Zumba!

In light of my post on Wednesday, the irony of my blog topic today is not lost on me. While the majority of the world struggles to scrape together a scant meal a day, I have to sign up for a silly (albeit ridiculously fun) exercise class to work off the results of too many carne asada tacos (yum) and my weekly supply of hazelnut creme lattes. Sigh. But though I'm passionate about many things, I only have one story to tell--my own. And it includes Zumba. (Wait a sec, I'm an author... I have lots of stories to tell... But hey, you know what I mean.)

Anyhoo, I had to blog about my newest "Get Fit" experience because it was one of the strangest hours of my life... I've done aerobics, yoga, swimming, Pilates, water aerobics, strength training, core training, cross-training, you name it, but this was the first time I've ever heard the words, "Shake your moneymakers," in a workout. Shake your moneymakers indeed.

For those of you who don't know, Zumba "fuses hypnotic Latin rhythms and easy to follow moves to create a dynamic fitness program that will blow you away." Blow me away indeed. Though I contest the assertion that the moves are easy to follow. Ha. I was so tangled up I nearly fell on my face more than once. But my lovely instructor told me that my hips would loosen up with subsequent work-outs. Ah, so if I continue to "shake it" my shimmy might actually start to resemble the svelte weaves and twirls of one of those gorgeous Latinas? Doubtful.

All the same, I'm going to keep trying. I can't remember the last time I sweat like that. Or laughed like that. When the one hour class was over, I couldn't tell if my abs ached from all the twisty hip moves or from laughing at myself. My perma-grin probably threw off the instructor, but she was kind enough to avoid looking at my pathetic attempts at the salsa, meringue, and various hip-hop moves. Unfortunately, my fellow classmates couldn't avoid my flinging arms and obvious missteps. Hopefully they'll forgive me for coming back.