Zumba For the Old and Uncoordinated

You know how sometimes people make jokes about things because they are too embarrassed or uncomfortable talking about them directly?  Sometimes people make jokes about a topic because they are trying to be funny.  And sometimes people make jokes about a topic because they just want to feel you out and have an excuse to backpedal if other people don't seem to agree.

It was mostly this third sense of joking around that got me started talking about a Zumba fitness class I saw advertised.  I would very much like to add some more activity to my life. I pretty much sit at a desk all day and then go home, chase kids for two hours and then sit on the couch again.  I've tried running, but I've had a hard time sticking with it.  And my options are limited when it comes to going to a gym because I can't afford the time or the money.

Some of the students (read: 20 SOMETHINGS) that I work with were talking about taking a class together and I jokingly mentioned that I had seen a Zumba class offered at the Rec Center that we could all sign up for.  "That sounds great!" they all said.  "Oh look!" I said. "It's at 6:45 in the morning!!  HAHAHA!"  "Let's do it!" They said.  "WHA--?!" I said.

So I worked it out with Ken that he would get the kids ready by himself on Thursdays and signed up.  The first class was last week.  It was hard because I am not coordinated at all.  I am also very out of shape!  The second class was this morning.  It was easier because I had a better idea of what I was doing, but it was harder because I pushed myself. 

I think the hardest part of the class is discovering that my body doesn't look like or move like the body of a 20-year old anymore.  I have to put my hand on my stomach to know if I am moving my abs correctly because, even three years later, my abdominal muscles are still separated from carrying large babies. (Have you seen this shocking picture??)

6 days before Benjamin was born-and he was my SMALLEST baby (by a whole pound)!!

I'm mostly okay with the changes that have happened as I've gotten older and become a mother. I wouldn't mind losing 10 pounds so my pants fit a little better, but I am not trying to re-capture the body I once had.  The body I once had hadn't grown three beautiful children. It hadn't lived a life full of love, laughter, and fun.  I have grown and changed in those fifteen years since I was a 20 something; so it's obvious that my body would have grown and changed too.

The point of the whole story is that I am doing Zumba.  Maybe not as well as someone more coordinated, but I am enjoying it.  It's not hard for me to get up for class because I'm up at that time every day anyway. I even got a key to the shower at work, so I can come straight here and get dressed for the day!

And I laughed today when we did something the instructor called "grapevines."  "This is the Electric Slide," I thought to myself.  I turned to Ashley and said, "This is easy! I've been doing this move since before you were born."  And then I realized, that I really had.