Hey Fam,

I can’t believe I have worked out for 60 Days straight!!  It makes me feel good, BUT let’s just cut to the chase, the weight is not coming off.  I feel extremely fat this week!!  I’m getting ready to stop eating, but I know, I know, that’s not what I’m supposed to do.  Definition, toning and losing inches is a plus, but losing weight just means so much more.  Seriously?  I’m just not gonna lose weight like that?  It’s so frustrating!  I’m not eating bad; I guess maybe I’m not eating enough though.  I’m so frustrated, but I guess I’m not fed up enough yet ’cause I haven’t committed to a diet yet.  I’m almost there, though.

Well, tomorrow I’m starting my next 30 Days and I’ll be doing Turbo Jam.  I’m looking forward to it because Turbo Jam is high impact, high energy and lots of fun.  I’m also doubling it up now on Tuesdays (adult dance class and company) and this Saturday I have a dance rehearsal at Towson University.  I will be dancing with  alumni celebrating one of our professor’s, Nancy Wanich Romita’s, 25th anniversary with Towson’s Dance Department.

I’m so ready to get my body back.  I’m so ready to be my ideal size and weight.  I’m so ready to be happy with myself again.

Until the next time,

Donnese

Hey Fam,

Okay!  So, today was the 58 consecutive day of working out.  I have made it a point to do anywhere from 15 - 45 minutes every single day.  During the week, I work out first thing in the morning.  On the weekend though, I will admit that I workout in the afternoon or before bedtime.  BUT, I make sure I get it in. 

Today was also the 28 consecutive day of Tony Horton’s 10 minute trainer. – Total Body, Lower Body, Abs, Cardio and Yoga.  It is amazing how hard he work you out and how much you sweat in just 1o minutes.  I am going to hopefully work my way up to and prepare myself for Tony Horton’s Power 90X.  I’m at the point now where I am able to complete the workouts with minimal modifications.  But that kinda sucks because my 30 days is up in two days. 

What’s th 2, you ask?  Well I am happy to report that I came out of retirement last Tuesday and started dancing again.  Today was my second (2) dance class and rehearsal for an adult dance company that I am now a part of.  I am so thankful that I have been working out for almost 60 days because I’m not as out of shape as I would have been.  Out of practice?  YES!  Loss of technique?  YEP!!  Extra pounds?  ABSOLUTELY!!  But it’s all good, because I look at it like this.  Next summer I’m going to be EXACTLY where I want to be.  As long as I stay focused and committed to my working out everyday, I will achieve my goal.  I will let you all know when and where the adult dance company will be performing, okay.  I’m so excited.  I just have to make sure that I stay healthy and injury free.  That’s one of the reasons why I retired in the first place.  But dance is definitely my passion and I feel so alive and happy now that I’m back .

You may not know, but I graduated from Towson University, formerly Towson State University with a BFA in Dance.  One of my instructors is celebrating 25 years of service at TU and I will be dancing with some of the alumni at her celebratory performance on October 17th.  We have our first rehearsal this Saturday.  Can you believe it?  I go a year and a half without working out or dancing and as soon as I make the decision to get back into shape, boom, two performance opportunities come my way.  Who’d a thunk?

This Friday is the first day of my 3rd – 30 Day Stretch.  I think I’m going to do Turbo Jam, but I’m not sure.  I’ll make my final decision on Thursday!

Until next time,

Donnese Monique

Good Morning Fam,

How is everyone today.  I have decided that I’m going to update my blog on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, okay.  I will commit to that.  If I have something important to say on another day, that will just be a bonus blog.  Deal?

I am so blessed and thankful and extremely glad that I pay attention and listen when the spirit leads me to do or not do something.

