Zumba!

My cousin Kristy just mentioned on Facebook that she was watching Dirty Dancing and now I'm going to have to put it on. The mention of that movie to me has the same effect as if someone were to yawn around me. I curse her...but in the best way possible because she's the cutest.

I went to Wegman's today to reload on food because I've been eating grapes and green beans like it's my job and was extremely disappointed to find out that they did not have BBQ flavored Soy Nuts. I got the sea salt ones but they just don't taste the same, so sad :( HOWEVER! They were able to redeem themselves when I found this little gem on the way to the yogurt:

Yes kids, that there is butter shaped like a sheep. Amazing.

I never eat real butter because I don't like it (breaks my mother's heart, I swear) but this is sheep shaped! Come on! That is hands down one of the most awesome things I have ever seen even though sheep kind of freak me out (they have horizontal pupils and it's just too much for me). So of course I bought it and it's hanging out in my fridge until I take it to my mom's as her Easter gift. She'd better appreciate it too, that's all I'm gonna say because seriously, sheep butter? Brilliant.

As a side note, most people don't know this but I call my mother Helga and I have since I was 13. Why I do didn't start out for nice reasons but now it's a term of endearment. So in the future if I slip and talk about Helgs then you know that's mi madre.



I took today off from running in order to go to Zumba. And by "in order to go to Zumba" I mean "sleep past 6am". If I run too late in the morning it doesn't go well and I wanted to get some extra sleep to try and fend off the migraine that's been threatening for 3 days. It didn't work because the migraine still hit with a vengeance but I still went to Zumba tonight. I hadn't been in a few weeks and I already hurt which is good, it will force me to not run tomorrow and I need not to because I need to rest before my long run Saturday.

I started going to Zumba a couple of months ago on a whim after I saw a deal on Living Social for 10 classes for $25 at a local place that's just for Zumba. It's in a mall, actually, which is interesting when I walk out a sweaty mess and panting heavily but I don't care. Tonight a family of five just opened the curtains that close the front of the studio off to the rest of the mall and just stood there watching us so now I know what it would feel like to be in an aquarium. Anyway, at the beginning I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it but I really like it. It's kind of the same thing as I do in my bedroom listening to music but more organized and with more people and not free. So there's that.

If you're a woman who is shy about working out in front of others than Zumba is for you. I have seen a guy or two there on occasion but it's usually all women of all shapes, sizes and skill levels. You honestly don't have to worry about getting the moves down because the point is to just keep moving at all times no matter what you do.  I was worried about it at first but after the first few times it gets a lot easier. There were two older ladies next to me tonight that were just dancing and having a grand time and doing their own things while singing along to the songs and whooping it up. It was pretty great and that's what it's all about.

I'm going to break some people hearts here but: on average you burn 100 calories a mile running. Yes, that's "it". I actually burn less because I am conditioned to it and some people burn more but it averages out to 100. That's not to say that you have to do 9 miles a day to lose weight because I sure didn't to begin with but if you are looking for a real calorie burner then running isn't it until you're into high mileage. However Zumba can have you burning 600-800 calories in one hour which is about what I would burn running in an hour. I'll tell you this though, an hour of Zumba is a lot easier than running for an hour which is not to say it's easy. It's just different. I am not a person who sweats a lot when I run but I sweat buckets with Zumba. Aren't you glad you know that? I know you are.

My point is: give it a shot. Try it out. Don't be shy, there's no reason be. If you're a cardio junkie like me then it's enough to keep you happy. And if you're not you'll be burning calories without even realizing it's happening.

Also, it gives you a reason to get cute Zumba shoes which are WAY fancier than running shoes.