Last week I posted about changing my life. This week I’m going to post about changing my body. Not because I’m in any way interested in becoming a fitness blogger – that’s not my intention. I have zero leg to stand on in terms of expertise in that department. But I’m writing about it because I’m really interested in this idea of change and how one does it and how it sticks or doesn’t. It’s a slow and steady race that I’ve had to break down one piece at a time. Normally I’d throw myself in head first and overdo the exercise all at once and then blow it off a couple weeks later. This time I started slow – just striving to be active at all a few days per week. Then I tested out a gym and some classes the following month. Then I started to see and feel some changes so I’ve kept up the work and have really found my groove.
Most of the change I’m feeling has been because of barre class and not drinking. I talked about the not drinking last week, so let’s just focus on the barre today. It’s been small little tweaks to my body shape, but they are noticeable to me. My waist is whittled down, I’ve lost an inch off my hips/thighs (the area where I gain my weight first), and I’m seeing a little bit of definition in my arms. My clothes also fit again. They’d gotten really tight. Again – very small changes. I’m not claiming to be ripped in 45 days but I notice a different tone in my muscles than I’ve ever had before from other trainings I’ve done. The idea behind barre is to get you a ballerina body – long, lean and strong, so you do a lot of little tiny contracting movements and isometric holds (whatever those two things mean – they just say it a lot in class and it sounds really good).
When I first started barre classes, I hated them. Why was I tuck-tuck-tucking my pelvis like an idiot humping the air??? Now I like it because I know exactly what I’m getting into – the workouts only change so much each week so it’s pretty much the same from class to class. The weirdest part is it never gets easier. You get stronger and can do more. But it will always be hard. You wear sticky socks so you don’t slide on the floor and you hold planks for a really long time and it sucks.
The cool thing is that I’ve finally found my thing. Everyone’s gotta find a thing that works for them in order to change. I’m learning that you can’t just follow someone else’s path or exercise routine or diet or whatever and expect it to work for you. You’ve gotta make change in your own time, in your own way. For me, it’s been gradual changes and only a few things at a time that have led me to my formula for change: barre + yoga + sleep + meditation + very limited alcohol + TRACKING EVERYTHING + going very slowly = change (+ self-love + forgiveness + calm + steady).
If you’ve been looking to change up your workout routine, I would give barre a try. If you hate it, no big deal. But if you’re curious, they say 30-45 days of dedicated 3-day-per-week barre will produce results. And it has for me.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
