Well, hello Zumba!

Since we moved last year, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit my attempts at maintaining my workout schedule were a complete failure.  I have tons of excuses for that: the Y is a minimum of 15 miles away, Zumba classes are the exception rather than the rule, I had major surgery, I'm trying to recover from a lower back/hip issue...and so on and so forth.

But the pure truth is I wasn't working out because I didn't want to. And when I don't work out, there's even less motivation for me to eat well. And when I don't eat well, I gain weight. When I don't work out and don't eat well...egads. It's not pretty.

A friend of mine announced she was going to do a 21 day sugar detox starting May 6. So I joined her. No processed foods, no flour, no foods with added sugar, nothing with artificial sweetners, no breads, no corn...basically healthy, clean eating with no more than two servings of fruit per day.

Days 1-4 were so hard. My family did not choose to do this with me, so I'm trying to eat clean while surrounded by requests for Rice Krispy treats, chips, cookies, brownies, ice cream, pasta, and chocolate. Oy.

But once the first four days went by and I fell into a groove, it got easier. Having the support of some excellent friends didn't hurt, either.  The only two things I longed for were popcorn and pizza. I'm not sure I've ever gone 21 days without some version of pizza before. Which is pretty sad, now that I've typed that out.

Last Friday, Robert dragged me if not kicking and screaming, then definitely grumping and complaining to the Y. First thing in the morning too. It was brutal. But when I was done, I felt better. Like, a lot better. So I walked with a friend on Saturday and I've gone to the Y every morning this week.

Today, I even went to Zumba.

This is huge for me. Since we moved, I had yet to go to a Zumba class. I didn't want to go to one here, I wanted my old life back. Somewhere along the way of this move, I apparently lost most of my suck it up and keep going philosophy.  Yoga is the big thing here, followed by Pilates, followed by hiking, followed by everything else and then Zumba. This just isn't, as it turns out, a Zumba town.

photo from www.mynameisalexandriaa.blogspot.com

Today's class was good. There weren't a whole lot of people in it, which was nice since I also have seemed to have misplaced my enjoyment of crowds and strangers and being in public. But several of the women in class were doing interpretive dance movements (?!?) based in the Zumba steps - I think. It was a little distracting at first but then I got used to it and just made sure to stay out of the way.  Will I go back? I'm not sure. Maybe. But I feel like I got a yoga and Zumba class all rolled into one...so that would be Zuga? Yomba? Either way, it was better than sitting around not using any energy at all.