OMG! It’s Official!I am an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor. I wonder if I get to add credential letters at the end of my signature?LOL. My wildest dreams are slowing coming into fruition.My crazy ambition is gradually becoming a part of who I really am every day.This morning I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, which never happens to me; but I guess it was because I was so scared that I would over sleep.Since I’ve been studying all of this nutrition stuff, I selected a breakfast of whole grain toast (complex carbs) and scrambled eggs (protein), and a cup of 100% fruit juice to get me started on the right foot, and prevent hunger later.Then I was on my way.While I was getting in the car, I started to feel so sick to my stomach, why today, of all days would my stomach want to turn flips.Then I remembered back to the day I had to do the TV Evening News interview, and the day of my All-Star 5K race, and I realized it was just nerves.I coached myself, “failure is not an option, calm down, pray, You only need a 71% to pass, quit trippin’”My stomach began to settle.When I got to the school testing site, there was a huge locked gate with no access to the testing building. “Dang it!’ They said in all the study materials that you should scope out the place before test day to help with test anxiety.I figured, “well it’s 10 minutes away, I can find it.”I started to panic again.I had to start up the positive self talk again, “calm down, you’re 30 mins early, failure is not an option.” I had to go around a few streets and finally made it to the security desk.All week I prepared myself to deal with skinny overly excited fitness gurus to look at me ”ask why are you here”? When I pulled up, the security guard said, “what are you here for?” I replied to take the Group Fitness Instructor test, he said “okay”….then he paused said “Ma’am what did you say?, as he sized up all of my extra curves.I repeat4ed I’m here to take the group fitness instructor test, I’d like to help overweight people reach their goals and become more healthy.“Oh! Thats great” he said and gave me a visitor pass.The school building was so beautiful! It was marble everywhere.I snapped a quick pic for you guys.I logged in to the computer based test and I got really antsy after an hour. I was so tired of sitting there.I decided to take a bathroom break and did some stretches and jumps and kicks to get moving again.Two more hours later, when I finished my test the results popped up and the 1st number I saw was 68%, my heart sank, I read down 71%…..still not good enough, down some more 76%, down some more, in the last section I scored 100%.Averaging about 78%, and finally at the bottom in tiny little writing: “PASS”I can’t believe it, I am a real group fitness instructor!No more audio study CD in the car, no more studying until 2AM, no more flashcards in my purse, no more textbook under my pillow for osmosis, (yes I did this, lol).It’s turning out to be a fantastic year for me….My cousins pastor put it best, “God wouldn’t put the desire to go south in a bird, if he didn’t think it would make it there, just like he didn’t put those dreams in you, if he didn’t think you would make it!”
I’m studying hard for my test. You know… the test to become a Group Fitness Instructor. My mission is to use my journey to help people lose weight and get healthy. It’s funny my Uncle asked me ”so what do you do for the test, run up a flight of stairs?” Uh NO! It’s a lot harder than that. I wish that was all it that was required. In addition to being CPR certified, it’s anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, general health, and nutrition. I have to know all of the muscles and bones and the proper safe way to teach a class, all while avoiding modern day litigation that holds you liable for someone else getting hurt. I’m such a procrastinator, I won’t even tell you what chapter I’m on. I will say I’m closer to the front than the back of the book. Yikes! My test is Saturday, so I may not get a chance to blog until then. I just wanted to let you know what was going on. The test is computer based, and you get your results immediately. So my next blog post title will be ” I PASSED!!!” or “Better Luck Next Time” LOL. Gotta go finish studying. Later.
