XP ...Belly dancing MOI? WHAT A WORKOUT! Who is too old????

  I can't believe this is my second time going to belly dancing class ... the first time I stood in AWE at the graceful fluid motions of the male instructor from overseas ... I stood there wondering oh yeah am I supposed to do THAT? oh yeah right .. hmmmm hmmm I did not see it happening ... so I stood there with two left hips and watched ... my DD and others had it down pat ... I was feeling mightily clumsy ... till a sista in my group told me a little trick that was told to her when she did that class in the past ... all I had to do was strap and invisible pencil from my hip to the floor and draw a number 8 or figure 8 ... hmmmm based on that I was equipped and ready ... welllllllll .... in the beginning my figure 8 was feeling like a letter Z so I listened to the instructions and watched and slowly very slowly I saw that 8 come into play ... step by step and here I go ... before I knew it I was soooooooo enjoying myself and following with everyone else and the instructor ... it was so much fun and such a workout I was loving it ... came home and every unused part of my anatomy hurt in a good way ... I am certainly going back ... woot woot I am loving the belly dancing workout ....
If someone told me I would be doing this 4 years 1 months ago I won't believe it ... bellydancing class at the gym and just loving it ... ... picture on my way to class courtesy of DH LOL


I have been waking up at 3:45 a.m. for the past months 3-4 times per week going on an early morning run with my friends in our running group .. I met these friends on the trail when I could barely power walk but I kept trying ... The first time I got on the treadmill after my surgery I thought I would pass out and die after 3 minutes on it at the slowest speed ... wow how out of shape I was having been unable to exercise much or even make it up a flight of stairs with my impaired joints, shortness of breath that challenged my mobility and caused by morbid obesity.... this morning I hit the pavement running at 4:00 am ... a full run after a night of belly dancing at the gym last night ....

I got dressed and went to work with a total burst of energy... feeling totally rejuvenated at 50+ years of age .. and I did a collage for my digital journal A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches at Bay... an accountability tool..


I devised a way of altering the Parmesan crisps recipe that was once shared by someone a few years back on OH and I did it my own way coming up with some yummy delightful sweat low cal treats for my whole family... I brought some in to work and they were the rave .. they were so delicious they were gone as soon as I laid the tray down...

Being adventurous and wanting something sweet yet good calorie-wise for the family I followed the same recipe and sprinkled cinnamon and splenda on the teaspoons of patted down grated Parmesan cheese and added a pitted prune before sticking in the oven ... OMG  TO DIE FOR DELICIOUS...

THIS IS MY VERY OWN PLATE...


The recipe is just so easy .. This is the online recipe that I used and just altered it to  add cinnamon, splenda and a prune before placing in the oven..

PARMESAN COOKIES/Sweet Chips ....
INGREDIENTS:
 1/2 Cup grated Parmesan
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat over to 400
Pour a heaping teaspoon of Parmesan onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet and lightly pat down.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and splenda to taste.  A silicone baking sheet is highly recommended. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 2 to 4 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool.

 yuummmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy ..... MINDFUL OF HOW MAY CRISPS ONE EATS THIS IS A DELICIOUS TREAT ...
 THIS IS AN APPROXIMATE CALORIE COUNT ACCORDING TO STATS ATTACHED TO THE ONLY RECIPE....

Calories 108

Fat 7.16g

Carbs 1.02g

Protein 9.62g

There are 108 calories in 1 serving of Parmesan Chips.

I fill my life with all manner of activities and events and quality time with my family and friend after work hours and even before...

I love to draw and paint ... and have been sketching people and drawing since the age of under 4 ... I sketch on everything .. my sketch pad is ALWAYS on me ... and when it is not shoot there is always paper and there are napkins.  When I joined OH in 2007 I started painting avies of members who would encourage me along the way and send it out to them ... I never ever charge or put a cost to my art for my cyberfriends and I do not sell my art because it is my hobby and I certainly do not want something fun and meaningful to me that I do ad lib to be a pressured job ... I paint because I want to ... because I love and I sketch for the same reasons... if I don't want to do it I put my pad, my pencils, my canvas and my brushes down until the call me again ... which it everyday it seems LOL...

