Out of My Comfort Zone

Zumba is on the docket again for tonight--I went to the first class on Wednesday evening, and felt pretty good about it.  It was definitely a more basic class than my friend's class I attended last week, but in a way, that was good because I got the hang of everything really quickly and didn't feel like such an awkward dork!  :)  The instructor of the class on Wednesday was enthusiastic and the class was pretty fun--the best part about it for me was the lanky guy who came in late, stood near me, and shook everything he had to shake like he didn't have a care in the world!  It was pretty funny, and he really made it fun--I sure hope he comes back every week.  The other students (and there weren't many--maybe 15 of us?) ran the gamut from skinny girls just looking to stay active and who clearly had taken Zumba classes before, to folks like me who are there to try to get healthier and lose some weight...and have very little clue what we are doing!  There was a lot of laughing from some of the ladies when they just couldn't figure out what the heck the instructor was doing.  I don't really know how the classes here will work--will I have the same instructor tonight?  Will it be the same songs and moves over and over again?  If it is the same every class, will I get bored or will I relish the routine?  I guess time will tell, but I'm pretty happy that I've taken this step toward a more regular exercise schedule.  Special mention goes to my husband, who is cutting his work day shorter to get home and hang out with the kids (so close to dinner, no less) so that I can make these classes work--thank you, honey!

In order to help me keep track of this Challenge, I finally bought a new scale for our house--after years of resisting buying a good scale.  Our old one is not digital--it's one of the ones with the dial on the bottom that you move a little to the right or left to get the arrow pointing at the zero before you step on.  I never have owned my own scale--our old one is a leftover from Dan's bachelor days, and I honestly don't really know why he had a scale...but it's mostly been collecting dust in our bathroom for the last 8 years.  I hate it--I don't think it's very accurate, and I think that dial gives me too much power.  Instead of zeroing it out, I once turned that little dial until the arrow pointed 40 pounds lighter than 0 and stepped on, just to see what weighing in at 120 pounds feels like...yeah, it didn't give me the excitement I was hoping for, since obviously I knew I was making the scale lie to me!  After faking out that old scale, I always had trouble believing what it told me, because I knew I could manipulate it so easily.  When I started this Challenge, I decided I needed to bite the bullet and ordered a new digital scale--weighing myself at my parents' house isn't exactly feasible in the long-term.  Part of my reticence with having a good scale in the house is that I don't want to become obsessed with every ounce and weigh myself constantly--I don't think that's healthy (or accurate--weight fluctuates throughout the day for various reasons, so weighing at a consistent time and not getting sucked into the ups and downs of each day is important), and that's not who I want to be.  I'm going to try to keep to once-a-week weight checks and not get crazy about it...we'll see how it goes.  I got the new scale set up in our bathroom last night, and will resist the temptation to step on it again until Sunday!

this is pretty much how I feel about scales!

 
I wanted to talk a little bit about the TV workout I did this past Sunday--I have Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred DVD and obviously my treadmill and elliptical in the garage, but I was looking for something different to change things up a bit.  I discovered that our cable offers a few OnDemand workout shows, so I looked through them for a few days before I decided on Sunday to just try one out.  The one I chose was called "Sweat Sexy Workout" (thank you for that, Verizon FIOS...)--there weren't many options available unless you're a senior or working with an ankle injury (so randomly specific!), so I thought that one offered the most promise for a good workout for me despite the horrendous name.  I invited Dan to work out with me, and he was laughing so hard just during the warm up that I told him to take a hike--how am I supposed to be able to concentrate on working out and sweating in a sexy manner when my husband can't stop laughing?  It was okay with me for him to go work out on his own, though--the girl teaching the workout was admittedly sexy and ridiculously fit, so I was regretting asking him to watch her shake her stuff for an hour anyway.  Dan went for a run, and I kept trying to sweat sexy--such a darn oxymoron!  Apparently I'm not sexy in my every day life, because I was terribly awkward just trying to copy that skinny girl rolling her hips all over the place (not my forte!), and I hobbled around extremely sore for three days afterward.  I was pretty surprised I was able to move at all during Zumba on Wednesday night, because I was still hurting from that silly workout!

I was me, and it wasn't sexy

I think changing things up has been good for me--I'm getting out of my comfort zone with a lot of things lately, and that's exactly what The Good Housewife Project is all about.  I just need to figure out how to fire on all cylinders better than I have been--sure, I've been getting done what needs to get done, but sometimes just barely, and cooking has pretty much gone to the back burner (or no burner at all, I should say) again.  I just can't figure out how to cram it all in, but I'm hopeful that I'll get the hang of this new attempt at life sooner or later.  I'll never be one of those housewives who seemingly does it all and still has time to whip up a 4-course meal every night, but I'm not sure those ladies exist anyway.  I'm not aiming for perfect--I'm aiming for perfect for me and my family, and there's a pretty big difference.