How about I start with me..well it is a blog, I am suppose to talk about me, right?!  One of my favourite subjects:)  I got married about six months ago…to a woman.  That’s basically what it’s like when you take on a business partner.  I hope we are not just in a newlywed phase because I think she is amazing right now and I never want that to change.  Taking on a business partner when you have been running a business by yourself for 7 years is a huge step.  So many people were against it, but for me it meant many positive things.  Mostly, it meant that I may actually get a little bit of my life back.  Don’t get me wrong, Tantra is my baby and I love it, but when I had a real baby, I needed to take time to enjoy her.  I love my work, to the point that I can’t even really call it work.  I feel so grateful to love what I do as many are not as fortunate.  Anyway, when the idea of having a business partner first came up, I was really nervous about it.  Luckily, Winnie had been working here for some time so we knew that we worked well together.  She is everything that I am not..organized, logical, detail orientated, lol.  I am disorganized, emotional and slightly disastrous.  I am a great teacher and I love people and I think this is how I made it this far:)  I am an artist, that is my excuse.  I am the entrepreneur, she is the business manager. She has filled in the gaps that existed here at Tantra and helped elevate it to the next level.

I have had an amazing experience so far with taking on a business partner but know that this is not the answer for everyone, I think I got lucky..  It’s incredibly difficult to balance being a mom, a wife and a business owner.  Being a mom is a full time job and I hope to have another one at some point, maybe sooner than later seeing as I am not getting any younger.  And being a sole business owner is a full time job..so I basically had two full time jobs.  I think back to when I first opened Tantra.  I was the receptionist, the teacher, the janitor, the marketer..etc…  I worked 16 hours a day. If someone would have told me how difficult it is to start a business, I don’t know if I would have done it.  I am glad I went in ignorant.  I remember thinking, I have never worked so hard and made so little in all my life.  It’s a struggle in the beginning, but if it works out, so rewarding later on.  I look around today and am proud of what I have accomplished…..and still amazed at times.  The community of wonderful women that surround me warms my heart.  I have a beautiful little angel for a daughter, an incredibly supportive  fiance and now an awesome business partner. I love my life.

Ok, so it’s been over two weeks and I really miss chocolate chip cookies, lol.  I have been really good with following my diet and being honest with my Lose It app.  The first week was tough as I was so used to eating whatever I wanted that my body was a little shocked when I stopped.  I felt a little dizzy at times and definitely very tired.  I am much better now that my body has adjusted.  I am a sugar….they say you are a sugar or a salt, and I love, love sugar.  Cookies, ice cream, candies, whatever as long as it is sweet.  So it was like diet detox, I think I actually went through withdrawals.

So my starting weight was 130, I just didn’t want to put that in here until I was sure that I wasn’t 130 pounds anymore…and I’m not.  In two and a half weeks, I have lost 5.5 pounds! I am typically around 115 so I put my goal weight as 110.  Though at 115 I still have an ass, at 110 I just have mud flaps.  As a dancer for 10 years, you get in the mindset that your boobs can never be too big and you can never be too skinny.  Not the healthiest way of thinking but hard to shake, so maybe I will put my goad weight back to 115.  Anyway, my app told me that I would achieve 110 pounds by April 24^th, 2012.  This would be losing 1 pound per week but I am averaging almost 2 at this point.  I think maybe my app is off as they have no exercise called chasing your 2 year old all over the place but I am sure it has to burn at least 200 calories an hour!  Though house cleaning is an exercise and listed as burning 119 calories an hour.  There’s never been a better reason to clean my home!

I really never even realized I was getting chubby.  It seems to happen overnight.  It’s like I looked in the mirror one morning and thought, what happened?  I just stopped breastfeeding two months ago and I know that has a lot to do with it.  We tend to make excuses and that was one of mine. “I need to take in extra calories to support my milk production.”  Right, because chocolate chip cookies have many nutrients to support that.  Ya, excuses.  I now have none left, so salads and chicken breasts for me..  which are really not that bad.  I really do love vegetables and do enjoy a big bowl of steamed broccoli.  Strange for some and downright torturous for others but quite tasty for meJ

Anyhow, I will keep it up and keep you up to date on my progress!  Here’s to healthy choices in the new year!

After complaining about my overindulgence to my students, I found that we all agree on one thing, it’s not the Christmas dinner that’s the problem, it’s everything surrounding it!  Baking, candies, nuts, carbs, carbs and more carbs..  For me this doesn’t just happen on Christmas day, it happens about two months leading up to it.  So needless to say, I have gained a few unwanted pounds, and I have a feeling that I may not be alone.  Now comes the process of taking it off and getting ready for spring.  I like to think that winter is just my “off” season:)  If you are what you eat, I am a giant butter tart right now.

I can lose weight quite quickly and know how my body responds.  In my case it’s simply a matter of eating less.  Typically when I am helping anyone to lose weight, I get them to write everything down so that they are accountable for what they put in their mouth.  It’s amazing the amount of people that I encounter that truly believe they eat well until they see it on paper.  We tend to overeat so making a few rules to follow may be helpful like not eating after a certain time of day and restricting yourself to water.  Liquid calories can add a whopping 1000 extra calories to your day!  Do you really need that caramel macchiato? If you really do need that coffee, brew it at home to save money and calories!

A common misconception is that if it’s healthy it’s ok to eat it, but just because it’s healthy does not mean it’s low in fat and calories.  True there are good fats and bad fats but if you are counting calories and trying to lose weight, most fats should be avoided.

I found a great app that is amazing so far, it’s called Lose It!  You put in your current weight, your age and how much you want to lose per week…be realistic people, a pound a week is probably good.  If you set your goals too high, you could be setting yourself up for failure.  It then gives you a daily calorie budget.  Each time you eat something you input it.  For example, I ate 2 cups of Honey Nut Cheerios and a cup of skim milk for breakfast.  It didn’t have the Cheerios listed so it gave me an option to scan the barcode and voila, up it came with the calorie content listed.  You just select the amount that you ate and it puts in the calories and lets you know what your calorie budget is for the rest of the day.  If you do any exercise you also input that and it gives you the calorie burn…unfortunately it does not have pole dancing listed as an exercise:(  You can select Pull ups and Dancing, lol… maybe Ciurcut Training, not sure, I will play with that a little more.  Remember that you can’t out train a lousy diet, so don’t think you can pole dance all day and eat your face off, it just won’t work.  80% of how you look is determined by your diet!

I find this app amazing as it really makes you aware of how all the little decisions you make will effect you.  If you have to input it, guaranteed you will select a tablespoon of mustard on that sandwich rather than a tablespoon of mayo!  It’s been three days and I feel better already.  It really is amazing at how little food you actually need compared to how much food we like to eat in a day.  Please know that you may feel a little hungry at night as your body starts to lose weight, it will send signals to your brain to eat more as your body wants to maintain your current weight.  You can get through this by drinking lots of water and daydreaming of what you will look like on your goal day!

Happy weight loss!

*Please consult your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program*