Measure, Measure

So today's buddy system workout went well, and I think I have a steady set of Tuesday after class workout dates. It helps me to push myself, although it was different to be talking and not be listening to music. I did manage to crank out three sets of pushups for a total of 40. Made my day.

My next item on my wishlist is an itunes card. Here are the songs I would like to download:

Justin Timberlake -- Sexy Back
Justin Timberlake -- Love Stoned
Lady Gaga- Pokerface
Lady Gaga - Just Dance

Hmmm, that is a pretty short list, so I'll have to start thinking of what I'm missing overall. Radio here I come.

Workout Buddy

I haven't had a pal to workout with since 2005. Not that I don't have friends, but I just don't have friends who share my passion for the gym. So I'm very excited to say that my friend R is going to join me tomorrow for a strength workout at the gym. Our conversation went kind of like this:

R: Do you want to go to the gym on Thursday?
Me: Sure! We can do a strength workout!
R: Don't get too excited. I can only run a mile.
Me: I've never run a mile! Yuck!

So tomorrow we will be buffing and beefing up. And who knows, maybe I'll run a mile one day. But probably by force. Yuck.

If You Can Do It At Home, You Can Do It Anywhere

I've been continuing my trend of strength workouts at home. This has been the only way to squeeze in a decent workout without affecting the high number of assignments that my grad program is dumping on me. I've pulled my yoga mat out of hybernation, and it is still the dreamiest color of leaf green that I've ever seen. In lieu of yoga, I've been doing my strength routine:

1. 3 sets of 12 push-ups
2. 2 sets of 15 crunches (arms extended above my head)
3. 2 sets of 15 leg lifts (repeat on both sides)
4. 2 sets of spinal stretches (cat pose if you do yoga)
5. 2 sets of 15 bridge poses
6. 2 sets of 12 lunges (repeat on both sides)
7. 2 30-second wall-sits

I'm doing this every other day before I leave the house, and I love the little bit of pain as I walk throughout the day. If you're not sore, you know it's not working. I've worked out in my home office, in our house in the mountains, and this morning in my boyfriend's living room while I watched "Ellen." It was great.

And P.s., I just figured out that people were leaving me comments, and I loved them. So if anyone is still reading this, your feedback is super motivating. And my derailment this weekend was little chocolate eggs.

Tools Are Useless If You Don't Use Them

What does this mean, you say? Again allow me to reiterate that I have been reading fitness magazines for about 13 years, and have managed to let myself become sedentary and a little on the softer side despite this knowledge. So I'm taking this realization and using it to notice a trend in my life. There are many things for which I have physical tools or knowledge that I am NOT putting into play. Here are a few examples:

• Although I have knowledge of fitness requirements, I am still often sedentary.
• Although I have healthy cookbooks and knowledge of food components, I often choose to eat junk, like scallion pancakes and bubble tea.
• Although I probably own 72 bottles of lotion, I have dry skin.
• Although I own a hairdryer and flat iron, I typically have a ponytail and one tangley dreadlock in the back.
• Although I have a closet full of beautiful size 4-6 clothes, I continue to wear my small sad collection of larger clothes.

Sigh. I know this sounds depressing, but the reality is that it means I've taken the first step. I have the knowledge and the supplies to be a better version of me, but I often get in my own way. So while healthy weight loss is a slow process, I've begun to take some other steps to showing myself more respect. Because putting it in writing has always helped me (Undergraduate poetry major), here are my new in-the-works habits...

• Neutrogena body oil right out of the shower
• Drying my hair and leaving the house with hair DOWN
• Limiting portion sizes and trying to eat 90% natural or whole foods per day
• 3 strength workouts per week

I may not have to keep this blog up for long, but I think I will. Taking a break a few times a week to analyze my actions, even if for only me, has been helpful. I want to make changes, permanent changes. And that often involves little reminder sessions where I sit down quietly and think to myself. And to blogger.com.

Workout Like a Pigeon

Trying to do things on the go has proven difficult for me. I tried making the "on-the-go" playlist on ipod while on the bus today. I can't figure it out. So music for today's workout will be provided by old playlists and my most frequently played list.

