Healthy Weight

Well, folks--I have made it into the "Healthy Weight" range on the BMI chart.  This is the first time I've ever been in that range since I started tracking my weight on the BMI chart--probably after Dan and I got married in 2004.  I always just figured the BMI chart was an unrealistic tool that represented a crazy unattainable weight...basically a fat-shaming tool.  Ha ha!  I never really thought I could be in that elusive Healthy Weight category, but here I am.  I weighed in yesterday morning at 140.4 pounds, for a loss of 1.4 pounds this week--and the healthy weight for my gender and height starts at 141 pounds (and goes all the way down to 104...yeah, right!).  I'm pretty excited about the weight loss this past week, especially considering that Alex's potty training treat is M&M's--every time he has success, he gets 2 M&M's, as do the other kids (you know, to be fair and avoid a lot of screaming).  Mommy gets a few M&M's, too, because let's face it--Mommy is doing most of the work in this process!  I'm working hard for those M&M's, believe me.  So I've ingested a lot of M&M's lately, which is totally out of my norm since I try not to even keep that stuff in the house--just writing about M&M's made me go grab a handful...so hard to resist.  It's kind of crazy to me that I've lost 22.6 pounds since I started Challenge #2--I didn't really think I could get this far...and now 128 doesn't seem like such an insane number.  I'm still not sure I'll get there, but it's not such an outlandish idea at this point.  Only 12.4 more pounds to go!  This week was the first week that I put on a shirt that I wore all the time last fall (short-sleeved, so not great in the winter), and it felt like a tent...I just couldn't get it to feel like it was fitting me, and I felt really uncomfortable.  I actually had to change my shirt, and I was a mixture of sad that a shirt I loved no longer fits and thrilled that my efforts are paying off in more tangible ways!

I feel like I'm finally formulating a plan to stay on the right fitness track once Dan starts his new job in a few months.  I've been ridiculously stressed about how to keep this time for myself to work out, and I just haven't been feeling good about it since I'm totally bummed to be losing my Zumba and step classes every week.  I decided to try out the indoor pool where we live yesterday, since I bought goggles and a swim suit for lap swimming.  I went during the kids' naptime, and swam 21 (or 22...I lost count) laps--so 42 (or 44) lengths of the pool.  It's a 25-yard pool, so I swam more than half a mile.  The first few laps were rough--I haven't swum laps in a really long time, and I was huffing and puffing until I got into a rhythm.  After I found my stroke, I totally didn't want to get out of the pool!  I swam for about 35 minutes, and it felt great.  It's $150 for me to get a pool pass for the year--I think that's totally reasonable.  They have decent hours for lap swimming, and my goal will be to go in the mornings before Dan goes to work--I'm not sure what timeframe I'll be working with since Dan isn't positive about the length of his new commute, but ideally, I'd like to get to the pool around 6:45am and get home around 7:30am.  The pool people told me yesterday that 6-7am is crazy crowded (like 4 people per lane--yikes!), so I'd like to avoid that mess if possible.  I'll just shower at home before I have to start the morning school rush--and the pool is 5 minutes from my house, so it's super convenient!  And I can swim on the weekends, too, when Dan is home.  I haven't gotten the pass yet because I wanted to try it out, see how I felt about it, and I also need to make sure it will work with Dan's commute--he's going to do a dry run to see how long it's going to take him in the next week or two, so I'll know more after that.  I think I've also decided to keep paying for the aerobics classes on post--$71 every 10 weeks.  I can take the morning spin classes from 6-7am on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then on the off chance that I can attend a random Zumba or step class during the week (like if my mom is out here visiting, or Dan has a day off or gets home early???), I'll be able to go to those classes, too.  Both those things combined are a lot cheaper, and a lot more local, than driving all the way to that fancy gym we checked out a few weeks ago...so I'm hoping this works as a solution for me.  I'm nervous about my ability to get up early to work out, and also about the spin classes, which I've never taken before--I totally grilled my best friend Kerry about spin etiquette this weekend in an attempt to mentally prepare myself!

have I mentioned that I'm a little petrified of spinning?

By sticking with the aerobics classes here as well, I can keep going to Zumba and step right up until the day Dan starts his new job--the current 10-week session that I've paid for ends the first week of June, so I was just going to quit after that week...even though Dan doesn't start the job until the middle of July.  By sticking with these classes, I will pay for the next session, do Zumba and step until mid-July, and then switch over to spin in the mornings--it's all the same program, so I don't have to pay more or do anything differently other than adjust my own schedule.  It kind of feels like a weight lifted off me to know that I don't have to quit the classes I love in a month!  I brought Abby with me to Zumba this past Wednesday, because she wanted to check it out and see what Mommy has been doing--she can't participate because she's not old enough, but I thought she would have fun listening to the music and seeing me exercising.  I warned her that there would be a lot of booty shaking, which she thought was hysterical!  I had her pack a bag with crayons and paper as well as her Nintendo DS just in case she got bored, and told her that I couldn't be paying attention to her and getting a good workout.  The Zumba instructor came over to her before class and introduced herself and asked Abby some questions--and then she said, "Make sure you watch your Mommy--she's a really good dancer!"  That just cracked me up--surely she was just being nice, because I've never been a good dancer.  Then the instructor told Abby that she thinks I should be a Zumba instructor!  It was nice to hear, even though I can hardly breathe during Zumba class, much less talk and lead others while doing it!  Abby was totally fascinated throughout the whole class--she didn't pull out her crayons or her DS once, and she was even doing some of the moves in the bleachers!  It was really cute--I wish she was old enough to participate, because I know she would love it.  Maybe I have this to look forward to when she's older--working out with my daughter at Zumba!  Hopefully I won't be horribly embarrassing in my old age.  :)

In other news, Abby is home from school today with a fever and upset stomach.  That is why I am so late posting this--been tending to her all morning, then up and down the stairs trying to keep Jake quiet so that Abby can take a nap this afternoon, and getting her medicine and taking her temperature.  Poor girl!  Hoping it doesn't spread to the rest of us...