I'm hooked

Phew! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while—I’ve been so busy running!

And then realizing I HATE running. And then stopping running.

As it turns out, that running thing was a passing fancy. But, I have landed on a new obsession that seems to have stuck! The Bar Method takes all the most defining, muscle toning and lengthening aspects of pilates, yoga and ballet and crams them together in an intense hour-long session of pushing yourself to make your whole body shake. Seriously, the relief in coming out of some of the exercises is so extreme, it approaches orgasmic sometimes. It hurts, and I LOVE it!!

Bar Method is everything I’ve been searching for and missing from all my years in serious ballet training in all the other crazy workouts I’ve tried, notably Crossfit (are you kidding me?! What was I thinking?!), spinning (the most pain there was not from the muscle strain) and running (the worst of all of them, hands down!). I love it! I can’t say that enough!

There is an interesting phenomenon I’ve come to realize in my Bar Method classes, though. Everyone wears Lululemon outfits. All of them. All the time. This is something I’ve been marveling over for a month now. How can it be that so many people would spend SO much money on workout clothes?! Lululemon is pretty expensive to be so widely popular. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really cute stuff, but they’ve got pants for over $100—workout pants!

Then, as happens when one starts to obsess over something, I started noticing Lululemon all over the place. Everyone on the metro carries their lunches and shoes into work in Lululemon bags. Lululemon is EVERYWHERE! How is it possible that such an expensive brand is taking over the entire world?! The ENTIRE WORLD!!* Everyone everywhere is wearing Lululemon! Head to toe!

I became a broken record, talking to anyone and everyone with whom I came in contact about how this could be. The clothes must be magic, right? They must be. Are they magic? Why are so many smart people willing to spend so much money on workout clothes? They’re just going to get all sweaty! Upon the third hour of my obsessive ramblings one day, one friend finally said, “I don’t know. Let’s go to the store that’s a block away from here and check it out.” And so we did. And so I tried something on.

It is magic. Lululemon is magic. Everything is so well and thoughtfully made! Zipper pulls on hoodies become hair ties! Drawstrings melt back into seams so they’re not in the way or even visible! Everything’s made in a miraculous way that flatters every body type and wicks moisture away as if it’s been naughty! It’s incredible!

Of course, I walked out of there with the most beautiful workout top I’ve ever owned, and now I’m hooked. My friend had to put her foot down and not allow me to wear my new top to a bridal shower we were going to later that day. Oh, but I wanted to, though! All those women I’ve seen all over everywhere are most definitely onto something! I never want to wear anything else.

So, all in all, I’m pretty sure that it’s only a matter of time before I’ve amassed a closetful of Lululemon and am only ever seen wearing the adorable workout attire anywhere I go (likely because I won’t be able to afford any other types of clothes!). As a friend recently said to me, though, there are worse expensive habits to have developed, like cocaine. At least I’m not doing cocaine. Perspective.

And, don’t worry, those fancy sneakers I bought are still getting plenty of important use. I’m doing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day in October, so training for that (I mean, I know it’s just walking, but it’s walking SIXTY MILES in three days!! That’s a loooooooong way that deserves some attention ahead of time) has me walking all over kingdom come, and footwear, apparently, is very important. It’s good that I just happened to have already picked up some fancy, supportive shoes with serious inserts, huh?!




*Editor’s note: Ok, I realize I sometimes tend towards the dramatic and that there are probably large parts of the earth that have not been overtaken by expensive active wear, but in my corner of Washington, DC, and Arlington—admittedly pretty yuppie corners on which to be basing assessments of world domination—it’s totally taken over!