Fit with Ruthie

OH MY GOODNESS I am LOVING teaching Zumba! Never in my life would I have thought I would be a zumba instructor! I have had some wonderful classes and really enjoy some of the new songs and choreography. Its just so fun to be in a room full of people dancing the hour away while at the same time pushing myself to work harder, jump higher, and move more concentrated to focus on specific body parts. I am more fit now than ever... because of the amazing workout zumba is. I might teach it a bit differently than most instructors. I lean toward movements that are fitness focused, I try to make some of the songs silly and fun, and I love using Christian based music in my classes. I have been working on my fuel the last week and half and its made a HUGE difference in my energy level during class. Prior to changing my diet I was experiencing drops in my blood sugar and at one point I had to get a peppermint out of my bag cause I was CRASHING in the middle of class. How we eat and fuel our bod...

When was the last time you had the energy of a 5 or 6 year old? Do you remember what being 6 felt like? I do.... .I would wake up full of energy jumping out of bed and rushing to the kitchen to try and see my dad before he rushed off to work. I remember being so active during the day that my mom would have to fuss at me to come inside for lunch or supper. I was always up a tree or on the roof. (Dont tell mom)....I remember riding my bike with my sister and going to play tennis for fun for hours. I remember 2 hour softball practices I would ride my bike too and from. (atleast 1.5 miles each way) ... I remember I hated school and couldnt wait for recess where I could go run and get all hot and sweaty.. Could you climb a tree today if you had too? Could you POP out of bed? How bout a 3 mile bike ride followed by 1 hour tennis session? Softball anyone? OR.. how bout a hour recess.. no sitting down playing patty cake... you have to recess for a whole hour...PLAY .. upside down on the monk...

Twice in the past 2 weeks I have had people act shocked when they find out how old I am. I LOVE it! I know, I shouldnt be so self absorbed... but I do LOVE IT when someone says "nuh uh... your how old??" ..The reason I love it is because I use to feel and look older than I was. When I was in  my 30s I felt OLD. I thought.. there is NO WAY I am going thru life feeling THIS old.  I made a decision to do something different. I made the decision to change.. and it sucked. Changing habits you had for 40 years isnt easy. Being open and honest with myself wasnt much fun either.. I gave in on the denial and faced who and what I had become.  I hated it. So turning 44 yesterday was a joyfilled experience. Here is what my birthday consisted of: At the studio at 7 am to practice Zumba for an hour n half Home to do breakfast and rest up a bit Track practice at 11am in the 80 degree plus weather (coaching) Grad a naked smoothie at the store and the kids and I head over to hel...

I am finding myself to be at a loss. This blog has served me well over the past 5 or 6 years but I am finding it difficult to post here. I think in large part the need for me to come here and vent, or rant, or find motivation or accountability is gone. I am now surrounded by compelling reasons to eat correctly. Celiacs does that to a person. Forcing my "choices" to become "sickness or health" has a way of making reality sink in as to what i put in my mouth. I am also living a life that is enclosed in fitness. Coaching, being a personal trainer, the joy of Zumba instructing.... Fitness is no longer some foreign thing i am striving to make myself do. Fitness is my life.  I LOVE my life. But what does that life have to do with this blog? Is it time to move on? Is it time to let go of this place and leave it behind. Yes and No. I have decided I need to change gears, switch focus and change this blog into something of a motivational, educational, and inspirationa...

I remember the days when I had to post here EVERYDAY to motivate myself to get my workouts in... and to eat right.... Those days are gone and I can say I have made a HUGE life changes to health and fitness.... With that said.... Its still challenging. I still have my moments of 'poor little me' when it comes to eating. Most days I HATE being gluten intolerant and milk intolerant. I hate it because it makes me so different. I have been different all my life. I am a bit more creative, a bit more outspoken, a bit more ...... than most people. .... Independent from a young age.  What having food allergies does to a person is leaves them in the outskirts of society.  In a society where food plays such a HUGE role it makes some days just "poor little me" days. Reality is Milk and Gluten makes me sick. It makes me feel awful. Reality is most people dont understand and after years of trying to eat G and M free I still have people who know me and know me well.... asking ...

Yesterday I taught 2 1 hour sessions of zumba! I loved it! Of course I had to take a 3 hour nap in between sessions to be rested enough to teach in the evening LOL.... When I teach zumba its MY workout for the day so I try to push myself hard most times I teach unless I am really really sore or havent gotten enough rest. Yesterday was such fun! The first session I taught a group of teenage girls who were participating in a summer camp, most had not ever done zumba before! Afterwards one of the girls said "I LOVED IT! It was hard.. but so much fun!" Zumba has gotten me out of my comfy zone for sure. I grew up in a environment where dancing was very much frowned upon. Sure I danced at home with my records blasting but I didnt dare dance anywhere else! This fall I have some decisions to make when it comes to instructing. I am afraid eventhough I love it so I need to cut back on how many hours I teach. Its going to be a hard decision. I am very hopeful to run a bit this m...

I AM SICK AND TIRED OF PAIN... I am discouraged, sad, and mad all at the same time. Last week for 4 days I had little to NO PAIN! I was so happy  even ran a few blocks and felt NO PAIN! Then one day we had a "staycation"... we did a lot of sitting, at the movies, going out to eat etc..... The next day (Wednesday) my pain was back worse than ever! Its so very discouraging. Mentally its so hard to be a running coach and not be able to run. I FEEL LIKE A BUM!!! I hate I can't go run 4 or 5 miles while I am coaching. hate it. I have no answers as to what to do but continue to ice, stretch, ice, sleep in my boot, ice and stretch. I refuse shots and i refuse surgery. I keep telling myself that at least I can zumba! Atleast I can be active and break a huge sweat. But you know how it is people... zumba is not running. A Runner NEEDS to run. So... here I am again... on the downward spiral that is life getting in the way .... I know I will be starting over again some da...