I attended my second Zumba class yesterday. No one got hurt. Not me. Not the unsuspecting women next to me who had no idea they were exercising near a woman who has the coordination of a drunk three-legged giraffe. 

Victory.

And in the midst of the class I had a wonderful revelation: I am a terrible dancer and I don't care. As I attempted the steps in time with the instructor whose ability to dance and smile at the same time still baffles me, I realized that everyone else was doing their own thing and probably didn't have time to notice how badly I was doing. Even the super-intense women, clad in their Zumba merch? They were busy dancing and enjoying themselves.  

It's a good lesson about life. We care so much about what others think, how people will react to what we do. The truth is that most of the time, they're invested in living their own lives and don't really notice what you're doing unless your actions pull them out of their own routine. Like if you topple into them mid Samba roll.

It was freeing to cast off the middle-school self-consciousness and just *dance*. Badly. 

My name is Aimie and I'm a bad dancer. And that's fine.

Also? Down about three pounds. I'll take it!

Sorry for the delay in Workout Wednesday. Let's just say the week conspired against my ambitions for fitness.

This morning was no exception. With two children out of sorts and the desire to do nothing more than climb back in bed, it would have been the perfect day to make some bad food decisions. Even worse? It was grocery day. One bad morning could have easily led to a week's worth of temptation in the cart. 

But, I'm proud to say, I curbed my desire to cave to the siren song of Doritos and chocolate. Instead? I spent a few dollars to make an inviting eating space at home:

A little taste of Fall and something that makes me want to sit at the table and have a family meal instead of scarfing down fast food. Win.

The result was good... I ended up with a cart of reasonably healthy food and we're having a very nice meal tonight: Parmesan Chicken, steamed broccoli with red pepper, and rice. The best part? None of it takes more than 5 minutes of active prep.

As a thank you to you fine readers, here's the recipe for the Parmesan Chicken:

That's it. Chicken breast (I use boneless, skinless), white wine, parmesan cheese, garlic salt (I've used plain and Kosher salt, too), and pepper. Salt and pepper the chicken, place in a foil lined baking pan, coat with a paste made from the wine and cheese and let it sit, covered with plastic wrap for up to 12 hours in the fridge.

Easy to do right before work, or even before bed the night before. It's OK just to throw it together at the last minute, but I find the chicken is more tender if you let it soak.

Bake for 35-45 minutes (internal temp of 165F) at 375F. Serve with sides and, BAM. Dinner.  It's also a fun way to make company think you're proficient in the kitchen. Total cost of ingredients was in the $10-$15 range. You can do it for less if you use powdered parmesan and bulk chicken and the results are still pretty dang good.

Bon Apétit and good health!

~Aimie

For those of you who know me in person, you know I've always battled with a few extra pounds. I've dipped into the healthy range according to my BMI a few times, but more often than not, I'm carrying 15 pounds more than I should and 30 pounds more than what might be ideal.

The truth? I look OK. I have some dresses in which I'll venture to say, I look damn good. I feel fine most of the time.

"Fine" and "OK" are words I despise. Why settle for "fine" and "OK" when "amazing" and "fantastic" are feasible?

I lost 30 lbs of post-baby weight last year, was within 25 lbs of my goal. Since then I've put 11 or so back and I'm sliding back from "feeling pretty dang good" back to the dubious land of "fine".

So I'm challenging myself. And I challenge you. I have 35 lbs to lose. Not because I want to fit into this size 4 dress in my closet:

Ok, maybe a little.

It's mostly because I want to feel amazing, have energy for my family, and live life to its full potential.

So every Wednesday I'll take you along with me on my rocky road to fitness. Every avoided French fry and every trip to the gym is worth celebrating. And I want you to share with me! Comment and let's open a dialogue about the successes and challenges we're facing. Let's face it... If you're reading this, you're probably a reader and/or writer and we get way more time on our tushes than is good for us.

Yesterday, I attended my first-ever Zumba class. I didn't hurt anyone. Victory.

(Side note: the women with Zumba merch are INTENSE!)

This coming week's goals: get back to logging calories on My FitnessPal and work out at least four times. Reachable. Measurable. Doable. What are your goals?!

I leave you with my favorite fitness quotes and my best wishes for a healthy week!