One more day to go....

29 days done...1 to go. I still don't like exercise.

5 days filled with variety

I have exercised every day this week and all through the week there were a gazillion challenges and reasons why I shouldn't have worked out--but being stubborn as I am, I worked out. On Tuesday I went to a doctor's appointment, straight to the gym and even ran a little on the tread mill, through clothes on and met friends for dinner. Only a 35 minute work out, but it took a lot of effort to fit in those 35 minutes. Wednesday was a giant debocle. I did a training until 5:15 (left 45 minutes early) to drive home in a wretched commute to pick up my husband's drycleaning for court the next day. I got to the dry cleaners I thought he left his clothes and they were not there. My husband was in class and could not answwer the phone, I proceeded to drive to 3 more dry cleaners looking for clothes. It was 8:00 I was exhausted and starving, I got to the gym did 22 minutes on the tread mill and got home. I was pretty mad at myself for having two days of less than an hour exercising, but I was so proud of myself for exercising despite these issues. Thursday I tutored and then went to a 6:30 Zumba class at a different Gold's, this was the best class of my life. The teacher was awesome and pushed me soooo hard. I am going to make my best effort to go to her class every Thursday. Yesterday I went to the gym and did the treadmill and weights. Today I did something very different, I went to the pool and went swimming. I love the water and I pushed myself very hard. I would have swam longer if I had goggles, but my eyes hurt so much I got out of the pool after 32 minutes. Tomorrow I am going to Target to buy goggles and go back to the pool. I am proud of myself, despite everything I have worked out for 20 days in a row!

Half Way Done!!!

I took a Zumba class tonight at Gold's and it was crazy! First of all the class was led by the most stero-typical fantastic latin man (boy). He did not wear a mic and he had the music up soooo loud! He also did not teach any of the moves, he just slapped his thigh when the move was going to switch and would scream "move your hips"!!! It seemed that msot people had taken this class before and were at least familiar with the routine. I on the other hand, probably provided much comic relief. I hope to take the class next week as well.

Half way done with my 30 days. I do need to start eating better. But...I am doing well and sticking to my goal.

Tired

When will I look forward to working out? Today is day 14 of 30 consecutive days and I still feel like it is a chore. Today I am very tired and have the Sunday blues, I am going back to work tomorrow for the first time in 6 work days or 8 days off--and I am just feeling tired and blah and today's work out was soooooo hard!!! I did "Start it Up" again and every little thing took so much more effort than normal and I wanted to quit 3 times during the 25 minutes--I am not usually like that.

On a more positive note, I have already been looking at class schedules at the various Gold's around me to figure out what class I am taking which day at which location for the week. Maybe this will help me feel more positive. 16 days to go!

Latin flava'

Even though I didn't blog yesterday I did "Start it Up" again. I decided that today I needed to vary my at-home workouts a little more because my knees were starting to hurt from all the lunges, squats and plieas (sp?).

Even though I could have gone to the gym the last two days, I have continued my video workouts at home. I have really been enjoying my surprise week off and being lazy. Every day I have woken up and just watched TV in bed, watched TV downstairs (in my pajamas) changed and worked out at home, watched more TV, taken leisurely showers and then watched more TV. I am not quite ready to burst my "bum bubble", so I chose to work out at home to a video today.

I think I will return to the gym when I go back to work. I hope I am still getting good calorie burning workouts in...I am just proud of myself for working out every day and not being a complete bum.

Okay, so Crunch Cardio Salsa, I enjoyed it--it is not as hard as the Zumba class at the gym, but it is fun. I was a little self conscious considering I live on the 2nd floor of an apartment, worrying about my downstairs neighbors, but when I let go of that, I put my hips in motion and salsed away.

Monday I will be halfway through my 30 days of consecutive workouts. I think I am at a disadvantage because my schedule has been so weird, but I haven't been any less committed to my 30 days of exercise.

Double Whammy!

Today I shoveled out my car (which was really tough on my arms and legs) and then I did the 24 minute "Start it Up" work out video. 11 days down, 19 to go, almost half way there!!!

Best exercise yet!

I woke up today super tired...probably because I have been stuck inside since last Thursday due to snow. I have been working out around 2 or 3, today I didn't get to it until 6 because I was feeling so lethargic.

Today was the best day of exercise because my wonderful husband did my work-out with me. We did the 24 minute video "start it up" and about half way through he looked at me and said, "I am sorry for making fun of you, this is a lot harder than it looks." I just loved having him there with me, it made it much more enjoyable. I hope he works out with me again!!! I think I would even wake up in the mornings (which I hate doing) if he would wake up and work out with me.