My workout today will include come cardio, abs, and yoga. I've been horrible about stretching, and I'm thinking that will improve my overall disposition. A few sets of sun salutations, pigeon pose, which is my favorite. I bet I'll be sorest from the stretches, but I can't say until tomorrow!

It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, which means that walking around today with wet hair is not a good idea. I'll fit in a workout anyway, but my hair might be a little funky tonight!

New Workout Mix and a Little Success

Amidst all of my studious work at the computer, I have been loading new (old) CDs onto my IPod. My latest tools for a mix are:

Roses -- Outkast
How Come You Don't Call Me -- Alicia Keys
...& On -- Erykah Badu
Apple Tree -- Erykah Badu
Pentitentiary Philosophy -- Erykah Badu
Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth -- Dandy Warhols
Minnesoter -- Dandy Warhols
The 13th -- The Cure
60 Minute Man -- Dont Know, from the Pleasantville Soundtrack

I'm still working on adding a few filler songs, but these songs are playing on heavy rotation through all of my walks, healthy meals, and dreams of actually making it to the gym. The good news is I'm down to 154.8, which makes my goal (149 by 5-9-09) not seem so far off.

New Food Plan

With a stressful week of school work and events to attend, working out has not always happened. In an effort to have progress on some front, I've been focusing on healthy eating. Not this does not always mean no treats, or low fat. It just means typically controlling calories or portions, and adding healthy staples when that's not possible.

Today's Meals:

15 crackers
2 slices low-fat cheese
1 (huge) banana

1/2 cup coffee with milk/sugar

3 slices of ham
2 slices low-fat cheese
1 cup grapes
1 date

1 activia yogurt
1 frozen meal (beef stir-fry)
1 sugar-free pudding

There will likely be a snack when I get home tonight around 9:30pm, which is a nice way to wind down at the end of the night. I've noticed that carrying my food has gotten easier. The easiest way to include a fast meal is frozen Lean Cuisine meals. Today I have it in the frozen box, but I often just thaw and dump it into tupperware. A lot of them are good cold, which helps when I'm on the run. So this is my latest strategy, and it helps for days like yesterday when I had 3 slices of pizza, 2 chicken wings, and ho-ho's for dinner. Eeek.

Following My Challenge Plan

Today is so busy, I'm wondering when I am going to fit a shower in. And I'm already at school. My intention is to work out and then shower, then go to class tonight, but I'm not so sure. There's a reason they call this thing a challenge.

My workout yesterday exhausted me, but consisted of the following:

24 push-ups
48 lunges
24 bridge poses
30 weighted crunches
24 cat stretches
60 seconds of wall-sits
2 mins boxing with weights
30 leg lifts

Although I am miserable today, my pushups yesterday felt solid, and I can tell I am getting stronger. I just got a new workout, and I'm currently memorizing the routine. I typically don't like to stop and study a move before I do it. If you want to do the moves with me, visit
http://www.self.com/challenge for the latest challenge strength workout. They're good!

Here are the numbers

So to think through my less-savory habits, I've been thinking about numbers and weight, which is typically something I avoid. But to bare the truth is to face it, and here are my numbers.

I graduated from high school weighing 116 lbs.
I finished my freshman year of college at 128 lbs.
I left for greece at 135 lbs (probably my best weight).
I returned from Greece at 145 lbs.
I graduated from undergrad at 132 lbs.
After 3 years of working, I weighed about 160 lbs. Yikes.
I am as of this morning 156.8 lbs.
I would like to be 149 lbs. by May 9th.
I would like to graduate from grad school again at 135 lbs.

These are my numbers. They say to lost weight you should share your goals. Hope this helps!

Pain and Danger

So, every experience has something from which to draw, right? In terms of fitness, I channeled some old boyfriends as I visited the gym today. Workout trick of the day = high jump with jump rope. Now our gym is small, and the jump ropes are very thin rubber. So I ran the high risk of whipping several undergrads as they proceeded through their tough workouts of the day.

I remember doing this same workout as an undergrad, where I would run a lap around the track (1/8 mile) and then jump 50-100 times. As I got stronger, I would lift my knees. This led to extreme pain. I sneezed one night as I was falling asleep, and I screamed, like someone has disembowled me.

