Our branch is holding a Tai Chi Awareness Day tomorrow so I’ll be doing Tai Chi moves off and on for three hours. Since I had a board meeting Tuesday night that prevented me from going to Zumba class and then did a Tai Chi class on Wednesday evening, I decided to skip class today and do Zumba. Did you follow all that? 🙂
Prior to Zumba, I did some Tai Chi moves at home and then went full out for the hour with our dance moves. According to My Fitness Pal, I burn more than 900 calories in an hour of Zumba. That’s a hell of a lot, but it feels great. My crunches are getting better too and, goodness knows, we do a lot of them in this class. This particular instructor is Brazilian. I have never seen someone able to move their abs and hips with such speed and flexibility. She’s amazing.
After class I did a few errands and then came home to clean the pool. Surprisingly, this involves some extra upper body work. Later on in the afternoon, I took the dogs for a nice walk.
Is it any wonder that I’m physically tired tonight? But, to borrow from James Brown, “I feel good! Huh!”
I’ve had a great week program-wise. Good adherence to my food plan. Good attention to exercise. Good weight loss. I plan to build on this week by following it up with another great week, and another one after that and so on. I feel like I was slogging along at a lower speed but this week shifted into a higher gear. I’m really focused on reaching my goal, sooner rather than later. Every good day put me one step closer.
The wind blew up today so I couldn’t get out on the boat. Instead, after I cleaned up from the pool, I hopped in the car, dropped the top and headed for Key West to do a little shopping. I only intended to hit the arts/crafts/fabric store but figured as long as I was down there, I should at least stop into one of the clothing/house stuff stores.
I’ve never shopped at this particular store before, but it might become one of my new best friends. Decent quality clothes at really great sale prices. Since I plan to lose 60 more pounds in the next five to six months, I’m going to start shedding garments at a more rapid pace again. Being able to get a pair of shorts for 9.99 is a bargain. Finding the casual dresses that are great for the Keys and not paying more than $16.99 a dress is amazing. I selected an armful of garments, tried them on and was on my way to the register when my eyes beamed in on another dress in a size 16. Not a 16/18 – just a 16. It’s a Calvin Klein with contemporary, fake-wrap styling in turquoise, purple and black – one of my favorite combinations. It was so reasonable and so eye-catching that I didn’t even bother trying it on. I figured if it didn’t fit me now, it would in another month. I couldn’t resist.
I got it home and it fits. It’s a little clingy and really will look better in another month, but if push came to shove and I put on a Spanx slip underneath it, I could totally pull it off right now. Booyah!
I need to be careful about things like sleeves right now. As toned as I’ve gotten my biceps, there’s serious sag going on beneath my arms. No amount of working out is going to get rid of that, unfortunately. It will have to wait until surgery. Another reason I like this dress is that it has 3/4 sleeves. The other dresses were all sleeveless, but light knit shrugs help camouflage the arm swing. Thank goodness for alternatives.
All in all, it’s been a good “Me” day, focusing on my needs, wants and enjoyments. I think it’s important for each of us to have these kinds of days. We spend a lot of time putting our energy into other things, responsibilities, and people. Putting as much time into ourselves helps us accomplish good healthy things. I don’t consider it selfish as much as I feel that it’s necessary.
I might not get a chance to do it again for awhile, so I’m going to enjoy the few remaining hours in the day and keep it going.
Weighty Matters 
After reading this Mary, I am inspired. I needed this today. Thank you!
Sounds like a wonderful week and day! Me-time is very important for rebuilding energy reserves and developing ourselves. And sometimes, those times are the only times we get our needs fully met.
And I am totally envious of the Tai Chi Awareness Day! 🙂 Have lots of fun!