Catching up!

Oh, hey friends! I know it's been a long time. It wasn't an accident. After I went back to work post-maternity leave, I knew a few things would have to change to be able to keep up with a full-time job, 2 hours of commuting daily, being a mom, generally taking care of a house, and trying to lose a whopping 64 pounds of pregnancy weight (!). I didn't want to pretend like I could keep bringing you interesting content here, too. I do hope you've been keeping up with me over on ZLife - don't you love their stuff? I love contributing to such a great site.

The other thing that had to give was regularly teaching classes. In part, because I was so sleep deprived for the first 6 months after my daughter was born that it seemed impossible to be awake and ready at the same time every week. But, more than that, I was worried about developing new routines. I still remember the old ones (and secretly do them in my basement with my 14-month old, sshhhh), but I wasn't sure my brain was up to choreographing and remembering new stuff (remember this one about why we screw up? yeah, this times ten!). I have kept subbing, and it's always such a joy to teach. Hopefully I'll be able to jump back in when I'm ready.

So, back to that pregnancy weight... 64 pounds, ya'll! What the heck? You may recall I taught classes up until I was 7 months pregnant and ran and powerwalked up until my due date. I was hungry all the time and never got sick (thank you, universe!) but still - how did that happen?

I'm happy to report I lost about 55 pounds over 10 months or so through exercise and a combination of counting WW points and tracking calories on My Fitness Pal (I always go back and forth between which one I prefer more). I'm back in regular clothes and feel pretty good about it.

Today, I'm recommitting to toning up. That probably means losing another 5 pounds or so, but I'm really more interested in strength training and losing fat. And guess what's motivating me... pausing for you to think about it... I'M GOING ON THE ZUMBA CRUISE, BABY! I've never been on a cruise and I can't believe I'm doing it. I can't wait.

So, 5 weeks from today I want to feel even better about myself. Lots of water, exercise, protein and veggies, and self care. Who's with me??