Shaking My Bootie

The words of the day are: Aqua Zumba! I love it!!!!! As much as I enjoy my water aerobics class, I would give it up for another 2 classes of Aqua Zumba. Aqua Zumba is only offered Monday night (I can attend it!) and Tuesday & Thursday morning (I am working). It isn’t as cardio as my gym side activities, but it provides a different “high”. The adrenalin rush is awesome! Both gym side and water side get me pumped. Who would have thought physical activity (AKA exercise) would be such an important part of my life. Without my surgery none of it would have been possible and without the exercise my surgery wouldn’t be such a success! Today between my gym time, my water aerobics class and aqua Zumba I burnt 1,207 Calories. I know this because for my birthday I got a heart rate monitor (HRM). I have been wearing it during my workouts and I am amazed at how many calories I actually burn during my workouts. It is encouraging and spurs me on to work harder. I look down at the HRM and see where my heart rate is and sometimes it causes me to push myself a little more. Here is an excerpt from something I wrote this week. It will give you a glimpse into what exercise does for me.

Push it, harder, keep going, push a little more. 62, 78, 93, 112, 143, 156, 175. Easy, slow down, ease up. 160, 152, 136, 122, 118. Steady, easy, level out. Now the sweat is pouring out. It feels great to push it to the limit; to do the bike and work the cardio. The drenched shirt, the soaked hair; the droplets off the nose. The trickle rolls past the forehead onto the glasses lens, over the cheeks and down the chin. Wetness in all the cracks and crevices. The signs of a great workout.

I hope this will get some of you moving. I know there are some of you that wish to feel better and moving will provide that. I know you may not do 2 hours and 15 minutes of workout like I did today or my usual one hour and 30 minutes to one hour and 45 minutes a day. I know when you start, 5 minutes may be all you can do, but keep at it! When I started 5 minutes on the bike and 5 minutes on the ARC trainer was exhausting. Then I began adding the weight training/strength training and 15 minutes was my max. It was a slow process and each week I went longer and harder. Progress is all you need to focus on. Do what you can and increase with time! As I get bored or sluggish I add something else. I have added the row machine, the treadmill, a different floor circuit and different weight machines. I have added aqua Zumba and Pilates sometimes. Just make it fun. Explore until you find things you enjoy. It doesn’t hurt to try something at least twice and then decide. This last week I tried a “BURN” class. It is a cardio circuit class. I found I enjoyed it but didn’t get as great of a benefit from it as I do when I do the same thing on my own. On my own I work it harder and consistently. In the class you have to stop and slow down for things to be explained, so I will go it on my own and feel like I get a better workout. Last week I also tried YOGA 3 times. I decided it is not for me. It irritates me more than relaxes me. I think I can better serve myself and be more relaxed by doing my workout with the cardio machines and strength training plans. Just give something a try!

Hey, thanks for listening and sharing my enthusiasm of moving and aqua Zumba! It really is a blast! Moving more and exercising harder really does feel awesome! Besides, I take my exercise time and turn it into God & me time. We have great conversations. Well, at least I talk and He listens. I do hear Him talk to me in the songs I listen to while we are spending time together. You ought to give it a try!

"If you want to look smaller, just carry a larger purse.
Where's the luggage Department?"