Capiora

I've introduced Capiora in one of our Zumba routines. Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that makes a ritual of movements from martial arts, games, and dance. Participants form a circle, and take turns either playing musical instruments, singing, or ritually sparring in pairs in the center of the circle.

The basic Capiora step we're doing is called Ginga.

Here is the proper way to do Ginga.

from the Zumba Instructors Network

I want to share part of my Zumba Instructors Network (ZIN) March 2009 newsletter...

"Dear ZIN Member,

With the world in midst of chaos, people are turning to Zumba for an escape. For one hour, they choose to forget, dissolve their worries, get rid of their frown lines and replace them with smiles. They choose us to reenergize, revamp, and restore faith in their lives. They choose to feel the music as opposed to feeling their daily struggles. They choose Zumba.

The title Zumba Fitness Instructor now goes beyond teaching. We have been charged with the responsibility of not only educating, but giving our students something to look forward to amidst all their struggles. We must be present. This is the time to step up our role and become indispensable in our student’s lives. It is not enough to merely show up and teach a Zumba Fitness class; it is our duty to take them to that OTHER place; that magical land of Zumba where nothing else exists but music and movement, where the only thing that matters is the moment, where an uncontrollable surge of life revitalizes your mind, body and soul. This is our obligation. Our students come to us to feel alive.



Yours in Zumba,

The Zumba Staff"

WOW!

I truly hope my Zumba class gives you a place where you can let loose and have fun. Sometimes while I'm teaching I catch a glance at yall laughing, smiling and having a good time. That means so much to me and makes me have more fun too!

Once again I just like to say thanks for coming to class and doing you.

OMG!

OMG... my iPod died at Wednesday night's class! So I thought...

We were at the end of our last set before "Jai Ho" and the cool down and boomp... my iPod stopped! I thought it was dead. But when I got home I realized that it just needed charging. (Damn... I thought I was gonna get a new iPod out of the ordeal). Out of the 2 years and nearly 3 months that I've been teaching my iPod never cut off on me.

From now on I'll make EXTRA sure my iPod is charged. I apologize Wednesday class for shorting you on your workout, and thanks for being so understanding.

But wait there is a new iPod that speaks! Will it tell me, "hey I'm about to run out - charge me!"


See you next week!

SPRING AHEAD

Saturday we had to turn our clocks ahead. Loosing an hour is sad, but I'm SO HAPPY for more daylight. Before we know it darkness won't come until 9:30pm. But for now spring is coming and time for some spring cleaning!

You can burn serious calories during a marathon cleaning session. Here are a few jobs that work major muscle groups, and how many calories you're burning by completing each task. And because we think a sound mind should go with a strong body, we've included a few easy ways you can make that cardio-cleaning more eco-friendly.

Activity	Works	Burns	Make It Green
Mopping floors	Shoulders, biceps	112 calories/ 30 minutes	Try Method’s new OMop All Floor Starter Kit, which includes a mop, a washable cleaning pad and a nontoxic floor cleaner. $30; methodhome.com.
Painting	Arms, core	288 calories/ 60 minutes	Several brands now offer zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, which are better for the planet. For a wide range of colors, go to yolocolorhouse.com.
Gardening	Arms, back legs	256 calories/ 60 minutes	Reuse waste, garden organically, and reduce water consumption with the products available at naturemill.com, terracycle.net and cyber-rain.com.
Cleaning gutters	Shoulders, upper back, arms, legs	320 calories/ 60 minutes	Bag the leaves in BioBag’s 100 percent biodegradable and compostable 33 Gallon Lawn & Leaf Bags, made from corn. $5.19; biobagusa.com.

from fitness magazine

Hungry Girl

Hey.. I found this blog/site today called Hungry Girl.

A woman named Lisa is Hungry Girl. She considers herself a foodologist because she's obsessed with food and tried every diet. She shares her food tips on how to make things more low cal. She's a nutritionist or a doctor. Just a woman providing food informations from her own personal experiences.

I found some pretty useful things on her site. I like that she has many vegetarian options. You can even ask her questions!

new routines!

Hey Zumba folks! Be looking out for some new Zumba routines over the next couple of weeks! Especially my salute to Oscar winning Slumdog Millionare, Jai Ho. I love the ending credits dance! So fun...



We've already been doing some Bollywood / belly dancing routines. So I figured why not add another one!

Valentine chocolate

I was trying to find some low-cal chocolate Valentine treats to feature. But no luck. Forget it! Who can resist a chocolate heart?!?

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day and ate all of the chocolate your heart desired! (I did!) We'll work it off in class... I promise.

music

I've been getting requests to post my class playlist. Well here it is!

This isn't EVERY song. I figure I'd just list the songs I'm using for the month. Also many of the iTunes songs are not the versions that I use in class. My husband is a DJ so I get a lot of my remixes from him.

I've been thinking of making a CD to sell for like $5. But I'm not sure how to compose the CD. I'd hate for someone to buy it and there aren't that many songs on there that they like. I have several song categories:
• Latin
• Indian
• hip-hop
• pop
• other (country, African, etc).

