Pole Dancing Workout... Yes, that is what this is titled.

As I explained in my post about Zumba class, I am looking for different things that are fun to add to my workout regimen.  One day a couple of weeks ago there was a Living Social deal for pole dancing in our area.  Don’t judge me, but I thought it might be fun.  I talked my best friend into this so that we could go on this epic adventure together!

The day finally comes for us to go to our pole dancing class!  I have shared with my family and friends about this exceptional opportunity that had presented itself and they all thought it was really crazy and we even got some comments about job training.  We are not really familiar with the area of town that we are driving to, but we just drive anyways.  We come to the shopping center that the studio is located in and we both just gazed while noticing a hot pink, lavish, most ghetto fabulous extra long vehicle with huge chrome rims on it.  We start giggling as we speed walk to the door of the studio and scoot inside.  A very friendly voluptuous woman approaches us and checks us in.  We take off our tennis shoes because apparently you don’t wear tennis shoes to pole dance, just a little FYI.  When you are a pole dance beginner you come barefoot, but they welcome you to wear high heels as you become more advanced. 

My friend and I claim our poles like we are saving our seat for a concert.  The lovely instructor is very relaxed and fun as she explains the specific and sequenced arrangement that we will be learning in the world of pole dancing.  Oh Joy.  I could already feel my palms getting sweaty as she started telling us to find our inner sexy. 

She started to go through a series of the key foundational movements of pole dancing and I realized that I should look at this as a challenge.  There is nothing dirty or wrong with what I am doing.  I am not training for a job, once I gave myself a pep talk I felt much more confident and put more effort into it.  This lady did her job well and I personally found it very amusing that I was trying to copy her! The instructor taught us everything from sensual floor work to walking, spinning, and endless combinations of these things together.

The instructor was very creative and fun. I would walk around the pole way too fast and when I would spin I would get dizzy and then knock myself into the metal pole, it was far from sexy.  The other ladies in the class were a lot of fun though and we enjoyed laughing at each other. 

When we left, I felt my arms shaking but I figured it was just the adrenaline pumping through my veins.  The next morning I could barely move my arms!  They were so sore!  This is coming from someone who lifts good amounts of weights!  I was so shocked at this discovery!  I can see how these types of classes can help you meet your fitness goals, and help with the strengthening and toning of your body.  I also discovered bruises on my hips and my left leg from running into the pole- oops.  I am all about learning, discovering, challenging yourself in new ways, and embarking on a healthy, life-changing journey.  That is what this adventure was about for me.  When I told people I was going to take this fitness class, I got some “you so crazy” looks.  At the end of the day, God wants you to feel good about yourself.  He is passionate, wild, and fanatical about you!  Same workouts every single day get very boring and I don’t think God has a problem when I wanted to do something that was a little out of the box.  You never know the relationships that may come from this that can be God glorifying. 

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” –Philippians 4:13

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

This week I have been digging deeply into what I consider to be my ‘life verse’.  

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”      1 Corinthians 6:19-20

When I started leaning on Christ for strength to achieve the unthinkable weight loss goals, He gave me this Bible verse.  Since then, I have kept it held tightly very close to my heart.  It reminds me that it is not about me.  So when I am running and I am getting tired and want to quit before I should or I am staring that Reese cup down as my mouth is lusting over its milk chocolate after I have already had a couple… when I am tempted, I think of this verse.

What does this verse say?  It states that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit lives in you.  It states that we have all received the gift of the Holy Spirit in us from God.  It states that you were bought at a price- when Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and shed His blood for you.  It tells us to honor God with your temple.  

I see so many spiritual truths in this verse!  Is there a sin I need to confess after reading this verse? UM…YEAH!  A few actually for myself: gluttony, laziness, lack of control, and finding strength in myself instead of asking God for it. 

God gives us a promise in this verse.  He promises that he has given us our body to serve as a temple for the Holy Spirit, who is in us! I don’t know about you, but after realizing that this is a gift that God has given us, it makes me WANT to consider God when making choices about my body.  It makes me want to take positive actions towards my temple such as eating clean, exercising, controlling substances that are put into my body, and taking care of my appearance.  This is where I find the motivation to pray for control and motivation to follow through.  

Food for thought- some questions that you can think about and pray over…

How do we apply this to our lives?

How should you plan to take control of your health?

What sins do we need to confess and why?

What are your personal health goals? What actions will you take to achieve them?  Can you rely on the strength of Christ to do this instead of your own?

How do you honor God with your body now and do you think it should change?