Hey Guys. Today was just like the title said, Nothing to brag about. I haven’t worked out since Monday, and I’ve been eating sooo bad. Breakfast was okay, I had a Fiber One granola bar, lunch was fried rice and the best crab rangoon from a Thai restaurant downtown. Somehow 2 giant cookies managed to sneak in, or was it three? Ugh, I feel so fat. For dinner I went to one of those run of mill award banquets with my Dad’s job. You know, with the round table chairs too close together and long winded speakers. The creme brulee was deliciously fantastic and I’m sure artery clogging all at the same time. It was however, actually entertaining, at the begining when about 50 protesters crashed the party. They went up on the stage and chanted ‘We Want Jobs!, Give Us Jobs’, through a megaphone. Most of us thought it was a skit, and a part of the program, until they turned the stage lights out, and security ushered them off the stage. Only in America!…On another note, I can however, proudly say, I’m sticking to my ban from soda. I haven’t had one in forever. I still crave one from time to time, but I try to focus on the big picture instead of my immediate desire for a caffeine jolt. It’s so funny, when I tell people I just recently quit drinking soda, they all shriek back in horror and say “WHY????” You would think told people I started doing illegal drugs or something the complete opposite of what I’m really doing (getting healthy). Today at work, one lady told me she was a Coke addict and can easily drink 12 cans a day! I told her about the ingredient they put in there that’s also used to make the fireworks whistle. Hopefully it will influence her as much as it influenced me. Knowledge is power. Note to Self: Just because the cookies and the creme brulee were Free, it doesn’t mean you had to eat it.
Today, I would have rather stayed at home and clean nasty chitlins, instead of going to the gym for my run. (if you didn’t laugh, click here.) Of course, I don’t eat chitlins or even have any at home, but that was the least enjoyable thing in the world that I could think of; and I would have still rather done that, than to go for a run. I just wasn’t feeling exercise today. Much to my dismay, about 11 this morning, my little sister called and begged me to go to the gym. I actually told her no, I wasn’t going. Can you believe it? Then she reminded me, ”you’re training, you have to go.” I told her ”No” again, and she called back and asked again. Ugh, how could I continusouly reject her? I couldn’t. I was dragging my feet, and it took me about an hour to get ready. I griped and complained the whole way there. She told me I was making it much worse that it really was. I was still complaining on my way up the stairs to the indoor track once I was at the gym. NOTHING in me wanted to run. I had to do a lot of positive self talk. “Carli, this is YOUR podcast, this is YOUR goal, YOUR health, and YOUR happiness, plus, you’re already here at the gym, so shut up run.” Unfortunately, I did have to talk to myself like that. I turned on Day 2 of Week 3, and guess what? It wasn’t that bad. Actually, at the end of the run, I was thinking, “that was it?” I totally made a mountain out of a mole hill and felt pretty silly for being so dramatic all morning. I guess the next time I’m in an anti-exercise funk, I’ll remind myself, it’s not that bad! …Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase. – MLK
Today was a great day, this morning, I got up taught my “Your Body is His Temple” fitness class at church. I had this crazy feeling that nobody was going to show up. But, I was very wrong, there were about 8 or 9 class participants. The even crazier part is that I did not even have a routine planned out, because I figured it was too cold and that nobody would come out on a Saturday morning. I did however, prepare a work sheet the night before, just in case. The worksheet talked about goals, and how to set realistic achievable goals. I tried to hide my panic on the inside about my lack of preparation, and told the class, instead of setting a goal to lose 50 pounds, set a goal to lose 1 or 2 pounds this week. Then I used myself as an example. I told the class, that I’m trying to get to my goal of only drinking water. To achieve my goal, I didn’t set some outrageous goal, and try to cut out everything except water. I started with the little things, like removing soda from my diet. After our discussion on proper goal setting techniques, it was time for the fitness portion of the class. Luckily I had some printouts from the last time I taught the class. I think it went over pretty smoothly, nobody told me I looked lost, and like I was making it up as I went along, although, that was certainly what I was doing! It turned out to be a really good workout, I was sweating, the other ladies were sweating. It was a lot of fun to have my celebrity Aunt from L.A. in my class. She said she really enjoyed it, and gave me some Hollywood tips to make class more fun. After class, I had a hair appointment with my Big Little Sister at her salon. I didn’t have time to go home and make something healthy, and I didn’t really want semi-healthy food from McDonald’s. I kept trying to figure out what to eat.
