Working Out and Working

Last year, I hit the big 40 (though if you ask me, I'll deny it, LOL, and my darling teen daughter is backing my story of being in my mid-thirties still ;-) and at some point this year it hit me that I either get in shape now or I'm going to look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame crossed with Dumbo by the time I'm 50.





So, DH and I cashed in some reward points and used them toward a shiny new Nordic Track Elliptical machine. Those who are faithful readers of my blog know that I once sold my treadmill so I could buy a recliner. LOL. And you wonder why I have an issue with needing to work out??



(I've also been on a ridiculously tight book deadline, and trying to eat really lean, which is why the recipes have been pretty sparse around here, folks. Sorry. No baked fettuccini for me for a while ;-).


I was excited about the elliptical machine but not really sure I'd commit to it. I had, however, been doing pilates ab exercises for several weeks, though, and noticed a difference already in my waist, and was anxious to see something happen with the other seven million body parts, so when the Nordic Track was installed, I went down to the basement, with good intentions.





I think I lasted eight minutes the first time ;-)





Now I'm up to at least 30 minutes, 5 or 6 times a week, followed by a 20-minute free weight/floor work routine that varies from day to day. And a few days a week, I walk a 3.3 mile loop with my friend Marci. It's taken since the end of April (I came back from the Writer's Police Academy, saw a photo of myself online and had MAJOR motivation after that), but I'm down three sizes, and have shaved six inches off my waist. I've lost 20 pounds, which to me wasn't huge, compared to the major difference in body shape.





Geesh, if I'd know exercise could do all this, I would have done it years ago, LOL.





Seriously, I DESPISE exercise. In all forms. I b*tch and moan my way through my workout every single time (I truly think lunges were created by a masochist), and when I'm done, wish the scale and mirror would show Cindy Crawford's body so I never, ever have to go near that equipment again ;-).





But it's working, and while I may never reach my exact goals, I'm pretty darn happy with where I am right now. Every day I get to go "shopping" in my closet for things that have been waiting years to see the light of day again. And that alone is incentive enough to get back down there and put in another 30 minutes of quality time with my Nordic Track.





Shirley