ZUMBA

So, when I first started working out I worked out with a personal trainer.  Well, let’s be honest- I did not know the first thing about lifting weights.  My husband and I joined a gym about 9 months after I had my gastric bypass surgery and had lost 110 pounds through the surgery which affected my diet and running after I started the couch to 5K program.  So we join the gym and they set us up on a circuit that went through 7-12 weight machines to do a full body workout.  I stuck with that for about 3 months and then my body was getting used to it.  So I got a trainer.  She was, and still is, awesome!  Her name is Laura and she is amazing!  Out of everybody, she was, and still is, probably my biggest cheerleader.  She has seen me experience firsthand all the hard work that I have put into my body.  Blood. Sweat. Tears. And Jesus. No Joke.  All good things must come to an end, or at least pause every now and then.  My husband and I moved into a different city in May and because of distance and money I stopped my personal training that I have been engaged in for about 2 years.  This was very sad for me, because when you spend that much time with a person that is training you they become your friend as well.  So, here we are in a new city and going to a new gym.  Might as well try something new, right? During the past 2 years I have tried out this fitness class called Zumba 3 different times with 3 different instructors.  Those times that I tried it, I was not impressed in the least.  I could never keep up and it was all this crazy music.  A couple of times the rooms were so full I ended up backed into the wall and dancing on the wall- which if you are getting a visual, you know that isn’t pretty!  I talked my best friend into joining the gym we were members of so that we could work out together.  She talked me into trying Zumba again… Have you ever taken a Zumba class?  Zumba Fitness^® is the simply Latin-like dance moves that are a fitness program.  Zumba mixes together burning hot global music and infectious steps to structure a "fitness-party" that is absolutely addictive. 
LOVED it.  I looked like a fool dancing while I watched myself attempt to “pump it” in the mirror but I loved it.  I really liked the instructor, she would just start this high pitched squeal while she would “pump it” and it I just found it highly amusing.  I feel the need to describe to the ones of you that don’t know what “pumping it” is.  You stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, hold your arms up but bent so your fists are knuckle to knuckle (without touching) in front of your chest, and then you thrust your bottom and top areas in a squeezing kind of way to the beat of the music.  Sounds awful, but it is highly amusing. The instructor had some crazy music but she also had a good mixture of songs that I knew so I could sing along to them while I made a huge fool out of myself.  Interesting, I KNOW!
Ladies… I believe you should know my rules for Zumba (that apply to me):

1.      Wear a baggy shirt.  Oh goodness, I had on a tight wifebeater type tank top and when I was “pumping it”, things were shaking that should NOT have been shaking.  It was bad… I found rolls I didn’t know existed!

2.      Wear 2 bras… because the things that shake that I implied about above happened in that area as well! 

3.      Get in the back of the room, but make sure you can still see the instructor.  Nobody wanted to be behind me, okay?! You did not want to see that pumping going on because I thought I was so sexy and I was busy finding my inner sexy and “pumping it” and trust me, I did the world a favor.  Also, it is fun to do some people watching in the back of the room.  I just didn’t want to be the one that people were watching.

4.      DO NOT make eye contact with anybody.  Awkward! 

Last night I came home from Zumba all pumped up because I think I am getting good at it after 4 classes and I am determined to teach a class now.  I am going to try to get certified in teaching Zumba now… Stay tuned!!!

First Post.

The first post.  Wowzers.  You can read a short introduction about me by reading my profile.  Let me tell you why I am going to write this blog, I think that will make for an amazing first blog post.  Good start anyways, hopefully.  I lost A LOT of weight.  A LOT.  Like a whole person.  There is no way I could have done that, even with the surgery, in the amount of time that it took me.  It was all Jesus and I knowthat sounds crazy.  I know it does, because it still sounds crazy to me sometimes.  So, I think Jesus wants me to share this story and that is why he gave me this journey.  I went to a Dot Mom conference in Birmingham, AL last September to meet Angela Thomas and hear her speak because I had just read an older book that she had written and it changed the way I viewed my relationship with God and myself.  So, while I am there I share with another mom a little bit about my weight loss journey.  She said, “You are so selfish!”…  I gave her the craziest look like ‘Excuse me?  Come again?’ She saw the look of ‘oh my goodness gracious’ in my eyes and clarified by saying, “You are selfish if you do not share this story that God has given you with other women.  It is so inspirational.”  My original feelings about this statement were to laugh out loud and possibly end up crying due to laughing so hard.  I am not inspirational.  That statement is correct, but in the days after that event I heard God confirming to me that what He did in my life would be found inspirational to other people and I could inspire them to search for Him to gain perseverance.  It still boggles my mind that this is the path He has been leading me down.  So, I am in the process of writing a book about how I found motivation and used the strength of Jesus Christ to reach my weight loss goals instead of using my own strength.  My future publishers have told me that I need to write a blog and start telling the world about this… so here I am!  This blog is not going to have much to do with my journey of losing the majority of my weight, but my every day struggles to stay strong, lose the last bit of my weight, and not find my satisfaction in the world but in Him.  I invite you to laugh and cry with me while I blog about these adventures. 

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.” 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20