Trouble with the Curvy

We are almost out of the woods to Grandma's house but the trail has been lined with cookies, cakes, and all things anti-achievement. I can see the light at the end of the sugar frosted tunnel and I am more ambitious than ever and eager to get into a fitness groove. I've realized recently that planning is the most important aspect of doing this well and I need some time to put a plan and system together so that I can start creating good habits. I will be back with new entries on January 9th. The upcoming year is going to be a good one but the end of this year kicked my ass. Officially on the mini hi-ATE-us <3 <3 Katie 196.4lbs (Got a new digital scale!) Day 202 Feeling like this triangly monster dude

November through December is mostly known among those trying to lose weight as the enemy. Between cookie swaps, holiday meals, drinking, and parties with all kinds of things to make you a naughty weight loser it is extremely difficult to hold your own if you don't have will power. The not so great thing about will power is that it is subjective. Sometimes it is easy to say no and other times it is like an obsessive compulsion that won't go away until I give in. I am happy to report I haven't gained back enough weight to take away my "I've lost 20lbs" mantra but I'm circling the drain. Luckily, after this week, I'll only have to battle the winter instead of winter and holidays. Yay. I feel like I am living the fitness equivalent of asking for a Red Rider BB gun and being told you'll shoot your eye out. When I joined Anytime Fitness I felt like it gave me a destination and a workout purpose. When I started walking around my neighborhood this summ

I've learned something about myself in the past 2 weeks. I got skills... Mad booty shakin' dance skills. Alexis Wright could be seduced by the dancing that is Zumba.... Zumba really brings out the narcissism me. I think it is because I just look so damn cool doing it... I mean, I really can see how Hehehe Just kidding. I look like this when I dance... and for the record I do not condone prostitution of any kind. Just to be clear... I do LOVE to dance though. Regardless of what I look like I love it. And in Zumba it doesn't really matter if you look cool because everyone is looking at the instructor trying to figure out if you're doing the right move. This is kind of a critical aspect of Zumba for me. It is a "monkey see, monkey do" kind of workout so whatever the instructor does, you try to mimic it as best as you can. I have a few moves that I do really well. They mostly consist of turning in a circle. My feet are kind of slow and half the workout

I ate too much sugar all weekend long. That is the most profound statement I have for the night. Belly ache ensued and I felt like a fool. So now I am on my way to Zumba it off!! <3 Katie Day 188 189lbs Feeling excited to shake my ass for weight loss

One of the reasons that weight loss failure runs rampant is because it takes a lot of thought, I'm finding, to lose weight. I joined Weight Watchers more than a month ago and really thought it was going to help me control what I eat. As it turns out, I never enter my information so I signed up for it and now I never utilize it as a tool. I'm also finding that I am always looking for processes that allow me to "set it and forget it" so that it becomes part of my routine. The best example is prepping meals on Sunday nights. If I put the effort in on Sundays I get to be kinda lazy on weeknights and focus on work and making it to a Zumba class. It works because it doesn't make me tired. Trying to remember to write down everything I eat and enter all that into weight watchers just makes me tired. I am still losing weight and I'm not writing anything down except for in this blog. The therapy of the blog is so much more important to me than breaking down what I e

Recently I've noticed that when I see friends or family that are active online and on social networks in person, they have one question for me. "What is that Curvy thing? I don't read it all the time but what IS it?" Every time I hear this question I squeal a little with glee. I'm really thankful for people that read my posts. That means any of them. I feel incredibly lucky to have a few people that seem to read every post but even if you care enough to read even one, I am grateful.  The question is a good one though. What IS "Trouble with the Curvy?" Sometimes when I answer "Oh! It's my blog!" I get this blank look that seems to say "Umm.... yea that isn't helpful in trying to figure out what the hell this Curvy thing is..." In fact, I have yet, to come up with an answer that really gets to the heart of what I am doing. I think this is because I'm a little embarrassed to talk about it in person with people. It is reall

Today is one of those picturesque days when I feel thankful for everything. A light snow is falling outside and I realized that if I rearrange my office I'll have a nice view of a window. I am also really looking forward to my workout tonight. Mondays and Wednesdays I will be hitting my new favorite Zumba Class. My first night there, I made a friend! She was also there for the first time and we got a reputation for being the new girls in the back row. There was such a feeling of community instantly. It made me think " I could get used to this." When I went home last Wednesday night Ben had dinner cooking and I felt like something just fell into place. Why stress myself out about a breakup with the gym when there are options that are just as good, if not better?  Thursday I worked from 6:45am and got home at 10:30p. At the end of the day (while there was no way a blog was going to get written) I didn't feel as exhausted as I should have and I realized it was because

Please pardon the brevity of tonight's post because I need to make it to my Zumba class! Luckily Skowhegan is awesome and has a class twice a week with two different instructors. Tonight is my first night and I'm pretty excited. There is something magical about dancing in a room full of strangers that don't care if you look like an idiot. Of course in my mind I dance like I'm JLo so I think I rock it every time :) The last time I did Zumba it kicked me into high gear and it has been about 4 years since I've been going on a regular basis and it is about time. The break up with my gym has been grueling but I think I just need to go out and meet more workouts. Tonight I'm taking the plunge. Until then enjoy a Zumba Blooper   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjzhhBcYWPA <3 Katie Day 176 193lbs Feeling Dance-a-licious

Day 175! Woop Woop! I wish you could see this happy dance I'm doing... I'll start adding video with my sweet dance moves soon.... It is the time of year that pot lucks and holiday parties kill fitness plans. I just can't behind that because I love pot lucks and parties and yummies so who is to say that you can't make party dishes that keep you off the naughty list? My all time favorite party food is spinach dip. Preferably in a bread bowl but whole wheat pita chips and veggies are perfect for dippin' too. Check out my stellar recipe below! Ingredients: 4 cups frozen spinach 2 16oz blocks of fat free cream cheese 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese 1 cup low fat Shredded mozzarella cheese 2 packages of  laughing cow french onion (or herb and garlic) spreadable cheese 2tbs garlic powder 1tsp salt 1 more cup cup low fat Shredded mozzarella cheese Makin' it Happen: 1. Cream together the cheeses, garlic powder, and salt 2. Mix the frozen spinach with cheese mix

Tomorrow is day 175! I am 20lbs lighter and I think I've learned a lot. I still have a ways to go though. When I started my journey this blog was meant to be my best tool along with Anytime Fitness in Fairfield. So far it is the only thing that has been consistent for the last 175 days. It started as a way to track my progress and give me something to do, every day, to keep my goals in the forefront of my mind. It has evolved into a support system. Moving forward it seems my arsenal of tools and resources has changed. One of my favorite new additions is Holly. Holly Rae is a former radio extraordinaire like me and is studying Health Education. That makes her pretty perfect for being Trouble with the Curvy's residential Health Guru. I don't mean to overstate her credentials but I've got to be honest, most of my "expert" advice comes from the internet... The same place that reports with digital certainty that there is a Bigfoot. Holly has graciously agreed t