Hard Work Pays Off...

Well it's been several weeks since my last update.  I have had 2 good weigh ins.  The 1st being 1 pound loss and the last week's weigh in being a 3 1/2 pound weight loss!  That puts me down a total of 41 pounds.  The 3 1/2 pound weight loss came from doing 6 zumba's & 2 weight training days.  I had increased the intensities in the last 3 or 4 of those zumba's and as u can see with a 3 1/2 pound weight loss, all the hard work paid off.  I normally sweat alot in zumba, but those particular classes that I had increased the intensity I soaked my tops front and back, as well as my pants from sweat.  I pushed myself to a place, beyond what I thought possible.  It's amazing just when I think I've pushed myself as far as I can, I'm able to push myself even more.

I just got in from a back to back zumba tonight!  I don't mind telling u I am pretty tired!  I increased the intensity in those classes tonight!  I'm really hoping to see it payoff on the scale this week as well!  I've only hit a total of 4 zumbas so far and will only hit 1 more tomorrow night for this weeks weigh in.  So I will actually be short 1 zumba compared to last weeks.  However, I have increased the intensity in all these zumba's.  I have only hit the weights 1 time, so far, and won't again till after weigh in.  I have stuck really close to my 1700 calorie intake and have been sure to take in plenty of water daily as well!  Not sure if I've shared how I eat, so here is a little of what I do.  I try to get 6 fruits & veggies in a day.  I do NOT eat fried foods or sweets!  I eat mostly chicken & turkey. I will tell u that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!  Protein is key as well!  As my gym owner says, more than 1/2 the work u do is in how u eat, the other portion is the workouts u put in!  I've cut out a big majority of the beef I use to eat.  Believe it or not, it has not been hard to do those things.  The biggest challenge for me is anytime I make homemade rice & gravy or homemade potatoes of any kind.  Those are 2 of my hardest temptation!  Those have always been my weakness. I have put it in my mind that I can have a little and that's good enough.  I don't waste the extra calories on something like that, but instead on more of the lean meats or fruits & veggies.  I will tell u this - If u have a craving for something have a little bit!  U should not deprive yourself of things u enjoy, just use moderation.  When u make your body think u are depriving it, you are sabotaging yourself!  We are talking life style change, not something u can do long term.

My husband seems to think, I've gone zumba overboard, but I quickly remind him I'm on a weight loss journey!  Yes, this is a lifestyle change, but until I reach my goal weight I am beefing up my workouts!  That's not the only reason for all the Zumba's though!  I absolutely LOVE doing Zumba!  I have been doing zumba since September 7, 2010, and have not once felt burned out!  I have different instructors with different songs and even though I repetitively go to the same classes, I NEVER get bored.  Zumba has changed my life, and I will forever be doing Zumba.  I actually just found out tonight, that my gym is starting yet 1 more zumba class a week!  I, with big grin in tow, asked my husband what he thought about me doing double zumba's on mondays too!   Lol ~ Of course he said that was way too much ;o)  He wants me to stick with what I'm already doing.  I do 1 on monday already, then 2 on tuesday night, 1 wednesday night, 2 thursday night, and every other saturday morning I do 1!  The gym adding a monday night class, leaves room for me to swap up my double zumba nights though!  Maybe every once in awhile a double zumba added on monday night ;o) 

When the journey is made with hard work & dedication, through sweat & even tears, u will appreciate it more!

A Life Forever Changed....

I can't begin to tell u the joy I feel just bursting to come out!  I literally feel like doing a Zumba type dance, from the excitement bottled inside me!  I had a life changing moment happen in Zumba tonight that I want to share, but I want to go back to my weigh in on thursday first!

Well as I had feared, I did gain on the scale at thursday's weigh in!  I gained 1 1/2 pounds, which puts me back at 37 pounds weight loss.  I will say, that I did hit the weights every single day leading to that weigh in and feel like in some ways that was part of the weight gain.  I had been dealing with nearly 2 weeks of migraines, that I am pretty sure was due to my thyroid yo yoing all over the place.  As anyone familiar with the thyroid knows, it affects so many areas of your life!  I also have been battling getting my calories in for the day, due to starting each day with a migraine.  I have finally found relief from the migraines as of sunday evening, I haven't had another one.  Praise God for that!  I am so thankful for all the prayers that I know were sent up for me.

After the relief from the migraines, I have been waking up eating and have came really close to meeting my 1700 calorie a day requirement, I have still found it challenging to get all the calories in.  I know any of u that love food, think I must be crazy.  The thing is I have changed my whole view of food.  Sure I still enjoy food, but I know now it is for fuel for my body.  I have a whole new respect for it.  I use to abuse food and it was very harmful for my body as well as my mind.  Now it is the fuel that I use for my workouts as well as my daily life.  I feel so much better, more than I EVER thought possible!  It's amazing the difference u feel when u eat healthy!

I did a zumba class thursday night, and took friday off from the gym.  I woke up saturday morning, with the knowledge of a zumba class at 9:30 a.m.  In mind I wanted to go, but I woke up seriously battling my body.  As I have shared before I deal with serious pain in my back and it is much worse in the mornings and especially in cold weather!  I actually woke up a little later than I normally would for a class that early.  I didn't get up until 8:30a.m., and when u add dragging, on that I was really pushing it for time.  I literally started giving myself words of encouragement to be able to push through the pain and go to the zumba class.  I was saying these 2 particular phrases over and over to myself as I wound up making it to the zumba class just minutes before time to start.  I was saying "this is how winnings done" & "with greater pain comes greater reward"!  I was so glad that I pushed through and went to the zumba class, cause as always I enjoyed it, and I was able to find a strength in myself that quite frankly I thought I would NEVER have!  That strength has been sparked and given to me by my Lord.  I'm so thankful for the renewed look on life and the internal joy that I now have!  It's amazing what happens when u finally give it over completely to Christ, and put total faith in what he is able to do.


Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of GOD, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:1,3,6 (KJV)

I took the day off sunday in the gym, but hit a zumba class monday night, and tuesday night I hit 2 back to back!   As u can see I completely layed off the weights for this weigh in.

Now, on to the life changing moment of tonight's Zumba.  We had a fill in at tonights zumba class, which is the toughest cardio based zumba instructor I have.  She is also a special friend that I will forever be grateful to!  She has left such a positive impact on my life, that words can't even describe how much appreciation I have!  She as well went through a weight loss journey and is at her goal weight.  She knows 1st hand the challenges that comes with weight loss.  Probably a little over a month or so back, she added a song to her class, that within a few minutes, of it playing moved me.  The song is "I can transform ya" by: Chris Brown.  The words of I can transform u, made me connect in my mind, that I was being transformed through this weight loss journey.  That I was actually doing it!  I began to get a bit emotional in that class, but had to hold back until the end of the class.  I went up to the instructor (my friend) and let her know how she had reinspired me to push through the pain, emotionally and physically and that I appreciated her dedication to instructing zumba.  I let her know that words couldn't truly describe how she had impacted my life!  As I was speaking to her about this, I began to cry and I could see it touched her as well.  It was tears of joy!  That I finally was transforming into someone I thought would NEVER be!  She let me know that she had choreographed that song for a dear friend of hers that had also went through a weight loss journey.  Her friend liked the song for the exact reason I had described to her.  I thought that, was the coolest thing, and I've continually looked forward to going to her class to rock to that song!  Tonight's class, I'm going to try as best as I can to put into words the emotion I felt!  As we were a little more than 1/2 way through the class, we started the song "I can transform ya".   The instructor (my friend) came down off the platform, and on one of my very favorite parts of the song began to do the moves with me!  I could hear just about everyone in the room cheering with excitement as me and her rocked a few minutes to those moves.  In those moments it was as if she and I were the only 2 people in the room, and so many floods of emotion ran through me.  I was thinking how cool, that she came right by me, on the very song, that she knew hit me, on such a personal level.  On top of that, I was keeping up, smiling, enjoying every second of it!  Also reflecting in my mind on "WOW" ~ Johnell u are there!  You are experiencing true FREEDOM from all the bondages that life in the past had on u!  True Joy, happiness, peace & strength were mine!  This is reward beyond the scale!  This is the reward that I so desperately was seeking for so, so long!  For so long I searched for my worth in others words or deeds!  I have finally found my worth in Christ!  I have an inner strength now and I'm so excited for what my future holds!

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the [Lord], thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Jeremiah 29:11

A New Year - A New Me

Well it's been almost a month since my last journal post, so I felt it was time to write a new entry.  I am down a total of 38 1/2 pounds, as of my weigh in on the 23rd of december.  The weight is still coming off very slowly and can be quite frustrating at times.  I have continued to push through, as this is a life commitment to becoming the new healthy me!

I am still doing Zumba classes faithfully, but due to the holidays haven't had near the classes I am use to.  I'm hoping to get back in the groove of working out more faithfully now that the holidays are over.  I can't say I'm burnt out at all, just going through a dark pit!  I'm not only battling my body now, but my thyroid as well.  I had a meltdown a few days ago.  I know things don't come easy, and the harder u have to work for them, the more u appreciate them.  The 38 1/2 pounds have not by any means come off easy, and I've had to work for every pound!  I am dreading this weeks weigh in, because I know my thyroid is out of whack!  I have more than likely gained, but I will NOT let that slow my journey down.  I have been a bit emotional the past few weeks as well as slacked on my workouts.  Geez, maybe that goes hand in hand!!!  I should NOT have slacked so much on my workouts, but I have.  This week ~ I say "BRING on the ZUMBA"!!!  I have been faithful to the weights & crunches though.  The scale may disappoint me thursday, but I will go back to the following weeks weigh in and have some success!  On the positive side of things, I bagged up some clothes this weekend that I can NO longer fit, due to them being too big!  That was pretty cool!

I have been avoiding myself, if that makes any sense at all!  I guess really avoiding the reality of myself!  The sad thing is, you can't run away from you.  Right now, in alot of ways, I'm my biggest issue.  I have been way more emotional lately.  In private of course, not letting anyone else know.  That's one of my top issues I'm still having a tough time working through.  It is so hard for me to admit, I'm not doing well.  I guess more than admitting to others, I'm having to admit to myself that I'm not 100%.  In reality no one ever is completely a o.k.  I've withdrawn again the past few weeks and not really wanted to get out and be around anyone.  It is a vicious cycle, that I'm just having such a hard time breaking.  I do think alot of that right now is due to my thyroid being out of control again.  It's amazing how much your thyroid controls in your everyday functions.  I've noticed when I am around others I am a women of very few words.  I don't want to go back to that person that was all out of control in so many areas of her life.  I really covet your prayers, and they are much needed right now. 

I have been avoiding writing a new journal entry, because I feel like such a downer.  I have always enjoyed being the one to encourage, but I have to admit I'm in desperate need of some myself right now. 

Deuteronomy 33:27
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before you; and shall say, Destroy them.