Testimony – Back in October of 2008 I started experiencing numbness and tingling in my mid-section.  I was having the same exact sensation that one would get when your foot falls asleep; only I was having it all around the ban of my midsection.  I immediately thought that I had a pinched nerve or something.  So I went to my primary care physician and she referred me to a neurologist.  For a little over a month I was getting MRIs and X-rays of my entire back and neck area.  I was even subjected to a test that had not been conducted for 10 years, but to no avail.  They could not figure out why I was experiencing this.  I thought maybe it was a side effect to a weight loss drug that I had started taking, so of course I stopped taking it just in case.  The neurologist suggested that I go see a specialist at Johns Hopkins to see if they could diagnosis me.  Well, the holidays rolled around, I wasn’t experiencing the tingling anymore, so I just forgot about it.

I had a follow-up visit with my primary in March.  She checked me out and drew some blood.  The doctor’s office contacted me in April to let me know that my iron levels were extremely low and that I needed to take iron pills daily.  I can’t remember the milligrams that I was instructed to look for, over the counter, but I could not find that.  So I had to go pick up a prescription from her office.  I tried to take these pills, but unfortunately no matter what I did; with food, without food, while eating, I could not keep them down.  So, I stopped taking them (not a good idea, but…).  Mind you, I had been experiencing extremely heavy flows every month (sorry guys :-\) since Donovan was born (3yrs) which I’m sure was contributing to my iron deficiency.  And remember, I was always tired!!!  I was just feeling run down and didn’t have the energy to do anything (signs of anemia).  Not too mention I was piling the weight on and depression was setting in because of the weight gain.  I was irritable (sign) and I thought this was being caused by my unhappiness with my weight and daily exhaustion.  BUT GOD!!  Don kept telling me that I needed to work out.  That my energy would increase if I just worked out (shut up!! I’m TIRED!!)  I didn’t know that God was speaking to me through Don.  THANK YOU JESUS!!  He didn’t let up (Thank u so much for your obedience, Babe!!)  Don suggested that I workout and blog about it.  Today was Day 53!!  Whew Hew!!!  Blogging and telling the world about my working out and the commitments I’ve made to myself definitely keep me focused and on track. 

I went back to my primary care on 9/10 for a follow up.  I told her that I wasn’t having success with the iron pills.  She said well I want to check your levels again because they were so low that if you can’t take the pills, you’ll probably have to take it intraveneously (Seriously!?!?).

I then had a dermatological appointment on 9/15, again thanks to my Hubby!!  I had been putting this appointment off four about 3 -4 months.  Dr. Leon Brown inquired about the last time I had blood work done.  I told him 9/10.  He said oh wow that was last week.  Why?  I told him about my low iron levels and that I had not been able to take the iron pills.  Dr. Brown  inquired about whether my cycles have been heavy or not.  I told him yes, but I also informed him that I started working out every day and that since I’ve started that, my flow has seemed to return to normal.  He agreed that that was common among female atheletes and sometimes they don’t even experience a cycle.  He called the lab and requested my most recent results.  He compared the results and said that my levels were improving tremendously.  He then said that my decision to work out had brought me back from the brink of death.  I laughed, but he didn’t.  I then said are you serious?  My low iron levels could have resulted in death?  And he said yes.  He then went on to discuss an article that he had read regarding a medical mystery.  A woman had been experiencing all sorts of aches and pains and numbness and they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her.  And then one doctor decided to check her iron levels and found that she was anemic and needed iron.  And once she began taking iron she regained her health.   I told him about my experience back in October and he said yep, that was caused by your anemia.  BUT GOD!!!  Who would have thought that a dermotologist would have been able to diagnose the cause of the numbness.  THANK YA!!  GOD was continually speaking to me through my Husband.  Thank you so much for staying on me, Honey!!  And I thank God for giving me a made up mind to commit to working out EVERYDAY and blogging about it.  Working out EVERYDAY may have saved my life!!!

Thanks for reading,

Donnese Monique

Good Evening Fam,

It’s been a minute;  I know, I know.   I haven’t been making time for blogging like I should.  BUT, I have been making time to workout (Yep, Yep!).  Today was the 50th consecutive day of working out.  I can’t believe it.  I will admit!  I almost missed my workout yesterday because it was such a lazy, catch up on sleep day.  I even viewed church service on-line.  I wasn’t going to leave my house, but it was so nice outside that around 4pm I decided to take my boys to the park.  Yeah, I know, I missed the Skins game, but they’re playing again next week, so I’m good (LOLOL).  I worked out at 9 o’clock last night and then turned right around and worked out at 6:30a this morning (Yarrrrnnnnn!!).

