Grateful

Its Thanksgiving week! this is one of my favorite Holidays (who I am kidding I usually say all Holidays are my favorite) in particular because my oldest son William lights up during this Holiday.  He loves it, ever since he was a little boy.  My husband doesn't like Turkey, but every year we prepare a Turkey for William.

This year I am particular grateful to you guys, even if you just stop by occasionally to check if there is a new blog post, or my students.  This year I've grown as an Instructor, I've become better, more in tuned with my students needs.  This is because you have inspired me to become better, and for that I am grateful.    You guys rock, and I thank you for allowing me to inspire you to become healthier and fit.  

During holidays or festivities, I don't usually stop and count calories or log what I eat.  It is a time to get together with the people that I love and want to hang out with, so I will enjoy my Turkey Feast guilt free and I really hope you guys too!  I will have a special zumba class tonight at 7:00pm to 8:30pm with Dans Di Ballo Instructors, and we will have fun, we will dance, and we will celebrate Turkey Day with you so that come tomorrow you feel you can indulge and truly enjoy this wonderful holiday with your family and friends.

Thank you all for your support have a wonderful Thansgiving and hope to see you tonight!

29300 Kohoutek Way, Suite 170 Union City

29300 Kohoutek Way, Suite 170 Union City

Zumba Love!

This Sunday the Dans Di Ballo zumba instructors were at the Lady of Rosary festival promoting our Zumba Classes as well as the Zumbathon Event that Javier Alvarez has put togeter to benefit COR!  

 We had tons of fun, Faye a recent licensed zumba instructor was out there with us, as well as Javier's FABULOUS zumba crew! 

I started off with my warm up! I am loving Becky G so I had to start with her Tribal :) 

Then Faye rocked the house with Dale Dale! 



And Javier JUST rocked it out!!! 

Shaking the booty with el Baile del Tao!

 

Information about COR: Congregations Organizing for Renewal is a multi-faith and multicultural non-profit organization that represents over 25,000 families and constituents in Southern Alameda County and is part of the nation-wide PICO network. Known as COR, they help communities to make systemic changes through policy changes in order to improve the communities. They do this by teaching skills, known as organizing, to members in the community who want to be empowered to make the changes themselves. Some victories that COR has been part of recently includes passing Measure U-U in Union City, which helped to reduce youth violence and fatalities in the city once it was passed. COR has also been instrumental in getting 200 units of affordable housing and generating local jobs that will available next to the San Leandro BART station, which is part of the TOD work (Transit Oriented Development) that is happening, which will break ground next year in August. COR is also working on issues such as education, affordable housing, and youth violence prevention in Hayward, Union City, San Leandro, and Fremont


Buy your tickets here!

Turbo Kick Demo at St Clement's Church

This Sunday I did a Turbo Kick Demo :)




Have you tried Turbo Kick?

No Zumba Class Tonight 8/22/13

Hello Everyone!

Just to let you know that I will have no Zumba class tonight at 7:15pm, having some tummy issues, but I hope to be back full force this Saturday at 8am! so wake up early ;)

Cravings, are they real?

Howdy fitness friends!

Last night I was reviewing My Fitness Pal food diary, and I had to log in my 2 pieces of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...I didn't want to add them, but add them I must! If I want to keep it real with myself, then I had to.   As I did so,  I hanged my head in shame for a few seconds.   Especially when I saw that  those 210 extra calories, were extra, I went over 200 calories.  But you see at the time I just had to have chocolate.  

It got me thinking are cravings real or brain induced? after some thought I would say its 50/50.  Sometimes we are just bored, but ladies, you KNOW that there are certain times, when its not your brain trying to sabotage you, its hormonal, and unlike emotions which one can control, hormones are a totally different beast.  Although, Jillian Michaels and other nutritional experts tell me that you can control and balance your hormones with food, which...okay okay I do buy into, there are times when its just not an option to say no.  So that was me yesterday giving into my hormonal cravings.  

I don't mind saying I love chocolate and will give into it, HOWEVER, peanut butter cups??? really? especially since Reese's are just not my type of chocolate candy, way too sweet.  I prefer dark chocolate and not candy bar chocolate although if I must, my first choice is a midnight milky way.   So why Reese's? well that's what was available to me.  But today is another day, and no longer feel bad about my caving into my chocolate urges overall I am feeling much better plus its Zumba Day!!! Happy Feelings are back! 

Insanity is Coming!

Howdy Fitness Pushers!

Well today I have several things that I wanted to talk you about...but I think I am going to be smart about this, instead of just throwing everything that is on my mind right now, I'll only pick ONE...we have to focus on just one thing at a time right?

Well I supported Maria Charito Martinez of M&M Fitness at Futsol Republic to give the first Insanity Fit test in Hayward, CA!  it was awesome!   Insanity will be taught at this facility starting this upcoming Friday, July 19th! and now for DRUM ROLL I will also start teaching Insanity at  Dans's Di Ballo' Dance Studio! I will hold the Free Fit  Test on Tuesday July 23rd! at 8:30pm - right after my Zumba class.  

Insanity in this group fitness setting is FOR EVERYONE! unlike the DVD's there are modifications, and we do encourage people to do the modifications...as they get stronger you will go all in! this is a major benefit of Insanity in a group fitness setting...other benefits, is the energy you get from the people around you! I've tried to do Insanity at home...ITS HARD, not just the program itself, but to get the mental toughness to put that DVD in and go all in, its not easy.  In the group fitness setting you get to class and you get into mindset right away because other people are there for the similar reasons as you are.  Their energy just feeds you, when you are workout, and you are are in the 2nd round of the warm up, you are thinking...WOW this is tough, and you look around you and your neighbor smiles at you and encourages you to keep going, when you High Five for a job well done! its AMAZING, you will feel empowered, like you can do anything!

