# 31 - Old Clothes, New Clothes

Old clothes, new clothes. Black clothes, blue clothes.
When I grew out of my old clothes, I probably never thought I'd fit into them again. I sadly gave away most of them. But for some reason I kept some too.
Well, lately I've been digging into my closet to see what is there. And I've been finding some nice outfits that I had relegated to the Once-Upon-A-Time category. You know what? I tried them all, and they fit!!
So I started to wear my old clothing again, and it feels like I'm wearing something brand new. That's so much fun.
Of course, I have dozens of outfits that are still too small. I'm not discouraged. I'm planning on trying them on next month, Iy"H.

# 30 - Ditch the Dishes and Dance

The Sabbath ended tonight after 6 PM. In my previous life I would have stood in the kitchen at the sink with my dirty pots and dishes for about an hour or two. So would my friends and neighbors.
But those days are gone. Now as soon as the Sabbath is out, we're in our sneakers and workout clothes, and we're all off to Zumba.
Really, tonight I walked in five minutes late to Zumba (how do people get there so fast), and found a room full of women jumping and twisting. Everyone has ditched those dishes to dance for an hour or two and salsa off the chulent and challah.
Well, there may be a lot of dirty kitchens in my neighborhood, but B"H, there are going to be a lot of healthier mothers around.

# 29 - Celebrating with My Friends

I went to Zumba tonight to try to shake off some of the challah and honey that I ate the sukkah today. The room was packed. I guess everyone felt they ate a bit too much of those holiday favorites, gefilte fish and tzimmes.
One of the Zumba-ists tonight was also a member of the Efrat Women's Health Center. After tonight's class, she came up to me and told me that her child came home for the holidays and said, "Ema,  you look great!!"
My friend was so happy. She said she told her child, "Thank you. I still have a way to go." Her child said, "Ema, you look great to me."
I gave her a giant hug. She was just flying high and I flew with her.
Hooray. Victories like these mean so much!!
We've worked so hard for the past three months. Sometimes we wonder if we've actually made any difference in our shapes. Then we see someone we haven't seen in a while and they tell us how great we look. Well, that feels terrifico!!

# 28 - Is She Trying to Kill Us?

Twice a week I go to the Efrat Women's Health Center for interval exercise, Zumba exercise and a round-table with the Center's social worker and its nutritionist.
Tonight we had an exercise class with Daphne Kupietzky. Now, we've been exercising with Daphne for three months. When we began I asked our instructor, "What's the goal?" She said, "Move and sweat." I moved. I sweated. I enjoyed our exercise class.
A few weeks ago, Daphne explained that we had to turn our classes up a notch. We started doing interval training - working on something really hard for 30 second sprints, then taking a 30 second slower pace.
An interval training website said, "Interval training can supercharge your fitness, boost your metabolism, burn off that extra fat and start reaching those goals that you have set yourself."
So, Daphne feels she's pampered us enough and it's time for some real action.
We were on our feet doing a football run, squat jumps and pushing knee lifts. We gave it all we had to give. (Of course, next week, she'll probably say it wasn't enough and turn the screws up another notch. Wish me luck.)
I was sure reaching Daphne's goal - moving, sweating and going for the personal gold. I also reached my own goal tonight - surviving a session of interval training and then feeling great about it.

# 27 - The Ultimate Compliment

Although I've been busy like everyone else preparing for the holidays, I took time to join my friends at a protest rally against danger on our roads. The rally was very well-attended, and since I was running late, I went on my own. I stood alone during all the speeches and watched my friends from a distance. Before we left, my best friend came up to me from behind, and put her hand on my shoulder.
"I was looking for you," she said. "And then I caught sight of you, but I wasn't sure it was you. You look really good."
I was speechless. My best friend did not recognize me from across a crowded rally.
I must really be changing...for the better.

# 26 - Your Mantra, Your Life

Everyone has a mantra. Perhaps we don't realize it, but, yes, we each have a mantra or a motto. And it is this driving thought that keeps us going.
So, if we've already got a mantra, it might as well be something positive that will encourage us to do good things.
Tonight in the Efrat Women's Health Center, we took a break from discussing losing weight or our barriers to losing weight or the benefits to exercise or our lack of exercise.
We sat together and made a photo montage of our personal mantra.
Social worker Alizah Shapiro and nutritionist Judy Kizer gave up examples of inspirational mantras: Live Well; Don't Worry, Be Happy, etc. Then we had to think of mantras that would keep us on the right path in life, in health, in work and in relationships.
Everyone ripped apart Oprah Winfrey magazines and packages of stickers and stars, and created their personal mantra pages.
Some included: Perspective!!; Be Healthy; Watch Your Mouth :). Some were very deep and others were filled with fun.
Mine was Make It Happen!! Everyone's mantra pages included a lot of pictures. Mine included a lot of words. But that makes sense, because I'm a writer. My life is filled with words. Here were some of mine.
Make It Happen. Push. Run. Hope. Drive. Sparkle. Miracle Worker. Joy. Tap Here. Pizzazz. Excitement. Hooray, You. Live Your Best Life. Shine. Brighten Up. Lift Your Spirits. Mom. Bless You. Devotion. May We Help You? Pray. Try. Believe. Together.
I included a woman climbing as high as she can on a great ancient tree, a silly goose dancing with joy, friends helping one another. And right in the center is a united group of Jewish youth proudly holding aloft an Israeli flag. I guess those are many of the concepts that I believe in and try to keep as important parts of my life. Don't just talk about things, or complain or wish. Make It Happen.
How? Push, run, drive, hope...and if you succeed then "Hooray, You". What do you need to make it happen? You need to work together, to unite, to believe, to hope, to drive, to pray, to put in all your devotion. Then, you'll live your best life, you'll lift your spirits, and you'll be blessed. You'll sparkle, be filled with joy, excitement and sparkle.
I'm going to put my mantra page somewhere I can see all the time to remind myself to try my best in life, in work and in finding my way to good health.
Why don't you make a mantra page too? You can do it. Make It Happen.

# 25 - Exercise is the Key

At our weekly meeting with our social worker Alizah Shapiro and nutritionist Judy Kizer at the Efrat Women's Health Center we discussed the key to weight loss.
EXERCISE.
In fact, one of my friends mentioned a study that she had just read that stated that two groups were chosen for a weight loss experiment. The first group ate 1200 calories a day with no exercise. The second group ate 2000 calories a day and walked eight kilometers daily.
The second group proved to lose more weight, and also have all kinds of other benefits.
The message was clear. The key to a healthy life (including weight loss for those who need it) is to put exercise into your life, and increase its intensity with time.
Judy explained, "If you exercise now and can speak in paragraphs while exercising, notch it up by exercising to the point when you can only speak in short sentences."
We're back to the old adage, "Eat less, move more."
And I'm saying, even if right now you can't eat less, then at least move more!!