All work and no play...

Ok, so it hasn't been "no play," but not nearly enough play this last week.  And this coming week isn't looking very happy either.

I had a big deadline on Friday.  I made it, but just barely.  My team really pulled through.  The whole week was just insane though.  I worked until late, through lunch and went in early all week and between that and my insane Zumba schedule I am just straight up beat.

And tomorrow starts 3 insane days back to back.

At about 4:30 tomorrow morning I need to head out the door to drive to Stokesdale for a Zumba license class - Sentao.  Can we say OW!?!?! It's not going to be an easy day and then you add the 2.75 hour drive to the equation and SUPER FREAKING OW.

After the class is done I'm taking a hop skip and a jump drive over to Winston Salem and checking in to a hotel for 2 days of locked in a room fun of data jamming and testing.  So Monday I'll be sitting in a chair and not moving.  That's generally not helpful for all the soreness.

Then I get to come home and jump back on my normal Zumba schedule.

I'm really hoping that the two nights where I can't do Zumba will let my body get some much needed rest.  I would like to not be sore all over.  I also don't know what I'm going to do with 2 days without cardio.  Maybe the place I'm staying will have a good onsite gym and I can get in a short run or something before heading in?  I know I'm not running outside at early o'clock in a place I don't know.

Highlights of this past week:

1. Matt and I went running Wednesday evening and I did a full 8 minute run for just over a half a mile.  Endurance is getting way better. I have high hopes for my 5k next month!
2. I had a Zumba instructor from Raleigh come to my class Wednesday night and taught an awesome belly dance routine that I'm almost ready to introduce in to the class myself.  I love it.
3. Weigh in on Wednesday - down only .2 pounds but I was retaining water like crazy because I was dumb and ate McDonald's chicken nuggets on Tuesday night.
4. I got the nicest compliment from a lady at my YMCA class this morning - she told me I had beautiful hands when I danced and that I danced through to the very tips.
5. Choreographed a new Salsa and a cha-cha to Love Potion No. 9.  The love potion routine is a Halloween song but I'm loving it for now.

Countdown to 30 - 7 more days! WOOHOO! Bring it on 30s! I'm coming for you!

Whoops! Blast you real life!

So much has happened since the 19th I hardly know where to begin.  As for my goals from last week - a quick round up...

1. Finish C25k Week 1 and continue with week 2. Have completed W2D1 and W2D2 is tomorrow.  The first day of week 2 kicked my butt! I love it!

2. Drink a minimum of 100oz of water a day. So done... I am still on track with this and I float through my days.  Woohoo!

3. Try another new fruit or vegetable. Yep. I tried to conquer white asparagus... not a fan.

4.  Set aside some time to do something "nice" for myself this week.  Eyebrows got done but my hair is looking too good to cut right now LOL. 

5. Spend at least 10 minutes each day on new choreography. My brain is flooded with new choreography!

Ok.  So, the reason why you guys didn't get these updates on the 20th, or 21st, or well.. any of the days before now is that real life swallowed me whole.  In the best of ways. 

The 21st was the first official event for Trio Fitness. A Zumbathon for the Connor Wayne Combs Foundation. It was a great, sweaty, success.

The Trio Fitness Ladies... gettin ready...

Yeah... we're kind of like the Charlies Angels... of fitness.

Me rocking the Ella Me Copia

All three of us poppin them hips!

The aftermath... a sweaty mess!

Yeah, it was a good day!.  3 hours of Zumba followed by a carbohydrate heavy lunch and a workout hangover and an insane Sunday lead to a week of craziness in work, in Zumba and personally as well.

This time on phentermine has made me realize how addicted I am to food.  The cool thing about the appetite suppressant to me right now is that it makes me only really want to eat 3 times a day...

I've been listening to doctors for so long and all of them have had different ideas about what I needed to do to get the weight off and I've tried to listen to each of them in turn to give their hunches a try. What wound up happening is I wound up being addicted to the constant flow of food and when I tried to change my eating to more calorie dense, lower volume foods it got harder to stay within my calorie range.

But I'm addicted to eating like every 2-3 hours now and the phentermine has killed that addiction because I don't get the hunger signals and even when I do give in and snack on something I eat two bites and my stomach says NO, NO ROOM AT THE INN.  Today I had a bit of an upset stomach (forgot my acid reflux meds) and I snacked on 2 hard pretzels in little bites through the whole day.  That was the extent of my snacks. 

Only eating 3 meals a day I'm eating well below 2000 calories a day unless I force myself to eat something more calorie dense to ensure that I'm not eating too little on my heavy cardio days. 

I have seen a total difference in how my body feels before, during and after my workouts.  My sleep patterns are more even and I feel more rested.  AND today I weighed in 12 pounds down from where I was 2 Thursdays ago.  That's INSANE.  I hadn't lost 12 pounds in the last two months.  Such a huge change.

Aside from all of that I'm enjoying my 5k training, I'm getting psyched up for my Basic 2 Zumba License class this Sunday and the National Dance Day flash mob AND the Zumba convention in 2 weeks. 

There's so much going on that I feel like I'm going 24/7 but I feel more rested and relaxed than I have in a long time.  I love that things are just happening.  It's stressful as hell some days but, overall, life is taking care of itself.  I do have bad days and feel like I can't handle it bit I'm surrounded by love and friendship and some of the best coworkers ever so I KNOW I can get through anything. 

Goals and end of week update

1. Only drink one carbonated beverage a day.
CHECK! Getting easier every day. 

2. Try one new fruit or vegetable. Tomorrow! This will happen!

3. Re-start Couch to 5K and do all of my week 1 runs.
I do not know why it was so hard to get runs in this week.  I only got in half a one during the work week.  Tomorrow is out for running because of a planned trip to the aquarium.  I'll get in lots of steps though... just not the endurance training I need. 

4. Pack my lunch every day.
Check! I successfully did this all work week! Woohoo! 

5. Drink my shake every morning.
Check! I need to get back to being creative with my shakes.  I drank simple chocolate most of the week.  I need to get back to adding coffee, and fruit and random additives again!

6. Alternate doing push ups and crunches every night. I'm trying to work up to 10 full on the ground push ups and 100 crunches at a go.
Check!! Push ups... I will own you!!

My week was absolutely crazy in work, out of work, Zumba related.  Everything was insane.  My credit card number was stolen.  My feet tried to revolt at the end of Zumba Thursday night.  We're running ragged trying to get National Dance Day and Zumbathon plans ironed out for the next two weekends. 

It's totally wild and crazy and awesome and terrible.

I also had a doctor appointment that was .... interesting.  Firstly - most of the nurses at the doctors office know me as the Zumba instructor.  I didn't realize how many of them take my classes or know me by reputation. 

I got venting my annoyance with the slowness of my recent weight loss with one of the nurses.  She mentioned it to the doc and we got talking.  I wound up on a prescription appetite suppressant. 

I'm not sure how I feel about this as I'm not a big fan of pills in weight loss but he and I discussed it and my concerns about the volume of food I've been eating (even if within reason calorically) had me concerned.  He thinks a short term course of this med may help me readjust my eating schedule and find something that works for me.

We'll see if I stay on it.  Today was day 1 and I was SUPER PRODUCTIVE because it made me focused and jittery and I'm way low on my calories for the day.  I feel good and we'll see if this continues.  I see the doc again in a month to see how my weight and measurements have changed with the meds help.