Today I felt the pain too. I had just completed three sets of modified crunches and then jumped about 80 times. I tried to breathe deeply into my abdomen, and it hurt! This is great, however it may sound. Painful muscles = fatigued muscles = muscles that are getting stronger. Bring on the pain, and thank you short, hairy guy in a band, you will make my mid-section enviable.

Sweet, Sweet Break

So I had this beautiful vision of working out 90 minutes everyday of my spring break, and I have worked out zero times. The good news is my eating has been much better, so I feel positive in that respect. A week of not carrying two large bags everywhere and power-scheduling my day has been a nice change. Tomorrow I go to the doctor for my quarterly check-up, and I have a simple goal- weigh at least one pound less than when I was last there.

My goal is to continue to trim out food as May 9th quickly approaches. Don't get me wrong... I'm still eating, and not even healthy all the time. I'm just trying to trim out obviously bad foods in large portions. My goal of drinking water seems to ebb and flow, some days I'm great and some days I'm borderline ER admittable with dehydration. Oh bad habits.

But here are my new good habits:

1 activia yogurt everyday
Limit of 1 small cup of coffee, daily
Not eating after 9pm

Some days I don't have anything new to discuss, because learning to be healthier is just that-- it's the same, and more of the same. And then some more. And that's the challenge.

After the Flood Comes the Understanding

I made a vow to eat more healthfully, and I immediately freaked out. I hate Girl Scouts, never was one, never would be one, and now I've eaten two boxes of their f-ing cookies in less than 24 hours. That, by the by, is about 2.400 extra calories. Freak out city. But I'm sticking to blaming the Girl Scouts; they're short, and there's pretty much nothing they can do about it. (I know, I'm a meany.)

So here's my new strategy. I need to identify my triggers, and I definitely have them.

1. Snack time during class when teachers bring in goodies
2. The vending machine
3. Breaks during long classes
4. Girl Scout cookies
5. Weekends sitting around and studying
6. Going out to eat
7. Being thirsty (many people interpret thirst as hunger)
8. Coffee houses (How can I have coffee without candy or cake?)
9. Stress
10. My boyfriend (it's true, he eats garbage, and still as I've said before, weighs the same as me!)

So I need a new lunch/snack packing strategy, so here it is:

Breakfast at home today:

1 egg omelet with tomatoes and cheese
1 slice grainy/seedy bread with Olivio
1 cup skim milk w/ 1 tsp. hershey's syrup

Lunch out with friends today:

1 bowl of soup at Panera (I'm going online now to investigate)
The sad little apple they give you
One of my yogurts that's listed below

Packed in my lunchbag for snacks/dinner:

2 Yoplait light yogurts
2 light cheesesticks
1 lean cuisine meal in tupperware
1 apple
1/2 cup yellow pepper slices
3/4 cup raw broccoli

Wish me luck -- my night class is my first challenge, and I'm reserving a yogurt and broccoli pieces to eat when the professor inevitably hands out some delectable type of treat. I've never made it through one whole day before. Scary but true.

Relax, You Get to Eat Tomorrow, Too

So my new strategy for developing an eating plan is okay. I realize that I feed most often what is not stomach hunger, but blood sugar hunger. I eat when I get shaky, and if I did not get shaky, I would probably not remember to eat. My stomach rumbles, and I go, "What's that?" I get shaky a lot, and so I eat a lot. So far today, this was my meal plan:

Breakfast

1 cup of 1% milk w/ 1tbsp. hershey's syrup
2/3 cup of All Bran Buds
1 tbsp. raisins

1 apple
6 wheat/flaxseed crackers
1 cheesestick

It's 1:50pm and I'm shaky again. Diabetes is stupid if anyone ever asks you. Stupid. I would really not care to eat again right now. Sigh. But I'm digressing.

Other than blood sugar, I'm facing a lot of portion control issues. I don't want to eat a piece of pie.... I want to eat a whole pie, like right now. This weekend I ate a whole bowl of guacamole. And today I'm reminding myself of a quote that I read, "You don't have to eat everything today. You get to eat tomorrow. You get to eat everyday."

