Skipping zumba, the Royal wedding and a Family affair

Last Friday, zumba was off due to the holidays. Saturday they put two substitue instructors on the job, as our instructor would be away on holiday. I was planning on going to zumba Saturday morning. I woke up and got ready, but wanted to check the meet-up at the gym's website before leaving. To my surprise, I saw that 17 people would not be coming, which would leave me alone with just 10 other women. So I decided to stay home. After all, I was on my holidays, too. So I didn't go.

Monday I was at my usual latin mix and dance fit class. The instructor has come up with some hard steps for dance fit. They're not realy hard, it's just that I have this problem with my ancles, making it impossible for me to do those steps properly, as it was suppose to be small, but super fast, stepping back and forward on the heels.. And well, I couldn't do it, so I just did something to make it look like I was doing the right thing. Well, my calfs were aching so much afterwards, and the next day. I guess I didn't stretch out enough.

Tuesday I went to the other gym for a class of latin mix and dance fit. Luckily the dance fit routines seem better for my foot work, at the Tuesday classes. Sadly this was the last time that this gym would be offering latin mix and dance fit classes on a Tuesday. The instructor wanted to finish her classes here, with waacking. Waacking is basicaly dance routines with your arms. I've actualy become so good at whacking, that I was able to put some attitude into what I was doing. But then again, the whacking that we've been working with in these classes has been realy simple. I wish I knew how to waack this way:

It was sad to end the dance fit class that day, knowing that I lost one of my work out days. It seems that lately I have to make a new schedule all the time. In order to replace my Tuesday work out, I saw, that the same gym is offering samba classes all May. Every year, by the end of May, my city has a big carnval, where everyone can join. Our carnival is open for everyone who wants to join. Everyone can join the parade. I have no intention of joining the parade, but thought it would be fun to join in on the samba classes.

My work out schedule for the month of May will look like this:

Monday: Latin Mix, Dance fit

Wednesday: Samba

Friday: 2 x Zumba

Saturday: Zumba

If I feel that I need to work out more, I can always decide to go to the two other gyms in town. But for now, I'm satisfied. However, knowing that the gym where I go to for my zumba classes, will be closed for 3 weeks in June and July, makes me a bit worried. But I will find a way.

I'm not going to Zumba tomorrow. The instructor is going to  another zumba marathon down in the country. They did put a substitut instructor on the job, but since there is a big flea market that I would like to go to with my family, I decided to cancel.

Today was the big day of the royal wedding in Great Britain. Being a true Dane, I'm also a big royalist. Althoufh I must say, the royal family in GB hasn't been on my mind since Diana died. Hopefuly, the newly weds, will be able to change the boring way the royals seem to be ruling in Great Britain. I think they're in need of some young spirits.

Anyway, to honor the newly weds, T-mobile made this comercial using royal lookalikes. I think it's awesome! Actualy the zumba group on facebook, was the one who introduced me to this video, as they mentioned it could be zumba... Hmmmmmm it has a variety of funny dance moves in it. Check for yourself

I saw the wedding cermony before I went to zumba, but I had to take a shower and get ready, just as they were leaving the church.

Wednesday I went to the German border with my parents, brother and his girlfriend. I was determined on buying some cute tops for the summer and ended up buying... 18!! I had the money and feel like showing myself in cute, printed tops this summer. Just as we were leaving a mini mall, my mom said she saw some shoes that I should go see. She wasn't sure if they were Skechers' Shape Ups, which are currently my no. 1 shoe. I went to the shop and couldn't believe my owns eyes. It was indeed the Shape Ups. Now I already promised myself to buy the new Spring collection Shape Ups, as I allow myself to buy a new pair every day. Well, in the German shop, they were 80 $ off the price they have here in Denmark. It would be silly not to buy them, so I did.

I love them, but as I looked at them when I got home, I realised that they were not the regular shape up shoes, that I was going to buy in a shop here... But Shape Up "toners" - which means, they have a different sole. However, They're still so comfortable to wear. Very soft. And they have such a sparkle. When the sun hits them, they light up and sparkle as if they were made of diamonds:

The instuctor brought some new music today along with some old. He also said that his doctor had warned him to take it easy, as he had a minor damage. Well, if you love zumba, there's just no doctor that can keep you away.. Here I'm thinking back on the time that my doctor told me the same thing, and I went against his wishes. Well, it didn't harm me. Anyway, he said he might be taking it slow, but of course that was not what happened. He came up with new funny, but hard to figure out, steps. But as always, we just goof around and have fun trying to do what he wants us to do.

