transformation....Develop the length of a dancer-who me?

"Develop the length of a dancer
and the strength of an athlete
with our highly effective 60-minute workouts.
Each class follows a thoughtful sequence for fast body shaping results
and long term postural benefits."
From barre3 website home page.


On a side street off A Avenue in Lake Oswego** the transformation began on March 31, 2011 and I posted a blog about that first class on April 8th...and in my true Type A style - I obsessed about taking classes as my I moved with increasing muscle soreness  in the belief that soon, very soon that would be but a memory and I would just take the classes, enjoy them and wake up one day with new streamlined body. (Hahahahahaha....she laughed.)  (**NOTE: this is only 1 of 3 locations here in the Portland area. There are also classes in other major cities, Bellevue/Seattle, WA, Denver CO, and soon to be in WDC. Check the barre3 website for other locations.)

On any given day my body aches in every conceivable muscle - and it's not the large muscles that appear to be affected. No siree, it's those tiny muscles under the bigger muscles that ache. And it is not symmetrical this soreness I feel...although each group of muscles does get a workout each class. I have a few tiny mad muscles that continue to tell me exactly where they are at - who knew there were so many tiny hidden muscles. I can now do push-ups....not 100, but 10 and that's something for me. I hate push-ups.

That is the beauty of barre3...at least for me. Each class has been different, each instructor has their own style and variations on the body shaping sequence, and although I have taken the same time slot/instructor, NO two classes have been identical - a huge plus!  I am easily bored. I need variety. So I change it up between the basic and the foundations classes. Being supported and encouraged to challenge yourself, AND to listen to your own body...be present in class for yourself and only for yourself. Class sizes are small, pre-registered enabling the instructor to provide direction, correction and encouragement...winning!

Now just over 2 full months of classes - going 3-4x a week...I am re-visiting biceps and triceps that disappeared about 6 years ago. My glutes are becoming more toned, I have a stronger core. My chiropractor is liking the new me. I feel terrific...I am sleeping better and my appetite is shrinking. Who knew a ballet-barre, yoga strap, a squishy ball and 1-lb barbells would be so loved. Madonna is a fan...yes that Madonna. (there I said it, and I'll bend over and pick up the name I just dropped.) I don't have the body of a dancer (secret ambition: NYC Rockette as a child) yet...but maybe, just maybe sometime in the future.

Last week one of the instructors actually commented on how my body was transforming right before her eyes. (shhhh, don't tell anyone, I like her the best!) Of course, now that the transformation is occurring I am leaving town for an extended RV trip through Yellowstone and Calgary...I am fully prepared to at least manage my renewed self with the 40 min DVD version in hopes of keeping the return-to-class aches to a minimum. Don't laugh - it could happen.

Check back in August for an update.

(Ask about the 3 class special, or when they are having another athletic wear trunk show. If you want to confuse them, tell them I sent you. )

Ciao~

I've been down that road...

Today, after my morning meditation I turned on GMA to find a beautiful young woman speaking about her experience on the reality show Extreme Makeover-Weight Loss Edition (another one of those programs I avoid like the plague). It's been all over the air waves via commercials, and apparently premiered last night. She indicated that over the last year she lost 161 lbs, and currently was down another 30lbs. Congratulations! I can so identify.

I know from my own personal experience how weight, especially being overweight can affect you - even long term, even when you no longer carry around the extra pounds. In my case, an extra 100 lbs...at the same age as this young woman (I believe her name is Rachel), I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia - but frankly I was just fat, today I would have been considered obese. A total change in lifestyle was needed and fast. My 5'6" frame was a staggering 210, a size 16. Gulp.

As a child I was chubby...adorable at 2, sad and bully material after the age of 10. My parents liked to say "you are just big boned"...ah, no I am not. Elephants, rhinos and hippos are "big boned", which  in my head translated to "you are a hippo". I was overweight as a child, a teen and a young adult. I was tormented/bullied at school to the point of tears. I was ridiculed at home for eating too much - I was never instructed, schooled or treated for my fat-ness. (As I was raised by wolves,  I so understand this today.) It wasn't until a doctor gave me the information about what was wrong and what I could do about it did I make the necessary changes. I was 21 years old.