The New Mealplan, and Fiber

Although my new magazine has arrived with the SELF Challenge in tow, this year they are simply giving you a prepared menu. Breakfast= have this kind of omelette. Lunch = have this kind of salad. Much less flexibility, though I will admit it is less complicated than in years past. So I'm using it as a guide rather than a set of laws.

I desperately needed to go on a date last night, and we've found out about this new restaurant nestled between the ski resorts. They serve what was rudely described to me as "yuppy food." And if yuppy means edible and delicious, I agree... instead of a salad being iceburg lettuce with a slice of fatty meat and ice water with stuff floating in it... instead I had a beautiful mexican salad with pulled pork, black beans, avocado and more. Not a pillar of health, but a pillar of taste, and that was an awesome plan.

So this morning for breakfast I ate Kashi GoLean Crunch, and it was good. I ate 1.5 servings, and therefore got about 14g of fiber. Yea! My obstacles are this: teachers who bring treats to our classes. They are of course my favorite!, but are also a challenge since I will eat whatever someone offers me. Vending machine-- I've mentioned this one, but its presence is very real. And finally eating out: servings are huge, and they still tasted good after the prescribed amount. So I keep eating.

Need Rest... In Danger of Meltdown

I don't handle being tired being well. I'll never be able to have kids, because if I get woken up, I go nut-so. So this Friday, I hit a wall. Too many 19 hour days, too much commuting and overscheduling so every minute is best used. I quit. Instead of going to the gym, I hung out with my dad and watched "The Beach." I slept in, I went over to my boyfriends and read a non-school related book. It was the best decision I ever made.

I think about Hollywood starlets who overstretch themselves for years with work, and fitness, and partying and then have nervous breakdowns. An extreme, I know, but I was evil for no reason and could just feel a Britney or a Mariah moment coming on. So relaxation. Did I miss one of my weekly workouts... yes. Did I die? No.

I'm signing up for the Self Challenge as soon as I get my next issue, which is a three-month diet and fitness plan sponsored and managed by the magazine. I'm hoping to be able to schedule workouts a little more, and monitor my food intake a little more carefully. If anyone would like to sign up with me, the link is posted below. Mostly I'm just hoping to win a vacation or some handy merchandise. We'll see.

Join with me, and tell me! I need all the motivation I can get! Join the Self Challenge with me!

Trip Down Memory Lane

I've been talking with my best friend from college, and we've been trying to arrange for her to visit me from Dallas. We've been at this distance since we graduated (almost 4 years) and have seen each other twice. It's hard. But her trip is looming now, and I'm psyched.

So with my mind full of thoughts of good old Sarah Lawrence College, I noticed that my gym has the same old elliptical machines that said friend and I used to use when we worked out together. And we were nuts. We worked out almost 5 days a week for four years, minus trips abroad.

I love these machines. I don't know if they're any different from the newer machines, but I feel like I'm working harder on them. I cranked the incline up to 20 (the highest) and dialed up the resistance (not the highest) and worked out until I felt like my butt and calf muscles would shoot sparks like fire crackers. To make the throwback complete, I found the worst magazine that I could (Cosmo, of course, is the worst magazine) and sweat away. I closed my workout with a few strength moves:

25 bicep-curls/shoulder-press combos
Weighted crunch with toe-touches (I think you'd need a photo)
Scissor Crunches
Delt Flies
Sumo Squats
Weighted Kicks

The Delt Flies were a new one today, and they'll definitely be added to my routine. Tomorrow is one hour of pure cardio. My definition of that is upping cardio to 45 minutes (yikes) and adding in 15 minutes of abs and stretching. The calendar/clock is ticking toward 05/09/2009.

The Weekend Warrior and Her Love Chub

Some people do chores on the weekend, some people relax, etc. I like to snack on the weekend. We spend most weekends snuggling away in Hidden Valley. And my boyfriend can eat, oh my, can the guy eat. I should also mention that we weigh THE SAME. I am average weight for my height. He's super-thin, but in good shape. So this weekend, with Valentine's Day hanging in the balance, we've planned to make cookies. And I love warm, out of the oven cookies, and I can't wait!

