Back into the groove

Hello friends!  I am happy to say that I am back on track and my body feels sooooo much better!  I am still dealing with pain from my hurt knee.  I wake up in the morning and it feels great, but then as the day goes on, it starts to ache.  I have been teaching Zumba with the help of a few dedicated students that love Zumba just as much (or more) as I do, and they stand up front and dance while the class watches them.  I pretty much stand in place and do minimal moves.  But hey, it still keeps me moving somewhat, and I still sweat buckets! 

I taught Zumba at the church next to my house tonight.  At first, I didn't think we were going to have a class.  When I arrived at 7:20, there was an activity going on the the cultural hall where we have Zumba.  They didn't look like they were finishing up anytime soon, so my friend and I sat and wondered what to do.  My first thought was to cancel and pick up again next week.  Three ladies came in, and I told them it looked like there would be no class.  They left, and then two more ladies came, and boy....they wanted their Zumba!  They suggested we use the Relief Society room, and I was kind of reluctant because that room is carpeted.  It is not real safe to do Zumba on carpet because of the swiveling and twisting. 

But they wanted class REAL bad, and I said "OK, but please be careful on the carpet!"  Then we realized that we had no place to plug in my ipod.  We use the house sound in the cultural hall.  Then one gal, "I will run to my house up the block and grab a chord and my mini stereo system for ipods."  Wow.  That is dedication!  My friend ran out to the parking lot to see if those gals were still hanging by chance, and they were!  Just standing there chatting like us women like to do! We started 15 minutes late, but went 15 minutes over time.  We did our full hour of Zumba!  There was probably 10 ladies there, and it was a tight fit, but we did it!  Gotta love Zumba!

I also did 3 hours of ZumbAtomic today for the youth camp at the Logan Rec Center.  I had my "helper" there with me, and the kids followed her.  It worked out great!  If there's a will, there's a way.  So, I am tired as all get out, and ready for bed real soon!  But wow....what a fun day!

July 17th was my son's birthday.  He turned 13 years old.  He is my one and only child and it seems like only yesterday that I welcomed him into the world.  My little bundle of joy is growing up.  What a great kid he has become!  He really wanted an ice cream cake for his birthday, and a homemade one, to boot.  Oh boy.  Well, I got on Google and youtube and searched for different recipes and videos on how to make them.  I finally figured out a way to assemble one, and it turned out pretty good!  Here is a pic:

This cake turned out ot be a hit, and was real delicious!  And Jake was very happy with it, which is the most important thing!  We had the whole family over that day (both Darrell's and my family) and had a nice little celebration for him. 

Well, I am off to La La Land and a CPAP machine  :)  Which by the way has been making my nights of sleep very, very nice.  I actually get all the oxygen I need and get to the stages of sleep I need to be in.  And it is soooo sexy!  NOT.  Ha!  But hey, it keeps me from snoring and does the job. 

Buenos noches my friends!  Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast-

32 oz water

1 c. green tea

2 scrambled eggs w/ lowfat cheese

1 whole wheat tortilla

1 slice roasted turkey breast

Mid-morning snack-

1 c. red grapes

1 granola bar

16 oz. water

Lunch-

Garden Salad from Wendy's with vinaigrette dressing

3 oz. baked chicken breast

16 oz. water

Mid-afternoon snack-

1 c. trail mix

16 oz. water

Dinner-

Smoothie with 1 c. almond milk, 1 scoop Shakeology powder, 1 frozen banana, and handful of spinach

After-dinner snack-

1 rice cake with peanut butter and honey

8 oz. water

Life throws you curveballs :(

Hi friends!

Wow, it has been nearly a month since I blogged.  I feel awful about it, but my summer started off crazy busy.  My eating plan was going well up until about 3 weeks ago, then I really fell off the wagon.  The thing that I have really been bad at is not eating enough.  I was so good at eating every 3 to 4 hours to keep my metabolism up.  Then I started to get so busy and I was only eating about 2 small meals a day.  But I was exercising up a storm! 

