Score!

I am not one to be shy and let everyone know when my birthday is, and as we all know, this past Sunday was the big day!  Needless to say, I celebrated all weekend!  Between lounging by the pool, shopping, and eating at great restaurants, it was a pretty darn good weekend!

Oh the eating... Saturday my family went to Columbia Restaurant. Possibly one of my favorite Spanish restaurants, solely for their 1905 salad and bread!  Warm Cuban bread with butter = heaven on a plate!  And lets not forget the sangria - yummy sangria made table side! After the immense amounts of Spanish food - of course there was cake, Carvel Ice Cream cake to be exact!  Chocolate crunchies, you are my fav! Food coma ensued and we just sat around the condo and played Mexican Train for the rest of the night. 

Of course the next morning we went to IHOP for breakfast so I got one of their Simple & Fit meals.  Definitely nothing to be excited about, but I had to save my points for dinner because, of course, I was going out to eat again - this time with my friends, and we were going to Carrabba's!  I had the best time at dinner with my friends, and really tried to make the time about hanging out with my closest friends and not all about the food.  I totally got the small Pollo Rosa Maria, which I had planned for the whole time, with the Italian green beans instead of the mashed potatoes.  I still had a carafe of wine, and bread dipped in olive oil - so there was no denying myself, but just tried to be a little more conscious of what I was ordering!

I'm here to tell you - working out at Zumba, and just making a conscious effort of what you are eating totally helps!!  I weighed in last night at WW, and I lost 0.6lbs!  That's a total win in my book, especially considering the celebratory weekend I had!

The best part to this whole story...  today I had a co-worker tell me that she can tell I've been losing weight!!  There are only a few people here in my office that know I'm doing WW, and she isn't/wasn't one of them.  She said she can tell in my face and body that I've lost weight...  She totally made my day! Woohoo!!!!

Spanish Telenovelas

This weekend my parents have come to Orlando to spend the week in a timeshare here in town.   I decided to spend the weekend with them so I came to this side of town after work.  What I didn't realize was that this condo has all the Spanish channels that plays the soap operas that my family watches...  Oh my God...  Such drama and bad acting...  And the story lines!!! I'm not sure how they watch these things...  It's awful.
So here I sit,  while everyone watches TV and i entertain myself with blogs and Candy Crush. 
Off to beat level 56!

It all pays off!!

Since this was a long holiday weekend, and my WW location was closed on Monday, I weighed in on Sunday morning.  And wouldn't you know it - I lost 2.8lbs!  I think all the Zumba and TurboKick are finally showing up in my numbers.  I was actually telling a friend the other day that not only is the scale showing results, but I really think that I'm losing inches as my clothes are fitting better!

I'll be missing my meeting next Monday as well as I'll be on travel for work again.  Which also means I'll be missing Zumba/TurboKick all next week. Sad face!!  I'm really going to try to make the best choices I can because not only will I be traveling for work next week, this coming weekend I'll be visiting my parents. 

Funny side story - I was telling my mom of my progress on Sunday and I heard my aunt in the background saying she wishes she could workout with me.  Sooooo, I went online and found a Zumba class for Saturday morning when I will be in town for both of us to go to!  She's definitely started backpedaling now... but we're going!  Especially since I won't be able to the rest of the week.  :)

Work is a little crazy at the moment... and will be until this proposal is submitted in July.  The upside - I can't go out to lunch because my meetings are right smack in the middle of the day, so in turn I bring lunch and can plan accordingly.  The downside - the afternoons seem to drag since I didn't get to leave and I don't get to see my lunch buddy friends!!!  Another sad face!!

Off to my next meeting! Til' next time peeps!

Encouragement

I just read a Dear Abby column (don't judge!) where someone who is overweight and has to lose over 50 lbs was walking with a friend and was ridiculed by a passerby.  This post brought me to tears (which isn't hard, but that's besides the point) because I know all too well how hard it is when you are overweight to exercise - and then when you do, you get made fun of!!

It's easy for people to tell you to brush off people's comments, but when you are overweight and self-conscious about it, words hurt more than anything else.  I still remember being made fun of in middle and high school.  The hurtful comments from classmates have never left.  Even comments from family or friends who love you, which aren't meant to be malicious, leave hurtful impressions. I know what it feels like going to a party or get together with family and/or friends and barely eating because you feel like you are being judged because, "Look at the fat girl - look at what/how much she's eating".  Regardless of if anyone is thinking that or not... that's how we feel because of those hurtful words in the past come creeping back in when you least expect it.

I've finally come to a place in my life where I know the family and friends I surround myself with love me for me, and don't judge when I eat a big ol' burger, or pizza.  But I've also come to a point in my life where I'm ready to make a change.  I've started WW for the 500th time (it seems), and this time making a real go at it and I've started exercising.  And to be completely honest...  the strangers at the Zumba and TurboKick classes are the most encouraging about exercise.  I'm without a doubt the biggest girl in the class, but everyone tells me how great I'm doing.  I remember a specific lady in class - I have no idea what her name is, and I don't even know if I've seen her again - but she made a point to come over to me during class and tell me, "Keep it up - you are kickin' butt!!"  Those words, whether she knows it or not, have kept me going back and feeling good about myself.  

So this is  me...  a big girl, making a fool of herself during Zumba or TurboKick, but having fun and keeping at it in order to continue my journey to happy and healthy!

Family

I traveled to my hometown this weekend to celebrate my little cousin passing the FL Bar and turning 25 all in the same week. It was great seeing family and even seeing some that I haven't seen in years!

I was able to show my mom how the ActiveLink works and she was  pretty amazed and excited for me all at the same time. I plugged it in to my dad's computer and was shocked to see my highest percentage since starting to use it...  180% and 6 points plus! It's a good thing too - the abundance of food at the party was ridiculous. I tried to stick to fruit, veggies,  and the cocktail shrimp.  Temptation got the best of me and I ate a handful of Cuban pastries and summer sausage, but all in all it could have been much worse.   Regardless, Monday morning it's Zumba for me to try and work some of it off before my weigh in that evening.

It's been great seeing family this weekend but I'm ready to get back into routine and be able to really count points for what I'm eating!