{Gratitude Challenge} Day #19

I'm thankful for two things today. The first thing covers why I haven't posted for the last four days - my life has been too busy! So I'm thankful I'm able to keep up the crazy schedule I have. I'm thankful for living a busy life - and yes - this is being said a tad tongue-in-cheek.

But what I am most thankful for today is.....

A few years ago I had heard about Zumba. I bought the DVD set. I tried it in my living room. I wanted to like it, but I didn't. I found it really hard to learn the steps. I was discouraged with how the girls on the video were dressed. As the mom to three boys, I just simply couldn't put that in front of their eyes. So I sold the DVDs. 

This past January I heard that there were now classes being taught at the old elementary school just 15 minutes from my house. I started going and loved class! It was fun. It was hard! I learned how many calories I burn at each class (roughly 800!!!) and I kept going. 

After a month I started tracking my inches. While my weight has been very slowly creeping down, my inches lost help keep me going. I've been asked how much weight I have lost - only about seven pounds from my highest weight.

This morning I took my measurements again - I measure about once a month. Since I started tracking my measurements last February I have lost....

• 1.75 inches in my thighs
• 1.25 inches in my hips
• 2.5 inches in my waist
• 2 inches in my chest

I am not a great walking advertisement for the benefits of Zumba. This has taken my almost a year to accomplish, but I have to say, it's nice to see the measurements going down. I also love that my waist measurement is now less than my husband's - it's been a long time since that was the case. 

I continue to attend Zumba as often as possible and my goal is at least three times a week. Between the three local instructors I have ample opportunities each week. In fact, this week there was Zumba every single night but given my schedule, I only managed three times. I still like it. It's still hard. But the health benefits far outweigh all else. 

I'm now looking at purchasing a gym membership to help continue to work on strength training. Some might say it's because I have a milestone birthday coming up and they might be right, but my other motivation is to continue working towards being as healthy as I can be.

Want to see a bit of what Zumba is like? I was going to link to a add a generic video from YouTube, but this is an actual video from my class. Thankfully I wasn't there the day this was filmed, but you can see my great instructor and get a glimpse of what Zumba is about. Oh, and I am on the video that was made for those who wanted to buy copies to do at home.