Body Step Update

Research has suggested that one nearly sure-fire wat to keep your brain healthy, active and lucid into the advanced years of life is to keep challenging it with thoughtfully engaging activities like:
-doing crossword puzzles
-brushing your teeth with the "wrong" hand
-exercising
-playing an instrument
-meditating

... well I've come up with one more that kills at least two of those birds with one stone... teaching Body Step!

What is Body Step? It is an intensely athletic, physically challenging step aerobics class that can burn anywhere from 500-800 calories in just one hour. Outside of three Cardio Peak tracks that rev the heart rate up to the anaerobic threshold, there are tracks for strength building, agility training, arm and abdominal sculpting too. When someone leaves a Body Step class, they know that they've done some serious work. Now add to that the memorization of every second of choreography for the 60 minute class, mirror teaching (this means you face the class... so when you tell them to step with the right foot, you're actually stepping with your left), executing picture-perfect technique, teaching the moves and giving feedback to your class participants, and you've got yourself a brain teaser extraordinaire!

The training that I attended was just as I expected... physically intense, long, technical... just imagine about two weeks' worth of exercise crammed into two days... but I lived through it, acquiring blisters on my blisters and consuming bottles of Aleve! A trainee receive one of three grades from the class, all of which move you forward in the process... some of them just taking longer than the other. I received the middle grade - "Pass Withheld." But a "Pass Withheld" is still a pass... I will just have to complete eight team teaching sessions (instead of four) before I can start teaching classes on my own. Hooray!

Once I complete eight team teaching sessions, I'll be teaching my class for a video review that will be sent to the official Body Step certification folks. They will give a very specific, extremely detailed review of my teaching style, execution of movement, response to my class, and more other stuff than you could even imagine. While the video reviewers know that no video will be completely perfect, as the instructor, you want it to be. Striving for perfection=hours of practice, determination and a healthy dose of nerves.

Therefore, I appreciate every little bit of extra feedback I'll be getting from my team teaching sessions. Not only is learning the choreography outside of my comfort zone, but the technique of the actual moves is so specific that I must work hard to perfect it. There are twelve music tracks for the class. As of today, I've learned eight. I anticipate learning the rest this week so I can get on the ball...

... you know what they say... practice makes perfect!

Essentially, it all boils down to this: if you can manage a Body Step a few times each week, you'll are guaranteed to be fit and strong. Between the fun of the music, the "dance" of the choreography and the physical challenge, just doing the class is regularly a highlight of my week. To be able to share this fun with others, well, that will be completely worth every bit of challenge that I endure to make it happen...

Hope to see you in Body Step soon!

Don't forget to check out the Body Step "widget" on the right side of this page to get the feel for what the class is like... you can even search for the class nearest you!

What to expect...

Enjoy this funny from Real Simple magazine. I can't make it any bigger, but it says,

What to Expect: The 39th Year

Written by Sarah Schmelling

Someone has a lot going on these days! Your 38-year-old is always on the go, exploring her world and trying out words like ergonomic, Twitter and spa day. But even if she's often brimming with confidence, you can still help her to build on her skills and expand her dynamic personality.

What Your 38-Year-Old May Be Doing

By this year, your 38-year-old should be able to:

-Color-coordinate her own clothing.

-Plan a weekend getaway.

-Change a diaper in under two minutes

...Will probably be able to:

-Host a last-minute dinner party.

-Operate a food processor.

-Start insightful discussions on both federal spending and Japanese fashion.

...May even be able to:

-Write a best-selling novel, work full-time, and run a charity organization.

What You May Be Wondering About

Manic Milestones - "My 38-year-old has started talking about the big 4-0. She wavers between saying, "Forty is the new 30,' and pretending she's too young to remember Duran Duran. What should I do?"

Make small changes to ease her through the transition. Arrange to have her carded at her favorite restaurant. Or slip the cute young waiter an extra tip to hit on her for the evening. Just so long as he avoids comparing her to his mother.

Double Trouble

Look at what I drove up next to recently! So funny to see them side by side that I couldn't help but snap a shot!

Um, yum?

And since I had one guy in a bikini yesterday, today I'll show a different guy... in a leotard... and not just anyone....

This is Justin Timberlake. If this video is funny to you, you should really watch the whole skit at this link... I just couldn't figure out a way to embed the video here... HYSTERICAL!

And once I finish my Body Step video, there might be one of me too! Ha!

IF YOU NEED A LAUGH: Watch this man dance in a bikini

Very long story, putting it very shortly... Actor Peter Facinelli (played Carlisle Cullen in Twilight) wagered with his friend Rob DeFranco as to whether or not he could get 500,000 authenticated followers on Twitter.

Facinelli did it, and DeFranco had to pay up by dancing in a bikini on Hollywood Boulevard. The best part of it all is that they've raised LOTS of money doing this, and it is being given to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation!

This had me shaking with hysterical guffaws... and one really MUST admire Peter Facinelli... so much hotter as a human than as a vampire... almost makes me wish HE'D been the loser in the bikini... (=

HYSTERICAL: Twilight Parody

What a cynic wishes Bella WOULD'VE said...

I LOVE this and think it is too funny... lots of talent here...

New Swestie-ism: File this under the category of "Duh"

I'll take that with an extra celery stick, please!

For whatever reason, I can't make this ad any larger. But here's what it says.

