What a day! I don't know how on earth I managed to catch a cold in the middle of summer. I have this odd thing that happens to me when I catch a cold. I've never heard anyone else say they experience the same(unless your my mom or sister)but for some odd reason, my right eye continuously waters. I'm not sure if its the sneeze that triggers it but it happens each time. So now you ladies know why I showed up today with one wicked eye. I will say I had no motivation to work out. I had a pounding headache and I was embarrassed for everyone to see my retarded eye. However, my body didn't ache so I told myself to go for it. There are so many of you all who really look forward to the workout and I couldn't leave you all hanging. You guys are as much motivation to me as I am to ya'll.
Remember when I told ya'll I wanted to lose weight by the time the convention was here? Ok so I managed to lose some but I didn't really reach my goal. So now I've decided to set a new one. In 3 months I will be 30. I know it's young but I want to start my 30's healthy. I'm not looking to be skinny, I'm simply looking to be in shape. If I lose some pounds along the way, GREAT! But my goal is to be in shape, toned and fit!
Now I'm not one to ask for gifts on my birthday. However,this year I'm going to ask that all my members give me their full commitment to getting in shape(that will be my gift). I want you all to really focus, eat right and work out at least 3x a week. I don't care if you walk,run or join me for Zumba but you need a minimum of 3 days of exercise. Now with exercising comes eating right and staying away from the foods we love most. So on October 8th, I want everyone to weigh in. We'll add up the total number of pounds lost within all the members and I will think of some sort of reward. I'm not sure what I will come up with but I will come up with something creative as a reward. So what do you say....are you in??
Today I realized that no matter how much I enjoy working out, I still get unmotivated. For that reason, I couldn't miss class because you all are my motivation. However, I can't do it alone so I found this great article to help us all stay focus. Click on the link above to find ways to stay motivated.
Great job today guys. There were 2 new dances and you all did great. Don't get frustrated, you will get it. It's just like all our other dances when we first learned them. Now let's zumbaaaa!
xoxo
Marisol :)
18 Secrets of the Super Motivated Fitness: self.com
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Zumba with Marysol's photostream
zumbawithMarysol's photostream on Flickr.
It was a great event, the Kids Zumba party was a success. Originally we had 5 kids sign up and by 8:15pm we had 19 kids arrive. We have no idea where they came from but we were happy to have them. It was the most adorable thing to watch these kids follow the Zumba steps. I had children ranging from 4-13 years old. It was great watching all the children willing to dance. Even the boys got into it. Videos to be posted soon :)
This was definitely a success. We look forward to the next one. More information coming soon...Now let's Zumbaa!
xoxo
Marisol :)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Article...
Food for Thought
Mark Bittman offers eight new rules for healthy eating. From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World
Eat what you like, but think about proportionAmericans eat more doughnuts, soda, and chips than real food. While you should continue to eat the foods you like, eat them moderately and concentrate the majority of your diet on foods that are naturally low in calories (low-fat junk foods can be pretty high in calories, and even low-calorie junk foods add up quickly, too). Don't fall into the trap of thinking about foods as "good" or "bad"—nothing is evil, or is going to hurt you in moderate proportions; similarly, no one food is going to save you.
Make it Happen So how do you find the right proportion? For me, it means eating loads of fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts during the day, and saving meat, processed foods, and desserts for dinnertime. Maybe this method will work for you, too, or maybe you'll find you need a tiny bit of dessert after another meal, or you get less hungry if you have high-protein eggs or other meat with breakfast and not dinner. The key is to experiment until you find what works best for you.
Think plants firstYou cannot go wrong relying on vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans. In general, they contain far fewer calories per ounce than anything else, along with nutrients that runners need. Iron, for example, which helps runners sustain energy and fights fatigue, is found in spinach, green peas, broccoli, kidney beans, and chickpeas—all of which also provide more protein per calorie than animal products (per calorie, cooked spinach has more than twice as much protein as a cheeseburger). Even those plant foods that are relatively high in fat and calories, like avocados and nuts, contain the sort of fat that should be in our diets (namely, mono- and polyunsaturated, which are actually good for your joints—good news for runners) and minimal saturated fat, the unhealthy kind that's been linked to increases in the risk of heart disease.