So my weekends are another area where I need to focus. I'm exercising during the week, eating pretty well, but my weekends are spent in bed studying, doing homework, and in general lovey-dovey merriment. So here's the lovey-dovey bashing plan:

I already have my hand weights in the house, so this weekend I'll bring up my yoga mat. This will equip me to do some basic strength workouts. I have also reminded my boyfriend that I need to take walks, etc., of a sizable nature. The final task (self-control in the kitchen) is sadly on me. So tonight's other mission is to peruse my diabetes cookbook and pick 2 recipes that share ingredients and that I won't binge eat. The other is to visit the Ruby Tuesday website to scope nutritional info. This is where we will be having our Valentine's dinner, and if you're laughing or cringing, you've obviously never seen the alternatives in Somerset, PA.

So here's their nutrition sheet, and I'm cringing, but I'm drooling over the avocado quesadillas...

http://www.rubytuesday.com/files/Nutrition.pdf

Working Harder, Eating More

So although the 15 years of fitness magazines that I've read have told me this time and again -- women are more prone to overcompensate for calories burned during a workout. This means cookies, this means M&M. And I had both today.

I am a stress eater, a boredom eater, and a regular old eater too. Today with no coffee, five hours in a research library, and a night class, I was running below empty. So I snacked, and here is a list of everything I ate. The truth is I will probably scare the crap out of myself as I recall all of this:

1. Chocolate diet shake
2. Banana
3. 1/2 package of Nilla Cakesters (smooshed by the way)
4. 1 cheese stick
5. 1 clementine
6. 1 ham sandwich on 9 grain bread
7. light yogurt
8. 1 clementine
9. 1 package m&ms
10. 1 bag sun chips
11. 1 lean cuisine beef hunan meal
12. 1 sugar-free pudding
13. 1/2 ham sandwich

So not the most horrific day of all time, but my guess is well over 2.000 calories, which I imagine doesn't help when you're trying to lose weight. I'm pretty sure, in fact, that it causes you to gain weight. Aren't I clever. Now all of the healthy stuff on that list I packed and carried with me. All the not so healthy things... vending machine.

So, here's my strategy for tomorrow:

Breakfast:

COFFEE!
Oatmeal with dates/almonds, orange, light yogurt

Snack:
cheesestick and blueberries

Lunch:
turkey wrap, dates, cheesestick

Dinner:
Diet shake, orange, coffee as needed (night class)

I'll see how the day goes, where I'm hungry, and where I'm dying for my drug of choice that spirals out of that glowing machine.

Well, There Goes That Goal!

To make my commuting-student life a little easier, while still being healthy, I went to the cheapest place I could think of today (Wal-Mart) to get set-up for showering at the gym after working out.

"What?" you say. "You haven't been showering this whole time?" I have to confess--NO. I had a pretty good regiment of face washing and body wipes/deodorant/perfume, but alas, I'm ready for the next step.

I bought only the essentials, i.e. a lock for the locker in which I will be storing my things while I work out, and some rubber flip flops to wear while I shower after working out. $7.97 with tax. Ouch. There goes my $5.99 goal.

So now I have spent $1.98 over my goal, but it was well worth it to avoid being smelly, getting robbed, or having foot problems from the shower. So to compensate, 198 seconds more in the gym each day. That's like 3 minutes, or one more Christina song.

What's Going into My Body

So re-examining my diet has lead to the definite conclusion that this is the major source of my weight gain. I've tried to blame other sources: insulin, thyroid, my boyfriend. But the truth is, I eat dessert at least twice a day, and I've been known to eat through pain, get to the other side, and eat again. So... target identified.

My new meal plan for the week is this:

Breakfast (quite yummy)

1 cup slow-cooked oatmeal w/ Cinnamon and one splenda
2 chopped dates
1 tbsp. slivered almonds
1 container low-sugar yogurt

Snack

1 cheese stick
1 orange

Lunch

1 Chocolate Shake
COFFEE

Dinner

Ham and Spinach Wrap
1 orange

Snack

Banana
Other small item

So this is my starter meal plan, and the convenient part is I eat breakfast at home, pack snacks, lunch and dinner, and have a little snack at night when I get home. I'm going to work on balancing the ingredients a little better... but that will take some planning this weekend. With me luck, because I freakin' love m&m's, and this campus is chalk-full of vending machines. Sigh.

