Heavy Girl to Healthy Girl: An Emotional Release

As a New Yorker, I have a heavy heart seeing the devastation in New York and watching what people are going through due to super storm Sandy that hit our city on October 29, 2012.

My family and I were one of the fortunate ones, we survived Sandy with nothing but some flickering lights and listening to high winds outside our windows. We were very blessed and I give thanks every day.

It has been a little more than a week and it seems that no matter what I do, I can't seem to shake the feeling of sadness. I have donated, volunteered, dropped off food and clothes in several locations and will continue to do so. It is my first instinct to help because as one of my friend and fellow retired NY police officer said--"Its part of every first responders nature....to assist and be a guiding light for people in this time of need." At times I feel OK, but then I hit the wall of sadness again.

As a food addict and as an emotional eater like me it is hard and -- I must confess, I have had to fight the munchies. I find myself eating without any control. I have been trying to eat healthy snacks, but even too much of the right thing is not good.

My custom - Dr. WhiteHall

One of my emotional safe-haven places has been the gym (White Hall Club and Health Spa), even though #KillerKetsy (my trainer) and I have noticed that I'm not working out with the same passion I usually do. Nevertheless, it is where I feel the best. Everyone's support is absolutely uplifting, including from some of the members that are still without any power themselves and others with friends and families in the areas that were affected the most.

On Saturday, Nov. 3, we had our Zumba Halloween Party which had been postponed for obvious reasons. I thought about not attending feeling a little guilty for celebrating, but I decided to do so and I'm glad I did. For a couple of hours we managed to have an emotional release by having a great time.

We did Zumba with our costumes on, burning tons of calories which felt great. At the end, winners for the best costume were given their trophies and prizes, celebrating with a great spread of healthy snacks for all of us.

The Winners

Reality did not escape our minds not even for one minute, but this event was uplifting and a small diversion for so many of us, and despite the sorrow we were able to be grateful for our fortune and our blessings. We were grateful!!!

On behalf of all us that attended, we want to thank Taffy Dabby (the club's director), Arelis Ramirez (our Zumba instructor) and the rest of the staff of the White Hall Club for working so hard to put this event together for us.

Our thoughts and prayers are still with all of those affected by this hurricane.

"We gather strength from sadness and from pain. Each time we die we learn to live again." ~ Unknown