It’s funny because Don keeps telling me that I should just learn the choreography to a Beyonce video and just do that over and over again.  Well let me tell you!  We went to a birthday party Saturday night and I did the breakdown to Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied”.  OMG!!!  Talk about a Kick @ss Cardio Workout!!!

So the clothes are fitting now, the definition is showing and the muscles are toner, BUT the L-to-the-Bs are still HERE!!! Uggghhhhh!!!  Following a diet is so difficult!!  We bought groceries and everything, but the food only lasted about a week.  I did follow the plan for about 3 days and then I fell off.  I need a diet plan that’s easy to follow and not hard to stick with.  I may just go back to the LA Weight Loss program and follow that.  But, if you know of a great diet plan please email it to me.  I would love to start a diet program by October 1st.  Email it to ddenterprises@upson.cc

Thanks for stopping by. 

Until next time,

Donnese

Hey Fam!

How is everyone enjoying this beautiful Labor Day Weekend?  The weather is great and I’m spending lots of quality time with the family.  It’s a beautiful thing!!  Today was Day 12 with Tony Horton which means I have worked out 42 Consecutive Days in a row!!  What an accomplishment.  I’m hoping my braids will hold-up for at least another month because once I take the braids out it’s going to be difficult for me to work out everyday having to worry about my hair.  Right now it’s so easy for me because I don’t have to worry about “sweating my press out.”

I see a difference, I feel a differnce, but the scale is not being kind to me at all.  I am toning and losing inches, but I am still maintaining the same weight.  I know I’m building muscles and that’s why my weight is sill the same, but man, it sure does hurt not to see a change in my weight.  I WILL be going grocery shopping tomorrow (after the holiday) and starting a diet on Tuesday.  We’ll see what following a strict diet and working out for the month of September will do.

I’ve been doing Tony Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer.  There are two dvds.  One DVD has 10 minutes of Cardio and 10 minute of Yoga.  And the other DVD has 10 minutes each of a Total Body workout, 10 minutes of a Lower Body workout and 10 minutes of  a crushing Abs workout.  You should join me in this workout!  You can get Tony Horton’s DVDs at www.beachbody.com.

Happy Labor Day!!!  Until next time,

Donnese

Good Morning Fam,

I know, I know!  It’s been a few days since you all have heard from me and I apologize for that.  I had a pretty busy weekend.  I judged the I Am Kenny J Productions Line Dance Competition in Delaware this past weekend (www.iamkennyj.com).  Don’t sleep on Line Dance!  You hear me!!  Line Dancing is no joke.  Especially R&B or Urban Line Dancing.  Every song that the DJ played had a line dance to it.  They party until 4 and 5 in the morning.  There are hundreds of line dances.    They had workshops during the day so that you could learn some line dances.  I took one workshop and learned a line dance called Bag of Goodies (choreographed by Jerome from Louisville Slyde).  This line dance is high energy, full of ole’ skool moves and Woooo! definitely high impact cardio.  I had to go take a nap after taking Jerome’s workshop (LOLOL).  Darrin Henson also choreographed a “HOT”, high energy Line Dance to Mary J. Blige’s new song “Number One” (you’ve seen the commercial).  His dance is called Darrin’s Groove Line Dance.  Keep and eye out for it!!!!  Not only did I get my workout from line dancing, I also had my 10 Minute Trainer DVDs with me and worked out with Tony Horton every morning.   Tony Horton is a beast!  Okay!!  That’s all I have to say.  I’m really looking forward to where I will be after 30 days working out with Tony Horton.  Today was Day 7 (37 consectutive days) and I’m really starting to feel good.  I think I’m also going to start taking a dance class on Tuesday nights; starting next week.  And I might perform with the Towson Alumni next month.  I really miss dancing and being “in shape”, so I’m going to do whatever I can to get back to that happy place.

Until next time,

Donnese Monique