I'm not a fan of exercise. I usually try to avoid it. :) But last fall, I discovered Zumba. I had heard all the ladies at church talking about how fun it was, but I never made myself go. Then one day, I decided I needed to do something for my health. And I put on my workout clothes and dragged myself over to our church gym.
I met Debbie for the first time and loved the fact she wasn't some tiny, skinny-as-a-rail Energizer bunny. No, she was (in my book)...normal. Average. An everyday woman who could teach us the dances and encourage us to join her.
Granted, Debbie could do the moves and give 110% though the whole hour! (And I was dragging those first few weeks.) But she didn't make me feel inadequate.
I was hooked.
I had a blast and continue to do so. I've finally found a type exercise that I don't dread. I actually look forward to it! I love the music, and I love the moves. And I love the fun ladies who join me in the dancing.
In case you've never heard of it, here's the Zumba website where you can learn about it. Here's what they say on the website:
ZUMBA FITNESS®. MOVING THE WORLD TO A NEW BEAT.
Are you ready to party yourself into shape? That’s exactly what the Zumba® program is all about. It’s an exhilarating, effective, easy-to-follow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance fitness-party™ that’s moving millions of people toward joy and health.
WHO WE ARE
Zumba Fitness® is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive.
Since its inception in 2001, the Zumba program has grown to become the world's largest – and most successful – dance-fitness program with more than 12 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly Zumba classes in over 110,000 locations across more than 125 countries.
And now I have to share a funny photo my daughter sent me after she attended a class with me--and laughed at me through it!
:-P
So what about you?? How do you burn off all the wonderful calories we eat here at the cafe?
Hey -- I thought this cafe's food was calorie-free! I want my money back! :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could zumba to save my life. Absolutely no coordination! I like walking for a calorie burning activity. Used to be I walked everywhere if it was less than an hour away but I got this nasty infection in my leg two years ago and it's been a long recovery period so I don't walk that far any more. But I'm building up to it. And I have some nordic poles which I'm going to try out soon. Plus I weed wrestle in my garden -- always an aerobic activity. Oh -- and I weight lift with bags of mulch and soil. Does that count?
I dance with the kidlets. No time to go anywhere or join anything, so I make sure we do crazy dances, learning dances and marching....
ReplyDeleteActivity is such a huge part of chasing these little ones around. Gotta make sure I can beat them to the road on a tricycle, right????
And once or twice I've had to do just that.
Brats. ;)
Missy, everyone I know loves Zumba... Maybe we'll try it here at home. There must be DVD's right?
LOL, Kav! I thought it was too, but the scales said otherwise after the first few weeks of baking and taking photos! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, gardening and hauling counts! And your walking, of course. I'm sorry to hear about your struggle with the infection. I hope you're back to your normal activity soon!
Ruthy, they have classes for kids, so I bet they have videos, too. I know they have videos for adults.
ReplyDeleteYou and the kids could do the salsa! How fun. :) You know, I don't see how you do it every day. Those kidlets must keep you young!
Missy, I love Zumba! Not that I've ever gone to a class, but I have danced along to the videos on YouTube. One of my favorite ways to lift my spirits is to blast some music and dance along.
ReplyDeleteScares the poor doggy though. ;)
I'm going to have to look for a video...
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem with going somewhere or joining something is transportation - and the fact that I love to stay home.
In my cave :)
But walking is my thing. A couple miles with the dog around the neighborhood (even though I don't go often enough) gets me in shape for the weekend jaunts through the hills.
And thanks to Valerie Comer's visit to Seekerville a couple weeks ago, we're planning to buy a GPS to use for geocaching this summer. It's a huge activity here, with a lot of sites to hunt for scattered through the hills.
Now THAT will having us tromping all over the place!
I started back walking, Leslie Sansone, Jazzercise Burlesque dvd was pretty fun(and yep I felt like the picture but hate to see what I really looked like), Ellen Barret and sometimes wii walk it out on my rebounder. just different stuff. would like to try zumba but so far it hasn't happened other than the wii game one time.
ReplyDeleteSusanna
I have seen Zumba and it looks fun. I tend to walk. could be I dont have a car, I have a push bike but I normally walk everywhere (which is not bad considering most things are within 10 - 15 mins walk from here). In winter I move wood, chop wood, etc.
ReplyDeleteI can here today to check out the fudge recipies etc. (ironically I don't eat much cos its to rich)