Hi Peeps! Well - Busy Momma is STILL at it. I am continuing my quest for fitness perfection. A few posts back, I shared that I am following Dr. Pam Peeke's "Body for Life for Women" program -and I'm doing pretty well! I am losing weight - SLOWLY - but it is coming off. AND for those of you who really know me - SLOW - is NOT my pace of choice. I'd really like the 60 pounds to disappear tonight! But I am trying to tell myself that this is a process and that slow and steady wins the race. I am trying to focus on fitness and health - and not on "skinny". You know - trying to be MATURE about this. AND as I am FIRMLY in the throws of PERI MENOPAUSE - that's right - PERI FREAKING MENOPAUSE at my very YOUNG age...MATURE seems to be my only choice.
So - I've been going to the gym for the past few weeks - still can't run on the treadmill. Hip hurts! So - I am beginning to think - why am I so focused on running anyway? I am using the elliptical and the bike- and I'm doing ok. I am really focusing on strength training - because I read that your body STILL burns fat for 24 hours AFTER you work out! How cool is that? But I have been VERY curious about a certain class that my gym offers - Zumba.
For those of you who don't know - Zumba is a dance/fitness class. It blends Latin, Carribean and African rhythms and it's marketed as a "party" - not a workout. Perfect for me - right? But here's the thing - while I like to THINK that I am a great dancer - I'm really not. I USED to be a pretty good dancer, but not so much any more. I think the Peri Menopause is affecting the dancing Mo-Jo. (I will now be blaming my peri-menopause for every flaw I have. If I have to have it - I'm gonna use it.) So, you can understand why I am a bit hesitant about going into a dance studio with a group of other, younger gals who can really shake what their Mommas gave 'em without looking like they need immediate medical attention. So I've watched, but I haven't gotten up the courage to join.
Which is why I was THRILLED when I saw an offer for a set of Zumba DVDs on QVC! A Zumba class in your living room? Sign me up! Don't you know I ordered them up and waited with bated breath for them to arrive. And arrive they did! And today I broke them out of the box and started my Zumba "party".
Hmmm. First of all - "party" isn't really the right word - unless you normally go to parties that cause sweat to drip off of every part of your body. I don't usually leave a party dripping....anymore. Now, to be fair - the first DVD is just a "learning" type of DVD. So today I "learned" the steps. And by "learned" I mean I followed along pretty well without seriously injuring myself. But the learning DVD was HARD! I can see why and how people really drop serious weight with Zumba...if they survive! I DO have a heating pad wrapped around myself as I type this post. I can already tell that I'm going to be pretty sore tomorrow. But It was kind of fun. More enjoyable than walking on the treadmill or "running" on the elliptical. So I am going to stick with it.
So - without further ado - I will describe my "Learn how to Zumba" experience. The first thing they teach you is the Meringe step - I am probably spelling it wrong - so don't get your panties in a wad Grammar Nerd - it's the step that they taught all of the old people in "Dirty Dancing". So I was pretty comfortable with it. I mean if 80 year olds can learn this in the Catskills every summer - I can probably do it. And then they taught us all sorts of variations on it - and I must say I did really well. Then it got a bit harder...and harder and harder! Let's just say that when they got to Latin Hip-Hop - the phrase "What the HELL is THAT?" crossed my lips more than a few times. But to be fair - the teachers really break the moves down into simple steps that I could understand. And they start REALLY slow. Like turtle slow - which is good for me.
It's when they add the arms that I get all messed up. I am not all that coordinated - I'm actually kind of spaztic and uncoordinated. So while I am dancing and shaking my booty and telling myself that I look like Shakira or Kee$ha - I really look like one of those dancing hippos in Fantasia. Or a person having a grand mal seizure while standing upright and trying to shake her ass, shimmy her hips and move her arms in the opposite direction...and cursing every 5 or 6 seconds. In other words- adding arm movements just makes it really, really comical. So comical in fact that PC can't really watch without laughing...and therefore endangering his life. So he doesn't watch.
Bella wants to try it with me - but I decided today that it's not going to happen. Bella CAN shake what I gave her. She's a really good dancer...bordering on stripper good. (PC isn't so thrilled about that!) So I really don't think I can handle having my 11-year old laugh at me while we Zumba. Or shall I say while SHE Zumbas and I kind of follow along in a Zombie-like way. I will allow her to Zumba - but she's on her own. My fragile ego cannot handle watching her shake her boom-boom. Perhaps I will allow her to Zumba tonight after I take my 800 mg of Advil and heat my pad up and plop it on my sore body.....
love zumba! it's like a workout, but it's dancing. once you do it enough, you'll have the dance moves down. my first time was hysterical! if you want to do some serious strength training, try kettlebells. it rocks! although i thought i was going to die the first time i did it, but you gain strength you never knew you had. keep up the good work busy momma!
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