Oh my dearest blog, I haven’t forgotten about you! I’ll be posting a quick update on my ABeauty life a bit, as lackluster as it has been. But for now, it’s time to update things on the wellness front for a little bit too.
Because of my aforementioned work stress, I inadvertently stopped fully taking care of myself. I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t working out, and my outlook just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that a weight had been lifted. Things are much better and I’m feeling close to how I felt before this whole mess began.
My friend was trying to get me to join ClassPass while I was still trying to figure out everything with work. I knew about ClassPass back when it was only $99 but never felt compelled to join because I enjoyed the idea of sticking to a gym/studio. But after belonging to 3 since I started trying to be active in 2014, I started to see the disadvantages. The class offerings were the same and after trying the ones that interested me and worked with my schedule*, I started to plateau. I’d know the Zumba choreographies, the order of Pilates movements. The same muscles are targeted in the barre classes. And treadmills get boring. It all got boring for me.
*And that’s another huge disadvantage: some classes I wanted to take didn’t work with my schedule. Talk about frustrating.
I was initially worried that if I joined ClassPass, I’d be stuck with mat classes and couldn’t keep building my love for the Pilates Reformer. So before I pulled the trigger to join, I looked through my friend’s app and saw the range of places offering apparatus classes, not just reformer! I was sold. I went home and joined and booked two classes.
But I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I hadn’t worked out for about a month. I knew I couldn’t jump right into some crazy HIIT class as my first class. I needed something simple and fun… like a dance class.
So my first class was at Banana Skirt to learn a choreography with some cardio and toning warmups. I was way too rusty. I haven’t done any choreo work in awhile so remembering 8 counts and steps was a minor struggle. That or pop songs just don’t get my memorization juices flowing. But it was so much fun! I wasn’t used to the routine being videotaped at the end so that was new to me. I wish the instructors made a better effort in staggering students in the room so that everyone can see themselves in the mirror. I was off to the side where the curtain covered the mirror so I honestly had no idea if I looked right. But I definitely appreciate the low pressure vibe they have. Was I flailing about? Probably. But it didn’t matter.
AND THEN. My friend wanted me to do a FitBallet class with her the next day. Holy hell that was one of the toughest workouts I’ve done. The class was very demanding. The warm-up could’ve been a workout in itself, but I powered through using weights. Then came the circuits. As a newbie, it was pretty hard to remember and follow what they were supposed to look like so both my head and my muscles were confused.
I also never understood how people feel sick when they overexert themselves when working out… until it happened to me. Probably should’ve had something less heavy of a snack right before, but it was a 7pm class and I needed some sustenance. I wanted to throw in the towel after that first circuit, looked at the time and saw that there was room for one more. I took it slow, I probably looked haggard, but I focused on making sure my body had enough oxygen to power through. Lots of deep breaths. Ditched the weights fully. And I survived. I was winded at the end of it but that feeling of being able to fight my body and convince myself that I can handle the rest of the class was so exhilarating. Will I do that class again? Definitely… but not anytime soon. I need to work on my fitness a little bit more until I throw myself into that again. Plus, I probably should do that class a bit earlier (at 6pm?) and/or later in the week because I was so wired from the endorphins, I couldn’t fall asleep until 3am. Hump Day was rough to say the least.
I needed the rest of the week to recover and started this week with MOVE, a dance cardio/toning class at The Movement. It was SO much fun, but definitely reminded me why I felt so winded easily with cardio: I haven’t done any hardcore cardio work since before Thanksgiving. Oops. Well, definitely know what I’ll be focusing on when I look for classes…
Ended my week at Banana Skirt again learning part of the choreography to Michael and Janet’s “Scream” and a very beginner friendly Pilates class in the neighborhood. Normally I’d feel pretty disappointed that it wasn’t challenging, but my legs are still way too tight from the cardio toning class. I needed whatever simple stretch I can get.
So far I’m loving everything I can find on ClassPass. I initially didn’t like the idea of being capped at 3 visits a studio (another reason I was hesitant to join before) but there’s so much variety that works with my after-work schedule, it’s so exciting! And it puts me a bit out of my comfort zone, to go to different parts of downtown to get to these classes, to see new studios, and just soak up the universal vibe of wanting to get fit and having a fun awesome time.
So excited for my classes next week!
xx Snuffy
Up to Snuff 