TWO HOURS!

I just went to the gym for two hours.

TWO HOURS!!!!

I don't think I've ever done that.

This morning, I got up early and took Lucky (aka hubby) to the train station for 6:30am. He's going for some extra training today for work in the big city. I came home and immediately re-tucked myself back into bed. I have been so tired lately. Not sure why. I could have slept until noon, but I didn't.  Instead I got out of bed yet again at 9:45am. I had planned to go to yoga this morning and although I wasn't really feeling like it, I was determined to follow through anyway.

Yoga was interesting. It wasn't like any other yoga class I've gone to. There were no sun salutations. There was no major savasana at the end. We did not use bolsters or straps or have blankets.  After all, this yoga class was at Goodlife, rather than a posh yoga studio.  At first, I wasn't sure about it, and I don't think I was the only one. One person left shortly after we started. Regardless though, I stuck to it, and still enjoyed it. The stretches are helpful for my hips and that's all that really matters. I will go again.

After yoga, instead of coming home, I decided to attend another class. A class called Sh'BAM!
I'm not sure about you, but I've never heard of Sh'BAM before. I first noticed it when looking on the gym's class exercise board. It's labelled as 'moderate' intensity so I thought I'd give it a try. Zumba is also labelled moderate.

Sh'BAM was great. I had a lot of fun and was pretty whipped when it was finished.  My first impression is that Sh'BAM is actually very similar to Zumba.  It's also a combo of dancing and aerobics combined, presented in a fun modern way. I think the only real difference between Zumba and Sh'BAM is the music. Now don't quote me, as I'm new to both, but Zumba seems more imbedded in salsa music with a few other songs thrown in, where Sh'BAM has more pop and hip hop music with a little bit of salsa. One is just as great as the other, which is why I'm surprised Sh'BAM isn't more popular. Each Zumba class I take is packed, where as today's Sha'BAM class there were only eight of us. It's kinda a shame. At the same time as I say that though I liked the fact the class wasn't packed so I had more space to dance! This girl has two left feet half the time, so I need my space!

Since my return home I have been updating this blog. I finally uploaded the remaining salad photos for my #100daysofSALAD challenge that I completed on November 1st. You can see them here. I also started a new tab for my next challenge - #100daysofSOUP. Stayed tuned for this. I'm pretty excited about it. It's a perfect challenge for this time of year. Feel free to join in on the fun!!! My hope is to make low fat vegetarian soups and share them with all of you (including WW PointsPlus points for my fellow weight watchers). I plan to start in mid-december when I return home from my vacation. I'd start it now,  but I fear I'd wouldn't be able to meet the challenge when in Jamaica. Now, I do realize that they likely will have soup at the resort, but the question is, would it be vegetarian? I'm not sure. After all, it's hard enough getting a vegetarian soup at Tim Hortons or Subway! As a result, to play it safe, I'll start when I return home. It should be fun.

Pools

I'm starting to realize something about aquafit. You really can't rely on the pool! 

Today I woke up early, took my hubby to work and headed to the gym to enjoy the class. When I arrived I found out the pool was closed. Chlorine issues this time. 

Bummer.

Staff told me I could go to another class instead at 9:30am, or just use the machines, but unfortunately I wasn't dressed for it. I was wearing my bathing suit, but also a sweater and moccasins. 

Last time, when at the recreation centre (before I joined GoodLife) someone was sick in the pool.  I could have gone to yoga instead that time, except I was wearing jeans. That wasn't really going to work, so I came home. 

I need to be better prepared!!! 

As this has happened twice now , my plan moving forward is to prepare for everything. Either wear gym clothes when I head to the gym (even if I'm just planning to use the pool)  and change into my bathing suit there, or wear my bathing suit there but keep  gym clothes in my bag just in case. I'll probably do the ladder. 

Such a simple thing, but it will make a world of difference. 

For today, since aquafit didn't work out I'm going to head back to the gym for Zumba Step  followed by regular zumba tonight. I'm kinda curious if zumba step will be like other step classes I've taken in   the past or not. I guess I'll find out soon!

Zumba and Aquafit

See those check marks? That's right folks, so far I have kept to my plan. 

two checks down, many more to go!