I keep hearing "ooohhh Insanity, thats too hard" "I am scared" DON'T BE! this is the time to push past your limits! when we start our fitness journey, that is what its about! to accmplish  what we thought was not possible! Its time to get out of our comfort zone, for me thats Turbo Kick and Zumba, I already kick butt in those formats, its now time to conquer MY BEAST! and for me thats Insanity.   Remember your body will only change when you do the work! With that said, come and try the Free Insanity Fit Test!

For a litte motivation here is a video of the Insanity Master Class during the Certification! can you find me?

DIG DEEP!

Lets Zumba! Take Advantage of Groupon Deal!

My Zumba classes at Dans Di Ballo are booming! :) classes are filling up and the energy is amazing! I am thankful for the very  first ladies that took a chance and came to class and spread the word :) Marie, Redina, Francy, Rosalinda, Claudia,  Guille, Teresa, Rose, Varsha, Ramila, Issa, Norma:)

We always start with 2 warm up songs (or a 6-8 min mix) my warm up are simple, I use the basic moves most of the time, the moves feel good to my body and I can feel my temperature rising! if I am feeling it, then I  know I am transmitting that to my students!







Then we start to work!! My playlist is...eclectic, I don't favor any one rhythm over another because I really like the variety!   Merengue, Cumbia, Bhangra, Quebradita, Regetton, bachata all is good!




One of the reasons I love Zumba is that it really makes me feel like I am a different person, but I am still ME!...I KNOW Contradictory and I probably make no sense, but I am not your typical zumba instructor.  I am not a "dancer" I never took dancing lessons, the dancing lessons I took was from my grandfather at parties.  I am not outgoing and loud..I am actually a quite person, I like to sit back and listen to people stories, I don't have to be the center of attention and most of the time I really don't seek that.  But in that hour, when I am teaching, Zumba or Turbo Kick, I am the center of attention, I need to be engaging and enthusiastic to inspire my students to push and work their (excuse my language) butt off! so for that hour, I turn into my alter-ego, and become the leader of the class, become the center of attention, and I am smiling, for that hour, I don't care that I have big'ol teeth, I will smile at you and through out the class, and it makes me feel amazing, which in turn I know my students feel amazing too.  We feed from each others energy, its amazing! so come and try it out! :)

Take ADVANTAGE of GROUPON DEAL - 10 classes for $19 

My Insanity Certification

Wow! Its been ages since I've blogged. Being a mother of 5, full time job, and being a group fitness instructor...well it seems like that takes up a lot of my time :) I have some exciting news! Yesterday, Sunday June 2nd 2013, I attended the 1st Insanity Group Fitness Certification in Northern California!

During the master class, I was like..."yeah, its tough, but I am doing it, I've got this!" then there was lecture, and I was like, wow, this wasn't too bad, and I got a false sense of being on easy street. Well let me tell you, after lunch we broke down into groups and did "group work" We broke down the 3 blocks of the master class...we did each one like a BAZILLION TIMES! I am not exaggerating. Anyway, I learned there is a reason why its called Insanity. By the end, I was a walking zombie!

I am super excited to be able to bring this format to my students. Its also a new way to bring people who feel that they are not dancy or feel choreography challenged into the group fitness world. Doing the home dvd's of insanity, is tough, especially as you have to be really self motivated to keep pushing play everyday and following the program; But with the group fitness format, its a new ball game. You get energy from your neighbor. In the middle of the class, the people on the side would cheer me on, and I would cheer them on. We gave each other positive energy. I was just not following the motions, but giving it MY ALL, MY BEST.

So stay tuned, I'll be teaching Insanity soon! This summer is going to be HOT!

Goals!

So I've totally dropped the ball  on keeping up with my Blog and way of communication with my followers :) However, if you follow on me facebook you know I've been on top of fitness and health.  I did the Ultimate Reset at the beginning of January.  Now I have to say that I am glad I did it, and I will do it again (God Willing January 2014) I am not a fan of becoming a true Vegan.  Reason being is that I like my animal protein.  It fuels my body for the type of workouts and lifestyle that I carry on.   Now while I will strive to add more of a vegetable variety to my nutrition I will not be eliminating animal protein.  Now I do eat less red meat overall since about 3 years ago, but I still eat it, as well as lean chicken, turkey, and fish.  


I also have exciting news to share!   I am starting to teach more group fitness classes!   I will add Turbo Kick on Sunday's at 11:35am starting this upcoming Sunday (2/10/13) at Underground Fitness II  in their Newark location!  Your 1st class is only $1, $10 Drop in fees, and they also have exercises/monthly packages available.  

Now for the DRUM ROLL!!! I am opening my OWN zumba hours!  I will be teaching Zumba on Tuesdays & Thursdays at 7:15pm and Saturday's at 8am!  address is 29300 Kohoutek Way. Suite 170.  I will start on Tuesday 2/12/13.  Check out the Zumba button in home page, there is a free pass, print it out and come and check me out!

And of Course I still teach Turbo Kick at M&M Fitness at Futsol Republic in Hayward (21615 Hesperian Blvd, Haywad, CA) - $6 Drop in fee or its included in their monthly card.  

In my own personal fitness, I started a 2nd round of Chalean Extreme.  Last week I completed the 1st week of the Burn Phase!  I am also participating in M&M Fitness Weight Challenge! Official Starting Weight 137 -- in April challenge ends, my goal is to reach 130! do able? o I believe so!