put names to blogs and handles.  It's a mental exercise of owie!

The social side of things made my heart just flutter.  It was weird to be in a place where I truly knew that no one was judging me.  We were all brought together through the love of fitness and the journey to get fit.

I am slowly updating my blog roll to incorporate all of the new amazing blogs I am now following and catching up on.

Tomorrow - FitBloggin: The Workouts.
After that - FitBloggin: The Discussions
And then - FitBloggin: The Parties
And even more then - FitBloggin: The Lessons

The order may change as I feel moved to talk about certain things more.  We shall see.  But there is way more to come!

Thank you FitBloggin - see you June! In Portland!

CrossFit almost killed me!

But it was worth it.

50 squats. 40 sit ups. 5 burpees. 10 pushups. 6 minutes of hell.

... And I kind of liked it.

FitBloggin '12

It's here! It's here!  This morning I picked up the lovely Mrs. Fatass and my best buddy Matt and we headed off to the great far away land of ... Baltimore?

It's a weirdly emotional homecoming for me.  I lived here when I was younger, till I was about 13, and now all these emotions and memories are coming to the surface.  I used to be able to walk here to the harbor.  I can remember taking the ferry over to Fells Point.  I remember various family outings to watch fireworks or other fun outdoor events.  I remember feeling "happy" but utterly lost and lonely and pretty much hating life.

It's also a bit of a freeing trip for me though.  I'm not the girl I was when I lived here.  I am stronger, wiser, smarter and I actually know who I am now.

I'm so excited for the conference.  I'm excited to meet all of these bloggers who I've stalked read as I've gone through my journey.  It's going to be awesome.

Mostly, I'm so totally stoked about helping Mrs. Fatass with her Zumba class Saturday morning.  We're going to rock this place like no other.

Watch out, Baltimore.

FMS Photo a Day - Days 10-16 - and a busy, busy day!

I am finally back on a laptop and able to do things that I wanted to do all week.  First up - an update of all my awesome pictures for the FMS Photo a Day.

10. Black and White

11. Hero

12. Together

13. Table

14. Favorite 

15. First Thing You See

16. Strange

This challenge has been a blast for me! Some of the prompts I've REALLLLY had to think about to come up with something that wasn't just another cat picture.  

I'm excited to be back up and running with a new laptop to get stuff done on.  It's not the spiffy, bad ass, super expensive MacBook Pro that I wanted but this little Toshiba has some serious get up and go.  Not a bad way to spend 300$.  The piece of mind alone was worth it, I think.

Today is also a day for getting stuff accomplished.  Last night I started a crock pot bean and veggie stew and this morning I got up and started a crock pot steak and potato stew.  The bean and veggie will be lunch and the steak and potato stew is for dinner.  Left overs will be what I nom on for the three days I'm at work this week.

For the next few hours, I'm putting together stuff for Zumbatomic this afternoon, working on marketing for ZA classes and general Zumba and making sure I have my ducks in a row for Fitbloggin this week!  

I'm pondering things for an upcoming Zumbathon and working on new choreography. Also, checking my work email. Also, also, finishing up the debloating and securing of my new system.  I was able to repurpose the hard drive out of my old computer and toss it in to an enclosure to be my backup hard drive.  Score!

After ZA and my regular Zumba class today, I'm coming home to chill and watch football!

I've been up since 8am... on a Sunday... the apocalypse may be coming.  Just saying.

The laptop-less life

I'm a techo-addict. Anyone who knows me knows this. I love the toys! I love the way technology enhances my life, makes it easier to track things and organize and meet my goals.

So, Monday night when my laptop died a totally unceremonious and random death due to a fried fan I was shell shocked. I'd been saving up to get an iPad but there are things I need a normal laptop for.

My bodybugg, for instance needs a full USB capability and java capabilities. It's also really not fun to blog from my phone.
I hate that the best thing I have to edit pictures with on my phone is instagram.
Making Zumba playlists is tough on my iPod too! I can guesstimate the play list length but it's hard. And it takes so much longer!!!

I'm kind of lost without my laptop, and I think that's sad. It's the nature if the beast though.

I'm working on coming up with an interim solution. I will likely be borrowing a friends NetBook which will let me do everything but the iTunes set up. I was able to save my hard drive and it should be fine once I pop it in the correct external enclosure so all my music is safe until I get a new system to copy it over to.

The big thing is, it will likely be November before I have enough cash stored away to buy a new system. I refuse to buy on credit and so it's going to be a sad couple of weeks while I squirrel away Zumba money towards the cause.

In the meanwhile here's a cute cat picture.

Zumbatomic, bad decisions, FMS Photos!

