Growing Pains

My hips are so tight! OoOOooouuuuuuuccchhh!!! :(

So, I had a minor hip injury once. I was at one of my fiance's brother's bands's shows. Jesus Christ, lets try that again. My future brother-in-law's band (better) was playing one night and I wanted to dance!

Big Mistake.

Apparently "dancing" that night turned into some sort of hip dislocation/relocation/pull/tear/stretch/ouch. I am not sure entirely what happened, all I know is the next day my left hip was in excruciating pain. Then I had a moment of genius---

I'LL JUST POP MY HIP!

Oh, for those of you who don't see where this is leading, I apologize for what I am about to relay. Yes. My hip, did indeed pop, and it hasn't stopped popping, creaking, or hurting since. THIS WAS 2 YEARS AGO!

So, I, in my ultimate wisdom, decided to be a Belly Dancer. 99% of belly dancing is Hip Wiggling! And I have a hip that will barely move! Oh, what joys! What bottomless pits of fun!

One nice thing about doing this to my body, is that I have learned more about what is wrong with my hip. I now know, for example, that my hip flexor is WAY tight on my left side because I have babied it for so long.

When I do hip drops (which would remind you of the bass on a hip hop song-- BUMP BUMP BUMP) my right hip drops PERFECTLY! My left hip, that sore bastard right over there, barely moves up and down at all.






So I started looking up some stretches and found a really neat website. I only found it this morning, but I can literally feel a difference! It's only been like 8 hours since I started doing these stretches, but every time I feel that left booger start to tighten up I do a few of these babies and I feel great! :D

Sally

The First Hurdle

My last post left off at New Years Eve. Over 20 days ago.

So, what has been my story from that spark of realization to today's aches and pains?

Well, I started looking at more videos on line. Lots of Belly Dancing tutorials.

Some were very helpful:



Some... not so much...



I mean, she is beautiful, camera man, but this isn't a fan video. Creeper. Lets try to keep the camera wide next time. Also, I want to give some love out to my bongo player. Get it, girl. :)

So... I looked up a lot of videos that way in the beginning and started working on my technique. One thing my technique was lacking was a defined separation of hip, waist, and chest. Now, don't get me wrong, I am very hour-glass figured, I just happen to be a rather thickened hour glass... more like a millenium glass, really. So, I needed to get some definition.

I am an imminently cheap person. I hate spending money. Ask anyone that knows me, it's my legacy. So, I make do with what I can get for the least amount of capital. So, my waist defining had to be done on a micro budget.

I started with a pretty simple plan: Move more than you eat, fatass!

Sure, everyone knows that it is a pretty simple idea that should be easy to follow, but I am not someone who can keep track of everything I consume and remember to wear my pedometer and write out calculations to convert the steps to calories. NO. Not in my lifetime.

What I did find was a really simple and fun App for my Windows 7 Phone. It's called Calorie Counter. It has every imaginable food on the planet broken down into Carbs, Calories, Protein, etc., etc., etc. So, you eat a banana for breakfast. Go to your app, type in banana and wham-o, it is counted into your calendar!

It keeps track of everything for you.

There is also a section that allows you keep track of what exercise you do in a day. It has everything from Shopping to Biking to Dancing to Horseback Riding to Housework and back again. Then you just pop in the amount of time you did it and TA DA! You can see the results.

So I had my free app to make sure I was eating right and moving enough. Now I just needed to get some different ways to move. For this I looked to my entertainment console. I had a Wii and an Xbox. Now, I am among those who think the Wii is one of the most expensive paper weights ever created. So, I used my wii for the Netflix feature and started doing Pilates.

For my Xbox I splurged. I looked at the cost of a gym membership for one year. It was around $600 for a good gym. Well, I had a year to become a professional, and that seemed like a pretty steep investment. Then I looked at the cost of the Xbox Kinect. $150. Not bad! Dance Central? $50. .... so for $200 (a huge saving over a one year gym membership) I purchased the Kinect with Dance Central.



Just from watching what I eat, doing pilates three times a week, and playing on my Kinect three times a week, I have so far lost 9 pounds. Not a huge amount of weight... but considering that it gets me nine pounds closer to my goal, I feel pretty good about it.

Sally

Inspiration

So it was New Year's Eve... well, in a romanticized version it would have been.

Anyway, it was around New Year's, maybe a week before the big day. THE DAY. You know, the day that centers around THE question. That pesky, annoying, can't help but be asked question: What is your New Year's Resolution?

Usually, I, being a snarky bastard respond thusly: My resolution is to stop answering asinine questions. This year, however, I actually had a response.

Like I said, it was about a week before New Year's and I was trolling around the internet trying to figure a way to waste the evening, when I stumble upon the most fascinating creature this earth had ever witnessed. She was, nay--IS, a Goddess. The embodiment of all that is perfection.

Her name is Sadie. She is a belly dancer. She is the new reason why I wake up every morning.

I was fascinated by her. She moved like water!, like silk!, like a poisonous snake waiting to plunge her fangs into the next warm body that walked by!, and I liked it.

I was taken aback by how fluid she was, how seemingly boneless, and thought: I could NEVER do that with my body...

then I watched the video again...

then I saved the link as a favorite...

then I started showing it to friends and coworkers...

then, in secret, in very very very VERY secret, I tried to dance.

I was shocked to find that not only did I have movable hips, I also had some skillz. Now, this isn't to say that I was perfect right out the gate, au contraire, I was horrible. I mean, compared to a professional, but to an amateur, a first time never tried it before belly dancing VIRGIN, I was almost talented.

But I had a long way to go.

It sparked in my brain that I was going to learn how to belly dance. I was going to learn by the end of the year.

...well, that seemed like a pretty limp resolution.

Sure, I could LEARN it. For fun, I suppose. Maybe for fitness?.... but I wanted to be Sadie. I wanted to be a professional. I wanted a real skill! A marketable, tangible way to earn a living... and for some crazy reason, I decided on belly dancing.

Now, I am no skinny minnie... I am actually, not "mini" in any sense of the word; I am, however, one determined bitch. When I set my mind to something I go for it. So sure, my weight will be a problem, but a fixable one.

That isn't my main concern this year. Sure, fitness will come, but what I want is to be a professional belly dancer. So... this blog will tell of my adventure. My quest. My UNENDING NEED to be the best possible belly dancer I can be within one year's time.

So, what's my New Year's Resolution? I'm going to be a professional Belly Dancer... Wish me luck folks... this chunky little monkey is going to need it. :)

Sally