Dear Zumba, I love you.

Truly, I’m obsessed. In fact, I won’t go to the gym lately unless it’s for class. That one hour literally blows my mind. I totally forget about everything except what my arms, legs, hips and shoulders are doing. And they’re working.

I’ve taken Spin, Body Pump … but those always felt like workouts. Zumba is different. I mean, it IS a workout … don’t get me wrong. But I’ve never had so much fun working out as I do at Zumba class. It’s a total body workout — and it’s one I can smile through.

I’m sweating when it’s over, but I have absolutely no idea how many calories I burn — I deliberately don’t wear my heart rate monitor, because for the first time, I’m working out TRULY for fun — not the calorie burn.

Though I’ve been taking classes on and off since May,  I still feel like I have two left feet during some routines and I still stand in the back … but I’m easing my way up from the fourth to the third row now, getting more confident as the weeks go by.

And now that L is home more (he’s done with his MBA) I can attend more classes and get progressively better.

Zumba makes me feel sassy and as I move and sway and shimmy, I don’t think about the fact that my thighs touch or that my hips are fleshier than I’d like or that my waist is thicker than it’s been in a decade.

Instead, I gaze at the person staring back at me in the mirror and appreciate her curves, her strength, her rhythm. I see a body that housed and birthed a beautiful baby, a body that can run and dance and play, a body that isn’t perfect, but is perfectly mine.

I see me … a better, happier, dare I say sexier me.

Thank you, Zumba …

Here are a few of my favorite routines (the choreography varies depending who your instructor is)