Then the curveball came.  Last Monday while teaching Zumba, I blew out my left knee.  It just snapped!  It was so painful, and I just froze right in the middle of my routine.  Everyone else stopped too, and I yelled, "Keep going!"  We were only 20 minutes into the class, and I turned around to the ladies and said, "I just did something to my knee and cannot move."  This one lady said, "Then you better stop!" 
I told them NO....we were going to keep class going.  I called a gal from my class to come up front and help me.  She knows most of the routines really well, and she danced while I taught, and everyone watched her.  This, my friends, is called "Teaching without Dancing."  A lot of Zumba instructors do it if they are injured, feeling sick, or just plain tired.

This gal did awesome, and she was so much help.  In fact, I am going to resume my classes and teach while she stands up front and dances.  This will work out great!  She is such a sweetheart for helping me,  and she can dance so good!   Here is the verdict on my knee:

I tried to call my knee doc the next day, but couldn't get in to see him till Wednesday.  When I finally got in, he had me sit on the table and he began to manipulate my leg to see where it hurt.  That was not fun.  The pain was excruciating and I thought I was going to go through the roof a couple times.  He thought maybe I had a torn meniscus and possibly a torn ACL.  He requested an MRI for me, and I went back the next day to have one done.  I didn't hear back from his office till just today.  (I am sure that was due to the holiday weekend) 

His nurse told me that there was a lot of swelling in there and the meniscus muscle was torn.  The ACL was in good form (thank goodness!) but she said the doc could do a scope and go in and clean up the muscle.  She said this was my choice.  I could go on and see if it healed better, but she recommended it because the scope would make it a lot better.  However, there would be therapy involved afterwards, but I think this would be a good thing because I want my knee to be healthy.  I am afraid if I let it go, it will get worse down the road.  I had an ACL replacement on my right knee back in 2002 and it was a hard recovery.  I know that I have a donor ligament for my ACL, and I was joking with my neighbor today about it, telling her they must have given me a Latina's ligament, because I caught on to Zumba so quickly!  LOL 

Anyway, this is not going to get me down.  It may slow me down a bit, but that is all.  I just can't stay away from Zumba because it has helped me get my self-esteem back after all these years.  Plus, I am FINALLY being active!  So, if there's a will, there's a way.  I will stay active with my Zumba classes and community and take care of my knee, too.  I can just stand in place and work mostly my upper body, or even do Zumba from a chair.  I promise I won't do too much or do anything to jeopardize the healing process.

I am still singing, as well.  I sang last Friday for the Seniors in Brigham City, and I got help from some of the gentlemen in the center.  They were really great to help me!  I am singing over in Tremonton tomorrow and I already have a few people lined up to meet me at the door and help me get my stuff in.  I can't just STOP everything.....it will drive me crazy! 

So, this is a time where it is vital to watch my food intake.  I won't be working out as vigorously, so I need to be right on the money with my eating.  Now that I will be resting more, I will have the "time" again to get my 6 small meals in a day!  :)  Lots of fruits and veggies! 

I will try to blog more often.  I was so good for the first few months blogging on here everyday.  But I always blogged so late at night and then I wasn't getting enough sleep.  I am going to try and get on here at least 3 days a week, and getting online earlier.  It's just that blogging at the end of the day (or late at night) allows me to tell you EVERYTHING that happened!  :) 

Before I sign off here, I want to tell you that I got my CPAP machine.  I used it for the very first time last night, and let me tell ya....I slept wonderfully!  I haven't slept that good in so long!  It is amazing how well you sleep when you are getting the right amount of oxygen to your brain and muscles.  I don't think I have been in that deep of a sleep in years!  So, all is well in Becky's world.  Just a few bumps in the road, but I will be fine. 

Peace and loved to you, my peeps.  I have missed you!  So good to be back.  See you all again soon and I will start recording my daily menus again and sharing recipes.

G'night!