step. sculpt. burn.

let's talk about fitness for a minute, shall we? it's been an insanely busy few months, in which i haven't been updating the fat blog at all. however, i HAVE been making some small amount of progress on the fitness front, both physically and mentally. when we bought the new house, the hippie and i re-joined our same gym because they had just purchased a new location very close to the new neighborhood. and so far, i like it about 50x better than the old one. it's smaller and less of a meat market, and feels more like a neighborhood place. we shall not, however, speak of their music selection...

this is the third week that i have been going to step and body sculpting classes 2-3 times a week. it's pure coincidence that the same instructor teaches literally every class i can get to, and it's extremely fortunate for me that i LOVE her! her name is paula, and she's cute and enthusiastic without being annoying. (sometimes she has pigtails, hippie!) those of you who have ever done any aerobics know that this is a RARE combination. plus she's in great shape, and it's clear that she has done every kind of fitness training ever invented--she manages to incorporate a lot of different things into her workouts, and she's careful to work every part of your body in just an hour, which i definitely appreciate. i actually look forward to her classes. this is HUGE for me, people. i have started scheduling my life around going.

between the classes and the two hours of dance class we are taking every week, i am actually starting to feel like i person who works out. i am trying to go slowly and not get burned out, which is super-hard for me. i tend to gear up, work out like a fiend for a few weeks, and then crash, get sick, and take like 4 months to get back in there at all. obviously, there was something that needed to change, and i am pretty sure it was me.

in addition to structured workouts, i have been trying to just be generally more active in my day-to-day life. taking the stairs, going for more walks, being more active at home... i tell you, moving was a GREAT start to this. my shape has gotten better and my clothes are looser just from all the physical labor associated with moving out of one house and into another, but i have no idea how much i weigh right now. i have actually been avoiding getting on a scale lest it DE-motivate me--after all, it's less about that number, and more about how i FEEL. it's interesting--i was just telling laura this morning that i have been trying hard to look at being more active not as a means to an end, so that i can wear this or that cute pair of pants or so that i hit a particular weight, but more as a daily investment in my health and my life. and you know what, people? it's starting to work. i stand amazed.