Adventures in Zumba and a Review

On Monday night, I tried Zumba for the second time.  I had tried it once before at my old gym and my original thoughts were, “Meh, that was okay”.  It wasn’t really active enough for me and I barely worked up a glisten, much less a sweat.

However, my friend Diana teaches Zumba and has asked me if I would go before and I finally decided to try it again.  Monday night worked best for me this week so instead of going to Diana’s class on Thursday night, we went to a class she usually attends.

It was so much fun!

I think the biggest difference between this Zumba class and the one I attended at a gym is the energy and intensity level of the instructor.  Don’t get me wrong, like any class, you can give 50%, barely break a sweat and not get a good workout.  But, if you really give it 100%, stay focused, and put forth a lot of effort into the moves, you most definitely will get a good workout.

My ponytail was drenched in sweat by the time we were done, 90 minutes later.

If you’ve though about trying Zumba out or if you have had a so-so experience in the past, try another class.  If you live in the Charlotte area, check out Queen City Dance Out, which is the organization that put on the Zumba class I attended.  They have classes every night and in other surrounding cities as well.

I had a substantial snack before Zumba since it was during my regularly scheduled dinner-time.  So I wanted something light for dinner. I had two TJ’s low carb wraps with some Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, smoked salmon, and spinach.

Gosh I love smoked salmon.  This isn’t going to last long on my house.

Despite my substantial snack earlier, I still wanted dessert.

Tropical Traditions just recently sent me a jar of their concentrated coconut creme, which some of you know as coconut butter, and I wanted to try it on something sweet.

I made frozen whipped banana by putting 2 frozen banana halves in the Vitamix.  I topped it with a chocolate/coconut cream mixture by putting about an ounce of 70% dark chocolate in the microwave with a teaspoon of coconut cream.

The chocolate and coconut cream mixed so well together and once it hit the frozen banana, it formed a hard shell.  So good!

Besides the whipped frozen banana, I have also tried the concentrated coconut cream on something warm…

Almond Joy oatmeal

The coconut cream was very good on this too, but I think I prefer it on cold food because of the way it hardens and makes a shell.  The possibilities are endless with this stuff, if you’re a coconut freak like I am.  I love coconut on everything!

Another plus: the Tropical Traditions jar is gigantic!  This will last me forever.

Have you tried Zumba or coconut butter/cream?  What was your experience like?  If you tried coconut cream, what did you put it on?  I have a gigantic jar and need some creative ideas of how to use it.

 

Ingredients
Directions