I also decided that of course I am going to finish Fitness February but I think March is going to be about integrating ww with exercise. I may go down to 5 times a week of exercise in March but I want to do 30 days of journaling what I eat and working out. I think I need to integrate one thing into my life at a time and right now I am trying to make fitness a part of my life. It is hard, I don't like exercising (not one bit), but according to my former ww leader it takes 21 days to form a habit, so in 11 days it should be a habit. I think it may take a little longer for me especially because the last 5 days I have been stuck at home and working out at home is a different habit than going to the gym, but at least I have been committed. I hope one day I can even look forward to working out. (But I won't get ahead of myself...that day is probably very far in the future).

I ramped it up...

As you can see in my earlier post I did not want to get off my couch. However, yesterday I vowed to do "Ramp it Up" the 47 minute workout. I did Ramp it Up and I had to fast forward 3 minutes because I did not have a resistance band or weights. The DVD then froze with 14 minutes left, we could not get it to work, so I did the 11 minute AB work out on the same DVD. I am really proud of myself. It was quite an intense workout and it made me sweaty and stinky.

My husband said he will work out with me tomorrow, if he sticks to that I will do the shorter DVD, otherwise I think it may be a Cardio Salsa day. Did I mention that 9 days into the month, I am sick of exercising? 21 days to go...

Molasses

I feel like I am stuck in molasses...I don't want to work out. I want to sit on my bum, eat and watch TV.

I love electricity!!!

We finally got our power back and came home today. I couldn't believe my father-in-law said the only place I could exercise would have been in his freezing garage with his parked prius. This almost sent me over the edge! Thank goodness I am back in my own home and I have my own rules.

Within the first 30 minutes of being home I started my work out video. I did the 24 minute Slim in 6 "Start it Up" video again, because I figured I haven't worked out other than shoveling in the last two days. I really worked hard in those 24 minutes, my abs and legs are killing me.

We are expecting another 10-20 inches of snow tomorrow into Wednesday--if I can go to the gym tomorrow I definitely will, otherwise I will "Ramp it Up" and do the 46 minute version of the video. You can all hold me accountable, no more 24 minute work outs for me...okay???

I hope you are all staying warm!

Snowmegeddon

I haven't posted in the last two days because we without power. Here were my obstacles to exercise:

1) 30 inches of snow on the ground
2) No power in my house to do a video
3) No power in by building gym to go on the treadmill
4) Roads were not safe enough to drive to the gym

What did I do? I shoveled for the past two days. Yesterday I shoveled my car and today we did a neighbor's driveway. Every day is a new obstacle, but as soon as we get power back (I am at my father-in-laws house and he won't let me do a work out video anywhere but the garage, he says the house was not built for exercise...don't even get me started how angry this makes me) I will be able to do my work out videos at home again until I feel like we can leave our parking lot without an SUV. I feel like the snow is a minor set back, but I will not let it get in the way of fitness february!

If this was any other month I would not have shoveled as much or as long. I am making changes, small ones, but changes.

beating instead of congratulating

So, today we are experiencing "Snowpocalypse" in the DC area, and I decided not to fight traffic and then finding a parking spot when I got home. Instead of going to the gym I did a video. I am proud of myself for working out at home when all I wanted to do was be lazy and watch TV. I am not proud of myself because I am not sure I pushed myself hard enough. I did a video that I did a lot in 2004, it is called "Slim in 6" by Beachbody.com it is a good series, I really liked it when I did it on a regular basis. It is 3 programs, "Start it Up", "Ramp it Up" and I can't remember the toughest work out name. At first I put in "Ramp it Up" because it is 46 minutes long, but it became obvious I was not familiar enough with all the steps and it was a little too intense. I then put in "Start it Up" which was only 24 minutes long. 24 minutes, the shortest workout I did this week has been 40 minutes until today. I am sweaty and tired, but annoyed. I could do more, but I don't want to! I am mad at myself for sitting here typing when I could still be working out. I don't think I sweat as much in 2004 as I did today when I did this workout, I must be more out of shape...ugh!

Why is it that I beat myself up instead of congratulating myself? Tomorrow when I am snowed in I am either going to do "Ramp it Up" or Cardio Salsa, both of them are longer. 24 minutes is good, especially on a snow day, right???

I think I can...

I have exercised more this week than I can remember exercising in one week in a loooong time. Today I overcame another obstacle. We are expecting a massive snow storm, so I had to go to the grocery store and tutor. I planned that I could get that all done and get to a gym class by 6:30, well of course the grocery store took longer than anticipated so I was late for tutoring which meant I didn't make the gym class. In fact due to traffic it took me 45 minutes to go 7 miles to get to the gym. I really wanted to turn around and just go home. Instead I drove in traffic went to the gym and spent 22 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes doing leg weights and a very tough 5 minutes on the elliptical. It was a different brand elliptical than yesterday and I didn't think I could make it 5 minutes on level 1!!! This is how I remember ellipticals. I promised myself I would do 5 minutes and I did it. Maybe next time I will do the elliptical before the leg weights.