You would think with a title like that, I would taking about quitting smoking, but nope, I’m talking about my naughty little caffeine/soda habit. I didn’t even realize it, but I was kicking back 2 or 3 sodas everyday. I drank a soda with lunch, a pick me up during the afternoon, and one with dinner. It was crazy how many sodas I was actually drinking. It wasn’t until I read that book, and the authors referred to soda as “liquid Satan”, and explained all of the horrible ingredients and awful side effects that I realized how bad it really was. The label of one of my favorite soda cans (Coke Zero) reads as follows: carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid (used for rust removal), aspartame (causes cancer), potassium benzoate, (prevents mold growth and used as the whistle in fireworks) natural flavors (ummm…care to elaborate?), potassium citrate (has regulated OTC use by the gov), acesulfame potassium (also causes cancer), caffeine, PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE (harmfulto people with a certain genetic disorder and pregnant women). What in the world is all that crap???!!! If you can’t pronounce it, maybe you shouldn’t be putting it in your body…. The first couple days of going clean from soda was awful. I had a horrible horrible headache, and a bad attitude. I was fussing a people, and honking the horn during traffic jams. All of the crazy side effects of caffeine withdrawal are what made me really realize how bad of a drug it really is. My body was so used to taking it in on a daily basis that I actually had psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms. Thats just way too extreme, my body should be able to function naturally without the need for any extra drug to keep me going. I can confidently say that I’m glad I made this decision to quit. There were also a lot of good side effects that I hadn’t anticipated. My skin is brighter and clearer, my “bad” knee is not giving me much trouble as it normally does, especially when its cold outside. And I don’t go to the bathroom as much. That’s probably way too much info, but it’s the truth. I used to the bathroom all the time, and let me you, my bathroom time has been cut in half! I used to think, okay, that’s just me, I pee a lot. But now, I wonder was it really from drinking all of these sodas?… Overall I’m very happy that I made the decision to kick the soda habit….on another note, I’ve been studying more aggressively for my Group Fitness Instructor test. In the 1st chapter of my course book it defines physical fitness as “someone who is physically fit, is able to have a better quality of life.” That little statement really resonated with me, because I think back to when I was so heavy that getting out of the car was a chore, walking down the street was a challenge, even walking up the stairs to my apartment was difficult. Once I became more physcially fit, and didn’t have all of that extra weight, litterally weighing me down, I did and still do, have a much better quality of life. Physical Fitness is not optional, it’s something that we need in order to live a full life.
Hello my name is Carli, and I’m a soda addict! The first step is admitting it right? I already have enough addictions (food and shopping) and now I get to add soda to list. Ugh, I can’t believe it. I knew I liked soda, and I knew I drank it pretty much every day, but I didn’t realize I was addicted to it. Not until those ladies called it liquid Satan in their book and I continued to drink it. I thought I was safe and I proudly declared, “I drink diet.” But nope, diet soda is just as bad, if not worse with all of its cancer causing agents. It was such a wake up call. So I decided hey, I’ll just quit drinking that crap, no big deal right? Day 1 being clean and sober was Sunday, no problem, I even drank water with dinner. But yesterday whew! It was awful. I had a headache, I was grouchy and sluggish and irritable. I said no way can this be from not drinking soda. So I Googled caffeine withdrawal, and found that my issues, among others were side effects that occur when you stop drinking coffee and soda. I was still in disbelief, so what did I do? I drank a soda after lunch. My headache went away and I was more alert and awake. That’s when it really became real, I’m addicted to caffeine. I also read online that caffeine addiction is one of the most acceptable forms of addiction in our society. The mandtory morning cup of coffee has become common place for many people. I felt this was something I have to conquer. Roni (my blogging & running role model) only drinks water, and my Mom quit drinking soda a couple years ago. My Mama said her doctor told her to stop drinking soda to alleviate her knee pain. When I asked her yesterday, she said it worked, her knee doesn’t hurt anymore! I had no clue that was why she stopped drinking “liquid Satan.” Anyway, I went the gym after work. I forgot my knee brace (which maybe I won’t need any more since I’m kicking the soda habit.) I went up to the track and put on my Week 3 podcast. The first half wasn’t too bad at all, and I laughed that I actually put the 80′s hit “Push It” by Salt N Pepa on the play list. One of the ladies who were walking around the track, slapped me a high five during one of my running intervals, and later told me she was doing the couch to 5K plan. Of course I had to let her know where she could find a much cooler podcast than the one she was listening to. The last half of the routine was a little lot harder, I kept saying “talk to me, Miss Carli, tell me it’s time to walk.” Then finally it was over. I took a 10 minute break and then hit the eliptical hard and heavy for 15 minutes. Moving on to Day 2 of Week 3. What Did Carli Eat Today? NO SODA! Yay!