Make it Happen Set goals that are going to help you cut back on animal products, processed foods, and junk foods—as well as help you load up on vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans. Here are a few easy changes to incorporate into your routine: Try adding a salad to dinner every night, or going completely vegetarian once a week. I keep a bag of superportable nuts and dried fruit in my desk drawer at work all the time so I don't reach for a bag of chips or an energy bar out of laziness.
Start shopping and start cookingIt's impossible to eat well if you don't shop; it's nearly impossible to eat well if you don't cook. I'm not talking about shopping in farmer's markets (though they're great), and I'm not talking about cooking four-star meals. You should be shopping like your grandmother, which means buying ingredients that are fresh (vegetables) or naturally long-keeping (grains and beans), and cooking like, well, me, which means simply. The recipes in this story are good examples.
Make it Happen Start shopping regularly—twice a week is great (I often wear a close-fitting backpack on runs so I can pick up a few things while I'm out), but once a week will do to keep your kitchen stocked. Few runners have time to cook seven nights a week; but if you cook none now, one would be a good start, and if you cook three now, try to make it five.
Buy and make extraOnce you're shopping regularly, start buying and cooking in bulk. It takes just a little more time to roast or grill three pounds of vegetables than one pound.
Make it Happen Wash, prepare, and cook vegetables, beans, and grains in large quantities that will last all week. It also helps to plan for leftovers; if a recipe is for four and you're only two, that's perfect; or you can easily double recipes and freeze the remainder for a future meal—it's just a matter of thinking ahead.
Don't set goals you can't reachIt's just like running: If you've run a 50-minute 10-K, you wouldn't shoot for 35 minutes the next time around. If you set realistic targets and reach them easily (or at least without too much of a struggle), you're likely to move closer to your ultimate goal than if you set an unrealistic one, try to reach it all at once, and fail.
Make it Happen If you're incredibly motivated—as I was—you might cut your consumption of animal products and processed and junk foods by two-thirds. For many, that's a huge adjustment. If you are intrigued about gradually changing your diet, you might try this: Each day, eat one more piece of fruit and one more vegetable than you do now, and one less serving of processed foods than you do now; each day, eat one more serving of whole grains than you do now; and each week, eat one less serving of animal products than you do now. Take it from there.
Ultimately, animal products are treatsUSDA data shows we eat 225 pounds of meat and cheese per person every year—that's up 79 pounds per person just since the 1950s. That's way more than is good for our health. If we reduce our intake by 10 percent, that'd be a terrific first step.
Make it Happen Meat is flavorful, so think of it as a seasoning rather than the anchor of your meal. Use bacon to flavor beans and rice instead of eating a quarter pound of it at breakfast; make vegetable sauce for pasta with some meat, rather than a meat sauce; have that huge steak four times a year—not 20.
Don't worry (too much) about "nutrients"Many runners are hypervigilant about getting a certain amount of carbs and protein in every meal. They forget that carbs are in everything; if you eat plenty of whole grains, beans, and greens, you're getting enough. Same goes for protein. The only exception is when you're in heavy training, like for a marathon. If you're seriously training, you'll want to eat some extra complex carbohydrates before most runs to make sure your energy levels are high. And throughout the day, get an extra serving or two of protein to repair your muscles from workouts.
Make it Happen Oatmeal is one of my favorite sources of complex carbohydrates, and I usually have a bowl before most runs—but any whole grain will do the trick. If you eat two servings of concentrated protein a day, you'll be fine even if you're training hard: That could be in the form of eight ounces of animal products or one serving of lean meat, fish, or poultry and one of tofu, or for that matter, peanut butter or beans. Remember, "protein" is not synonymous with "meat" or even with "animal products." Per calorie, lentils have nearly the same amount of protein as ground beef.
Don't confuse energy bars with real foodA heavy dose of simple carbohydrates has its place in a runner's diet: namely, during a run. But for recovery, eat real food consisting of protein (preferably plant-based) and complex carbohydrates. While energy bars can be useful in a pinch, most runners mistakenly eat them in addition to—not in place of—an actual meal.
Make it Happen On runs over an hour or so, make sure you have a sports drink like Gatorade or a gel out on the route to keep your energy up. Postrun, skip the 350-calorie protein bar in favor of real food—a slice of whole-grain bread smeared with your favorite nut butter and topped with sliced banana is nearly as simple and much better tasting.
