I like to move it, move it!

Now that I've had a taste, I may be insatiable! I like to move! I was made to move! I love to use my body!

When I signed up for college I decided that I would take at least one exercise class every semester. First was belly-dancing, then cardio fitness, and now a repeat of cardio fitness and a flexibility class too. It was a little intimidating at first; it's been a long time since I've exercised every day.

When I got married dance lessons became a thing of the past—I had other things to do. Then I had lots of kids, and Bruce went to school, and I still had other things to do—lots of other things. And I'm not the least unhappy about taking care of those other things.

But I have noticed, over the years, that my legs get super tired with all the standing around, cooking, cleaning, and especially doing dishes. (Or maybe especially doing laundry. Laundry is gruelling!) I got really tight in the calves and the hamstrings. And then there's the post-baby belly. . . So getting into belly dance, or cardio fitness was a little intimidating, and took some work.

But guess what? Last semester I was running about 120 strides per minute at my peak; this semester I am up to 160 strides per minute and it's not killing me or leaving me totally breathless or anything! I still get shin-splints, so I mostly work on the elliptical machine. But I am moving! And I find that the more I move, the more I want to.

Even better is my flexibility class. My straddle is pathetic—maybe about 120-degrees. But guess what? I can put my chest on the floor when I'm sitting in a straddle—and not just beause I'm top-heavy. And I can sit down with my legs straight out in front of me and grab my feet—flexed or pointed—and lay my chest on my legs! And it feels sooooo good! Even now, when my legs are so stiff and sore from being stretched first thing this morning, it feels great!  I hadn't entirely realized how much I've missed "working out."

Now a big, bonus, side-effect to this would be if I were losing weight too. Or at least decreasing body-fat-mass and increasing lean-muscle-mass. But for now I'm just excited to be moving again. Yay!!