In the break between the two classes, my cousin showed up. She had asked me before where my regular zumba classes were and how she signed up etc. I think it was easy for her to tell the difference between the other zumba that we both used to go to, and this. I think the zumba I do Friday and Saturday is much more efficient than what I do to work out the other days. Why do I think that? Well, I sweat more and I have a hard time catching my breath cause there is so much cardio involved in the dance routines our instructor comes up with. He might be doing a special zumba program, to test if zumba is working.. Some people say they're not losing weight. But I think I'm living proof, that zumba does work. I lost weight. But not only did I lose weight, I lost sizes in clothes! I can now fit some of the clothes I bought way too small. My main problem has always been my arms. I always had to cover my arms, which meant I had to wear the same "see through" mesh shirt over my top, every time I went out.. But I found new things to wear, to cover my arms, and it actualy tucks them in so that they don't look fat at all. In fact, I lost so much fat on my arms, that the little "bingo arms" I have left now, is lose skin with a minor fat cover on them. The same goes for my stomach. Lose skin with a small fat cover.. My legs are giant because I've been building up a lot of muscle carrying around the weight that I used to.. But a big part of my thigs and butt was fat. I don't think I'll ever get so skinny legs, that the skin will be lose, so instead, I try to keep them firm, by working out. I feel much better about my body now.. Not because I lost a lot of weight, but because I gained a much better figure.. This has made me think, that this summer, I want to start wearing dresses!

Wacky thriller dance... My Saturdays are no longer Zumba free!

I was lucky to receive 2 text messages telling me that there was a spot open for me at the 2 Zumba classes Friday afternoon, so I went yesterday, very happy!

It was some very hectic zumba classes... By hectic I mean... I sweat my butt off, but was able to hang in there.. Maybe I was giving myself a little too much, but it's hard not to with the instructor we have.. He gets so happy when  he sees us sweating like crazy.. I like it, too.. However, there are some steps used in a certain song, that I have a hard time with.. Why? Because I'm not good at jumping due to my weight and weak ancles.. So what happens when I actualy think I do a darn good job? My ancle starts bugging. Luckily I didn't feel it during zumba... but later in the evening I felt it. I hope we don't have to do those steps again today cause it's really hard on my ancles.

The zumba instructor actualy sent home a woman yesterday because she didn't bring shoes... He said he's classes are so intense, that people need to wear shoes, and dancing shoes of course are the best. I see more and more people wearing the proper shoes now and still loads of women come to  me asking for directions to the shoe shop. There's only one shoe shop in the country to sell the special dance shoes for zumba and luckily she in our town. Knowing how hard yesterday's classes were on my ancle, I know now why he sent home the woman without shoes. He also says he didn't want his reputation to get bad because of someone who eventualy could be saying he let her dance without shoes.. I think he was fair.

I woke up early this morning because I have a Zumba class at 11 AM. with my favorite instructor... The Brasilian guy from yesterday's classes. I'm so happy that he now offers Zumba on Saturday, too.. He said it was a way of helping the people who used to go to his Tuesday and Wedensday classes, that has now been taken off the program. I'm just so happy that I'm able to join both classes on Friday and Saturday, cause he's really talented... Even when he tried to make us dance like the monsters in thriller...

Made me think of this crazy video of the inmates dancing at a Phillipino prison..


Of course he only taught us a few slow motion steps.. He likes to have fun with us. I can tell that everything he does, he does it with a passion and I envy him for having the talent and job he does!

I love to dance, but freestyle is what I do best...

I bought new zumba shoes!

My walk Friday evening was very succesful. I was gone for 2,5 hours.. I brought a huge bag of old bread with me in case there would be any hungry ducks. But I was lucky. There were more than ducks there.. An entire Swan familiy counting mom, dad and 6 ducklings came over to have some bread. I love swans and the ducklings are so cute.

This picture should give you an idea of just how pretty the nature is around the pond nearby where I live. Of course it had to start raining when I was on my way home.. But that didn't bother me. I was happy with my accomplishment! Returning home from a long walk at 8:15 PM was just a great feeling for a Friday evening.

Saturday I decided to get up early so I could go to town before the shops close. My mission for the day was to buy proper zumba shoes and stop by the farmers market on my way.

The farmers market was rather boring. Not at all like it used to be. I wanted to buy sweetie lemons, but all they had were the red lemons.. So I didn't buy any.

