Working on my Fitness

So I officially stopped dancing about a year ago, which left me with a serious lack of enjoyable exercise in my life. At least when I was practicing 2-3 times a week I could count on getting my blood flowing every once in a while, but now I have to make a conscious effort to get off my butt. Bleh!

My apartment complex has a gym, but it takes a lot for me to muster up the willpower to go do the elliptical for 30 minutes and then pretend like I know what I'm doing with dumbbells for 20 minutes. And then there's the whole awkward who-gets-to-control-the-TV situation. I mean, I love to watch Cash Cab while I'm working out, but does the 40 year old man on the bike next to me? Anyway, needless to say, I haven't had too much success on that front. I'll go through bursts where I'll work out nearly every day, but then I get busy/sick/bored, and, you know the drill, all of a sudden it's been two weeks and I'm spending my free time watching episodes of ANTM I've seen 800 times instead of motivating myself to exercise.

This semester I've been trying really hard to branch out and try some of the group exercise classes at Carolina. I used to do Pilates and Yoga every once in a while, but I was way intimidated to try any of the cardio classes. But I've conquered my fears and found a bunch of classes I really like! Group exercise is good for me because (a) it's at a set time so I can put it on my calendar and treat it as non-negotiable like a class or a meeting and (b) peer pressure forces me to try harder than I would if I was alone. Here are some classes I've found:

Cardio Funk and Pump: It has a silly name, and I feel silly doing it, but man am I sore the next day. It's basically a hiphop-ish dance class, but she works in some crucial cardio/strength training intervals (hello there squats, nice to see you). The teacher is really fun and the time flies by, which is rare. Who loves doing silly dances to Jai Ho? This girl.

Step Challenge: Ahh! A class with "challenge" in its name is never a good sign. I actually went to this on accident, and the first time I was super confused. What the heck is "knees corner to corner" or "around the world"? What about the V step, I step, L step, K step, etc etc? I didn't know any of the lingo - apparently I missed the memo and "challenge" is for advanced steppers who know the terminology. But it's pretty easy to pick up. Plus I feel like I'm in an 80s exercise video because I get to use one of these babies:

Cardio Kickboxing: I feel very BA in this class because I get to use all my punching/jabbing/hooking skills. Kickboxing is great because it really works your arms, which is something I struggle with. But this one incorporates more cardio, so I really work up a sweat.

Zumba: Oh Zumba, you are my love. I sure do love to shake my booty while simultaneously burning some calories. One time I took a Zumba class in the Pines, and boy that was a culture shock. I was the only person there under the age of 60 and I saw some serious gyrations coming from those grannies.

Up next on my list of classes to try: Absolution (eek) and Ballet Sculpt.