ZUMBA AND FEELING GOOD NAKED

You've seen the commercials on TV. "I went from a size 20 to a size 6" or "I went from a size 14 to a size 6"..First of all, six isn't a size. Second of all, what do you have against size 14? Marilyn Monroe was a size 14. She was hot. Was she tall? Anyone know? Some of those ladies' sizes are the same as mine, but they look different than I do. Fact of the matter is that we are all different--shapes and sizes (colors, etc). Isn't that what we tell our kids?

What happens when our shape and size affect our health? Then what do we tell our kids? Tolerance for obesity, overweightness, fat people...what ever you want to call it is one thing when we are teaching our children to love a person for who they are on the inside, but what if we are teaching our children that it is okay to allow our bodies to get to shapes and sizes that are DEADLY for us?

I have high blood pressure. My family has a history of it. Diabetes. You name it. Heart problems. It's in there. The older I get the more I see it is in there. It is in here (pointing to my heart). Wouldn't it be great to go to my doctor for my check up next year and say "HEY!" I've lost a bunch of weight. I feel great! I don't want to shell out money each month for a prescription. I don't need it!"

What do you do, then to reach this goal? Some people go to their doctor and he works out a plan, and this is great if you can afford it all and have the time to keep the appointments. I have two kids and a full time second job, so I have to be a little more flexible. I joined ZUMBA classes. I love ZUMBA! It is aerobics, but Latin style. Anyone see Selena? You know when she was learning the "washing machine"? The washing machine is great for your abs. Makes me want to pull out my Salsa soundtrack and my Ricky Martin CDS and washing machine for a few hours! So, my Zumba instructor is out on maternity leave...after I only attended one class. Not her fault that I had bad timing. Phase 2 of FGN is that I replace my Zumba nights now with what is called Fluidity exercise. Girls, this is what it sounds like. Flexibility at its best. The muscles you stretch with this workout are muscles that you haven't felt since you were in high school. The combination of Zumba and Fluidity really make improvements on your posture and your waistline, which brings me to Feel Good Naked.

The book is shown at the bottom of my blog. The author discusses 10 ways to be able to look at yourself in the mirror while you are naked and see a beautiful woman...inside and out. She talks about your posture being key to how you look on the outside--refer back to Fluidity. She tells how ten minutes of cardio workout (even dancing while you clean the bathroom) a day can help burn away calories. Both Laure (FGN) and Michelle (Fluidity) offer suggestions for dieting that are do-able to a busy mom. Neither plan requires food that you would purchase from a company or pills that you would have to take on a daily basis.

My goal over the course of the year is not to be drop dead gorgeous, although I would welcome that freely. My goal is simply to lose 15 pounds and gain a little self confidence while shedding a few prescriptions and telling the DIABETES and HEART demons to "back off!" Can I do it? We're already in July, and my New Years Resolution (earlier post) was to have an overall self-improvement. 6 months later, I have worked on my spiritual self, but I have my inner and outer self to go. I think I can do it. Wait and see!