Last night I went to my first ever Zumba class.   I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was great! There was about 20 or so woman of all ages,  shapes and sizes,  and we just danced away. At first, I seemed like any other aerobics class I had taken in the past.  I recognized most  moves and was thinking, oh they just marketed old aerobics with a new name to generate interest.  Then it got funky and fun and not like any other aerobics class I have taken in the past.  lol... Did I get all the moves right after that? HA! Of course not, but I didn't care, nor should I. I was just proud of the fact I was there and moving my behind. Not going to lie, at the half way mark, I was feeling it and pretty tired, so I tended to look at the clock more, but I made it through and will go back for sure. It was fun. My plan is to go to this class every other Wednesday. I'd go every Wednesday, but my work schedule does not allow for that. 

Now after going to Zumba last night I came directly home and had an epsom salts bath and stretched my hips. I also took one naproxen and used my anti-inflammatory spray. I did this as before Zumba I went to my chiropractor who worked on my hips in ways she hasn't before.  I knew because of that and the fact I went to Zumba I would be super sore today if I didn't. Thankfully, all of that did help and I felt much better than expected this morning. Yay! 

This morning I woke up, took hubby to work and then went to the next exercise class scheduled for this month. Aquafit. I loved it! I forgot how much I love the pool. It's sad to say, but today was the first time I've been in the pool this year!! Pathetic I tell ya! To my surprise it was an even better workout than I remember it being. Several years ago I went a couple times, but today was better. The instructor was awesome and we did moves in the pool which I know overtime will only help my hip issues. When getting out of the pool my legs felt like lead which sounds bad, but I was happy about it. I knew I worked them hard. I ended up heading to baby pool (which is much warmer than the adult pool) where others were going and soaked for a bit. Funny enough, there I met a woman named Dawn who was going to aquafit for the same reasons as I am. Hip issues! We shared stories and stretches before heading to the change room.  It was great. My next aquafit class I have planned is on Tuesday. I can't wait to go back.

So ladies and gents, this whole exercise thing that I've been struggling with for the last few months, I'm finally starting to get a handle on. I've always known that the key is to find things you like. Thankfully the two exercises classes I've tried, I do like and that makes it much easier to go again! 

Planning

Well... My plan to track hasn't been going so well for the last three days. I've been completely off program. Thanksgiving tends to do that to people. Saturday we had hubby's family over and then Sunday we went out for dinner with my parents. They then came back to our place for pie. I've ate a lot of pie these last three days. Thankfully it's all gone now. I don't regret my decisions to eat what I wanted this past weekend, but I know it's now time to get back to tracking. I have been more tired than normal lately and I know it has to do with my carb and sugar filled meals I've been eating. So today I will count points and continue on with my journey. I expect a gain come Sunday but hopefully if I stay on point for the next five days, it might not be as bad as I think it could be. 

Besides getting back on track with counting points, I also have realized I need a better plan when it comes to exercise. You see, as I lose weight my daily WW point limit goes down. I've already dropped two points from when I started. It's exciting to drop points, but scary as well. I sometimes have a hard time staying within my daily limit and end up using some of my weekly points. It's totally allowed, but I don't like having to use them like that. The only way I can avoid that is to gain points with exercise. I need to start doing this now. It's time. If I don't get into a routine now, it will only be harder later. I struggle right now with 37 points a day at times, if I get to my weight loss goal and only have  25 points, I'll be starving! I need exercise points!! 

As a result, I created a plan. I made an exercise calendar. Firstly,  I looked into yoga. I've been thinking and talking about going back to the studio for awhile now, so last night I sighed up for a new beginner class. It will run for 6 weeks starting on Monday October 27th. I then looked into Zumba and found one offered on Wednesday nights. As I work shift work I'll only be able to do two a month for now, but it's a start. I then looked into aquafit and found times I can enjoy doing that too. I wrote it all out, now I just have to execute it! 

I love this new plan and I think I should be able to do it without any issues. I just have to fight the laziness. Like many others, when I'm tired all I want to do is, well.... nothing. Doing nothing got me fat. It's time to start doing something! I picked exercises that I think will be okay for my back and hips as they are still giving me issues. My hope is that with more stretching and strengthening and muscle building I'll only improve.  Each time I do the exercise I wrote out on my calendar, I will give myself a check mark. 

At the end of the month I'll add them up. Wish me luck!