I started by changing my diet to a high protein, low carb diet Monday through Saturday. I walked a lot. It wasn't until about 3 years later that I joined a women's gym. Sundays were a day where I could eat whatever forbidden food I wanted - with one caveat. I had the smallest possible portion and only one serving. If I wanted to have pie for dessert, it was a thin slice. Mash potatoes: a serving spoon portion. A cookie, was just 1 cookie - not a dozen. I took the weight off slowly, having started in October I was down 100 lbs by July. I had lost so much weight my grandmother was concerned that I was dying. I finally had ankles. Don't laugh, when you've never had ankles - seeing them below your knees is a huge miracle.

Being overweight in a thin world is akin to being blind or deaf in a seeing/hearing world. My father was 6"3" and lean. My youngest sister would become as tall and as lean. I was compared to them a lot. I was also miserable at home, stemming from other issues, but nonetheless - miserable and alone.There wasn't nearly the pressure then as there is today on "being thin", I get it. It doesn't make it any less painful today as it was in the 60's. Being overweight, even a little...SUCKS. The physical toll is pretty obvious, but the emotional toll is life long. Even today I still have body image issues, not every day...but I continue to work at changing my internal thought process around to meet the reality.

My demons don't haunt me anymore...oh, occasionally one will surface and I'll wave it off with a salute and a nod, "I see you - now go away". Shoo.  Oh, I still have body image issues, I do not know of a woman alive who doesn't, every once in a while. We don't want to admit it but they are there -lurking. When dining out,  I still read all of the menu selections before ordering the salad, dressing on the side and obsess on dessert until it's actually time to order it and then I remember who I m today and how I continue to squeeze into those size 8 jeans I love so much.  I remember how it took me several years to stop going directly to the size 16 dress rack at major department stores to dress my new body.

So it was wonderful to see and hear this young woman talk about her year of change on GMA. Changing what foods she ate, exercising every day and discovering who she was underneath the pain of being obese. Or in her case, "super obese"...(where were these shows when I needed the help?) I didn't watch the show so I don't know what her particular demons are/were, apparently she acknowledged them and is now aware of her triggers. I hope she will be able to continue her journey. I hope she has put into place a defense mechanism that will sound the needed alerts around: the people who will attempt to sabotage her, a day of low self-esteem and a car that will drive as if on auto-pilot to the nearest donut shop or against all possible odds - a credit card and a fully charged cell phone to order in.

The monkey might be off my back, but the circus is still in town. Cookie anyone?

~Ciao

The Voice is SO, SO much better....

Move over American Idol, NBC's The Voice is where it is at! A.I. was good the first 2-3 seasons and I was a devoted fan. Then the show started airing the "auditions" of truly bad singers and it just became painful to watch - it began to feel like a form of bullying as news magazines and entertainment shows would replay the most bizarrely dressed, or the truly dreadful singer. I began to wait until there were 6-8 contestants to start watching and then I just stopped. As a child I too was a victim of bullying - don't need to participate as an adult...especially given a choice to watch or turn the program OFF.

If you haven't seen or heard of it, The Voice is surprisingly well done!

Part 1...Blind Audition selections completed in the first 2 weeks of the show.

The singers are PRE-SCREENED prior to your ever having to listen to them. So there is no out of tune, off pitch, terrible audition that we as viewers must endure. Carson Daly is the host, with  Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera, the "coaches" who will select  a singer to join their team of 8 from blind audition - solely on their voices - for they are sitting with their backs to the performer. Should more than one coach turn around for a singer - the singer decides whose team they want to join.

Part 2 - Battle Competition Phase -

Coaches selects 2 members of his/her team, selects a song and helps to fine tune the performance. Then the contestants vie for advancement by singing the same song together, in a faux boxing ring. Comments from the other coaches about the performance are offered but it is up to the contestants coach to choose who stays for the live performance, cutting the teams to 4 each. One more week of phase 2 is left before the live performances.

Part 3 - Live Performances - whittling teams down to one member each to then compete for the $100K and a recording contract should begin the first week of June. I only watched the first 2 selection shows and due to DWTS (competing nights/time slots) finales I haven't seen any of the "battles" so I can now look forward to another hour of entertainment based on talent not crime.
Looking for a new show now that DWTS and American Idol are over? Check out The Voice, Tuesday evenings, NBC, 10pm. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Ciao~