Zumba

I have been feeling blah about Zumba since a few of my favourite teachers moved away. I never thought I would feel blah about Zumba! So I dragged myself to a class last week and...

The teacher forgot her music and had to go home to get it. The class started about 25 minutes late, and I had to leave after about a 40-minute work out. BLAH!

Staying fit

I haven't made a lot of time for Zumba lately. Also, three of my favourite teachers have either moved away or changed teaching locations! But I got some new shoes, and hopefully they will inspire me to go to class more regularly. I managed to get to a class last week, and it was so sweaty and good!

Here's a picture of a yummy yogurt parfait, to help me eat better when I can't get to class.

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Fitbit Charge HR

I haven't posted about my fitbit in awhile, not since last summer. I admit, I have fallen off the fitness and Zumba train lately, mostly because I've been so busy with shows and work and life! But I treated myself to an after-Christmas present - a new Fitbit Charge HR. It has a heart rate monitor, it's very cool! I went for a quick run last weekend to test it out and it was great! I stayed in my cardio zone without pushing myself to the extreme. My legs are feeling it though, oy. Hopefully this will get me back on the fitness train.

Vote for Zumba

It's elections dat in Canada! This photo has nothing to do with elections, but it caught my eye on the way to the polls. Someone spent a lot of time organizing these napkins, so here is a nice picture for you!

I voted last week, at the advance polls. My station was at one the nearest community centre. And look - it's in the room that I usually do Zumba in. Vote, people!

Back to Zumba

I took my first Zumba class over a year ago! It has been an amazing year, filled with Zumba :) And guess what - I lost 30 pounds! It was pretty easy to do, after I found something I loved. The eating better just fell into place after all the cardio I was doing.

But between rehearsals and shows and work, I haven't had much time for Zumba. Plus the schedules changes every few months, one of my teachers didn't offer a summer class, and some of the regular times don't work for me anymore. So I haven't gone to a Zumba class in over 2 months!! The good news is that I've managed to keep the weight down. It must be from the cardio workout I get on stage during the show.

Since I'm on vacation this week, I managed to catch a daytime class yesterday. I'm back to Zumba, baby! And it's as fun as always!

Lonely shoe

Spotted outside the community centre on my way home from Zumba. One lonely little girl's shoe.

Oh and also, I went to Zumba for the first time in almost a month. We had a sub, she kicked our butts. It was awesome!!

Zumba Toning

Last week I tried a new zumba class at a place I had never been to before. It's a bit far from my house, but I'll pretty much go anywhere for zumba.

It was a zumba toning class! You hold these maraca-like sticks. The actual sticks seemed pretty light, so I used the 2-pound weights. Man, they sure do get heavy towards the end of the class! It was nice to switch it up a bit, I'll definitely be back.

Ubc Zumba

Sometimes I just love where I work! UBC offered a free zumba class this week and of course, I rushed to sign up. It was a lot of fun, very sweaty, as usual. Just like this dance bootcamp class I took, it was not nice to come back to my desk all sweaty. But I got a good workout in during the middle of the day, so I was happy.

Sometimes it's not so great to work at UBC, like when they are doing construction all over campus - which is all the time.

Just look at this pit! It's going to be a beautiful new Rec Centre…someday...

Zumba ouch

I went back to Zumba for the first time after a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks that was filled with eating and drinking and more eating. It was good but... ouch!

Ring Size

All the zumba I've been doing has paid off, I'm losing weight and feeling good! But one con - my wedding rings, which have always been a wee bit loose, are now really, really loose. One day I lost them in the bottom of my purse when I was trying to fish out my keys. It freaked me out about losing them all together, so they've sat in the bathroom for the last few months.

Well I finally decided to go and have them sized. They fit perfect now!

And it looks especially nice with the manicure I got last week ;)

Aquafit

Last weekend I tried aquafit for the first time! Now you know I love Zumba, but my sisters have been going to aquafit classes and I thought I would join them. It was a nice, low-impact change and boy, is it nice being in the water. I'll definitely go again :)

Dance bootcamp

I cheated on Zumba! Last week, the UBC rec centre did a bunch of free trial classes. I found one that interested me called Dance Bootcamp. It was intense! The instructor was super good and full of energy. It was only a 45 minute class, and we focused on salsa and swing, but I got a GOOD workout. The session starts this week, I'm not sure if I will sign up because it's right in the middle of the day and it was not very fun to go back to my desk all sweaty and gross. But it was a really great class - maybe I'll try and drop in over the course of the term.

