33 days down/170 to go…belly dance…
Woohoo, workout was good, I was soooo sleepy! I didn’t get any sleep last night and took a nap at lunch time…I didn’t wake up until like 5:00 Ack! lol oh well, the start of my lifting suffered, but I managed to pick it up before long. I’m so sleepy, I think I’ll have a great night sleep tonight! Food, not so good, because I slept through most of my meals! lol
During workouts, free weights and machines where I stand, I like to practice my belly dancing movements between sets. and Woohoo! I finally was able to do the large circle thing…it’s where you have to keep your hips still yet draw a big circle with them using your legs keeping your upper body lined up with the hips…I’ve been finding it quite difficult! but now I got it! I think people look at me funny because they’re wondering what I’m doing! lol That’s ok, I do a mean shimmy… I find it interesting that allot of people think the dance is mainly abs. That’s simply not true. I read an article once where they were saying that Skakira used belly dancing to have great abs…but that girl really has an awesome dancers body and she probably does much more to get her abs. Belly Dancing is a very earthy dance, and I enjoy it greatly. And yes, you do keep your abs flexed and move them, but really the movement starts with the legs and effects the hips and belly, so it mainly works out the quads and not the abs…or in the chest (what I’m working on now…rib sliding…and improving my flexibility.) This is why some of the best belly dancers in the world are what North Americans would consider ‘chunky’. It actually makes the movement easier. and ironically, why Abs are the most out of shape part of my body…and another reason I need to be doing the weights and aerobics! If belly dancing were enough, I’d be ripped! lol. I’m glad I have naturally large hips and chest because it really helps the movement of the dance…and once my weight goes down, I’ll still have the hips and my quads are quite strong so I’ll still have the dancers legs…but I think my dance will look awesome once my guts aren’t so jiggly! lol…and more importantly, I’ll be less self-conscious to show them! I’ll get there from aerobics and lifting eventually and not from belly dance. How ironic is that!?! 
Emotionally…Great, I have a semi-post workout high again! Not as happy as I was two days ago, or even yesterday, but I’m so fatigued from not sleeping last night I think that’s why. My cousin isn’t coming over on Friday, which is good because we have a wedding to go to Sat…pacing everything out is much better!
I think I’ll add a little note when I start blabbing about stuff…I think it’ll make it easier for me to sift through my blogs! teehee
March 7, 2009 at 9:29 pm
You’re right that Belly Dancing alone won’t get you to your goal. However, there are many moves that do work the core (abs and back) better than anything else I’ve tried. In fact, the original purpose of this Middle-Eastern Folk Dance was to prepare women’s bodies (mostly the core) for the ardours of child birth. I have a fractured vertebrate from a car accident, and when I’m dancing/teaching a lot, my back feels great, but when I can’t (and try to replace it with other stuff), it hurts. Some of the moves do make use of the legs a lot, but others are supposed to come from the hips and/or core, not the legs. Keep up the exercise variety! If you love to dance (any type), check out my group - Dance Divas.