Independence Day

Today marks the one year anniversary when I left home to change my life for good.  I moved to the West Coast for 2 months and lived at a fitness camp - the same fitness camp recently featured on The Rachael Ray Show - Live In Fitness Enterprises - LIFE.  When I arrived I met a 24-yr-old who was also beginning her journey that day - Desi.  

Desi and I were paired up from the beginning and eventually became roomies.  Poor Desi was never getting rid of this old lady lol!

I met a few BFFs along the way as well:  Maria the latin bombshell from Miami, Judy the southern belle from Dallas, and Ginger the high-powered corporate woman from DC.  Together we groaned, grunted, sweated, cursed, laughed, cried, lifted, ran, biked, hiked, squatted, swam, danced, and ate our way to smaller sizes.  Thank God we had each other for support through any crisis that arose.

Fast forward 1 year:   we have all continued our good eating habits (taught by our effervescent nutritionist Karen Sherwood from Nutritious America); we all have continued to exercise nearly every day; we have all dropped even more weight.  Maria is down 130 lbs., Judy is down 103 lbs., Ginger is down 36 lbs., Desi is down 67 lbs., and I am down 92 lbs.   Ginger is done as she was the smallest of our group, but the rest of us still have just a bit we want to shed - for me it's about another 30.

The day I arrived at LIFE began with me face-planting in the Baltimore airport - injured before I even left home yikes!  The next day began with me talking to some guy with big sunglasses named Cedric and I said a couple of ditzy things - I blame it all on the blood sugar…it was that food they were making me eat lol.  After he took off the sunglasses I realized he was Cedric the Entertainer (OMG he thinks I'm a dork!).  I cried twice that week - I hit a wall and just thought my body couldn't do anything more.

What a difference today!  In October I broke my toe during a workout with my Baltimore trainer and I continued the workout until the end.  That would have NEVER happened pre-LIFE.  For the remainder of the month I continued to workout with my trainer, teach Zumba fitness classes, and run the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race all with a broken toe. 

I celebrated my one year anniversary today at the gym with my trainer Marc.  We took pics of me "doing my thing" which I will continue to do until my body doesn't let me anymore.

Here's my picture the day I arrived at LIFE.

Here's me today with my trainer Marc…still a big belly and some saggy boobs and batwing arms, but hey…I'll be 50 this year…nothing a little nip and tuck won't take care of when I'm completely done with the weight.  

Jonathan would be delighted that Marc made me do burpees today!!!

Rob would be thrilled with my advanced plank moves these days.

Arleigh would love my dead lift savvy.

Bronson would love my squat/pull back.

Amber would love my curls.

Schuyler would love my chest press.

And Nicola and Eric would love it all!

Ahhh…love the water break…I drink between 3-4 of these liter bottles of Smart Water a day!

My honey says I clean up pretty good.

After all that working out I taught a Zumba fitness class tonight.  Not only am I a different person than I was a year ago, making lots of different choices, but also I'm a much happier person.  I seem to have a permanent smile on my face these days and I plan to keep it!


Carpe diem every day for the rest of your life!