More - you guessed it - Zumba!

I did some Zumba on the weekend. Shocking, I know! I do so love Zumba. I signed up for a Saturday morning class that goes until the end of October. I love the nice big room at this community centre - plus the teacher is super fun!

I also signed up for a Social Shopper deal some time ago. It's through a place called Danza Fitness. They run classes out of a dance studio called Boogaloo. It's nice and close to my house. They offer classes 3 times a week, but I can usually only make the Sunday class because of my busy weekly schedule. It's so hot and small in their studio, and the classes are always really, really full. It's great that it's popular, but it's not so fun being packed in with a bunch of sweaty people. The instructors are amazing though, I sweat like crazy in these classes!

Spin, Life, and back to school

Today is the first day of school! Well actually at UBC no classes are in session because we have Imagine Day where students go around and check out subjects that they might be interested in majoring in. Nevertheless, this place is hopping. Lots of students are back on campus and the place is certainly not as quiet as it was during the summer months. Oh how I love back to school!

To "celebrate" September (ha!), I took a spin class last night with my sister. Now you know I've been crazy for Zumba and have tried out classes all over the city. But my sister is a runner and spinner, and she's been trying to drag me to a spin class for months now. I finally tried one out. It was TOUGH but good. And oh boy, am I sore. I think I kept up pretty well for my first class. I will have to go again, now that I know what to expect. It's a great workout, but I still love my Zumba classes.

It's back to school for this guy too. He gets an extra day off since his school starts tomorrow. I said, "Noah, show me your best 'I'm going into Grade 3' pose!" And here's what he came up with. Pretty cool, huh!

Zumba at the Sails

Yesterday I hoped on the Canada Line after work and headed down to Canada Place. Zumba Vancouver is doing a free outdoor class there Monday nights, all summer. I hadn't been able to make it until this week.

It was gorgeous out - this little friend came to say hello to me.

There were a lot of people there when I arrived...

and a lot more showed up! It was hot, sweaty, and fun. There were 3 teachers and boy, oh boy, did I sweat. It was a great experience, but perhaps a little too crowded for me.

They had a sponsor on site, giving away free Coconut Water! I've never tried it before and guess what - I don't like it, lol! Too sweet for me. But I will keep it in the fridge because it'll be perfect in a smoothie!

Zumba through the woods

You know I'm crazy for Zumba, right? Well I have been going to classes all over the city and yesterday I tried a class at a new community centre.

This is Renfrew CC - I didn't know you had to walk through the woods to get to there! You pass a little bridge and a stream. It was so lovely!

Unfortunately the teacher had a flat tire and couldn't make the class. But get this - one of the ladies in the class was a Zumba instructor! So she plugged in her iPod and taught the class! She only had 6 songs but we did a warm up and cool down, and it was still a great 40-minute workout. Zumba love!

Lookie who...

Look who joined me for Zumba last night: my Pa! It was SUPER hot in the room so we were all sweating right away. But we made it, and he did great, for a first timer. The teacher said to him, "You must be a dancer!"

Zumba at the Y

I got a free 2-week membership at the YMCA near my house! It's a family centre, so there's lots of teens and kids, especially because of summer and out-of-school camps.

I've been a couple of times now, both for Zumba class (surprise, surprise). Here's a shot of a few ladies warming up in the big gym. The place was PACKED in a few minutes, they are certainly not at a loss for participants. As always, I had a great time at Zumba!

Crazy for Zumba

I'm still on the Zumba train - I'm crazy for Zumba! They had a few free trial classes at some community centres in the city, so I went to many classes last week. I pulled my neck a bit in one class but I think it will settle down now - so I can return to Zumba! Here's the lovely classroom at Hilcrest just before our class. 

Fitbit Flex

Earlier this month when we were in New York, we walked everywhere. I started wondering how many steps we walked in the 5 days we were there. So my hubby bought me a Fitbit Flex, which I love! You wear it on your wrist and it tells you how many steps you've taken and how many km you've walked. It syncs easily on my iPhone to other apps, like myfitnesspal. I enter in what I eat there and my Fitbit tells me how many calories I've burned. It's a great way to watch my weight, but I'm more concerned about being active. On days when I do Zumba I burn so many calories I can have another meal! It also tracks your sleep and lets you know how many times you were restful during the night. I've been trying to get more hours of sleep, now that my Fitbit is making me aware of how little I sleep. I highly recommend the Fitbit Flex, I just love mine!