The zumba shoe shop in town is new and very small. It has only been open for 1 month and already it's very popular since zumba is becoming more and more popular. No wonder. I haven't heard one person say anything negative about zumba. When I got to the shop, another woman was trying on shoes. When it was my turn, the woman who owns the shop asked me about my feet.. If I had wide or narrow feet, what size etc. Now I already knew that I have very wide feet.. But the size varies a lot for me.. Depending on the shoe, I can be either a EUR 41 or EUR 42.. Sometimes I'm in between those two. Turned out to be a 42 in these shoes. She tried to sell me purple shoes cause zumba is all about having fun and wearing fun colors. But I wanted black shoe for one reason... So it could go with any kind of pants I want to wear and being black, I could always change the color of my shoe laces depending on my mood.

Because of my wide feet, there were only 2 models for me to chose from. A shoe with a whole shoe sole and one that only had a sole on the toe part and the heel. Because of my weak ancles, I decided on the whole sole. As I walked out of the shop, I was already looking forward to testing them at home in my living room.

Since I was already spending money, I decided to go have a look at the gym clothes in the many sport shops in town. Because I will now be doing zumba more than twice a week, it would be nice with more clothes so I wouldn't have to wash all the time. I want capri pants, but they seem very expensive. Note you, I'm new in the "buy clothes to fit your activity" field.. I used to always find something to wear at home. But now that I know zumba is my new life, I've decided that it's ok to spend money on clothes etc. I ended up buying a pair of runners tights cause they were a lot cheaper. I still have huge thigs, but my selfesteem keeps getting better and I'm actualy starting to think that I look slimmer wearing tights. When I got home, I actualy found some other pants that will be more apropriate for zumba.
Zumba is all about happy colors and I love colors. So when I saw messenger bags for 25 DKR (4,3 $) in pink and lime green, I just had to buy them. And I'm glad I did. Going to zumba 4 times I week, the more organized I can get, the better. So as a test, I packed a bag for each day and all I need to do is put the shoes in the right bag! It might show up to be a terrible idea, but for now, it's a test. The bags are in the brand "Phase" and are of recycled material. They used to be a lot more expensive, so I think I made a bargain. I wasn't sure if they were big enough for my gym gear, but they actualy are. The blue bag is my regular gym bag. Since I have zumba classes 4 times this upcoming week, 3 bags isn't even enough if I want to change bag all the time. But I'm pretty sure that I will not be spending all bags. It's funny, 2 months ago, I couldn't find a nice bag with great color and now I own 3. Love it!

When I got home from a great shopping spree, I changed the shoe laces in my new zumba shoes, from black to pink since I usualy wear a pink top when I'm dancing zumba.

I just took what I had, but in the future I'll probably change these shoe laces with something more fun.

I put on the shoes and started dancing.. It felt great.. My floor was making more noise than usual. I hope the same thing won't happen at the gym tomorrow.. The woman in the shop told me I should wear the shoe out on concrete for a few minutes, and that should minimize the feeling of "new sole" - I'll see if I remember to do that tomorrow. The shoes have suede on them, so I also want to spray them before I wear them.. Just in case I need to clean them later.
This morning (Sunday), I woke up to a weightloss of 14,7kg. (32,4 lbs), which means I'm very close to my "midway goal".. I wanted to treat myself with the shoes when I hit 15kg. (33,7 lbs), so hopefuly tomorrow I will have earned my shoes!
Today has been a hot day, so I spent most of the day on my balcony. I brought the new sales catalogues and found an add reading "ZUMBA PAKKE" (zumba package).. A sport shop at the mall is now selling a package of shoe, capri pants and a fitness top. If you buy all three things, you actualy get the shoes for free. It's very tempting, I must say. Especialy now that I'm always at zumba and always in need of more tops to wear. I'll think about it and maybe go check it out.

Zumba is not suppose to be an expensive sport. You can literaly come as you are.. Only think you should make sure of, is to bring proper shoes. But zumba is also a very happy sport and because you get so happy and start to feel great, you also want to make the zumba classes more fun wearing nice and colorful clothes.. Atleast that's how I feel. Another reason for me to want to buy new clothes is.. I lost weight, I look good and I now feel comfortable showing my legs in capri pants. 4 months ago I would think of my legs as being too chubby for capri pants.
I see my passion for shooping these days as away of thanking myself for starting my new journey in my life. Therefor it is ok for me to spend money on things that makes me happy!
I'm excited to see where Zumba will take me!

