Revenge of the Pilates Master

Thursday afternoons have basically been the same for the last 19 weeks, I go to the cafeteria, I get a Chicken Cesar Salad, I go to Pilates, I go to my desk, then I eat my well deserved salad. I have a wonderful Pilate’s teacher. Her name is Simone. It is pronounced like this: see-moan-ee.

Simone is from Brazil. She is 5"6 and weighs about 100 lbs. She has uber-long platinum blonde hair (which is natural). All she does is teach Pilates all day, so you can only imagine what her body is like: tone, thin, long. She has blue eyes, a fair complexion and great skin. Think you would hate her right?? Nope, she is so cute and sweet and sometimes gets her words mixed up that you can't help but adore her. She really is super cool and I love taking her class, we all do. That is why we have done it for 19 weeks.

But, today I was fed up with the Brazilian bombshell. After class was over, I was fuming. Why on earth did she spend so much time correcting other people in class? She shows them how to hold their heads, how to place their arms and legs, how to breathe correctly. Why won't she show me? Every time she walked by me she would just smile and count, but not a word of encouragement or any help.

So I had had enough. After 18 weeks of Pilates I was going to ask her why she doesn't help me in class. I marched right up to her and said, "um, hey Simone. You never correct me in class. And you seem to spend a lot of time with the other students. What am I doing wrong?" She looked at me stunned. Then, in her fun Brazilian accent she said, "You have great posture and really understand the principles behind Pilates and the breathing. I never thought I had to correct you."

I sheepishly thanked her and tried to laugh it off. "So I am good?" "You are very guuud in this class!" She answered.

Maybe next time I will give myself more credit. I love Pilates! I am very guuud at it...ha ha ha.

Red Lipstick

Today I got up, let the dog out, got dressed, threw on a little make up, then hopped in my car. On the way to work I started craving red lips. I though, who cares it is 8 am and bright red lips aren't really a day thing?



So at the first stop light I grabbed my purse, dug out my Bare Essentials finest Plum Brulee lip stick and slathered it all over my lips. Then I topped it off with a little Breathless gloss from Benefit (which is just a red shine), made a kissy face and was on my way.



I love red lips, no matter what time of day. They make me feel like Marilyn, or Madonna, or Mae West. She probably went to bed in red lipstick. I felt empowered, lovely, sexy and ready to conquer my day.

Salad Junkie

For those of you who don't know, I have been seeing a dietitian for about 6 weeks now. I am trying to get off all this "unexplainable" weight that I have put on over the last 10 years. We can totally ignore the fact that I went from working out every day of my life and barely having time to eat, let alone a social life, to all the time on my hands in the world to party and socialize and hang out with friends and meet new people, try new things (which in the BG* that was mostly trying new places to eat and drink). I would say college was the beginning of my "stall".

But, the past is the past and here we are to the present. And I have a long road ahead of me. Luckily "Dr.Ray" has been great. He makes me write everything down, what I eat, what I do during the day, how much I work out, how much water I drink... I started noticing that I eat a lot of salad.

Now, I have a bit of a crazy mom for those of you who don't know. And if you didn't know, you obviously don't hang we me or Damie much. I can remember her eating one thing, and one thing only...shredded lettuce. And she put some pretty weird stuff in there. Sometimes she would cook those Lean Cuisines that were "Mexican" entrees and mix them in her lettuce, or she would melt cheese, or she would just add mustard. Now, I in no way condone this type of eating or think it is even remotely healthy, but something about it did rub off on me.

Today for lunch I had a Tuscan Pesto Chicken salad. Tomorrow I am having a Waldorf Chicken salad. Thursday (and I have this EVERY Thursday) I will be having a classic Chicken Cesar salad. Fridays are usually a sandwich and plain salad day.

So much roughage you say? Well, let's say I definitely don't have any trouble in certain areas...ha ha ha. But my salads are loaded with wholesome goodness. I almost always pack them with spinach leaves, broccoli, healthy proteins like chicken and nuts, dressings are almost always an olive oil base with spices, b/c Dr. Ray says I need to eat more healthy fats.

And on the days I don't eat salads? (Which is usually just on Sunday, hey everyone needs a day of rest.) I crave them. I miss them the way I miss sugar when I eat some and then cut myself off. Salads are addictive and if you do it right, totally awesome for you. I suggest for those with sweet tooths to put apples and pears in them and even a little pineapple. Those make for some great salad!

So far I have lost about 13 pounds. I have gotten up to 4 miles running for about 60 minutes. I am trying to hit 4 and a half this week. It is kind of amazing that every time I start to think about cheating or not going to work out, I think about going to see the doc in a few weeks. And I immediately put the cookie down and do my Pilates video (it is only 20 minutes and I can't even do half of the stuff). Or I grab Zinny and Boone and make them go outside and chase me.
So right now salads are my thing. Who knows? Maybe when I lose more weight clothes will be my thing! Oh, can I afford that?!?!?!

*BG- Bowling Green Kentucky- This is where I went to college. When I was in school, there were more restaurants per capita than any other place in America. Lots of places to eat, very little to do.