Mark Bittman offers eight new rules for healthy eating. From the October 2009 issue of Runner's World
Mark Bittman, avid home cook and author of "How to Cook Everything" and "Food Matters" shares his cooking philosophy—and explains how to create healthy, tasty, and simple meals that will help you run your best.
Food for Thought
Food for Thought
For those of you who struggle as much as I do deciding what to eat and how to eat, I decided to post a "food for thought"article I read on runners world.com A lot of times we don't know what to eat and when we do eat something we aren't sure what it's going to do to our bodies. I constantly struggle with staying away from sweets. Something I do to not deprive myself from sweets is I will cut up my favorite piece of pastry and divide it into 5 pieces; that way I can have a piece every day of the week...Yet I didn't indulge or over eat. I find this to have helped me.
For example, at the convention I saw women who looked insanely great. I mean no giggly fat moving anywhere and I wondered what they fed themselves? Do they ever eat anything fatty or sweet? Do they make themselves throw up or what? How do these women do it? Well I've decided that I don't want to deprive myself from anything I WANT to eat BUT...key word BUT, I will eat what I want in portions. Which is super important when you're trying to lose weight and maintain. I'm short, so for me it seems if I smell anything fatty I start gaining weight. I'm a food lover and it's hard to stay away at times but I can't express enough how important it is to have portion control. I've learned that the hard way.
For those of you who started with me in my Zumba class know that I was bigger(my blog picture is from when I was heavier). I have come along way but I'm still not where I want to be. I remember being 21 and eating whatever I wanted. A co-worker saw me eating all sorts of fast food and said to me(of course an older woman w/knowledge) "Oh honey, you better watch what you eat now because you're cute and small now but wait until you get older. You will not be able to eat that way". In my arrogant voice I said, "Oh but I work out everyday, there is no way I can gain weight". Boy do I wish I could see that woman again because 9 years later I am struggling with trying to get to my goal weight. I never realized that getting older would slow ANYTHING down. Was I wrong!! It can be done but I will admit it takes a lot of discipline and its not always easy. When I go out to eat with friends I have to remember I have to look in the "healthy" section of the menu. If there isn't anything healthy then I will ask my friends if we can share a plate. However, when I'm with family it gets hard. Family encourages fatty foods and if your family is anything like mine.... then sweets is for sure on the menu. How could I ever say no to that? (Or to make guilt go away I tell myself, I couldn't say "no" to family)..lol
I'm not sure if it ever gets easy. However, anytime I put something in my mouth I think about the amount of workout I will have to do later to burn it off. Is it really worth it??....Ok so sometimes it is but we have to learn to fight the urge..lol If you don't have the support system at home then my blog will hopefully be what you are looking for. I too struggle with the same things some of you do so let's work together in motivating one another. Let's support one another. Besides, isn't that why we chose Curves? It's an all womens gym where we can relate to one another and work together to shed pounds. Can I get a wooohoo?? I can't hear you!...????
I hope you all enjoy the article. Now let's Zummbbaaaaa!
xoxo
Marisol
For those of you who struggle as much as I do deciding what to eat and how to eat, I decided to post a "food for thought"article I read on runners world.com A lot of times we don't know what to eat and when we do eat something we aren't sure what it's going to do to our bodies. I constantly struggle with staying away from sweets. Something I do to not deprive myself from sweets is I will cut up my favorite piece of pastry and divide it into 5 pieces; that way I can have a piece every day of the week...Yet I didn't indulge or over eat. I find this to have helped me.
For example, at the convention I saw women who looked insanely great. I mean no giggly fat moving anywhere and I wondered what they fed themselves? Do they ever eat anything fatty or sweet? Do they make themselves throw up or what? How do these women do it? Well I've decided that I don't want to deprive myself from anything I WANT to eat BUT...key word BUT, I will eat what I want in portions. Which is super important when you're trying to lose weight and maintain. I'm short, so for me it seems if I smell anything fatty I start gaining weight. I'm a food lover and it's hard to stay away at times but I can't express enough how important it is to have portion control. I've learned that the hard way.
