Good Idea from My Niece: Tap & Track

I got this note from my niece the other day and she said I could share it:

Hello Auntie Susan, I just wanted to say yay for your 40 lbs by Christmas goal! I am working losing weight too:):):) I was reading your blog and noticed you were thinking about tracking your calories. When I lost almost 60 pounds a couple years ago that is how I did it. That's what I'm doing again actually:) Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that the iPhone has an awesome app called Tap and Track. You enter your weight and height and weight loss goals and it tells you how many calories you can eat each day. Then you enter the food you eat and it tracks the calories. It has a giant database with a lot of food's nutrition info stored so you don't have to enter the nutrition info for all the food you eat. You can also record your weights and exercise you've done. It's pretty awesome if you do decide to track your calories. Good luck!

Love ya!

Andrea

Thank you, Andrea!  Big hug!

AND..... my Zumba instructor last night after class ended said, "OK, you all know you just burned 1,000 calories doing Zumba with me, right?"  WOW, ONE THOUSAND CALORIES, are you kidding me?  Since I wasn't able to keep up with this particular instructor, I'd have to say I burned a bit less. But still it was a sweat fest!

Privet! Oi! Come va? Grüß dich! Bonjour! Hello to all Readers!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! It is so great to look at the stats and see you popping in from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom and all over the United States. You are undoubtedly looking for something interesting. I hope I am able to deliver! :D I am also trying to write like I talk so you can get an idea of how an average person sounds in the USA.

Losing weight is not super easy. Why in the world did I think it might be easy enough? Hoo boy, it is also not really that difficult, but it IS nonstop thinking about what I put into my mouth. Life used to be so simple when I didn't have to plan what I was eating and I could just do life.  When I got hungry I could grab something handy and yummy to satisfy that hunger. Side thought: maybe that is why so many people in the USA are obese. Because the availability of fast food and junk food is literally at our fingertips.

So, today I am a little frustrated and a teensy bit discouraged that this is going to be a long haul project and I have to stick with a plan. My alternative is to go back to my non-plan way of living and most certainly an early grave.

Yesterday I met a wonderful couple from Lima, Peru who now live in the USA. They both enjoy going to the gym and the wife especially loves Zumba. And her husband goes to Zumba with her! ha! Now, that is a good sport right there! :D  We all know aerobic dance (Zumba) is very tricky for guys. ;D

This lady said that she used to hate exercise. She really loathed it. She would rather do anything than exercise. But one day her doctor told her that her cholesterol count was dangerously over 300 and that she would surely die if she didn't take action right away. She used to pass out and faint just because her cholesterol was so high!  Oh my gosh, that's cra-zy!

So, she started exercising and now she really loves it and looks forward to it. I don't know if it is the exercise rush or what, but they both had a very shiny countenance! They look like they feel great, and said that they do! That is inspiring.

Again thank you for reading! Please comment!  Grazie! Spasiba! Danke! Obrigada! XO! and Merci!

ZUMBA!

Went to Zumba tonight and about 35 minutes into it, I started to wonder if they would be carrying me out on a stretcher. But because you guys are with me on this quest, I was determined to NOT give in. So, I drank lots of water and when I started to feel like it was too much, I just made my sexy moves a little less dramatic! haha! ;D "Booyah, Ba-by!"

Of course, since I don't know the steps I felt like a newbie, but I figured if I just kept moving it would count! And the steps are not all that difficult.

I saw on Twitter some comments about Zumba that were tweeted within minutes of my class ending. And I realized it is not that easy for anybody. Even my instructor was sweating!

On Twitter: @Devan_Salle said "#zumba kicked my boooty"  @nmpereira17 said "Just had a #zumba workout! Wow they are intense and tiring! But fun :D"   @Lesi_9314 said "#ZUMBA is some serious isshh"  haha! all good comments!  I asked a Men's Health Magazine on Twitter if men ever Zumba. We'll see what they say!

I will be doing ZUMBA twice, maybe three times a week!  If that and eating healthy doesn't take off 40 pounds by Christmas, I don't know what will! (On those other days, I will do other exercise!)

Listen, friends, if I die in this process, you will all know that I died trying to be healthy.  "/