Missing My Pilates Body
From 2002 to 2009, I enjoyed belly dancing. I found it to be an amazing way to connect with women from different backgrounds, my Goddess tribe. They were amazing! They were even a part of my wedding reception. We went through many events together over those seven years and I LOVED it!
In 2009, I discovered that pilates was something my body absolutely loved. While belly dancing transformed the way I felt about myself, pilates changed the way I saw myself. For the first time, I learned that core strength was something of which I was capable. My abdominal area was an area where I had always struggled and I was finally capable of not only transforming the area that I had always struggled with, but even undoing some of the damage from my pregnancy that was definitely not a time when I realized the importance of anything related to good nutrition. Pilates allowed me to see changes I never imagined possible with gaining that long, lean body and as I mentioned core strength.
I do believe in mixing things up though and when Orange Theory Fitness came to town, I wanted to try the combo I was seeing so many teammates experience with major transformations. My body was long and lean, even with sporadic workouts. I had also gained a half and inch in height in my adult years, something I had heard wasn't possible, but my doctors' notes visits proved otherwise. My nutrition had helped me release the extra toxins and fat. I was ready to start building muscle and endurance, so I signed up for OTF and dropped pilates.
Orange Theory was great for helping me reach new milestones in my health transformation. I had a tremendous recovery after a mandatory six week recovery of no exercise that also coincided with the holiday season for 2016. I maintained my great nutrition and amped up my workouts. I didn't notice the difference until I put the pics side by side and couldn't deny that I had a major transformation. I continued with it for another year, but as my schedule changed, I found it harder to get into Orange Theory on a consistent basis. To be clear, best results from any exercise program will be achieved with consistency. Sometimes though, life happens.
I had my annual physical and was rather bummed to learn that the half inch in height I had gained with pilates benefit of elongating the spine seemed to have dissipated. The core strength that I had noticed made the exercises so natural for me was starting to fade. Knowing how crucial core strength is in overall health as well as protecting the vital organs in the area impacted by visceral fat all combined in the realization that maybe, it was time to go back to pilates. As much as I loved the challenge of Orange Theory and the benefits, my body loves pilates! Ironically, my friend and teammate who owns a local pilates studio happened to run some special classes last month and I remembered within the first few minutes of class that even when she has a barre focused class (which I used to dread due to my lack of coordination), I genuinely missed pilates too much to no longer have it in my life.
I am grateful there are many online HIIT workouts that can be done at home to work on areas that I miss from Orange Theory, but for overall health, my body misses pilates and it's time to return. It is possible to both achieve long and lean and build muscle. Much like the natural way to do so many other things, it requires focus, diligence, and time.