For those of you who started with me in my Zumba class know that I was bigger(my blog picture is from when I was heavier). I have come along way but I'm still not where I want to be. I remember being 21 and eating whatever I wanted. A co-worker saw me eating all sorts of fast food and said to me(of course an older woman w/knowledge) "Oh honey, you better watch what you eat now because you're cute and small now but wait until you get older. You will not be able to eat that way". In my arrogant voice I said, "Oh but I work out everyday, there is no way I can gain weight". Boy do I wish I could see that woman again because 9 years later I am struggling with trying to get to my goal weight. I never realized that getting older would slow ANYTHING down. Was I wrong!! It can be done but I will admit it takes a lot of discipline and its not always easy. When I go out to eat with friends I have to remember I have to look in the "healthy" section of the menu. If there isn't anything healthy then I will ask my friends if we can share a plate. However, when I'm with family it gets hard. Family encourages fatty foods and if your family is anything like mine.... then sweets is for sure on the menu. How could I ever say no to that? (Or to make guilt go away I tell myself, I couldn't say "no" to family)..lol
I'm not sure if it ever gets easy. However, anytime I put something in my mouth I think about the amount of workout I will have to do later to burn it off. Is it really worth it??....Ok so sometimes it is but we have to learn to fight the urge..lol If you don't have the support system at home then my blog will hopefully be what you are looking for. I too struggle with the same things some of you do so let's work together in motivating one another. Let's support one another. Besides, isn't that why we chose Curves? It's an all womens gym where we can relate to one another and work together to shed pounds. Can I get a wooohoo?? I can't hear you!...????
I hope you all enjoy the article. Now let's Zummbbaaaaa!
xoxo
Marisol
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A letter of appreciation & more....
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such great members. I was looking at pictures of when I first started teaching Zumba and my classes were so lonely. I can't believe how much my classes have grown and I have all of you to thank for. Without you guys, there is no Zumba class. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you. I couldn't have asked for a better group of women. Please continue to spread the word about Curves and encourage your friends and family to attend a Zumba class/Circuit.
A few things I'm doing to improve YOUR class:
I have currently signed up for two additional trainings. Although I came back with tons of ideas from the convention, I seem to be hooked now.
August 6th: Dalila and I will be attending a Zin Jam. What is a "Zin Jam"?? It's a 3 hour workshop where you learn new routines/moves. It's broken down step by step and we practice the routines for 3 hours. The reason I decided to take this particular Zin Jam is because the instructor lost 70 pounds with Zumba. I couldn't help but to want to witness her weight loss for myself...So I decided to sign up for her workshop to get a taste of someone so motivating. If you all have time, check out her website as she shows before and after pictures. (www.zumbawithdorie.com) I'm excited to be taking a class from someone so motivated. I hope I'm able to take some of her motivation with me.
August 16th :I will SOON be Zumba toning certified. What does that mean to you? Well, I will now be able to teach you some toning techniques (with weights) while we Zumba! Now how AWESOME is that??? You get the best of two worlds. We tone while we Zumba! Wooohooo!...I can't hear you?? (hope I get a woohoo)..lol
I will be overwhelmed with new ideas but I hope to be able to bring a variety to you all so that we aren't bored with the same moves.
Since my members are so GRRRRREAT, I want to get some volunteers to participate in my Zumba videos. I want to record us doing some of our old routines so that I can upload them on my youtube page. As of now, I only one video and my site is looking pretty lonely. So help your instructor get some views and join me in making some fun videos. (date and time TBA)
Thank you all for being so great....NOW LET'S ZUMMMBAAAA!
XOXO
Marysol
A few things I'm doing to improve YOUR class:
I have currently signed up for two additional trainings. Although I came back with tons of ideas from the convention, I seem to be hooked now.
August 6th: Dalila and I will be attending a Zin Jam. What is a "Zin Jam"?? It's a 3 hour workshop where you learn new routines/moves. It's broken down step by step and we practice the routines for 3 hours. The reason I decided to take this particular Zin Jam is because the instructor lost 70 pounds with Zumba. I couldn't help but to want to witness her weight loss for myself...So I decided to sign up for her workshop to get a taste of someone so motivating. If you all have time, check out her website as she shows before and after pictures. (www.zumbawithdorie.com) I'm excited to be taking a class from someone so motivated. I hope I'm able to take some of her motivation with me.
