My New Hero

I can't dance, I am horrible at any kind of sport.  I can trip and fall over my own feet with hardly any effort on my part, let alone trying to throw a frisbee for Roxy.  I manage to injure myself playing Trivial Pursuit on my Wii.

I am an uncoordinated clod.

While I know the importance of it, I dislike immesely any form of exercise.  Over the years I have tried jogging and aerobics and have just come to the conclusion that the best exercise for me is walking.  Other than a good pair of shoes, I don't need any special equipment.  I don't need to go to a special place to walk, I can do it anywhere.  I am a huge proponent of 'intentional exercise', something that I learned from Dr Phil.  This means that Randy and I have come to a compromise as to how far away we park from the entrance to WalMart.

On those days that the weather isn't conducive to walking, I climb on my @%&#* stationary bike.  It is a very good bike - in fact it's my second bike.  The first one wore out.  I just never look forward to spending my time pedaling to nowhere and then knowing that when I get there, I have to come back.

I had it good when we moved here.  I had a beautiful, close to three mile walk that I would take most mornings.  Randy and Roxy would time it so that they were waiting for me at the beginning of our driveway when I finally stumbled home.

However, a few months ago, the sheriff stopped by our house to let us know of a level 3 sex offender that had moved up the street.  Now, I am relatively certain that Mr. Love (yes, that is his real name), would want nothing to do with me.  This was just the excuse, I mean reason, that I needed to convince myself that exercise is dangerous and scary.

BOO!

That is my token effort to acknowledge Halloween, a holiday that I dislike immensely.

Anyway ~

After a while, my conscience got the best of me and I decided that I could, in the privacy of my own home, Zumba my way to fitness.

Zumba has been around since the 1990's.  As an aerobics teacher, Alberto Perez forgot his music for a class he was teaching and ended up using the CD's that he had in his car - mostly Latin music - instead.  All that salsa, mambo, belly-dancing and merengue blossomed into exercise DVD's, classes, equipment as well as 'games' for the Xbox 360, PlayStation and Wii consoles.

Supposedly, there are six different levels of Zumba.  The seventh level, called the 'Dorothy' level, has yet to be released.

I would like to say that I gave Zumba a try.  I borrowed the first DVD set from a friend.  All I was looking for was the basics workout - or even the tutorial.  Heck, if I can play the tutorial in my video games for hours, I figured the 'how-to' portion of Zumba Fitness would keep me occupied for years.

Unfortunately, that particular DVD was missing from the four DVD set.  I went through all the DVD's thinking that there has just got to be something in there that I could adapt to suit me.  It all really looked like a trip to the emergency room to me ...

... Cardio Party Workout

... Fitness Live!

... Sculpt and Tone Workout

... 20-minute Express Workout

In my heart I knew I wasn't the latin-dancing, maraca waving, hip swaying kind of gal and Zumba was returned to my friend.

One day, on my imaginary bike ride to The Cheesecake Factory, it came to me.

Richard Simmons and Sweatin' To The Oldies.

I will allow you five seconds to have a chuckle at my expense.

I love, love, love my Sweatin' To The Oldies mornings.  The time goes by so quickly, the music is so fun and cherry, I hardly know that I am exercising.  I am just sorry that I didn't think of it sooner.

Feeling the need to research everything on Wikipedia, I was surprised to learn how inspirational and successful Richard Simmons is.  I have always thought of him as more of a caricature that makes fun of himself first before someone else will.  Over and above the exercise videos, he had an Emmy winning TV show, has written numerous books and played himself on General Hospital for four years.

He lost over 100 pounds through portion control and healthy eating along with exercise and has kept that weight off for over forty years.  He personally answers his emails and letters and calls people himself who seek his help.  The exercise studio that he opened in the '70's still operates in Beverly Hills, CA.

And more.  At 62 years old, Richard Simmons is still going strong, motivating and inspiring people of all shapes and sizes to take care of themselves.

There are worse people we could pick to look up to.

The Kardashian's come to mind.

Have the BEST day ever!

~ Dorothy