Update: Bikini Challenge

This is me about a month into the bikini challenge. Picture taken last night.

Sorry I missed yesterday. This week has been crazy busy. Between standardized testing at work, class, meetings, teaching classes after school, trainings, etc, there hasn't been much time to write. I've been doing pretty well working out though.

Monday night I went to the gym, did 10 min on the elliptical, upper body pump, and 30 minutes on the treadmill. It was awesome because I worked out with one of my friends who I used to go to to the gym with, until she hurt herself. She needs a nickname too...how about O.G. (not original gangsta, lol...original gym buddy)?

Anyway, now she's feeling waaaaayyyy better. We did her routine on the treadmill, which was honestly a lot harder than I imagined. I realized that jogging is soooooo much easier than speedwalking, which was the foundation of her routine. My calves were burning by the time I got off that thing. She tried to show me the benefits of stretching (which I rarely do, because when I bend my head, I get dizzy), but I had to run out because my parking was about to expire.

Yesterday was my one free afternoon, so I used that to my advantage. I hit the gym for an early Zumba class, and was planning on doing the "Six Pack Attack" class immediately afterwards, but decided against it. I'm still somewhat self-conscious when it comes to group exercise. I really HATE being singled out, which instructors seem to love to do. It could be all in my head, but I hate feeling incompetent and in need of individualized attention. When instructors do turn their attention on me, I get embarrassed, and at that point, I usually walk out.

That's why I loved kazaxe, and stuck to it. In kaza, you have like 200+ people all dancing at once, so you get kinda lost in the crowd. Nobody makes you feel like an idiot. Plus the instructor wouldn't do that, even in a smaller class size. She's very supportive of people of all skill levels, and even teaches a basic steps workshop from time to time. Then when you start getting good, she might pull you up on stage from time to time to be one of the background dancers. That kind of attention I don't mind :)

Anyway, back to Six Pack Attack. I tend to shy away from the unknown, because I hate to fail. If I know I'm going to fail, I feel more at ease when there are other people at or near my level. But these folks looked RIPPED, so I decided to work out on my own instead. I did about 135 crunches on this strange machine at the gym (45 straight up and 45 on each side), and worked my legs.

By the time I got to Carol's Zumba class, I was exhausted. I did alright at the beginning, but by the end, I was dancing horribly. This is what happens when I get tired. Even Red Bull didn't help at this point. When I got home, I was very sleepy and sore. But this morning, I lost yet another pound. So it's working!

I have never been a big fan of working out alone. At least when my friends are with me, it feels more like fun. So these are the days that are the hardest, but I can't stop. Tonight OG has class, GB is going on vacay, and ZB, ZB2, and RB are not members of my gym, so it will be me, myself, and I. I can't wait til Friday when OG and I will hit the gym again. But other than that, I'll be on my own until Monday or Tuesday, when GB comes back. But I love seeing the numbers fall off the scale, so I'll keep doing my thing. TTFN :)


Let the gun show begin! Lolol just kidding)