Double Duty and Drinking

Today was a sloppy, bitter cold day that I preferred to spend out of the gym. I went to classes, read and studied. Spent much of the day rehydrating, which is a major problem of mine. I actually have to monitor the color of my pee. Lemonade...good. Apple juice... bad. I know, gross.

Feeling much more hydrated after guzzling water and limiting myself to a lone cup of coffee, I am ready to hit the gym double duty tomorrow. That means cardio and strength training, totalling about an 80-minute visit to the gym. So here's my plan to combine the workout.

Arrive by 9:30am at the latest.

Warm-Up: 5 min Spinning

Scissor Crunches: 2 sets of 12
Bridge and Lift: 2 sets of 12
Back Lunge with Bicep Curl: 2 sets of 12
Push-Ups: 15
Weighted Jumping Jacks: 2 sets of 12
Squats: 2 sets of 12
Plank Pose: 30 seconds

Spinning: 30 minutes

Cooldown: Walk to School to study

Wish me luck. I'm turning on my brain for the weekend because next week's focus is diet. And that's beyond scary.

It's Like the Beatles Have Arrived

I was an incredibly rebelious teenager. I rebelled simply for the sake of rebelling: combat boots, punk rock, pink hair, the whole deal. Before they sold all that stuff at the mall, too. Eventually, I ran out of things to rebel against. And that's when I took the final rebellious step, and I mainstreamed myself.

This happened my sophomore year of college, when under pressure from friends, I finally admitted it- I love Christina Aguilera. I mean hands down, stop what you're doing, squeal when the curtain goes up love her.

So most days I find myself jamming to some Christina while I'm working out, which results in a whole range of powerful emotions: feeling sexy, feeling feisty, and not feeling the pain of a hard workout. As a challenge to keep my workouts different, I've also decided to mix up my playlists. I prefer pop music for the beat while I'm working out, but I've snuck in the occasional other genre as well. Except for my cardio workout. That's typically a Christina-only event.

So visit a music site, download what I think are some awesome workout songs, or laugh at me because, well, isn't it obvious why?

Cardio Playlist (38.4 minutes):

Senorita -- Justin Timberlake
Still Dirrty -- Christina Aguilera
Toxic -- Britney Spears
Clumsy -- Fergie
Dynamite -- Christina Aguilera
Candyman -- Christina Aguilera
Come On Over (Baby) -- Christina Aguilera
Dirrty -- Christina Aguilera
Fighter -- Christina Aguilera
Ain't No Other Man -- Christina Aguilera

Strength/Stretching Playlist (47.2 minutes)

The New Workout Plan -- Kanye West
Butterfly in Reverse -- Counting Crows
La Tortura -- Shakira
Kiwi -- Maroon 5
Makes Me Wanna Pray -- Christina Aguilera
Gasoline Dreams -- Outkast
Te Aviso, Te Anuncio -- Shakira
Bubble Pop Electric -- Gwen Stefani
A Mistake -- Fiona Apple
Closer -- Nine Inch Nails
American Girls -- Counting Crows
Le Derniere Minute -- Carla Bruni

It's Almost 95 Degrees in Here... and That's Not Why I'm Sweating

Everyone says that working out will rejuvenate you; it will make you feel young again. Young again? Doesn't anyone know what an uncomfortable and awkward tween/teen I was? But, truth be damned, today the gym turned me into a 14 year old in combat boots. I'm self-critical. I'm judging. I'm feeling left out.

The gym was a little closer to a balmy 95 degrees than usual. I was doing my lunges and lifting weights when an entire pod of 18-20 year olds showed up and proceeded to discuss their army-style push-ups and the number of pull ups they can do. They learned this in lacrosse, in gymnastics. I was on the trivia team in high school, and spent any free time in the art room or writing poetry in my bedroom. No one ever trained me to do anything.

