Running 5km

New achievement unlocked - running 5km! I have a love/hate relationship with running, so this was a big deal for me. I did 10 minutes of running, followed by 1 minute of walking, a total of 4 times. I hope I can continue!

Stair Challenge

I have been doing a little self-guided stair challenge at work called Pick your Peak. It encourages you to take the stairs more and count your flights of stairs, then you get entered into weekly draws for fun stuff. It really made me more conscious of taking the stairs more, even though no one was really checking on me. I started parking at the very top level of the parkade at work. It's lonely up there, sometimes.

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!

Yoga!

I have joined two yoga classes at work for this semester. One is on Mondays, run through the UBC IT department. The other is on Wednesdays, and will be offered in my unit! I applied for and received a healthy workplace grant. It's one of the things I love about UBC - there are so many opportunities to engage in a healthy workplace and lifestyle. I haven't done yoga consistently in a long time - wish me luck!

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.

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!

Tower Beach

Last week I ventured over to Trail 3 but I didn't go down to the beach. Well I went back the next day to tackle it, and wow, what a view!

The trail leads to Tower Beach, which connects with Wreck Beach, the infamous clothing optional beach. I was just on my lunch break so I kept my clothes on!

The tide was out, the sun was shining, oh boy, was it ever gorgeous!

And it was fairly quiet too. Most people are over at Wreck, where there is more sand. Here there is a lot of rocks and logs.

You can see one of the old lookout towers in this pic, now covered with graffiti.

I took a few moments to snaps some pictures and then psych myself up for the climb. I powered through, and reached the top as a sweaty, heaving mess. I forgot to count how many steps there were. It's a nice little cardio workout in the middle of the day. My calves were aching for days later!

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...

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 ;)

Staying Fit

Between Rent opening this week and some changes at work, I have been too busy for Zumba. I know, so sad!! But my FitBit is keeping me fit. I try to get in 10,000 steps, and it helps when I'm in the theatre walking up and down the aisles in the audience, checking on lights and stuff.

I also get a bit of help from my work mate, who leaves me treats on my desk. This morning I got a lovely breakfast treat, made with chia seeds, hemps seeds, maple syrup, cocoa powered, milk and coconut flakes. It was so healthy, filling and DELICIOUS!

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.

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!

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!

Zumba!

I went to my first Zumba class this weekend and guess what? It was awesome! The teacher had a little hiccup with her music at the beginning of class, but once it got going, it was so great. It didn't feel like work at all but man, did I work up a sweat. And look at the beautiful studio where class was:

It was a small class size too, so very personal attention. The other times that they offer class are not the best for me, but I will certainly try and go again.