Amanda's Blog

Warning: This blog is more for my benefit than for anyone's reading pleasure.

Warning #2: Somewhere along the way, this blog turned into a book.

I'm trying, due to pre-summer, re: pre-bikini season, to motivate myself to work out. And I'm hoping that having it in writing will give me that extra push...

I used to work out. For a while, Tricia and I were taking a kickboxing class and totally kicking ass. I LOVED it. But then I got an office job and couldn't make the 11:30 am kickboxing classes at Lady Fitness (which was quite conveniently timed for the 1 pm Passions and 2 pm Days of Our Lives schedule Tricia and I were on back in those days).

Office life equaled sitting on my ass for 8 hours snacking on any candy in my grasp (and as Shelly will tell you, it was a lot of candy) and not working out at all. Not surprising, I pudged up a little bit. It wasn't terrible, so I didn't worry about it... until… one Thanksgiving/Christmas season I noticed that my clothes were getting a little tight, then a lot tight. I decided that if I didn't do something quick the only thing that would fit me would be sweat pants, and you can't wear sweat pants to work.

Commence working out daily again, this time after work at my apartment gym. Elliptical for 20 minutes, treadmill for 20, bike for 20. I was pretty dedicated, and I did loose some weight, but not a ton... mostly because I kept saying - "sure, I can eat three pieces of cake... I work out." Smart, I know, but I did have more energy and felt healthier.

When that workout plan faded, us HIT girls decided to start lunching at the gym. 30 minutes on the elliptical for lunch and a quick bite to eat at our desk. It was genius. After a while, I was doing the elliptical for lunch and then started running after work. I worked my way up to running 2.5 miles a day. I'm such a bad runner, but I love doing it. We did well for a while, but then we got back into the bad habit of eating out for lunch. Two Rows was calling our name daily.

Then we got laid off and I suddenly had all this time on my hands. So, I got back to it. Running 2.5 miles a day, tanning, dieting and knitting were my life. Therefore, last summer my tight jeans fit nicely, my short shorts were perfect and my pool time was less horrific. This summer, however, is not starting off the same. Having a wonderful boyfriend who loves me just the way I am no matter what isn't really helping my diet/workout motivation. And, I have to say, I haven't exactly been the best influence on him either.

After talking about it for weeks, Tony and I finally did it. We made ourselves work out at the gym. 35 minutes on the elliptical last night. First, I whined about going and that I didn't want to and wanted to go to happy hour instead. Then when we got home Tony said he'd rather not and wouldn't I just like to stay home and eat dinner. But somehow we forced ourselves. I think it was the panting I did going up the stairs that convinced me… that and Tony saying "sheesh, you ok?"

The workout was GREAT. Why haven't we been working out all this time? It's fun – trying to figure out how to work the dang machine, listening to music, watching TV, noting the other beginners at the gym vs. the hard core regulars, comparing our mileage and strides per minute. The best part was how great we both felt afterwards. So proud of ourselves and motivated to keep it up. I'd forgotten how much I missed the gym and I think Tony did also.

The plan is to keep it up. And mix it up. Gym, bike riding, tennis, running, all of it. Tonight our workout will be cleaning my old apartment. Which we are so not looking forward to, but it has to be done. Tomorrow – any suggestion??