It's been a week on plan and while I'm not really seeing much activity on the scale, I want to focus on the good things this week.

1. I stayed OP every day. And I journaled every day.
2. After being so wildly off track during vacation (malasadas, not to mention other Hawaiian goodies) I jumped right back on track after coming home - even though my mom was visiting for several days and we easily could have made poor choices!
3. I ate a TON of fruits and veggies this week. Salads like crazy (fruit and green) and when grabbing a snack, fruit was the easy choice. And I've been eating the mixed green salad instead of iceberg, so there are a lot of nutrients in there.
4. I went to the gym almost every day since coming back. I earned 24 APs this week - 24!!!! I'm enjoying the workouts, and I did try something new. I'm pushing myself a bit - in Zumba class last night I noticed I was really sweating and trying to get more out of it.

I have watched from outside the Cycling room while waiting for Zumba class to start and I always wondered what exactly they were doing in there. They turn off the lights and they play some sort of video on the big screen, but I was never really sure what. I thought it was time to find out.

I asked around about Cycling - it's like Spinning, but since that's a trademark they can't call it that unless they have certified instructors, etc. I heard all sorts of horror stories, as well as some advice:
get there early
take two towels
take lots of water
your butt will be killing you
you'll feel like puking
your legs will be rubber
be sure to set up the cycle correctly

So I was a little bit scared to go in and try it. Still, a lot of the people I heard from said that it was addictive and that they loved it, so I gave it a try.

Yes, you need two towels - that way you can put one on each side of the handlebar. You will sweat, so it's nice to have something to wipe up with.

Lots of water - yes, you will need it. I took two bottles but really didn't need to drink all of it. 1 1/2 would have been ok.

My butt was fine for the first 30 minutes. But then it did start to hurt a bit. I have padded shorts I could wear, but didn't this time. Maybe next time I will. The thing that surprised me was that my feet were hurting - I was starting to get toe cramps towards the end of the class.

In all, it was a fun class - not as fun as zumba, but a good workout and better than mindlessly riding on the cycles in the main cardio room. Lots of jumps, sprints, hills, etc. - it was good to have someone pushing me a bit. The instructor was quite nice, not at all a tyrant - but still able to inspire everyone to give it a little more than they might have otherwise.

So I may be back from time to time. I don't know that I'd make it my main workout, but it's a good one to throw into the mix. With Zumba only being twice a week, I may just add a cycle class once or twice a week.

I love summer. First of all, I don't have to teach. I love teaching, but I need a break now and then. Summer is great - it gives me time to do all sorts of projects, as well as to just sit around and do nothing. I can read the books I didn't get a chance to read, learn the software I didn't learn, and recharge the batteries. But I also love summer because of the crazy amount of cheap fruit you can get in the supermarket!

While in Hawaii, we ate lots of pineapple and papaya. I was kind of bummed that the other usual summer fruits were so expensive. I was happy to go to the store when we got back to AZ to find all sorts of stuff on sale - cherries, peaches, nectarines, melons, apricots, strawberries. I think I have at least 12 kinds of fruit in my house right now, and it's great to be able to grab a quick snack. We had tropical fruit salad with dinner last night, and mixed melons for breakfast. It's delicious!

And, I got a new toy. Right in time for our trip, and boy was it wonderful! I got a 16GB 3G iPad and I have to say I love it! I can keep books, magazines, movies, songs, notes, etc. on it. I can watch TV on it (the abc app is nice). And I can track WW on it. So far no dedicated iPad app for WW, but the iPod one works for the time being.

It's one month into summer vacation and I'm still going to the gym 5 times a week. I've been doing Zumba 2-3 times/week and elliptical and strength 2-3 times. So far no huge results on the scale but I am seeing some NSV's (non-scale victories).

I started out barely able to do 8 minutes on the elliptical. Now I blast through 28 minutes easily, and can do 35 if that's what I'm doing for my main cardio that day.

I'm able to lift higher amounts of weight on the machines.

My pants are fitting a little looser around the waist. Not down a size yet, but at least it's progress. And I've noticed my butt and thighs are a little tighter than before.

I did get thrown off a little bit because we were in Hawaii for 2 weeks. I did get LOTS of exercise because we walked and swam like crazy. I did splurge on a bathing suit that was comfortable and that I didn't feel bad wearing in public. Sure, it wasn't a bikini - but it was an attractive suit that I liked enough to go swimming in every single day!

So now it's back to the grind - back on point tracking (kind of hard to do on vacation, although I did try to eat as many fruits and veggies as I could rather than junk), and I've already been back to the gym twice. Today was my day off, but tomorrow I'll be there bright and early.

I had seen it on the gym schedule but didn't really want to go at 7pm, since that messes up the nightly routine. But since I have an appointment today and can't do my usual Tuesday work-out, I gave it a try.

It was different - Latin dance-based moves with club-style music. It was definitely a workout, I did sweat! It was more fun than just doing one of the cardio machines, but I felt really uncoordinated on some of the moves. I would say about 50% of them I had down, but some of the trickier steps I'll have to work on.

The class was pretty full, and I heard some of the other participants saying that the club really needs to add more to the schedule. I agree, two classes per week really isn't enough for something that popular. I'll probably try it again over the summer, maybe it will become one of my favorites!

And good news from the scale front...down 1.4 pounds this week!

So here I am, starting another blog. Not a business blog, I've got those already. But a personal blog to chronicle my quest to fitness.

Right now, I'm overweight. No, not overweight - obese. My BMI is 31 and I've got 41% body fat. I've got three options. I can keep getting fatter, maintain, or lose. Only one of those is really appealing, so that's the one I'm shooting for.

I've lost weight before, 49 pounds. Then I got pregnant and gained it back and then some. Now I have about 80 pounds that I'd like to lose. Actually, it's more like 75 since I've lost 5 in the past 4 weeks. I know what it takes, I just have to do it. It's hard to stay on a plan forever, but it's not as difficult to take it one day at a time. So that's what I'm doing.

I'm doing WW at home, I'm familiar with the program and have been successful with it. I've got my iPod set up to track points and I'm pretty good at keeping track of things. I've also joined a gym and I'm going 3-4 times per week. I hope to really boost that this summer, maybe 5-6 times per week. Heck, I don't have anything else to do other than sit on my butt at the computer!

My other goal is to really get a good set of recipes that get more homemade, quality foods into my family. We joined a CSA a few months ago and our veggie intake has gone up since then, but I haven't yet got a good working recipe base for some of the things we receive. Turnips are a problem, and nobody is fond of fennel. I'd like to change that, so recipe suggestions are welcome!

My weigh-in is tomorrow, so I'll plan to post the week's results then. I'm also planning to try a zumba class tomorrow evening, I've not gone before but it looks like fun and a good work-out!