First off - today was THE DAY - I taught my first Zumbatomic class. It was SOOOOOOO fun! It was me and 5 little ladies.  We danced.  We laughed.  They showed me their mad dancing and tumbling skills. I was overjoyed.  The parental performance went SO well! They were a joy.  It was a joy. 

Thursday and Friday were, however, days of bad decisions. And yet, still full of good things.

Thursday I didn't eat nearly enough.  Then I went and taught about 2.5 hours of Zumba.  I paid for this on Friday. Migraine, dehydrated, exhausted, fuzzy headed.  I still managed to get a ton done at work but in doing so I didn't eat nearly enough during the work day and then ate a HUGE dinner.  I finally normalized on Saturday and today was a great day for nutrition.

I will be more careful in the future.

Friday night I got to dance with Mrs.Fatass at the First Friday event here in town.  We did 3 Zumba songs and talked to perspective students.  It was a blast.

Saturday I vegged after class with Sarah and then went hog wild on movies from Redbox.  On the menu?

We Need to Talk About Kevin -  chilling.  haunting.  beautiful. utterly depressing but I'm glad I watched it.
Man on a Ledge - very fun.  I like the review that called it Oceans 11 meets Mission Impossible.  Pretty apt.
Silent House - pretty much your standard cabin in the woods thriller.  I loved some of the cinematography though.  Very cool choices.

Still to watch? Intruders and Identical. I have a problem... I love these weird horror/thriller/suspense films.  They're so good even when they're bad!!

Next weekend I'll try to watch something not so dark. Maybe something animated and involving cute anthropomorphic animals!

Now for my Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day pics. I'm having so much fun with this!!

6. Every day

7. Natural

8. Night

9.  Something you do most weekends

Pictures. Nutritionist. Celebration.

3. Far Away

4. In your mailbox

5. Bright

Today I saw my nutritionist and I've lost 23 pounds since I last saw her.  I'm still 4 pounds shy of being able to say 200 pounds.  SOOOOOOON!

I'm just gleeful that I'm really seeing results - even if they're slow.

I'm so glad I gave my scale away.  I need to hop on it maybe once a month to check my body fat % and muscle mass but otherwise I think I'm only going to weigh in at the doctors. 

So many good things going on this week.  I can't wait to have time to write about it more in depth. 

I'm working on editing a post for submission to the amazing Girl Body Pride blog.  It's been taking a lot of my thought time lately.  Trying to get my message in to 500 words or less.  Woof!

Father - bah humbug.

2. Father

Every other idea I had for today was too depressing to capture. 

So here's my "father" submission.  My beloved Robin snuggled up to me, demanding attention and trying to nurse on my tummy.  Robin is my baby, he think I'm both his mother and his father.  I bottle fed him when he was small enough to fit in my hand.  Now he weighs 30+ pounds and still comes to me for comfort and love. Cats are the best.

I fully admit that I still have daddy issues.  It took a long time, quite a bit of therapy, and years of healing to be able to talk about my biological father without being angry or sad to the point of tears.

The fact is, not all of us are lucky enough to have a father figure worth applauding.

Mine was a drunk who liked to tell me how worthless I was and made me feel like trash no matter what awesome things I accomplished.  He's the one who picked his drinking and his mistress over me, my brother and my sister.  He's the one who decided we weren't worth fighting for.  And now, he's the one who is trying, after 15+ years of being absent, to "keep in touch" via Facebook.

I accidentally did accept his friend request and immediately removed it.  He messaged me and said he heard I was doing well with my career.  Too bad I don't need his approval now... when I was 13 I did but now I could care less if he's proud of me or not.

It feels bad to be so cold about it.  I know there are many people who love to have their fathers back in their lives and think I'm a fool for not taking this chance to reconnect.  I've had to think about it a lot lately and I know I'm making the right decision. 

I am choosing to hold close to me the family I've chosen rather than those who are tied to me only by genetics.  I'm choosing the people who have been there for me in the good times and the bad.  I'm choosing love over duty. 

Now that I've been all serious... here's another cute cat picture for the happy thoughts.

September Challenges

So, first things first - September Photo a Day Challenge.  Mrs. Fatass is doing it and I'm a follower so I'm doing it too. 

1. You, now

Other challenges for the month?  Continue on my streak of packing lunch at least 4 days a week.  I am trying REALLY hard to stick to this.  Partly for the financial reasons and partly for the health reasons. 

Also do one designated upper body exercise every day.  Pushups.  Tricep dips.  Tricep kicks.  Bicep curls. Flys. Bench presses.  Something.  I have a little over a month until Sentao training and I want to be able to do at least SOME of the upper body moves in the class.  It's going to be a struggle but I'll push it.

Tomorrow I will FINALLY stop putting it off and do my measurements.  I gave Matt my scale and haven't weighed myself in a little over 2 weeks.  I see the nutritionist on Wednesday so I'll know my weight then.  So nervous!