Yesterday was a typically busy Monday at work. I always have lots of e-mail to respond to from over the weekend on top of all my other responsibilities. I sometimes wonder how my hands don’t fall off from all the typing and I’m seriously counting on having to replace my eyeballs by the time I’m 40. Does anyone else get bleary eyed from staring at a hyper lit screen all day and end up looking like this?

Sorry Demi. Didn’t mean to put you out there like that. You just happen to provide the perfect example of what I feel like after 8+ hours of working on a computer.

When I got out of work I was cranky/tired and if it weren’t for the fact that I had my workout clothes packed, I probably wouldn’t have made it to the gym. This is why I completely believe in the mantra “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” I drove straight to the YMCA after clocking out and was originally going to run some easy miles on the treadmill . When I arrived, everyone and their mother had the same idea which left me with no choice but to use the sad stationary bike.

Unless I’m in a spin class, i just end up feeling like this:

I kept looking back longingly at the treadmills, praying someone would fall off give up their spot so I could enjoy life again. It was a miserable 20 minutes where I burned just 100 calories. At that point, I decided to go no further because peddling was clearly crushing my soul. I remembered that a girl in my running group was going to her favorite class in the world Zumba at 6:30 and had invited me to try it out. At this point, anything was welcome as no one on the 10 treadmills had spontaneously combusted and no other piece of equipment would do.

I waited outside the class and was getting nervous. Was this going to be one of those classes with static aerobic moves set to music? Am I going to hate myself for joining? Will it be too hard or easy? And then I had a tv show backflash a la “How I Met Your Mother” about that one time I tried step aerobics. It wasn’t pretty. I hung in there 15 minutes and then got super uncoordinated with my 4 inch high stepper trying to figure out which way they were going to turn 180 degrees next. It seemed like everyone in the class already knew the choreography and I just felt like Josie Grossie in the nightclub scene.

All kinds of awkward.

Becky showed up just before class started and just in time to burst my thought bubble. She does this class all the time and told me Zumba suits my personality. “Just get lost in the music! You’ll love it!” Hmm ok. Here goes nothing.

The instructor was a young girl that looked to be our age. She began the class with ” I’m subbing for the next two weeks. If you like me, come back. If you don’t, come back anyway!” Everyone laughed and before the music started she asked if any of us were new. To my surprise, about 10 people raised their hands out of 35 or so. The next thing she said was pure magic “Well none of you know my choreography so you’re all in the same boat today.” HA HA! WOOO! BRING.IT. ON.

It should be illegal to call this exercise. This is what I burned:

Minus the 20 minutes/100 calories on the evil bike, Zumba burned 763 calories in about an hour. Woah! I never once felt like I was working out because I was having so much fun!! The choreography felt like something you could do at the club. It wasn’t old fashioned, it didn’t feel robotic, and the music was all current. We did some hip-hop and lots of Latin music which really got me beaming. It’s not often that I get to dance let alone hear Spanish music while living in Jacksonville! It felt like home when I got to bust out my Cuban dance moves and feel like a Latina again. I swear sometimes I feel like I’m transforming into a Gringa until I get a reminder of my culture like this.

Conclusion: I’m a convert, I loved it, and will continue going back on cross training days. It was an incredible experience with all the energy, clapping, and dance moves. I highly recommend you try Zumba the first chance you get if you haven’t already. It truly made my day.

I got home around 8pm and we quickly decided on an easy to prepare dinner that would be light and healthy.

Salad with cucumbers, scallions, tomatoes, spinach,black olives, lemon juice and light raspberry walnut dressing.

Along with some

Sauteed mushrooms, onions, and garlic cooked in white wine and a tiny bit of olive oil & seasonings.

This was layered on a bake potato

No sour cream, No cheese, just one slice of butter (60 calories).

It was so flavorful!! I need to get prettier plates though

We sat down and watched some Antique roadshow with our dinner and then Ry searched for Modify on Netflix. He heard about this strange documentary from a friend that said it was so gross he had to turn it off at one point. So obviously he had to see what the fuss was about. I’m so glad we had finished eating by then because it truly was disgusting in some parts.

It’s about people that modify their bodies with tattoos, piercings, cuts, implants, hooks, etc. And while I completely get how someone would want to get maybe one or two of these things, those showcased in this documentary took it to an extreme!

Have you ever heard of Modify? What do you think about changing your body? We all modify ourselves one way or another already. Think painting our nails, cutting/dying our hair, etc. 

Would you get a tattoo/piercing? How many do you have now? I had my belly button pierced when I was 18 but took it out. And I may possibly get just one small wrist tattoo in the future but it’s a huge decision.

Are there any other classes I should try out at the gym that you love? I keep hearing about TRX and it really intrigues me!! has anyone tried this one?

Let me know your thoughts

-Road Jane

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