So the voice in my head turned on: "I'm not lunging right."

"My toes are turning in."

"I have to do push-ups on my knees."

SHUT UP! And the light turned on-- I'm not working out to deal with a weight problem, but a confidence problem. Taking control of my body is putting me back in control of ME. I'm a goal setter, a bearer of self-control and intention. Is there anything wrong with me? No. Did those girls even notice that I was there? Probably not, unless they needed the mat I was using.

So for the end of this week, I have a non-fitness goal: go to the gym tomorrow and focus on me, on my body's feedback, the rise in my endurance. The mirrors are there for me to watch my form, not to check if the people around me are staring at me. And if I'm sweating, it's because I'm kicking ass, spaced out in my own little world of exercise.

Oh God, I Don't Know What to Tell You... You're a 10

Well, what I have to tell you is that I spent $223 and change on a dress that is purposely a size too small.

Today I had an early breakfast with my friend the bride. My $5.99 bride. As she ate her tiny pastry and I ate my peanut butter bagel, we discussed our experiences at the bridal shop where she asked us to order our dresses. Via phone, I spoke with a career sales lady and gave her my measurements. She "ummm"ed and "well"ed for a good minute before telling me that "I don't know what to tell you, but you're between an 8, and, well, a 10. What do you want to do about it?" To avoid a complete screaming, raging bitch-fest on the phone, I did the dumb thing, and I ordered the 8. So there is the secret behind my motivation. I was intimidated by a 45 year old sales girl in Philly. Ick.

My bride friend is sketching up a plan to make the lady apologize. (No thanks). So, in a world where I make lemonade, not lemons, I'm using this chance to get back into shape, and you know what... it's working.

Yesterday was moving trip #2. 35 trips on the stairs, loads of boxes, and today I can still walk just fine. Even better, while cleaning, I found an old magazine under my bed with an entirely new workout on it. It's from an old issue of Self Magazine and is not dated. So to still pass on some helpful advice, I searched the Self website and found a link for a comparable ab workout routine. All you need is a light set of hand weights. This is tonight's workout:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1767981817/bctid1845376307

And I'm hoping that tomorrow, on my way to a smaller tighter waist, I will also continue on my journey back to the land of "Oh God, I don't know what to tell. You're between a 4 and a 6."

My Name is Molly Shannon, and I'll Be Your Trainer

My father has recently retired, and wants me to put together a workout routine for him to lose weight. He's had a membership to the YMCA for several years now, and after a successful round of water aerobics classes, he has stopped going. He was excited that I'm working out again, and we're setting a goal of visiting the YMCA together once a week so I can pass a workout on to him, and he will hopefully pass it on to my mother as well.

In using my magazine subscription (2 issues so far), I have begun using hand weights, the weighted bar, and the elastic band. I have also ventured a few moves using the exercise ball, but my stabilizing muscles are still weak, so that has been a challenge. For each move that I use, I am considering the ways that my parents can perform these exercises. My father is strong, but has "secretly" smoked for that last 45 years. My mother has broken her back and neck, and although she's recovered, she believes her limitations to be, well, insanely limiting. Both of my parents are also pre-diabetic, and as someone who has had diabetes for 15 years, I do not want that to happen for them. So family fitness it is!

I use SELF Magazine for most of my fitness ideas, and I've been viewing their online videos for ideas or clarity on directions as well. My favorite is the SUPERSTAR, which although for legal reasons they don't say it, is a lunge and weights move based on Molly Shannon's character from SNL. My workout has been borrowed from the celebrity highlights of SELF this month, including Michelle from Destiny's Child and Jillian from the Biggest Loser. My job now is to transfer these moves to my two 60+ parents, and hopefully our family will be toned, tight, and light on glucose. My name is Molly Shannon, and I'll be your trainer this year. Our workout so far is as follows:

1. warm-up for 5 minutes on cardio equipment of choice

2. 24 SUPERSTAR lunges (12 per leg)

3. 24 back lunges with bicep curls (12 per leg)

4. 12 push-ups (classic or girly)

5. 12 Scissors crunches

6. 30-60 seconds in plank pose

7. 12 bridge pose with overhead weights

8. 12 Dancers' reaches

9. 12 Flamingo Firmers

10. 12 Twist-Aways

11. 24 reps in "starter block" pose

12. 5 minutes of cool-down on cardio equipment

This looks brutal to me, but each move goes pretty quickly, and doesn't seem to hard until you try to walk around the next day. I highly recommend the two workouts from the January issue of SELF, and I've posted the links below. SUPERSTAR!

