Day 10, 256 to go - What does it mean to be a fitness blogger?

Sorry I haven't been around much for the last few days but I've been busy living my life...and life is really good. Between my last post and now, I ticked off everything on my life from Friday and then added a few extras, too. Basically an incredibly productive weekend. Yesterday was good, too, and ended on a high note with my yoga class followed by dinner (Chicken Creole entree with a huge pile of green beans and 2 cups of corn...yum) then a pre-bedtime snack (Chicken Soup with Chocolate Pudding) and I was out like a light before I'd even posted an update.

I've been giving some thought to what it means to be a "fitness blogger" and whether I could ever do that. I mean, I've written about my weight loss before (some would say "ad nauseam") but weight loss and fitness are definitely not synonymous, especially for me. Whereas formerly my only motivation was losing weight so that I could feel better about myself, now I'm actually working to feel better, period. Yes, the weight loss will help with that but only because it will shrink the amount of excess fat and skin my poor skeleton has got to carry around plus improve my blood sugar (I'm diabetic) which gives me more energy. So really, this isn't as much about weight loss as it is building habits that will help me build the healthy life that I want. But how can I write about that in a way that is interesting and doesn't just degenerate into a laundry list of what I ate and how many minutes I walked?

Anyone who's been reading here for awhile knows that I'm really self conscious about exercising in front of people...really. It's not just now that I'm fat, either, because I've always hated exercise and more so when I have to do it in public. I'm not graceful and I sweat a lot and I have this stomach that sticks out, and surely people will just laugh if they see me flailing about while they're all doing everything perfectly. Except that I'm sort of coming around to a couple of realizations: 1. When people are exercising, they're generally concentrating on what they're doing and not everyone else, and, 2. I don't really care what people are thinking when they're looking at me because I'm not doing this for them, I'm doing it for me. So I need to burn 2,000 calories a week as part of my diet plan and that roughly translates to 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I can definitely walk all of that but it's boring. I was hoping to use water aerobics two nights a week but really didn't like the instructor, but what if I did something a little more daring and tried out some classes where I'm not hidden in the water?

Here's what I'm thinking: try out a different class for two weeks and write about how it goes? For instance, there's a Cardio Polynesian Dance class at 5:30 pm Thursdays at the Y...that sounds like it might be interesting. Or Rise and Shine Total Body Workout from 6:00 to 7:00 daily (cardio on MWF, strength on TTh). Or Cardio Karate at 7:00 pm on Thursday. I'd have something to write about and you'd all get to find out what exactly goes on in a class called Zumba. What do you think? And, perhaps more importantly, which class should I try first? (Leave your thoughts in the comments, please!)

Oh, and I weighed in on Sunday: 4.2 pounds gone forever. It's a start.

Comments

gingersnapper said…
Oh Denise! EVERYbody sweats and flails and looks like an idiot, except for that one perfect girl in the front with a ponytail, and we all know she's a TOTAL HO, so it doesn't matter.

As far as which class, that is just so personal a choice I can't give useful advice. If it was me, I would like to try 1. Cardio Flex and Balance, 2. Body Sculpting, 3. Cardio Mix/Cardio Karate. I wouldn't choose anything with dance or step because I am completely unable to follow choreographed moves of any sort, so Polynesian and Zumba and all that stuff is right out.

I can't remember if it was you or Debbi I was recommending Netflix exercise DVDs to, so excuse my redundancy - anyway, that's a great way to try something out in the privacy of your own home.
lisah said…
Yeah for you 4.2 pounds gone!!! Polynesian Dance sounds like great fun, I have no sense of rhythm what so ever but always have a great time in dance classes. Keep up the good work and thanks for the motivation!
Anonymous said…
I don't do classes, either, being extremely uncoordinated (I'm trying pilates right now with a trainer, ALONE).
Netflix is a great idea, too!
I have comcast and there is an On Demand channel called Exercise TV and a ton of workouts to do at home. Alone!
Great first week!!
Melissa
Anonymous said…
Oh, I didn't answer your question!
I'd try the walk club, I think.
Seems reasonable to me.

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