I'm not sure if I should make CDs by genre or mix it up like my classes. Please comment on this post and let me know!

The T-Mobile Dance

This put a big smile on my face...

Just imagine you're waiting for the train and the person next to starts joining in the dance routine! Maybe we should do a spontaneous "Fame" inspired Zumba in the Crossroads during a 1st Friday. HA!!!

*** record number ***

We had a record of 40 people in Scott's Fitness Zumba today!!!

Thanks for your love and support!

what I eat for breakfast

Awhile ago my husband started to purchase MIX 1 drinks from Whole Foods. He buys 12-15 (however many is in a case) at a time! I LOVE to have one for breakfast with a handful of nuts and dried berries.

I'm not a big breakfast person, so a MIX 1 drink is just enough for me. It has 15 grams of protein and 200 calories.

Flavors include blueberry, lime, mango, tangerine (not pictured), and mix berry. All are equally yummy!

a healthy snack

I LOVE popcorn! I saw this recipe in Fitness magazine as a healthy snack.

If you eat more than one serving is it still healthy?




INGREDIENTS
2 tsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbs. very finely grated pecorino Romano cheese
1 100-calorie bag microwave popcorn
Black pepper

DIRECTIONS
In a small skillet, saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Make popcorn according to package directions. In a large bowl, combine popcorn and cheese. Drizzle in the garlic and oil, sprinkle with black pepper, and toss well.

eight years ago...

Two gals from one on my Zumba classes asked me if I used to be a dancer.

Well... sort of.

When I was a toddler my mom sent me to dance class. Ballet, tap, gymnastics, baton. I hated baton 'cause I kept hitting myself with it. And I could always do the routine alone in my bedroom, but not in class. Timing with the baton never worked itself out.

I was too much of a scaredy-cat for gymnastics. And my upper body wasn't strong enough to hold myself up on the double bars. I could never get across the monkey bars on the playground either.

So I stuck with ballet and tap for a very short time. Plus I was a little black girl at this white dance school and they weren't bringing it. Let's just say they were a little stiff. I thought the lessons were a waste of my parent's hard earned money so I told my mom I didn't want to go back.

I did choreograph my own contemporary ballet number for my 3rd grade talent show to Strawberry Shortcake's version of "Over the Rainbow." That is when I developed my trademark one-handed round-off cartwheel into the splits. Ah, the crown loved it!

In junior high and high school I was a cheerleader. But it wasn't until my junior and senior year I was on the dance squad.

I always had an appreciation for dance, but I never formally trained. In my mid 20s I was living in Detroit and I joined this black dance school called City in Motion (they are no longer open). They had an adult class and the children there were super talented.

Many of the ladies in the class were parents of the students there. Our teacher was a Rockett and she decided to make us into a competition group. I was 26 at the time and my other friend was a couple of years younger than me. The other women were in their 30s and early 40s. But we rocked it! We even beat out some young 18-year-olds.

Our song was a remix of Whitney Houston's, "It's Not Right But It's Okay." So we had attitude! At the finale of our routine I did my trademark one-handed round-off cartwheel into the splits while everyone posed behind me.

I can't believe that was 8 years ago!



And yes... I can still do my trick :)

Happy MLK day and Inauguration day!

my new year's resolution

I hate my thighs. So last winter I bought a Leg Magic machine. This thing works your inner thighs better than the machine in the gym! But I never used my Leg Magic consistently.



So my new year's resolution is: after every Zumba class I teach I go home, put on my headphones, and get on the Leg Magic for one song.

This is my 3rd week and I can already tell the difference!

new warm up

I've been working on some new routines for 2009. Britney Spears, "Circus" is part of the new warm up.

Watch the official video.

THANK YOU!

I'd like to take time out and thank everyone that has attended ZUMBA this year. It means so much to me when I look out into the class and see all of your smiling faces. Sometimes I can't believe you're all excited to take class from little 'ole me! I just do what I do and I'm glad yall have fun!

THANKS!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

peppermint patty “hot toddy”


ingredients
1 oz. peppermint schnapps
½ oz. créme de cacao
1 tsp. créme de menthe
5 to 8 oz. hot chocolate
About 1 oz. whipped cream
Shaved chocolate

directions
Pour liqueurs into a glass mug, fill with hot chocolate and top with whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

from the Winter 2008 issue of The Nest

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Riesling Baked Pears

A unique low-calorie holiday treat (241 calories per serving). Here are the pears I made:

Here is the recipe. I followed it exactly. ENJOY!

Dance Flick

A Wayans Brothers movie spoof on all of the dance movies. Looks silly!


In theaters February 2009.

inspiration

Now that we've pigged out on Thanksgiving dinner holiday parties are around the corner. Christmas dinner and New Year sweets and champagne are near.

Well here is some inspiration to stay on the workout train...

Ernestine Shepherd, 71, trains women five times a week. With 10 percent body fat, Shepherd is 5-foot-5 and about 130 pounds of inspiration to her clients, many of whom she includes in her routine of walking or running, which begins at 4 a.m.



Geez! She is amazing!!!

Her full story here.