(8/15/2010)

Zumba and Reggae!

wanted to make an up-date sooner, but never got around to it. I guess it's a good thing, cause it means I've been busy and had things to do for a change.
Monday they shop called me to let me know, that my new Skecher Shape Ups shoes had arived. I went to pick them up after work. I told them at the shop, that I had been wearing my old shoes almost every day cause the shape ups had shown to be very good for my weak ancles. I used to have problems with my ancles because I didn't walk probably. I would twist my ancles and sometimes even my big toe, causing me to lose balance and fall because I didn't put my feet down the right way when walking. But with the shape ups, I'm forced to put the feet down the propper way and the soft sole makes them so comftable to wear. You can definitely see how I wear down all of my shoes, when you see the picture of my old vs. new shoes.

¨

 

Tuesday I was able to buy some new shoes for Zumba. I bought a cheap pair of black sneakers. Tested them out in the shop to make sure they were soft enough to use for dancing. In zumba you move around fast and jump, you need something soft to land on.. And with my weak ancles, I know what the difference between a good and a bad sole is for my feet. I added pink shoelaces to spice them up a little and I'm happy with the result.

Tuesday night was zumba night.. It was the first time with our Columbian instructor after her 3 weeks vacation.. She started out tough and we tried hard to keep up, but it was fun as always. Thursday was also zumba night and it was a bit easier to follow the instructor this time. However, it was very hard to move around since there were so many people this time.. She then said, that they were working on making it work so that we will be using a bigger room in the future.. Cause Zumba has become so popular! No wonder.. Zumba is the most effective and fun work-out I ever tried and I always look forward to my next class.

I noticed a poster at the gym Tuesday saying that the Brazilian male instructor was signed up for new classes in August, so I made sure to sign up for all of his classes... And I mean all!! He has 2 classes in a row each time, so I'll be dancing zumba for 2 hours.. Fine by me cause I love to dance!!!

This upcoming week, I'll be going to zumba Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The following week will look the same, but I will also be there on Wednesday. I love it. I really would go to the gym every single day if I could join a zumba class.

Friday I went to watch the movie "Inception" with 2 of my friends.. I love action movies, but I must admit that in the end, it was starting to get too complicated for my brain to follow.. But all in all it was a great movie! We had lunch at "Sunset Boulevard" and I had the smallest menu. I also bought some candy to bring to the movie. I might be on a diet, but if I'm going somewhere, I allow myself to eat the same as everyone else. If your diet is too strict, I think the risk of failing and giving up, is bigger. I guess I should mention, that before heading to the movies, I tried on my favorite pants that I had bought in a smaller size after my weightloss in 2008. They didn't fit me in a while cause, well, I put on weight and my thigs grew back to my old pants again... But this Friday I was able to put on my smaller sized pants again and it was a wonderful feeling!

Thursday on my way to the gym, I saw a poster showing the program for a club in town.. And Saturday 2 reggae singers would be there. Jah Turban and Splif Click would actualy come from Copenhagen to Aalborg. I was attending my uncle and cousin't birthday party Saturday... and the Reggae show was also Saturday. But I made it work. I had bbq with the family and when they were about to have desert, I met with my friend who lived in the neighborhood and then we went to the reggae party.

It was so much fun. Finaly there was a club playing great music all night long! Usualy we can't find a club here in Aalborg that doesn't play techno or dance music.. So we made sure to enjoy the night to the max! We were there from 11 PM till 4 AM! Just like back in the days, and it was awesome. Of course we were almost twice the age of the other people in the club, but that was ok. I'm pretty sure we were the only two who actualy knew what reggae music was. Can you believe that I was actualy at a reggae festival back in 1989... I was just 13 years old. Really funny to look back on now. I don't remember the music at all, but I remember how I dressed up two of my friends so they could join me,, We wore harem like pants, long necklaces and my college jackets.. Not exactly what I would wear if I were going today. I rememer that there was a bonfire and people were having a good time.. Were people smoking ganja?? I'm pretty sure, but we were there for the music and the experience I suppose.

Here's a link to a video showing clips of Jah Turban's new songs.



He's the most talented reggae singer in Denmark if you ask me. but so is Splif Click, here's his new song "like a soldier"


I always loved music. I have a cousin who's a couple of years older than me, and she introduced me to Bob Marley. I borrowed all of her cassette tapes and made my own copies. I remeber that I also started collecting insence right about that time. I never smoked weed, marijuana, ganja or whatever you want to call it. For me it has always been about the music! I also got a really cool 3d Bob Marley poster that's still hanging on the door or my old room eventhough I moved out 14 years ago ;)

Today I've been very lazy. I guess my body decided that I needed to rest after being out all night.. So I didn't get out of bed till noon. Since then, I spent all day on the sofa. Tomorrow another busy week of work and zumba begins.

(8/08/2010)