The most recent goal Jennifer had in her weight loss journey was to get down to the weight printed on her driver’s license. In the past month, she accomplished that. She’s now three pounds under her license weight and says “I really need to go get a new driver’s license.”

She’s doing a lot of things right in her weight loss, which we’ve been following since summer. For one, she’s not on a diet. She’s establishing healthy habits that are helping her achieve one goal at a time (which is one of the healthiest habits of all when losing weight). Setting small, manageable goals helps you enjoy achievement all along the way, rather than feeling like you’re pursuing something that, for many, will takes months and even years to achieve.

Since the start of her journey in February of this year, Jennifer is down a total of 44 pounds, currently weighing in at 257 pounds. She’s down from a size 26 to a size 22 and has bought a few new clothes. She admits to still ordering things online, but is pleased with how they definitely fit when they arrive.

She’s also celebrating what she called a breakthrough this past month. “I did spiderman planks!,” Jennifer bragged. “It’s a big deal to me!” She talked about not being able to do them at all before and now she can hold one for 20 seconds.
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Twenty-nine-year-old Zumba instructor Alexis Wright of Kennebunkport, Maine has been charged with 106 counts of prostitution, invasion of privacy, and more. She’s also giving Zumba class a bad name.

The Zumba and fitness instructor has been charging men for sex for the past 18 months, which has generated about $150,000 in income. Police suspect around 150 people of being clients, and they’ve now begun releasing the list of names of those involved. So far only 21 have been named and can be found on the local newspaper’s (York County Coast Star) website.

Wright is also being charged for secretly video taping some of her clients. These incidents appeared to have occurred in Wright’s dance studio as well as an office space she had rented out across the street. Some people were suspicious of the young woman while others were clueless of the illegal activity taking place.
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Has anyone not heard of Gangnam Style? It’s the hottest dance craze since the Macarena. It’s lighting up talk shows and living room dance parties from coast to coast and around the world as this South Korean hit makes everyone want to get up and shake their booties. Especially the sexy ladies.

If you haven’t stepped away from YouTube and actually done (or at least attempted) Psy’s Gangnam Style dance, maybe you should. There’s a good 200 calorie burn waiting for you on the down beat of those Womp! Womp! Womps!

According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), “you can burn approximately 150-200 calories per half hour, which is similar to other forms of aerobic dance.” The calorie burn varies, like any other workout, on the weight of the person and the intensity at which it is performed.
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“I’ve dropped 7 points off my BMI,” was a recent tweet posted by Jennifer S. That’s quite an accomplishment, considering in February this year, she, standing at just over five-feet tall, weighed 301 pounds. As of last week, she’s down to 265 pounds!

We introduced Jennifer last month as she took her weight loss plans from just-getting-started to hitting-it-hard. We armed her with Jillian Michaels’ BodyMedia arm band and her new Body Revolution 12-DVD series, as well as plenty of her own determination. We’re pleased to hear she’s doing so well.

“I’m trying to keep it positive most of the time,” she told us about her journey so far. It can be a struggle when you have more than 100 pounds to lose, but with the right kind of attitude it can be a healthy adventure.

She’s still using Jillian Michaels’ Body Revolution at levels one and two. She says you’re supposed to go up a level every two weeks, but she’s just not comfortable making that transition yet.

“It’s not geared toward someone in the obese category or with my knee problems,” Jennifer said of the DVD. She likes the workouts, tweets about how intense they are, but is also smart enough to listen to her body and not push herself to the danger zone (she had a partial knee replacement in June and has been cleared to workout by her doctor). She laughs telling us that she uses the Jillian DVDs for her “light days” on Wednesday and Sunday. “If you can imagine!”
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Have you jumped on the Zumba train yet? If so, we wouldn’t be surprised as it was named the world’s largest branded fitness program earlier this year. But if this dance craze is your favorite way to shed pounds and chisel a sexy figure, you may want to  be cautious with your next step as doctors have recently been reporting a growing number of Zumba-related injuries.

According to a recent report from TODAY, neurologist and Consumer Reports medical advisor, Dr. Orly Avitzur, has been seeing a number of injuries related to Zumba, ranging from ankle sprains, shin splints, and heel spurs to plantar fasciitis, hip bursitis, muscle strings and even knee problems that require surgery.

Zumba started off as a few dance classes offered by owner Alberto Perez, and quickly blossomed into a fitness empire. What began as a small business in Cali, Columbia is now a worldwide dancing sensation that boasts fun, Latin-inspired aerobic classes for the purpose of getting in shape and having fun at the same time.
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