B- Fiber One Muffin & Low Fat Yogurt
L- Tortilla Soup & Side Salad
S- Apple
D- Weight Watcher Smart One Pizza (not nearly as good as the Lean Cuisine Pizza) and ½ cup of Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf. I used to laugh at people who ate food that looked like bird seed, now I’m one of them. I boiled the pilaf in fat free chicken broth instead of water for flavor, and mixed in some salsa when it was done. It was kind of like Spanish Rice. It was very filling.
OMG! It’s Official! I am an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor. I wonder if I get to add credential letters at the end of my signature? LOL. My wildest dreams are slowing coming into fruition. My crazy ambition is gradually becoming a part of who I really am every day. This morning I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, which never happens to me; but I guess it was because I was so scared that I would over sleep. Since I’ve been studying all of this nutrition stuff, I selected a breakfast of whole grain toast (complex carbs) and scrambled eggs (protein), and a cup of 100% fruit juice to get me started on the right foot, and prevent hunger later. Then I was on my way. While I was getting in the car, I started to feel so sick to my stomach, why today, of all days would my stomach want to turn flips. Then I remembered back to the day I had to do the TV Evening News interview, and the day of my All-Star 5K race, and I realized it was just nerves. I coached myself, “failure is not an option, calm down, pray, You only need a 71% to pass, quit trippin’” My stomach began to settle. When I got to the school testing site, there was a huge locked gate with no access to the testing building. “Dang it!’ They said in all the study materials that you should scope out the place before test day to help with test anxiety. I figured, “well it’s 10 minutes away, I can find it.” I started to panic again. I had to start up the positive self talk again, “calm down, you’re 30 mins early, failure is not an option.” I had to go around a few streets and finally made it to the security desk. All week I prepared myself to deal with skinny overly excited fitness gurus to look at me ”ask why are you here”? When I pulled up, the security guard said, “what are you here for?” I replied to take the Group Fitness Instructor test, he said “okay”….then he paused said “Ma’am what did you say?, as he sized up all of my extra curves. I repeat4ed I’m here to take the group fitness instructor test, I’d like to help overweight people reach their goals and become more healthy. “Oh! Thats great” he said and gave me a visitor pass. The school building was so beautiful! It was marble everywhere. I snapped a quick pic for you guys. I logged in to the computer based test and I got really antsy after an hour. I was so tired of sitting there. I decided to take a bathroom break and did some stretches and jumps and kicks to get moving again. Two more hours later, when I finished my test the results popped up and the 1st number I saw was 68%, my heart sank, I read down 71%…..still not good enough, down some more 76%, down some more, in the last section I scored 100%. Averaging about 78%, and finally at the bottom in tiny little writing: “PASS” I can’t believe it, I am a real group fitness instructor! No more audio study CD in the car, no more studying until 2AM, no more flashcards in my purse, no more textbook under my pillow for osmosis, (yes I did this, lol). It’s turning out to be a fantastic year for me….My cousins pastor put it best, “God wouldn’t put the desire to go south in a bird, if he didn’t think it would make it there, just like he didn’t put those dreams in you, if he didn’t think you would make it!” 
Today was a great day, this morning, I got up taught my “Your Body is His Temple” fitness class at church. I had this crazy feeling that nobody was going to show up. But, I was very wrong, there were about 8 or 9 class participants. The even crazier part is that I did not even have a routine planned out, because I figured it was too cold and that nobody would come out on a Saturday morning. I did however, prepare a work sheet the night before, just in case. The worksheet talked about goals, and how to set realistic achievable goals. I tried to hide my panic on the inside about my lack of preparation, and told the class, instead of setting a goal to lose 50 pounds, set a goal to lose 1 or 2 pounds this week. Then I used myself as an example. I told the class, that I’m trying to get to my goal of only drinking water. To achieve my goal, I didn’t set some outrageous goal, and try to cut out everything except water. I started with the little things, like 
Hello my name is Carli, and I’m a soda addict! 
I used to laugh at people who ate food that looked like bird seed, now I’m one of them. I boiled the pilaf in fat free chicken broth instead of water for flavor, and mixed in some salsa when it was done. It was kind of like Spanish Rice. It was very filling.
