Dancing = Great cardio :)

So I very quietly put myself on a "get healthy" plan as of January 1st.


2 goals:

• eat healthier foods and smaller portions, eliminating/severely reducing snacking between meals
• exercise

My basic philosophy is a Dr. Laura one: "move more, eat less."
January goals ("Phase I"):

• reduce portion size
• get myself mentally ready to exercise "for real" in February.

I was able to do that, so on Feb. 1 I moved on to "Phase II: Just Do It":

• continue eating smaller portions and greatly reducing snacking between meals.
• Eat healthy, focusing on fruits and vegetables (especially for snacks)
• exercise 1/2 hour 3-4 times per week--cardio only (for now)

I am soooooo excited--this dancing thing is so fun! The time actually flies! I've never enjoyed exercise so much. Can you believe that twice this week I've begun dancing with the goal of dancing for 30 minutes, and 1 1/2 hours later I had to FORCE MYSELF to stop?!?!
Now, I'm not so delusional to believe that this passion for dance will continue non-stop into eternity, but I'm enjoying the fun now! In order to maximize the "fun" and keep the passion going as long as possible, I'm keeping my dancing fresh and new. Since I started on Feb. 1st, I've learned one new line dance (the "Tush Push"--doesn't that sound interesting?!) and one new Latin dance, the "cumbia columbiana." It's so easy. I just search YouTube and save the videos to my playlist.
And CHECK IT OUT!!!!! I've lost five pounds since Jan 1st. I realize that's really slow, but I'm doing it slow on purpose for a few reasons:

• reduce the chance of crashing and burning (too intense, too soon)
• I believe that making small lifestyle changes little by little will greatly decrease the likelihood that I will re-gain the weight, because this will be a 1 or 1 1/2 year journey. By then, I should be comfortable making better choices on a regular basis, and I will come up with a maintenance plan.
• also, I want to keep it as real as possible--I don't plan to live in a "non-fat" world, so I allow myself small treats just like we would in the real world.

I just want to get back to the place that I was when Carlos was a toddler/pre-schooler--I felt so in control of my body. It just felt so good to be healthy and in control of myself. I want that feeling back again. Plus, I'm tired of going shopping for clothes and seeing all the cute clothes that look horrid on me because they would accentuate the fact that I'm extremely overweight.
Oh, and the best part, even though I've only lost five pounds and I haven't told a single soul about my "Get Healthy" plan (except for people who read my blog, which is currently nobody), one of my friends just happened to ask me this morning if I'm losing weight--no, he wasn't just asking. He never asks me. He said he could just tell. ISN'T THAT COOL?!?! Made MY day! He must be extremely observant, because I can barely tell in my face and my clothes.
Go, me!!