Smile! It's good for you!

[zophiel]

Rawles wrote, somewhere, that if you're not building muscle or callouses, you're not preparing.

 

Well, I took that to heart when I read it, because I'm a big girl. As in, the Lord, Bless His Heart, has blessed me with an overabundance in certain areas of my body. Being the charitable sort, I've always wished I could donate this abundance to the poor souls across the world who are in need, but the smart, sciency people tell me this simply isn't do-able. My only solution, they say, is to eat veggies (okay!), stop the chocolate (Molon Labe, baby!), and work it off (. . . well, if you insist).

 

So, last October, I started working out at my work's gym twice a week, weights and treadmill, always increasing something somewhere, and it's been working out pretty well. I'm starting to get smaller, I've more energy, blah blah blah. I'm still convinced that the "Runners High" is an in-joke, something exercise-freaks talk about to outsiders, and then laugh about when everyone else is away. Kinda like Australians telling gullible tourists about Drop Bears. ["Oy, mate, they look just like koalas. But, if you sleep under their tree, they drop down on ya while your sleepin' an' suck our your blood! Better to chance the dingos. . ."]

 

Then in May, I added to the workout routine-- I started Bellydance classes every Tuesday night. I figure I'll always be curvy and well endowed, I might as well do something with that. Also, it's a good way to learn to use those muscles I've been builing at the gym, and as such is a good step between LardButt and taking martial arts (which is the goal, eventually). And finally, as a single chick hoping to find a Prince (or even a Duke or Earl) Charming, I figure learning to shimmy and walk more gracefully can only help.

 

So, last night was class, and today my legs are in pain! Not BAD Pain, just. . . more sore than they've been in a while! And I can't think of anything we did last night that was more intense than usual. Maybe more time on shimmies, hip vibrations, and hip pushes, but still! I'm sitting behind my desk here trying to stretch without people getting concerned.

 

In addition this morning, I'm having a bit of trouble-- my pants keep sliding down, but my shirt isn't long enough to make up for the slide, thus baring parts of me that shouldn't be seen without a hip-scarf and some drums. I'm wearing a little, light cardigan to help cover up, but I'm still having to constantly pull up my pants (and my undershorts as well!) because everything is riding much lower on my hips than they used to.

 

On the one hand, getting small in my clothes is a good thing-- but on the other, it's troublesome, because I'm generally quite modest in my clothing (looks down). . . well, I've a few blouses with lower necklines, but aside from that, I'm pretty modest. It's taken two and a half months to show my midriff in a belly dance class full of only other women. This peek-a-boo surprise thing at work is not exactly fun! OPM has dress codes, and "Showing the lower back, obliquies, and belly" is not allowed.

 

Nope, no point to this. Just whining, really. I'll eat a banana when I get home, after this afternoon's time at the gym-- where I can stretch without people looking at me strangely. And I'll remember that this particular blouse should not be paired with pants-- not until I've bought something that will not slide down. . .

 

 

[GirlNextDoor]

Belly dancing is traditionally done to prepare for and repair from childbirth. IMO, it is so inherently beautiful because it is so charged with feminine energy. When tshtf you will have a form of entertainment that does not need energy except for what you create, yourself.