Ok, so despite my long tirade yesterday, it was almost THREE before I got to do my workout today. And yes, I was tired. I did knock the difficulty back from “hard” to “moderate” but was still using the stiffer green exercise band.

So I made it. Started kind of slow, but finished strong. A good moment? When I did the squat holds-they still were not fun, but I could FEEL that my thighs are stronger. They were unhappy, but they weren’t all pained and wobbly. Yay for improvement.

On another note, woke tired and stayed tired all day. I’m starting to think I’ve actually got a touch of a cold or something, rather than just being lazy

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This morning I woke to a wet, gray day.  Rain was pattering down against the skylight in my bedroom.  I wanted nothing more than to curl back up and go to bed-but the kiddos are still in school and a mom has duties.  So I was busy this morning getting the kids off to school, writing, putting laundry away. I figured I’d work out around 10 then shower and change in time to meet a friend for lunch.

Next thing I knew it was almost 11-just enough time to throw on something nicer than my brown velour tracksuit (courtesy of my MIL as a birthday gift last year) and head out for the bakery/sandwich shop.

When I got home I realized that the house looked a total wreck.  I do like to have the house look as though something has been done while  hubs is at work! So I set the table, unloaded the dishwasher, washed a sink full of dishes, and then trucked 4 baskets of laundry upstairs. . . .

By then it was 2 in the afternoon and I really didn’t want to workout. I was tired. My energy had bottomed out. I really, really didn’t want to exercise. I felt like I could just curl up on my sofa, pull a blanket over me, and sleep.

Sigh.

Yeah, not going to lose any weight that way.

So I went upstairs and got changed into my workout stuff.

And wouldn’t you know it-today was one heck of an exercise. Three, count ‘em three sets of  inline skating jumps (basically squats where you have to jump when your little computer person hits the inline skating ramps and land back into a squat) followed by side to side jumps.  And in the middle there was a long version of the fast kickups-basically a fast jog where you try to kick your butt with your heels.

My thighs were sooo tired. . .but I did it.  I deserve SOMETHING for that herculean effort I tell you.

Oh yeah, right, what I deserve is to start fitting into my clothes again.

It was a tough workout today, but I did it.  In the future I’ll be trying my damnedest to get it done in the morning though.

My knees have started to ache-from all the lunges and squats-so I decided to actually take the scheduled “rest” day that shows up every 2 days in the EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge.

That doesn’t mean I sat around like a vegetable all day. The kids had their field day at school today. (Yes, I know, my kids don’t get out of school until next Wed). I decided to up my activity level by walking the 1 1/4 mile to the school. Of course I had to do the same on the way back!

Then right around dinner my weight loss buddy Cherie called me-she had an hour while her teenage daughters were at piano lessons. Did I want to go for a walk?

So we had a nice brisk 1 1/2 mile walk, as well as a long overdue chat.

I call that a pretty sucessful day.

Despite my lack of posts for the last few days, i have indeed been continuing my workouts. Since I have been ignoring their advice to take a “rest” day every 2 days, I am a tad ahead of schedule. Although I started on June 1st, according to the EA Sports Active program I am now officially 1/2 way through my challenge.

I decided increase my workouts today in two ways.

#1-I changed the workout intensity level from moderate to hard. This increased length of the workout by about 8 minutes-mostly by increasing the number of reps on the exercises.

#2-I used a different exercise band. About a year and a half ago I had to go to physical therapy for a really bad ankle sprain (when folks say it can be more painful than a break-let me tell you, they aren’t lying). Long story short, they gave me a couple of different exercise bands. I started using the green one today instead of the red one that comes in the game. This increased the resistance on all the arm exercises-so it was like I had added “weight” to my bicep curls etc

I have been noticing some results. The first is that I feel more energetic. That’s not to say I haven’t had a few dead tired days (most noticeably after my week of travel) but overall I just have more juice. They always say exercise gives you more energy-but when you are out of shape and lacking energy, it just doesn’t seem like you can muster the effort to get going. Trust me-it is true!

On another note, a few more pairs of shorts now fit me. I was so disgusted and discouraged last month when I pulled out my summer clothes-not a single pair of my shorts fit. Those were already my “fat” shorts; last summer I had already felt chubby. So knowing that those didn’t even fit me any more, well, I must admit I actually cried. Sat down and cried. So the fact that I am fitting back into some is very encouraging.

Jenn Fowler blogs at Frugal Upstate where she encourages folks to “Use what you have, get creative and save.” She co-hosts the talk radio show “Frugal Coast2Coast” , is a FiLife contributor, one of the founding members of the Walmart Elevenmoms, and a Frugal Living Speaker. Jenn is addicted to twitter ( @jennfowler ).

This is the first time I’ve left my workout until the evening. Honestly, 11 years in the Army really did give me a very strong psychological association between mornings and working out Then there is that link between precipitation and training exercises (aka “if it ain’t raining, we ain’t training”) but that is an entirely different ball of wax

When I work out in the morning I am full of energy and have the whole day in front of me. Also I haven’t showered yet

When I try to exercise mid day it seems like it breaks up the whole day. Either I have to wait to take a shower, or I’ve already showered and then have the unpleasant choice of being sweaty or taking time to take yet ANOTHER shower. . .

Leaving it until the evening is usually an even worse alternative. I know, we THINK that it would be easy to work out at night, after all the kids are in bed and everything is done. But by the end of the day it is soooo easy to just give up and put it off until tomorrow.

That’s what I wanted to do. I’m still bone tired from my trip (even with a long nap this afternoon). I had a migraine from hell last night that took 2 doses of my meds to get rid of, and it left me with a niggling headache today. Add to that “Auntie P” showed up today and I have cramps. I wanted to just say “the hell with it all”.

But I knew if I did I’d have to come on here and write some sort of lame post on why I didn’t exercise. Which is exactly why I am posting here! It forces me to have more accountability! So I did, and it’s thanks to you all.

Just wanted to let you know that I really have done the 30 day challenge every day except Sunday (when I decided to give my body, and knees, a rest)

This morning at my mom’s while I’m doing the workout my son “buddy” was sitting on the sofa watching. Both of the kiddos for some reason like to sit and watch me do it-I figure it is good modeling for them. After all, that way they get to see that it is important to Mom to stay fit and to be healthy.

Anyway, the little “trainer” lady on the game is always giving you encouraging statments. (You can turn that off or reduce the frequency, I’ve left it at the factory setting) I was doing the inline skating and complaining (it makes your thighs BURN I tell ya), then next some squats came on. The lady said “Your body will thank you for this later”. Buddy-who is 5-chimes in from the sofa behind me “I don’t think your body is thanking you now”. . .

I almost fell out laughing. It’s really hard to do squats while you are also executing a belly laugh!

Heading home today-once I finish writing this I will change out of my sweaty clothes, pack the kiddos into the car and initiate the 4-5 hour drive home. For those of you wondering, I pretty much bombed on my intention to skip the sweets and eat slowly (although I did not eat anywhere near as much as I COULD have eaten). I did ok with the water but not fabulous, and I probably drank way too much coffee and diet coke.

So I may not have met all my goals, but I did only take that single day off from exercising. . . even when I had been up to 1 am talking with my sibilings, I still got up the next day and did it. So I count it a partial success.

On an admin note, we are still working on the comments for this site. We really do love to hear from you all. . . we’ll post a big obvious note when the comments are up and functional. Promise.