How I felt about my workout this morning

My workouts have been sporadic lately due to the random pain and extreme nausea from the whole gall stones thing. So yesterday when I "only" had a headache, I went down and did my workout. This morning, again, I have a headache, but I decided I should work out anyway.

So I put in my Tae-Bo Amped DVD, which I love. It's fun, I get a great workout, and I find Billy Blanks to be very motivational. But because I just did it yesterday, my arms and legs are pretty sore, and even though I chose a different one of the five workouts, I was really feeling it.

Twenty minutes into the workout, I wanted to stop. It hurt. And then I heard Billy say, "No obscenities!" Wow, did he read my mind? I never heard him say that before and I've done these workouts many times. Not that I would use an obscenity, but that was just how I was feeling when he said that!

And that's when I realized he had actually said, "One more set of these."

Laughing at the silly way my brain works got me through the rest of the workout.

"Free" day

I'm feeling a lot better today, like I might actually be able to get some work done. Co-op went well today and I got to tell a few more people about my cooking blog. See, one of the reasons I started it was because people kept asking me what I was doing to lose weight. Now, I can direct them there. I got some very nice compliments today, too. One mom told me she could tell I'd been working out more. That was good to hear, especially since I've been working out an hour a day every day since January 2 and didn't see much difference myself. Sometimes it takes an outsider.

Today my goal is to get some housework done, since we don't do school at home on co-op days. I have major vacuuming and floor scrubbing, not to mention laundry and general straightening. And then I've got my samba lesson (aka my dancing workout DVD). Dude, I could SO be on Dancing With the Stars. I'm just dying to take ballroom classes now. I tend to cha-cha my way across the kitchen. The boys just roll their eyes, but you watch - one of them is going to start asking for dance lessons. You should see the 3-year-old doing the waltz steps with me!

I'm the doofus in the back

Using my new workout video this morning, I started to think about how wrong it is that those people in the back, the ones following along with the routine, never mess up. Sure, every now and then one of them might step on the left foot instead of the right, but mostly they keep up with whatever the leader does.

I have been using this video for over a week now, and my feet still get tangled on some of the simplest steps. "We're going to do grapevine with a whisk," Edyta says in her this-is-going-to-be-so-simple voice. And then they all do this thing with their feet that totally baffles me. "Add the arms," she orders, but I am still trying to figure out the feet. I end up just walking sideways. Hey, at least I'm moving.

I think they should put someone in the back who's a total screw-up. When you start to feel discouraged, you could watch her stumbling and tripping and finally just walking back and forth with a shrug. You'd have someone to relate to. Eventually, you will learn the steps, while she remains clueless, and then you'll have a nice sense of superiority and accomplishment. And isn't that what exercise is all about?

I give it a 30 out of 30

Everyone knows what a huge Dancing with the Stars fan I am. Well, yesterday I got Fitness With the Pros, a workout video featuring Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo, two of the professional dancers from the show. I absolutely hate exercising. I really do. But I've always wanted to learn to dance like the stars on the show do. And since I'm unlikely to be asked to compete on there any time soon, I thought this would be the next best thing.

I was not disappointed. I put that DVD in this morning and got an awesome workout, while at the same time learning some key steps from the waltz, cha-cha, jive and samba. Edyta is a wonderful teacher. I think Alec is just there as eye candy, but that's okay. There's even a slow-motion feature if you're having trouble with a step, which believe me, I needed. I'm not exactly the most coordinated person on the planet. I'm not even the most coordinated person in this house.

Now let's go to the judges. Um, on second thought, let's not. I think I need more than an hour of practice before I'm ready for that!

Where's that burst of energy?

I have been working out for at least 30 minutes a day since last Monday. Now, I wasn't expecting a lot of changes in one week, but you always hear people saying how much better they feel once they start exercising. I've experienced that in the past. So where is it this time?

Not only do I not feel better, I'm more tired. It's all I can do to stay awake until the baby goes down for his nap, and then it takes every inch of my willpower to get on the treadmill instead of into bed. I'm exhausted. It would probably help if I could get to sleep before midnight, but that would involve getting the boys to sleep before midnight. We've been down that road before. And honestly, I'd probably be up late anyway. I'm definitely a night person.

And as long as I'm complaining, what's the deal with my waist? I certainly would have expected a smaller waist size after dropping twenty pounds. Every other area has gotten smaller. I can wear clothes now that I haven't worn in several years. And yet, I still have the exact same size waist. I know I've had four kids, but why can't I lose even a measly inch off my waist?

I want to believe that changes will come. I don't want to get discouraged.