I’ve sort of been adrift with my fitness routine lately. I’ve been doing a little bit of running since the Winter Park 10K but not a whole lot of it.

I really LOVED the Best Body Bootcamp this winter, but I didn’t sign up for the next round because just as I was about to, I lost my gym membership (it had been free for years thanks to our work with a client but that has now ended) and I knew myself well enough to know that I probably wouldn’t stick with it if I was just doing modified versions of the moves at home.

I’ve gotten back into going to Dance Trance slightly more regularly but our weekends tend to be jam-packed and it’s just so hard for me to go to the weeknight classes. Between making dinner, bathtime, getting E. ready for bed and any other commitments, it really it just a hard thing to work into my schedule. I did it one night this week and it involved prepping that night’s dinner the night before and then not eating dinner myself until 8:45 that night — after I got home and helped get E. ready for bed. I’m lucky to have a husband willing to take over the bedtime duties every other night but things just don’t seem to run as smoothly when it’s just one of us doing it all. How can one kid be so much work??

I recently bought a Groupon for something called MetaBody Fitness. It’s pretty cool actually. The Groupon was $20 and it’s good for 30 classes (!) at 15 different fitness locations. So cool, huh? I’ve used it for Dance Trance a couple times and plan to use it at a nearby yoga studio and boot camp/kickboxing studio I’ve been wanting to try out.

Today, for the first time, I used it on something else I’d been eyeing for awhile — Jazzercise.

I had no idea what Jazzercise was. In my mind, it was going to be Richard Simmons-type sweating to the oldies. I was so wrong.

From the moment I walked in, I knew I’d found my people. There were about 10 or 12 of us in this morning’s 6:30 a.m. class and I’d say age-wise, we were all within five years or so of each other. Some of the women were super fit; some were in the middle like me and others were just beginning their fitness journeys. But everyone was so dang friendly.

They all jumped in to show me how to sign in and how to set up. Before I even arrived, I got an email at 5:45 this morning from the instructor welcoming me and telling me to bring a bottle of water and a sweat towel. Some days they use mats but today she said we would not need one.

I knew when I got that I better not miss the class. How nice is that?

There were two teachers today — one just became certified two weeks ago and the other is one of the owners I believe. They took turns throughout the one-hour class, teaching different sections.

All of the songs were hip hop like Dance Trance, although they tended to be the radio edits (meaning not as much cursing; I don’t mind an f bomb as you all know but I’m sure it’s more welcoming to some this way).

The instructor stood on a bit of a raised platform and had a headset with a microphone. She’d explain the moves as we were doing them and give us counts. There was a lot more repetition and fewer moves/song than Dance Trance but as a first-timer, I found it much easier to keep up and learn the routines.

The hour flew by. And by the third song, my legs were BURNING. I can’t even tell you how many lunges and calf raises we did, but there were a ton.

Here is a video of all the Orlando-area Jazzercise classes performing at Magic game. We did this routine this morning (although I think there were a few changes), so this gives a little flavor of what it’s like.

About 40 minutes into the hour, they brought out a cart of light hand weights. I grabbed two five-pounders and for the next 4 songs, we incorporated arm work into the dancing — but the lunges never stopped. My ass is going to be burning tomorrow (TWSS).

The best part was the instructors. They were not only great leaders but so funny. As we were burning away, she’d ask things like whether any of us had ever drank the worm in a bottle of tequila or make fun of some of the song lyrics. Snarky and booze-hounds? Yup, I’ve found my people.

OK, that’s the second best part. The best part was when I realized halfway through class that this is the first time in I can’t remember how long that I wasn’t self-conscious about my jiggling belly bits during a workout. It was very liberating.

During the cool down songs, we did some nice stretching, including a bit of yoga. It was great.

After class, everyone came up to see how I liked it and to encourage me to come back. I have 9 visits on my MetaBody plan, so I will definitely be back and often. I’m going to give it a couple of weeks, seeing if I can get myself up for the 5:30 a.m. classes (the 6:30 one is only on Mondays/Fridays), and if I keep liking it like I expect, perhaps I’ll start buying monthly passes and FINALLY have a “thing” I like. It’s about time.

As if I hadn’t had a great enough experience, as we were getting ready to leave, a women came up to me and asked, “Are you the car with the Duke stickers?”

Turns out, she’s a Duke grad like my husband. But that wasn’t all we had in common. Basically, I met myself today. Her son is one year older than E. but he went to her same preschool (I knew she looked familiar in class). The two of them had all the same teachers for their whole run there. He’ll be back this summer, too.

Plus, like me, she’s an NPR-, Obama-, Star Wars- and happy hour-loving momma. When we became Facebook friends right after class, I had to laugh because she and I have basically shared the same 10 articles over the past two months.

Weird.

Sorry for my excitement over one class, but this never happens guys. I’ve been waiting so long for something to click for me fitness wise. I keep trying to force myself to love running. I’m terrified to try a boot camp or CrossFit. I like swimming but I always feel like I’m seconds away from drowning.

Who knows. I may have just found my thing.

Bring on the endorphins!

What was the last workout you loved? What’s your favorite way to sweat? Have you ever been scared to try a new class?