Archive for the "Me Getting Skinny" Category
Apr
18th
2011
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Zumba is crazy. I joined a class back in 2009 and almost immediately went down 2 sizes. I seriously don’t think I had been that skinny since I was about four years old. If you haven’t tried it yet, do so immediately, but be warned: white girl dancing skills are really put to the test. It’s a combination of hip hop and Latin with some kick boxing and belly dancing thrown in there, so a healthy amount of booty shaking is definitely involved. You WILL feel stupid at first, but that’s just part of it. Soon enough though, you’ll start feeling legit and like you could be doing the Put a Ring on It dance at weddings and such. The great thing about it is that no matter how little rhythm you have, you still burn calories like a beast.
Now I will be shutting off my infomercial voice so I can tell you about my current class. I joined a new gym and have been taking the Zumba class for the past few weeks with my friend Tara. We sort of hide out in the back of the room so we can shoot looks at each other when that one older lady busts out her jingly belly dancing skirt and have no one judge us for it (she seriously thinks she’s Shakira, it’s hilarious). It’s like our high school physics class all over again, just replace the nice teacher who gave us extra credit and let us eat candy in class with a Ricky Martin/devil hybrid.
Our devil instructor is a guy, which is a new thing for me. I have to be honest… he scares me a mighty bit. I like women teachers because they don’t have wieners. They don’t check out your butt when they’re pretending to ‘evaluate your form’, they don’t make you bounce around too much because they understand how it can be painful in two very specific regions, and if they think your moves could use some work, they are sensitive to your feelings and don’t point out your flaws publicly. This guy on the other hand, makes us bounce constantly. Also, he will stand in front of you and shake his head if you’re not performing to your full potential. He will remain in that spot until you acknowledge him and begin to shimmyshake with more purpose. Basically he shames you in front of the whole class, but with lots of Latino flair and a smile. He’s only done it to me once during my very first class and I was so afraid of making eye contact with him so he stayed there for like 3 days. Ever since then I make sure to really put the effort into those moves so he’ll stay up at the front by Shakira where he belongs.
The other day I was dancing away and I was finally starting to feel a bit of my old skinny, sassy self returning. Remember how I told you that happens? Well Rule #1 to Zumba is DON’T lose yourself in the music. I know Eminem tells you to in 8 Mile, but just don’t. I made this fatal mistake that day when a good song came on and didn’t realize that I had shimmied and bounced my nursing pads right out the top of my bra. They peered out the top of my tank top and said hi to the whole class for who knows how long. Thankfully the devil was busy embarrassing some other poor girl at the time so he didn’t notice and start shaking his head at me. It was his fault they popped out anyway because of all the bouncing!
Didn’t I start this post by telling you the benefits of Zumba? My bad. It really is fun, trust me… just wear a good bra and leave your nursing pads and shame at home.
Tags: exercise losing baby weight zumba Categories: Me Being Crazy Me Getting Skinny Personal
Feb
19th
2010
While watching some show on HGTV.
Justin: That girl has has stub arms.
Me: That’s mean! But she sort of does. Her butt is cute though… unlike my pancake. *sobs*
Justin: hrrmmfphmm…
Me: What was that?
Justin: …
Me: Umm, are you agreeing with me? I know what that silence means! You’re supposed to tell me I have a cute butt no matter state it’s in! I tell you you’re cute even though you crunch your cereal too loud and eat spaghetti like Maddie does… this is part of your job!
Justin: I like pancakes.
Me: *dagger eyes*
Justin: What? We weren’t talking about food?
Tags: pancake butt gives me sads Categories: Me Being Crazy Me Getting Skinny
Aug
25th
2009
It’s official… I am a gym member, and for the first time in my life! Thanks to the influence of Natali, I joined up at a local women’s gym and am already addicted to a workout class they offer — Zumba. Anyone heard of it? Anyone done it? ANYONE AS ADDICTED AS I AM?
No, I’m serious. If you Google it ahead of time as I did, you will die laughing, but it really is the best workout I’ve ever had and such a ball. It’s kind of a mix of salsa, belly dancing, and kickboxing set to catchy music, and when done for an hour you’re supposed to burn somewhere around 700 calories. Crazy, right?
On Friday night, Natali and I attended a benefit for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, where close to 100 of us danced for about 2 hours. For someone who hasn’t done much working out since… well, EVER, I was dying. But according to Nat’s weight watcher calculations, we burned about 1,200 calories, so I will definitely say the soreness and pools of sweat were worth it!
All our crazy/awesome instructors, with miss Rosa in the center.
Tags: exercise fitness zumba Categories: Me Getting Skinny Personal Things I'm Loving
Jul
23rd
2009
Oy.
I’ve been left some of the sweetest comments lately. Things like, I don’t know how you do it all! or You’re so skinny! and Where do you find the time? You guys are so good to me.
Well, would you like to know the answer? The one thing that will make the weight fall off without you even stepping foot in the gym? The reward you get for trying to ‘do it all’ with a smile on your face? Let me let you in on a little secret of mine.
It’s called stress.
I haven’t written a post in a week, and it’s not because I’m out of ideas. I think everything has just finally caught up to me. The pressures of work and life and money and everything in between is definitely taking it’s toll. And the way I deal with it is by completely shutting down.
Right now, Justin is attending a work-related seminar while Madeline and I are home. I just put her to bed, sat down on the couch and enjoyed a very rare few minutes of silence. In those moments I was finally able to sit still and try to sort through all the madness.
You know what I realized? I am not superwoman, but as much as I want to follow that up with the cliché and that’s okay!, I just can’t.
Imperfection has never been an easy thing for me to accept, especially when it comes to my family and home. I want so badly to be able to do it all. To have a successful-enough side business to be able to quit my job and work at home with Madeline. To have just one free evening to go grocery shopping (which, by the way, I haven’t done in over a month). To actually COOK a real meal for my husband instead of picking up whatever is on the way home. To be able to say no sometimes and not feel guilty about it.
As sweet as you guys can be, you’re really not seeing the real picture here. You are my inspiration. I really don’t know how you do it! To the ones who wake up early to exercise, write a post every day, keep the laundry caught up and cook dinner every single night… you win. Bonus points for you gals that still nurse your babies because, HOLY HELL I would be dying right now if I was still trying to fit that in on top of everything else.
Right now, I am so far from having it all together, it’s not even funny. Just wanted to be honest about that.
Tags: inspiration life motherhood stress weight loss working mom Categories: Me Being a Mom Me Getting Skinny Personal
Mar
09th
2009
Antibodies that fight off illness.
Special bonding time.
Cheaper than formula.
Those are all wonderful reasons to breastfeed, don’t get me wrong. But seriously — after all my boobs have endured over the past 3 months, I deserve a little something right?
Well holy size 8′s, Batman! It’s paying off.
Obnoxious bragging incoming…
Somehow I managed to lose almost 45 pounds! And I ate 3 cupcakes last night, I’m not even lying. That means I’m a little under 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. HALLELUJAH.
And while I’m at it, let me just say that Madeline has now been sleeping through the night (10 hours straight) for the past two months. Sleep deprived mothers, you may curse and shake angry fists at me now.
I am so blessed.
But still I say, Mama needs a new pair of boobs. And that’s not changing anytime soon.
Tags: breastfeeding post-partum weight loss Categories: Me Getting Skinny Personal
