I’ve never really enjoyed exercise. I don’t like the feeling of being out of breath, and I think sweat is gross. But for weight loss, and for overall good health, exercise is a necessity.

I’ve tried tons of different workouts — from yoga to pilates to HIIT to running. But the one type of workout that I’ve never gotten sick of is Zumba.

Zumba was one of the first workouts I ever really tried and liked. Even before I started losing weight, and still lived at home with my parents, I went to a regular Zumba class twice a week at the YMCA.

How I inspired a fitness instructor and social media influencer to become a writer here on Medium

The 2 guys who were married are both Instagram influencers and YouTube stars from Brazil. I was looking forward to meeting my brother’s friends from South America. We were all going to stay with him for a week.

They needed only ten sign ups to get started. I was the 13th. When the class began a week later, only seven people showed up. The instructor was keen to get started with the small group, despite. A quick look around the class with my hypermetropic eyes, told me all the details I needed. The average age of the group was 35. The average weight, 70 kilos. I could feel six pairs of eyes scanning every curve (or not) of my body when I wasn’t watching. I wasn’t too badly off, having shed a little over ten kilos in excess that I had carried on me, the first time I tried Zumba, six years back.

Are you ever unaware of how much you care about something until it’s destroyed in front of your face?

Maybe you didn’t want the rest of a sandwich, but after your friend pops it into their dumb mouth and chews it, it’s suddenly the most important sandwich in the world, and now it’s gone.

Sometime in the year 2011, nearly two years after my failed attempt at Zumba, I woke up to the gross realities of weight gain. The patellas in my knees hurt, so I dreaded stairs. I looked like a sack of potatoes, so I dreaded mirrors. I imagined only large people as warm and friendly and so I dreaded everyone else. I only wore European and American brands because I didn’t fit into the Asian extra large anymore.

Six people — four men and two women— were arrested in Iran for teaching Zumba, a Colombian fitness routine, and other “Western” dance moves. The six filmed themselves and posted the clips on social media apps like Telegram and Instagram.

I used to be an avid runner, meaning I ran 5–6 days a week, for 2–3 miles per session. I was pretty fit. Not super skinny, not ultra healthy, but doing good. Then with lots of changes in life and location over the past few years, the gym went straight to the back burner somehow. As we’ve settled into our new routine in a new city and state, my husband and I finally decided it was time to get…

Last night I wanted to finish the story on the “fuse” prompt for The Weekly Knob after putting the little one to bed.

I came home so drained from Zumba, no, hollow is a better word, that all I could do was close my laptop and zombie walk to the couch where I stared at the wall for about an hour.

My local YMCA re-opened this week with all group fitness classes held outdoors. Zumba was a big part of my lifestyle before the Novel Coronavirus put everyone in quarantine, and I was craving that stress outlet.

For those eagerly awaiting the reopening of your favorite gym or workout spot, here was my first post-Coronavirus adventure into group fitness.