August 16th :I will SOON be Zumba toning certified. What does that mean to you? Well, I will now be able to teach you some toning techniques (with weights) while we Zumba! Now how AWESOME is that??? You get the best of two worlds. We tone while we Zumba! Wooohooo!...I can't hear you?? (hope I get a woohoo)..lol
I will be overwhelmed with new ideas but I hope to be able to bring a variety to you all so that we aren't bored with the same moves.
Since my members are so GRRRRREAT, I want to get some volunteers to participate in my Zumba videos. I want to record us doing some of our old routines so that I can upload them on my youtube page. As of now, I only one video and my site is looking pretty lonely. So help your instructor get some views and join me in making some fun videos. (date and time TBA)
Thank you all for being so great....NOW LET'S ZUMMMBAAAA!
XOXO
Marysol
Friday, July 15, 2011
2011 Zumba Convention
ZUMBA, ZUMBA, ZUMBA!! That's exactly how I felt when I was there. I'll admit, I was excited but when I arrived it was a whole different story. The environment was so alive and there were people from all over the world. I met people from Japan, the Netherlands.,,,and I can go on and on. It's almost like a cult because people are so united when it comes to Zumba.
On our first day we did lots of interesting workshops.... from African to Flamenco and we managed to Samba as well. No workshop was boring or dull, it was constant dancing and working out the entire time. My feet were killing me after the fourth hour but I couldn't stop. It was such a rush. I will admit that I'm happy I was able to lose some weight before going. Out of 6000 attendees, there were maybe 1000 out of shape(and I fell in that category). These women had bodies that were like...DAMN! And they wore the most cutest Zumba gear. Dalila and I were dressed so conservative compared to the other women. Each person there had their own style and jazzed up their Zumba clothes to match their personality. Now, you guys know Dalila and I couldn't stay behind so we rushed into the Zumba store and bought the latest gear...we fit in a bit more..lol
The concerts and parties were insane,fun and filled with lots of music from all over the world. There were guest appearances such as Wyclef and Pitbull;not to mention we saw Beto play all sorts of instruments.(Jesus can this man really be that talented??) The costumes these people wore for the "white party" were crazy and creative(see my zumba page for photos)! I can't emphasize enough about this convention, there are literally no words. Who would have thought?
On my last day I was sad to go. I could barely move from the 6 hour days of Zumba but it was sooooo much fun, I didn't want to leave. We managed to get in 3 more classes before going and almost didn't make our flight. Luckily there was a thunderstorm and our flight was delayed(thank you God!). I learned so much and I'm looking forward to teaching all of you the new moves. Get ready for next week as I will add two new songs with NEW moves! See you Tuesday!!!
xoxo
Marysol :)
On our first day we did lots of interesting workshops.... from African to Flamenco and we managed to Samba as well. No workshop was boring or dull, it was constant dancing and working out the entire time. My feet were killing me after the fourth hour but I couldn't stop. It was such a rush. I will admit that I'm happy I was able to lose some weight before going. Out of 6000 attendees, there were maybe 1000 out of shape(and I fell in that category). These women had bodies that were like...DAMN! And they wore the most cutest Zumba gear. Dalila and I were dressed so conservative compared to the other women. Each person there had their own style and jazzed up their Zumba clothes to match their personality. Now, you guys know Dalila and I couldn't stay behind so we rushed into the Zumba store and bought the latest gear...we fit in a bit more..lol
The concerts and parties were insane,fun and filled with lots of music from all over the world. There were guest appearances such as Wyclef and Pitbull;not to mention we saw Beto play all sorts of instruments.(Jesus can this man really be that talented??) The costumes these people wore for the "white party" were crazy and creative(see my zumba page for photos)! I can't emphasize enough about this convention, there are literally no words. Who would have thought?
On my last day I was sad to go. I could barely move from the 6 hour days of Zumba but it was sooooo much fun, I didn't want to leave. We managed to get in 3 more classes before going and almost didn't make our flight. Luckily there was a thunderstorm and our flight was delayed(thank you God!). I learned so much and I'm looking forward to teaching all of you the new moves. Get ready for next week as I will add two new songs with NEW moves! See you Tuesday!!!
xoxo
Marysol :)
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