Zumba and Spinning

So... with family pictures and a wedding all in the same week (next week), I've had ample motivation to try and lose some of that baby weight. And, if I'm lucky, the weight that crept on even before babies.

5 weeks of just tracking what I eat and getting ready for a 5K, and another 5 weeks of really strict calorie restrictions (along with walking at the park or mall with the kids), I'm happy to say I've lost 32 pounds since March 1st.

Now, I'm trying to ease myself back to a normal diet (think daily calories above 1,000), so I'm bumping up the exercise. Over the years I have learned a little something about losing weight and my body (seriously, just how often can one person lose almost 50 pounds?). I need exercise. Not simply riding a recumbent bike or walking around a park with a stroller -but serious, sweaty, heart rate near 200 beats per minute, exercise. Yes, I can't eat like a pig and work out like crazy and expect to lose, but I think most people it might be 70% diet and 30% exercise, but I don't think that's how my body works. For me... it's at least 50/50... if not leaning a little more towards the exercise.

I don't mind it all that much -because thankfully, I enjoy going to the gym. I like pushing myself and exercising using different methods, classes, and machines. However, as the number of children increase, the time I have to exercise decreases. Which is probably why I'm technically lower than I was when I got pregnant with Kate... but still have at least 20 more pounds to lose to get to where I was when I got married. (And even after that, I'm sure I'm a few inches from where I was when I got married -the joys of pregnancy and childbirth I suppose).

So... this month I'm focusing on exercise. A friend of mine recently became a certified Zumba instructor and did a class for Young Womens last month. Thank goodness for that class, because I went to a 'real' class last night. Let me tell you, this was a very authentic Zumba class -meaning it was taught by a latin guy (Camilo Jimenez) who REALLY enjoyed his Zumba.

These were my observations.

There were about 4 different types of people there. 1- the little skinny girls right up next to the mirrors -trying to see what they look like at a club, and they dressed accordingly. Seriously ladies, I know it's Zumba -which is essentially aerobics with dance moves, but you could put SOME clothes on. And maybe pull your hair back in a pony tail -that's just nasty.

2-I'm pretty sure the teenage boys were there to try and learn how to dance at the next junior high stomp. And yes, I just said stomp.

3- Most were like me. Different levels of fitness levels, different levels of coordination (I'm on the LOW end of that spectrum) but there to get a good work out and have some fun doing it.

4-And the MOST embarrassing by far -the 40 year olds that were shamelessly flirting and at times throwing themselves towards our little latin lover. Yes, many moves are slightly (or highly) suggestive, and could be seen in the middle of a club floor (or even a bedroom), but you're just embarrassing yourself ladies.

That was last night. I went back to the gym that I went to when we lived in our apartment in Holiday -which is where I used to take a spinning class a couple times a week. I really loved the instructor, and I noticed she is STILL teaching Tuesday and Thursday mornings. So, at 5:20 I woke up and went back to the gym.

To be honest, this is more up my alley. People who take spinning classes dress accordingly, don't wear make up, pull their hair up, and are there to work. There are no mirrors, the lights are usually turned down really low or even off, and you don't have to have any coordination above the level necessary to NOT fall off the bike. Which, is more like my level. Heart rate gets up to 180 almost immediately and hovers around 190-200 the entire 55 minutes -which for me, means serious calories lost. Just what I needed.

Now all I need is a nap!