Do the HUSTLE!

Last week I went to the gym and noticed that there was a new schedule for the group classes starting next week. One of the new classes on there was Hustle. I had seen it on a schedule in St. Louis and it sounded like fun, but there were no classes in KC. So when I saw that it would be Wednesdays at 7:30 I was super excited. Wednesdays are perfect for classes for me since Chris works until 9:30 so I tend to get bored and fall asleep on the couch at 9.

Today I was in a super bad mood and just stressed. When I got home I was seriously considering ordering Chinese for dinner and calling it a night. I laid around a while and yelled at the cat for complaining at me to let her in the bedroom. Then I decided that instead of going to the gym, I'd at least go down to the fitness center at my apartment and do something. About 15 minutes in, I decided that was boring and I was going to go to the gym after all to try out the class I'd been thinking about all week. I had a quick dinner and headed over when it was time.

I'm so glad I did! Not only was it fun, but it totally got me out of the funk I've been in all day. I burned 500 calories and sweated a ton. I will definitely be going back. For those of you that don't know what Hustle is, it's a hip hop cardio dance class. So kind of like Zumba, but instead of latin dance moves, it's hip hop. Today it was mostly the same song, but the routine is broken down into "blocks." By the end of the class you've learned a whole routine. It kind of reminds me of learning dances when I was at cheerleading camp, which I always liked even though I wasn't a great dancer. But the upside of today's class? It was the first one, so everybody was new!

Can't wait until next Wednesday!

Progress

Well, I finally have been making progress after being on a weight loss plateau for months. I started doing a weight loss program through work. I didn't really know what it would be when I started. Basically, you eat only when you're hungry, which for most people is supposedly 1-2 times a day. You also are supposed to time yourself when eating by eating for 10 minutes, taking a 5 minute break, and then eating for another minimum of 10 minutes, and stop when you're comfortable. You're not supposed to eat when you first get up, but instead you drink watered down orange juice and wait to be hungry. The idea of that is that most people are dehydrated when they wake up and confuse it with hunger.

So far I've lost a little over 5 pounds in the last 5 weeks on it. I don't know if it's the actual diet, or the fact that I've been better about exercising 3-4 times a week, or a combination of both. Some of the principles of the program are hard for me to follow though. First of all, I generally am hungry 3 times a day, including when I first wake up. I have waited a few days, but usually I need to eat within an hour or an hour and a half after waking up. So I end up taking my breakfast with me to work. Another problem is that I don't have a 25 minute lunch break. I get 20 minutes for lunch, the same as the student I see during that time. If I don't eat during that time, I don't get a break until after 3:00. It's kind of hard to follow these things if I can't just tell my student, "I'm sorry, I'm at a level 3 hunger right now and I need to stop what I'm doing and eat." A lot of the stuff makes sense, but it doesn't fit with my lifestyle. Counting calories works well for me. I can't quit the program though because if I don't finish I have to pay the district $100. So I'll stick with it. At least I'm losing weight. So far I've lost 40 pounds since last year! I didn't start out measuring so I don't know how many inches I've lost. I do know that I started out wearing a 16 and now I wear anywhere from an 8 to a 12 (only in petites). So that definitely tells me I'm moving in the right direction. I'm a little behind in reaching my total goal, but sickness over the winter held me back. But now I'm back on track and looking forward to losing this last 20 pounds!