JUNE Q:What is your goal in the next 12 weeks? My goal is to lose 20 lbs. and to build muscle! Q:How did your body change during pregnancy? Besides my feet turning into Sasquatch feet and having cankles (which I did not enjoy), I had a growing belly which was awesome and I did enjoy seeing that part of my body change. It was a great experience!  Q:What areas of your body do you feel you need to concentrate on? My legs and bootie!  Q:How long after you gave birth did you resume exercising? I didn't resume exercise until 6 weeks after having Kenedie. I had to wait to be released by my doctor. It drove me crazy!!!!

Q:How do you plan on balancing family, work, and friends while pursuing your fitness goals?  After talking to my trainer Kimberlin, she really opened my eyes to doing things for me. Fitness is what I want to do, and with the support from family, friends and co-workers, I should have no problem meeting these goals. It's all about surrounding yourself with the right people!  Q:What do you think will be the biggest challenge for you to accomplishing your goal? My struggle is diet. I have always been told that it's 80(diet) / 20 (workout) and for me I would have to say it's 95/5. I really need to keep focused with eating 5-6 times a day and healthy meals.  Of course I will give myself a cheat day…oops I mean meal!  Q:Take us through a typical day in the life of Esperanza. What's it like, what's your focus? Get ready for the ride!!!! Well in order to focus on being a super fit mom, I will have to completely switch what I have been doing. As of a few weeks ago, my typical day is as follows: Get up around 5:30 and get my workout in. Get ready for the day and spend time with my daughter Get my daughter ready for the day Take my daughter to daycare Start my workday around 8:30 - 9 and end around 5:30-6:30 Workout (if I have not for the day) or train with Kimberlin Spend time with my family I usually go to be between 9:30-10:30. My focus is to try and get my workouts in during the morning so that I'm spending more time with my family.

JULY Q: One of your original goals was to lose 20 lbs in the next 12 weeks...we're 8 weeks into your training. How has your weight loss faired? I've have lost a little, but not a ton. Q: What do you feel contributed to your weight loss/or lack of? I feel my focus on my job has really taken me away from working on me. Q: Which component are you having the most difficulty with, if any...CARDIO - DIET - WEIGHT TRAINING?  I'm really fighting with cardio.  I love to lift, and my diet isn't bad. Q: Looking forward, what new goals do you have for the next 10 weeks? Well I made a few changes since last month (job being the most important).  I feel with my new focus and with actually balancing my work life, home life, etc., I will be able to really work on me now!  It's about time! Q: How do you plan on increasing the intensity and refocusing to meet your new goals? I need to actually do cardio every day or at least 6 days per week, and bust bootie while doing so! Q: What motivates you at present?  Reading fitness magazines, having fit friends, being healthy, having a personal fitness goal? I'm motivated definitely by having fit friends, feeling healthier, reading my fun fitness magazines and just trying to look good for me!

DECEMBER  Q: It's been a while since we checked in with you. What is your weight lost to date? My weight loss is 5 lbs. Q: What has helped you achieve this weight loss? Understanding nutrition, exercise, or self-accountability? I believe more exercise has helped me achieve this goal.  There is a little bit on the nutrition side, but not as much as there should be.  Now it's time to step it up. Q: What has been some of the struggles you've encountered along the way?  You've had ups and downs with your weight loss since the birth of your daughter correct?  My struggle is the nutrition side.  I'm either eating too much or not enough.  I have had quite a few struggles with weight loss since my daughter was born because I'm not consistent with my healthy eating or my workouts.  My schedule is busy, but I can not use that as an excuse.  There are NO EXCUSES! Q: You were down to 118 just over a year ago and then you regained not only the weight you successfully lost but some additional pounds...   What did you or didn't you do after you lost the weight?  Yes, I was down to 118 at then end of December of '08.  I gained every bit back and then some.  When I lost the weight I did I did it by following the South Beach Diet.  It was easy to follow, but then I got sick of eating salads and went off the deep end eating junk.  Instead of eating on the healthier side and giving my self a couple of cheat meals per week, I was having cheat meals everyday.  It's not easy to keep the weight off with eating junk and not working out. Q: Where do you draw your strength from when you feel a weak moment coming on? Believe or not, I had to resort to pulling info out of my Oxygen and Muscle and Fitness magazines.  I took photos (realistic photos) and meals (yummy but healthy) out of theses great magazines.  I have taped the photos on my mirror in my bathroom as well as on my refrigerator.  The meals are tasty, but are healthy.  It's always great to have different food ideas.  I also keep in contact with my trainer.  She really helps me keep positive! Q: What are you food and beverage weaknesses at this point? My food weakness has been chocolate and my beverage weakness is soda.  I love my coca-cola! Q: How much weight do you still want to lose? 20 lbs.  Q: What do you plan to do to lose the additional weight? I am going to bump up my cardio to two timers per day at 30-45 minutes each. Q: What advice would you give to other mothers that are struggling with loosing weight? Do Not Give Up!  It's definitely possible, but it takes work just like everything else.  Please keep in mind that "Greatness Knows No Quitters".

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