Day 3- Zumba Fitness Sculpt & Tone

Total workout time: 45mins.



Today I woke up feeling extra sleepy. I've recently been put on Cymbalta for Fibromyalgia and still getting adjusted to it. Last night, my wife and I decided that we were going to get up at 7am and Zumba together but it never happened. It was closer to 9 am when she came in to tell me she was leaving for work. I found myself feeling a little cranky and wishing I could just sleep all day but knew that wasn't a possibility.

I grumbled to the silence in the room and stumbled out of bed. In the back of my mind there was a little voice telling me to get the Zumba over with because after-all, I did make a commitment to this blog and even if no one else's reading it, I would know that on only the 2nd real day of working out, I had bailed. "UGH!" The sudden twinge of cramps screaming from my ovaries let me know that I had a legitimate reason for my crankiness this morning and furthered my procrastination.

All morning I read emails, thumbed through books, watched some television and fought with the incessant voice in my head until finally I gave up.

"Ok, Ok" I thought as I resolved myself to getting off of my ass and put in the 2nd DVD of the suggested program that I'm following (the one that is supposed to help you lose at least 1 size in 10 days....). The whole time I continued grumbling to myself about not doing this today.

Needless to say, I popped in the DVD and hit play. I heard the music begin and took a step back to see what the Zumba crew had in store for me today. First up was the warm up. I turned the volume up and thought fine, i'll just do the warm up. Before I knew it, I was 1/2 way into the 45 minute work out and sweating furiously. I couldn't help myself. The music had reached out it's hands and the steps pulled me in. They were easy enough that it wouldn't require any real strain and when there was something that was a little more of an impact than I was ready for, I improvised and kept moving my body. The Zumba sticks moving to the rhythm fueled my recent obsession with finding something fun and creative to do and my love for music and I just went along for the ride.

By the time it was over, I was drenched. The hat I was wearing was so wet with sweat that it couldn't hold any more moisture and the excess was dripping down my face. Gross! but awesome! It used to take a lot for me to sweat and maybe it still does although not with Zumba. Zumba really really makes me sweat! I have such a love hate relationship with sweat but in this case all I can think of is "Goodbye FAT! Hello FIT!"

After my "Cool Down" I felt like I wanted more but figured the 45 minutes I just spent was probably good enough for today. My mood wasn't so crabby. Infact, I actually felt good, like I had accomplished something. I jumped in the shower and felt totally refreshed. My cramps are still there (though not as bad as before I began my workout), and I feel like I want to get out of this house and DO SOMETHING EXCITING! I don't know what I'll get into today, but thanks to Zumba the dreariness outside no longer matches my moodiness inside :)

Day 2-Cardio Party

If success is measured in the amount of sweat that is pouring off of my body right now, I would say that Zumba promises to be a major success!

I decided to start my Zumba experience following the Total-Body Transformation guide's recommended plan for losing 1 size in 10 days and since I watched 1/2 of the "Basics" DVD yesterday, I figured this should be easy.

I didn't realize I was committing myself to 50 minutes until about 25 minutes into the video when the sweat storm rolled in and began pouring and I found myself desperately needing a glass of water. As soon as I hit play I knew I would sweat but I didn't realize how much.

Zumba uses a variety of latin dance moves to help you have a fun and exciting workout. The people featured in the video are all great sexy Latina's and Latino's that seem to be having a blast. From what I've heard and seen up to this point, everyone I know who has taken a single class agrees and now I see why.

The music is fun. The beats make you want to dance. The people in general have style and energy. No spandex, no Richard Simmons, no oldies. It's the kind of stuff that you would hear at a Latin club in Miami. The moves, I found were a little too fast and advanced for me in some areas but there are a few variations that they give you and as long as you're moving you can keep up somewhat. Although I struggled a few times, I think that the more I do this, the easier it will get and it was fun enough that I actually want to get better.

I was also really glad that I bought the box set rather than signing up for a local class. If your rhythm is anything like mine (non-existent), I suggest you order the box set. There's NO WAY I would have made it through the entire class without feeling like a total jack-ass. But the mood of the series itself is light and fun enough that you can relax and enjoy being silly in the comfort of your own home.

By the time the 50 minutes was up, I had worked out, I had sweat my ass off, devoured 3 large glasses of water, and cooled down.

After day 2, I'm excited because I just finished my work out 15 minutes ago and already thinking that I may re-run through the basics and possibly even do the 20 minute express workout when the wifey comes home from work.

For now, I need another glass of water and a shower!

Day 1

Welcome to the Zumba Experiment. My partner and I have decided that it's time to start getting serious about getting back into shape so we recently ordered the full Zumba set from Zumba.com. We have a great friend who jumped on the Zumba train a long time ago and we've been totally amazed by her results. In addition to her experience, we've noticed that suddenly more and more people are raving about their experiences. For me, I wanted to see how long everyone would stick with it before I invested any money whatsoever, and for my wife she just needed some motivation.

This blog is going to be an experiment of sorts. I recently had some blood work done that showed a few less than desirable results (meaning I had slightly elevated LDL's, triglyceride's and a few other things.). In 2 months, I am going back for a new workup so I figure this would be a great time to try to turn these numbers around.

Today we received our Zumba package which came with several DVD's and the Zumba sticks.

Here are my stats as of today:

I am a 31 year old female.
5'3" in height
and wear a size 38 in mens pants
I weigh 227.8lbs

I will be writing at least once daily for the next 2 months as I work on making myself healthier from the inside out...

I mean, what've I got to lose?