Jillian Michaels's Workout: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1767981817/bctid4848279001
Michelle's Williams Workout: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1767981817/bctid4680854001

Plank and Plough

After sustaining mild injuries from so many trips up and down the stairs, I spent the weekend with hot baths, rice bags, icy hot, and Vick's VapoRub. I was ready to head back to the gym this morning, and thankfully did. I am again able to walk down stairs again normally, which is convenient since I'm still in my walk-up (and walk-down) apartment.

I found 10:30am to be a fairly quiet time at the gym. I did 30 minutes on the spin bike, incorporating seated and standing positions. The only drawback is there's no size-appropriate cup holder to hold my water, so I have to stop to drink.

In honor of my goal to try something new, I decided to tack 2 new moves onto my abs routine: plank pose from yoga class (which I haven't attended since 2007, but really liked) and something awful I saw in a magazine. You get into push-up position with your feet resting on a large exercise ball. As you exhale, you pull your knees toward your chest, and roll the ball forward. I did 12, and it seemed like 100. This is Plough. Plough was really awkward. But thankfully I am still sore while sitting here at home afterward... a rare feat in the ab department.

My new fitness magazine came (a gift, thankfully, and therefore not counting toward my $5.99) and I'm ready to sit down to lunch and study so I have new ideas for tomorrow morning at the gym. Because I can already smell a routine forming.

Will Work for FREE!

In my quest to keep things cheap, I'm also packing up my apartment that I've had since I was an undergrad, and boomeranging right back to my parents' house. Again, the good news is that this offers me a lot of manual labor, and therefore exercise.

I live on a third story walk-up, with a staircase that is split into 4 turns and flights. I also live in a neighborhood where it is difficult to park close to the building. So my task today is my own personal stairclimber and a giant, angular medicine ball. The truth is that I have about 30 trips to make up and down the stairs carrying boxes, baskets, suitcases, paintings, and lamps. All of the small items I can cram into my little hatchback. Apparently I am also exercising my spatial reasoning skills.

I've geared up for my workout: sneakers, sweatpants, and a bandana. All I have to do is get started, and then force myself to drive back up to the North Hills. This will be trip #1 of 3 or 4 this month, until I'm actually moved back, with not a care in the world but real exercise, and grad school.

Nothing Costs $5.99

Most girls go crazy to get in shape for their own weddings. I've chosen to go insane for someone else's. My oldest friend has chosen to get married on 05/09/09 in honor of $5.99. This girl has also chosen to have an extremely over-the-top wedding, destined to be in WHIRL or the City Paper.

Nothing about her wedding is $5.99, so in honor of her "theme", I've chosen to get in shape while spending no more than $5.99. Thankfully as a new grad student, I have many new tools at my fingertips that I'll consider to be "free."

First of all, I don't believe in working out at home. Second, I don't believe in running. So I've chosen to frequent a campus fitness center. The room is tiny, and although it is 32 degrees and dry outside, it is 82 and steamy in this room. It's also crammed to the hilt. The silver lining in all of this is it allows me to take on my favorite persona: the anti-social athlete.

I love working out, but I have never exercised with a friend. I have even been guilty of wearing purposefully frightening things so that strangers wouldn't talk to me. Forgoing my usual grooming routine to avoid people talking to me.

To set the bar higher for myself this time, I am setting three new goals:

1. Go to the fitness center at least 4 days a week
2. Use 1 new prop or piece of equipment daily (weighted bars... here I come!)
3. Try not to be the one glaring at people from the Spin Bike.

Also, my only expense can be 1-2 post-workout tea lattes for this entire semester, so I better take really good care of my sneakers.