Blondie: (to the bartender) A Bloody Mary please... (to her friend) It's the ony way I like my veggies.

Her friend: What about all the vodka?

Blondie: You mean the potatoes?

Every time I read this, I crack up. It's an add for Flat Earth Baked Veggie Crisps with 1/2 serving of veggies baked into every ounce! I haven't tried these, but maybe I should... definitely healthier than drinking bloody marys for all your veggies... but likely not as much fun.

Have a great weekend!

Twilight - Fantasy Cast by Swestie

I promise I'm not going to keep posting about the Twilight Saga. However, I couldn't resist just one more... Let me give you a little background...

I hadn't really heard anything at all about Twilight - books or movie. Then my husband told me that his mom had read them... hm... I thought. She doesn't do a lot of reading. This is very interesting.

Then a girl in my book group suggested that we read Twilight. Collectively eye roll... it appeared none of us wanted to read a book for young adults. When I went to my local used bookstore, just four days before my club meeting, I was surprised that they didn't have Twilight. The squirrely lady behind the ancient, cracked counter told me that she couldn't keep them in stock. Hm. I wonder what all the fuss is about!

So I watched the movie the night before my book club meeting. I figured it would give me enough information at least not to feel left out of the discussion with my friends. And it did! I really enjoyed the movie. Furthermore, I was intrigued with the passion that the girls who had read the book spoke of each individual characters... like they were real people... even the peripheral characters... hm... and these were the girls who didn't even want to read the book in the first place!

So I borrowed Twilight and New Moon from my mother-in-law and plunged in, subsequently neglecting hearth and home for the better part of ten days, as I zipped through those two, and then greedily purchased Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, wolfing them voraciously as well. It's a good thing my kids were out of town at the time and that my husband can fend for himself, cause if it didn't HAVE to get done, it DIDN'T. I plowed through the entire 2200 odd pages of the four books in record time, enjoying every suspenseful second and feeling bereft when there were no more pages to read.

Then I watched the movie again. I was shocked by how little I thought of it while reading the books. Then I was, of course, dismayed that it wasn't as faithfully rendered as a fan could've hoped. Then I was bewildered by the choices of actors to play the roles. So here's how I would've cast the movie version of Twilight.

Bella: Kristen Stewart - no change; I thought she played a perfect awkward but thoughtful teenager girl.

Edward: Rob Lowe as he was in his 1980s Brat Pack perfection. To me, he is eternally beautiful and seems to have more of the build that Stephanie Meyer writes about in the books... Bella was always talking about his beautiful face and his perfect chest... Robert Pattinson doesn't have much chest at all...

Esme Cullen: Elizabeth Reaser - no change. She fit the bill of doting (vampire) mother perfectly.

Carlisle Cullen: Simon Baker; I must admit that Peter Facinelli, the actor who played this role in the movie, IS quite beautiful and had the right presence to play Carlisle. However, in order to stick to the book's descriptions, they bleached his hair blonde which made him look strange to me... Simon Baker is just as pretty, with an even more suave manner, and also already has the requisite blonde hair.

Alice Cullen: Ashley Greene - no change. Spritely, beautiful, graceful. A better than perfect Alice. I especially loved her speaking voice.

Jasper Hale: Jason Lewis (of Sex and the City fame); I really think that Jackson Rathbone fit the bill perfectly, except for the hair. He has dark hair, and Jasper is supposed to have light hair. The color change looked strange to me... although I do love this guy in the baseball scene. Anyway, Jason Lewis is vampire hot and already has blonde hair... but like Rob Lowe, we'd have to reverse-age him a little for him to fit the bill.

Emmett Cullen: Ashton Kutcher - let me 'splain. In all of the books, I feel like Emmett has this wacky sense of humor - like Ashton Kutcher... and the wicked good looks - like Ashton Kutcher... and also the suave factor - like Ashton Kutcher. Kellan Lutz, the guy in the movie, had the same light dark hair problem that makes our vampires even deader than they really should look, and he really didn't do much for me looks wise. He wasn't vampire beautiful. I do love it though when he runs up the tree, sticks the landing and lobs the baseball back to the infield... "monkey man" that he is...

Rosalie Hale: Portia de Rossi/Nikki Reed. Again, lemme splain. Reed, who played Rosalie in the movie, is drop-dead, knock-out GORGEOUS. But not as a blonde. I felt like there was no point in the movie that she could've been considered the prettiest girl in the room...not even next to "plain" Bella... maybe the craziest dressed (and I like some daring clothing!), but NOT the most beautiful. Hair and makeup people, sorry, but you did her WRONG. So I would either choose her with a more flattering hair color, or Portia de Rossi, again a natural blonde and certainly often the most beautiful woman in a room...

I liked all of the other characters as they were played, especially the goofy school teacher. What a riot he is! However, HOW they are going to beef up Taylor Lautner to 6'5" and still growing stature for the future movies is beyond me!

*Note: my second choice for Edward is below: Gilles Marinia (below). Hot! Hot! and Hot! Maybe even too hot for vampires... but probably so brown he'd be too hard to pale down to vampire-level pallor.

**Second note: when I started to actually consider who I would choose, I realized that casting these roles must've been a real bear. Most of he characters had to both beautiful AND young. For my part, I don't know many young actors and actresses. So that's why I called the cast I assembled above a Fantasty, oops, I mean Fantasy Cast. =) Happy movie watching!