It's been a rough day....

Today was a difficult day...going back to work after a four day weekend is always difficult. On top of that I had two interviews for two different jobs today on top of completing all of my regular duties! So yeah...just a bit of stress.

Finally at 5:30 my work day ended and I rushed home to change and headed to my pole class. It was like walking into my own sanctuary where I could be the sexy curvy woman that I am and leave all the troubles of my day behind. When I am in that dark room with the velvet curtains no one can bother me, no one judges me I get to feel good just doing what I do.

That being said, tonights class was a challenge for me. We are actually learning choreography now which is interesting and difficult at the same time. I am adding more moves to my repertoire and feeling more and more comfortable with my free dance time. It feels great!

Also, tonight after pole I took a stretching class for the first time. When I think of a stretching class I think of something slow and relaxed...this class was definitely not what I thought it would be. We started with a warm up and then proceeded to get into stretching postures and hold them for up to 60 seconds. This may sound easy but it is EXTREMELY challenging. My body feels very stretched and very sore now.

I will be taking a couple of days off because I have other obligations this week so hopefully my body will have time to relax and heal from all the sore muscles and bruises and then on Friday I start all over again!!!!

I cannot wait!

No Pain No Gain

So today was day three of pole classes. When I went to class my arms were so sore I could hardly lift myself on the pole. I had no upper body strength whatsoever.

The one great thing though is that I am feeling more confident in my free dance time. I am able to move around the room from pole to pole and work the wall and actually feel good about my movements. Today for the first time I wasn't worried about people looking at me. I just embraced the sensuality of my movements and worked it. It felt absolutely amazing!!! I cannot wait for class tomorrow!

A Pole New Me

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a link to a local pole dancing studio because they were having a fitness contest. The title of the contest is "A Pole New You". As I read through the e-mail I realized the real reason she sent it...it was a gentle nudge to tell me I really needed to make a change. The studio was offering a free three month scholarship to three individuals who needed to lose over 100lbs...sadly I fit into this category.

I wrote an e-mail to them and told my sad story from a hottie college co-ed to a chubby chick in her 30's with the skinny girl inside dying to get and and the fat girl on the outside keeping the skinny chick in by gorging herself on all kinds of food.

I received an e-mail the other day informing me that I had won! I was super excited to get the process started and I went to my first class yesterday. Let me tell you how it went.

I arrive at the studio for the cattle call portion (it really isn't that bad I am just being dramatic). Part of the program requires you to get weighed and measured and photographed so that they can track your progress. After that was done I entered the inner sanctum of the pole studio. The studio had 8 poles and dark velvet curtains to block out any would be lookie-loos. I was greeted by several of the other students which, made me feel welcome and made the whole situation a bit less intimidating. The class started with the owner of the studio checking us in and getting feedback on scheduling. The owner just exuded confidence and sensuality. After the housekeeping was done we started class.

Class started with a warm-up and a series of stretches that were not like the normal work out class. Every movement was supposed to be fluid and ooze sex. I have to admit I was a little bit intimidated at first. Many of the women in the class had been doing this for a long time and I felt like a rank amateur. However, I quickly got over the feeling of intimidation because each woman was so nice and friendly. I almost felt like I had joined a secret sorority of women who just wanted to feel good about themselves and what they were doing.

After stretching we did a couple of songs "free form" basically you could trick on the poles, use chairs, the wall or the floor to move about in a sensual way. At first I felt awkward but soon realized that no one was watching me specifically. Each woman was in her own world moving slowly and sensually at their own pace.

After free time our instructor taught us a trick on the pole. I had no idea how hard it would be to do pole tricks. The instructor made it look incredibly easy but when I tried it was very challenging.

At the end of the class we did a quick ab and buns workout and then we were on our way. I have never felt so sore in my life!!!

I can't wait to see what this challenge brings...In fact, I am all geared up to go to class again this morning...although, I don't know how well I will do because I am sore and bruised like crazy!