I am going to have to work out at home with videos until the snow subsides (and they plow us out). I am also very worried about my eating habits being at home for so many days in a row. It will be rough, but I can make good choices. This week exercising is my first priority, next week it will be integrating counting points and attending WW meetings with exercising. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

3 days down...

Today we had a SNOW DAY!!! It was the perfect snow day, enough to get out of going to work but not so much that you are stuck inside. I brought my car to the mechanic to get new tires and I walked to the gym (a little exercise) and then I worked out. My work out today was a million times better than yesterday. I was at the gym in the middle of the day so there were no classes while I was there. Today I did the same as yesterday, 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the bike BUT I also warmed up on the treadmill, went on the treadmill in between AND I tried the ellipitical.

The elliptical has always seemed like something "fit" people do. I have tried it and it is hard. Today I was on the elliptical for 10 minutes, which is 5 more minutes than I anticipated I could handle. Today I proved to myself that I can push myself hard with out a class. Tomorrow I hope to take a class at the gym.

Only 27 more workouts to go to achieve my goal!

Snow can't stop me from exercising!

Yesterday they predicted it would start snowing during rush hour, this would turn my typically sucky commute into a treacherous commute. I decided to leave work as soon as my contract ended, drive home and work out by my house. I really like exercise classes the best because I feel as though I am pushed more and due to my competitive spirit I push myself more. There are no classes until 6:00 at my gym and I arrived at 4:30. Sooooo....I beat the odds and pushed myself. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the stationary bike. I wanted to do 5 minutes on the elliptical (which is super hard for me) but I couldnt' handle any more time at the gym. I am so proud of myself for going to the gym when all I wanted to do was come home and sit on my couch, watch tv and watch the snow falling.

I am still having a hard time not compulsively snacking in the evening. When I am full, I keep eating. I love snacking. I need to work on this. I have done really well eating at work, but at home it has been the same as always.

Today is the day!!!!!!!!

I don't want to exercise, in fact when I was laying in bed before I woke up, I came up with great excuses why I shouldn't exercise today:
1) I haven't slept well in the past 3 nights, I might be too tired
2) I am attending a retirement party from 4-6 and I will have to leave early to make the 6:00 gym class I want to take
3) I don't want to work out

I am ignoring these excuses and I am going to work out tonight. I am taking a class from 6:00-7:00 tonight. In my head I was going to work out for at least 2 hours a time. However, I think one hour, especially for my first time back at the gym is a great start. I have this fantasy that I will have a Biggest Loser like experience. I am going to strictly stick to WW eating rules and work out a lot every day so I can have giant losses like they have on Loser. I need to reframe these thoughts and just be proud of myself for keeping to my goals.

So far I am proud of myself for making good food choices for the day (I packed my lunch and planned my dinner). I am chewing gum instead of eating the office chocoloate. I can do this, it is only 30 days and tomorrow it will be only 29 days....

Starting Monday

Okay, so my friend Angie says "Starting Monday" would have also been a good name for this blog, because how many times in our lives have we said "Starting Monday". I am starting tomorrow, I am joining Gold's Gym and taking a 6:00 class called "Body Jam", which I really enjoy. I am nervous because I have been overindulging and eating like crap for a while now. Before tomorrow I need to:

1) Plan my menu for the day
2) Pack my gym bag
3) Change my mental view of myself as a person who is capable of being fit and capable

I made a choice not to go to weight watchers tomorrow because I want to go to this specific gym class and the WW meeting by mmy house is at 6:30. I will go another day this week (even though I am terrified of stepping on the scale).

My husband D says he is going to also participate in eating well and working out. That would help, but I am not going to link my success to his participation. I CAN DO THIS!

Getting Ready

I hate exercising. I also hate my body and though I have great self esteem, my loathing of my body sometimes causes me to hate myself. I have been very succesful with weight loss 6 years ago I lost 65 lbs. on Weight Watchers. Then 4 years ago I met my now husband and I put back on 45 of those lbs. When I am trying to make myself not feel like a failure for gaining weight back I tell myself, "Well at least I did not gain back all of the 65 lbs.", but the truth is I was never happier than I was 45 lbs. lighter than I am now.

Even with my success on weight watchers it was all from diet not exercise. I hate exercising, I am not good at sports and I just don't like to make the time to do it. I have decided that I need to exercise and eat right at the same time. I am committing to 30 consecutive days of exercise. I am going to exercise for the entire month of February and two days of March. I figure if I can work out 7 days a week for 30 days, working out 3-5 times a week for the rest of the year (and hopefully my life) won't seem so bad. At Weight Watchers they teach us that it takes 21 days to form a habit, I will form a habit and add 9 more days to cement it in my brain.

I am hoping that I really do this, I am using this blog to hold myself accountable, all of you can help me!