I love to sew and I love looking at fashions online or in stores and as I make my own patterns I would draw the styles that I want sketching them first before cutting patterns.  Well I decided to sketch fashions on my cyberfriends in our group Share-It here on OH ... they alllllll loved the styles and the sketches and I am still having fun doing them ... I sketched so many and have painted sooooooo many canvases I decided to put them together in a little movie and share it ... the sketched runway using my friends avies that I sketched sporting different styles and the canvases of OH cyberfriends and acquaintances that I have painted from looking at their avatars ....

Click on the thumbnails to see the virtual runway ... I had so much fun doing this...
For YouTube click here... photobucket thumbnail is below for those who can't access youtube..


Click on Photobucket Thumbnail if can't access YouTube

 
I had so much fun doing this ... I also love to change my hair around and rock different styles and extensions... my peers love to see my new do and one of the docs had asked how comes I had not changed it weeks ... are you kidding me .. just at the time I was getting tired of seeking the same old mug with short hair I switch it up again and put extensions back in...

I just changed them a day ago and after I did that I painted a very handsome OH brother who joined our group ... I had already done the movie before adding his canvas and this is just a rough draft ... I also noticed that I forgot some of the sketches and canvas accidentally ... I was trying to get all the pics into one folder ... geez ... I can't believe how many ...

THIS IS A ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH DRAFT ... FirstFlight Mike ... gotta luv a pilot....


and I love keeping my empowerment journal A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches at Bay ... No I am not a hoarder of pictures ... I love keeping track of my progress and maintenance in my Digital Journal ... and when I look back on my life ... I have ALWAYS taken pictures and have ALWAYS done the things that I do now with better health and mobility...

I totally lost count of the amount of dolls I made another favorite hobby of mine ... I love to make them especially around the holidays and bring them to children in shelters..

Oh please allow me to share with you my favorite collage I ever made 1st year of my journey.... making my dolls and my bassinets and teaching young women how to make the bassinet covers...


I guess My WHOLE Life I have captured in a picture or even a painting or a sketch a Day ... it works for me!

4 years 1 month Post RNY ... the result is the product of hard work ... after all I have had to give myself more than one shot of mental Geritol to get my old arse up in the morning for my runs ... which after a few minutes into it I thoroughly enjoy.... I have had to kick myself into gear many a day to get my arse to the gym when I just want to lie on the floor and play with my ferrets ... Eating Healthy and Exercising for Life ... I am running for my life ... I increased my life span by being diligent with a tool that I wanted and was so very hopeful for ... I am loving it and taking care of it and ME...

Thank you for allowing me to share ... Thank you OH for facilitating the cyberspace....

A picture a Day keeps the Pounds and the Inches at Bay ... an accountability tool that works for ME...

 

Dang you have totally inspired me this morning. 

I wish I could be that thin and then I see a big ole woman like you use to be transformed into this tiny little barbie doll type figure. 

Man that gives me hope.

 Thanks Lee ... Sorry I did not get any notifications I hate to appear to be rude .... Wow I am too old to be a barbie doll figure type LOL ...

Keep doing what you do my Pana sister!  Wen life is busy and interesting.  When we have stress relievers.  When we surround ourselves with more positives than negatives.  Food finds its appropriate place in our lives.  Thanks for the perspective. 

 Thank you mi pana .. enjoyed b'fast this morning!!!

you have to share the secret to your pics!!! i cannot figure how to set up my pictures like that, i usually just post them!! i am trying to take more pictures my self as i realized i had all these pictures of other people and places and not myself ****il recently ). by the way, belly dancing is fun!!!, keep inspiring sis!!!!

 Setting up the pictures is pretty easy... I usually open up my pictures in Powerpoint in a slide and I place them side by side if I am making a comparison collage... then I do CTRL A or Select All from the edit menu ... when all the pictures are selected right click and select grouping then group them together.... When done right click on that very same slide with the grouped pictures and click on 'save as picture' ... when the menu box opens up click on the drop-down arrow and select .jpg or png or bmp but to not select the windows enhanced metafile option .... then give the file a name..

You are now ready to upload the picture in your photo area here at OH or if you have a photobucket or snapfish account you can upload it there.  Right click on the picture and select copy from either one of these places ... then come in your text area like here in this box where we type .. right click and select paste...

As long as your picture is uploaded to an online program i.e. OH photo area, photobucket etc. all you have to do is right click and copy the picture and come to where you are writing or where you want to upload it and right click and select paste...

Hope I was able to help.