The day I turn 40.

Things better be looking good by then.

Or else.

Total running miles this week: 13
Days of strength training: 3

After sitting around work with a whole lot of nothing to do, I decided to get off my butt and head to the gym. I knew the trainer was coming later that evening so I figured I’d just get some cardio in. Why not burn some extra calories when I can? Running in the afternoon is so much easier than at the ass crack of dawn. I kicked out 4 miles in about 42 minutes.

Of course, it was on the treadmill so it doesn’t count.

The trainer (who, by the way, is the spitting image of Princess Leia from Star Wars, without the hair buns) was coming at 7 pm so there was no time for dinner.

We headed to the basement where she proceeded to push my limits. Jumping jacks, lunges with 20 lbs, push ups (girlie and regular), hamstring curls with a stability ball, bent over rows with 12 lbs, shoulder raises with 5lbs and back lunges, and bicep curls with 10 lbs. I was totally up for it, until I started sweating profusely and feeling light-headed. My 2nd set of curls did me in. I had to sit down. She asked me what I had eaten. Turns out a cereal bar, salad, peach and trail mix are not enough at all. When I thought I felt okay, she decided we should stretch. That didn’t go so well either. The nausea had set in. I nearly crawled to the refrigerator for a Gatorade. I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or vomit.

So a little lesson to those motivated to lose weight. You actually need to EAT. And maybe do a long run on a separate day of your strength training.

Yesterday was just as dreary and unmotivating. And I barely eeked out a workout – 12 minutes on the treadmill and a 15 ab workout. Meh.

Even after I had a supersized coffee to get me going this morning, I was still dragging. The only thing that would get me out of that funk was some exercise. Shockingly, my trainer-in-training and I knocked out 3.1 miles with ease. In fact, I could have kept going. But, I knew that we’d be in the gym lifting afterwards to I didn’t want to get too carried away.

Tomorrow, I meet with the professional trainer for our first official workout. She won’t be doing cardio with me, instead working with me on exercises then leaving me with a program to follow until we meet again 2 weeks later. It will be interesting to see what kind of progress I make working with two trainers.

Stay tuned!

Running, Nike Club Training App (Get Lean/Fighter Fit & Sweat + Shape for 30 minutes) and the gym at work. Today, I ran with my trainer-in-training: 3 miles + the Art Museum steps. Rocky Balboa style. Tourists even shouted Go Rocky as we passed them up the steps. I’m still shocked that I made it back. I’m still sweating 2 hours later. Then, an upper body workout that left me with deadweight arms.

I haven’t gotten on the scale. I’m sure there’s no change. It’s only been a week after all. But I’m going to kick my body’s ass. I’ve got less than 2 months to kill it! Forty is fast fucking approaching.

Let’s just say, it’s been long enough that professionals are needed to help my wavering attempt to lose weight, get in shape, look good naked, blah, blah, blah.

Last week, I met with Terri. A personal trainer. She came to my house, asked me a lot of questions, took some measurements and gave me a sample workout. This is all great. A workout I can do in my own home 3 times a week and in between do 2 days of cardio and a pilates/yoga workout. Aside from the fact that she won’t be available to make all my meals, my only problem is this…

She didn’t look like Kelly Ripa.

And I don’t mean that she wasn’t adorable. I mean that she wasn’t cut up and muscular. Hello??? Isn’t a personal trainer a walking advertisement? What does it say to me if your butt is as big as mine?

I’m going to give her a pass. This is her business. She may not follow her own advice but she has 14 clients who stick with her. I’m giving it 3 sessions. If I see no improvements, I’m asking for a Kelly look-alike.

Now, if you noticed, I did use the word “professionals” as in, more than one.

That’s right. I’m also working out with a co-worker who’s in training to receive his certification. Steve is in shape. He practices what he preaches. He will run with me, and we will workout in a gym.

So, if by the time I turn 40 (FORTY!) in October, I have not lost 10 goddamn pounds, I’m calling in the plastic surgeons and Jenny Craig and re-joining Weight Watchers.

Well, I just found two awesome workout companions! MotionTraxx is a free podcast – it’s essentially a variety of running programs timed to music. Deekron is the “DJ” who takes you through each program. The music is perfectly timed so the beat matches your speed, which is a huge help for me. Fitness Magazine has a couple programs – three in particular are Easy, Moderate, Fast with a 10 minute warm up and then intervals of a max speed and a recovery. I tried the “hard” version. It’s 30 minutes long, 10 minute warm up, 15 minutes of 30/60 second intervals, running at 6.5/4.0 on the treadmill. To me, this seemed more “moderate”. If you run outside, you’d just have to run to the beat!

Also, I just found the Nike Training app. It includes an assortment of workouts, all at different levels — So I started with the Beginner, Lean, Sweat and Shape workout, and it was tough, particularly the tricep push-ups. Clearly, an area I need to work. And I was sore the next day. There are rewards and all the social media sharing features – but that’s not motivating to me. I love the personal trainer aspect. There’s also audio and video instruction to help you if you aren’t sure what the moves are. The only downside I found was that they don’t offer time between moves to get into the next position. So you have to hustle.

What I love about these programs – they’re free for one thing, but they guide you through the workout, and it’s timed. I love that! I need that!

If you try it, let me know what you think. Or, if you found others that work for you, let me know those too!

BTW, this is a personal review, not paid or otherwise.

However, the scale on this lovely weigh-in day said I lost 1.2 pounds. I got on the treadmill but was just not feeling it today, then E came down and scared me to death, which just completely unmotivated me. I got on the scale again. Just for grins. And it was up .8. Wha?!

Well whatever. I’m sticking with the first number. I did eat a trail mix bar because I was starving so maybe that weighed me down.

This is just waaaaay slow progress for me. I feel like I need to stop eating all together to see any real weight loss. I could use a good stomach virus right about now!

This morning on my MLK day off, before I got out of bed, I made a conscious decision to get motivated right away. I had a workout I wanted to try and the later the day gets, the less of a chance it would happen.

A treadmill workout for your booty…

Walk for 5 minutes at an incline of 1.
Increase the incline to 8, speed of 3.8 for 1-2 minutes. Hold on to the sides and dig in as if you’re pushing treadmill belt along. You’ll feel it!
Lower incline to 1, speed can be at whatever you’re comfortable running. I put mine on 5.4. Run for 5 minutes.
Then, increase incline to 8, speed of 3.8 for 1-2 minutes. Dig in.
Do 10 repetitions of this.
Cool down with a 5 minute walk.

I wasn’t quite ready to do 10, but it’s a great goal to work toward.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. At 8am, it was a little tough.

I couldn’t not wait for weigh-in day.

Fortunately, the hell wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was bad, but not 5-alarm-fire-drill bad.

So now it’s time to get back on track. This past Friday started my first full week back on Weight Watchers. My biggest challenge is giving up a glass (or three) of wine in the evenings. Of course, I’ll have some on Friday and Saturday – I’m not that crazy! I have two children and fulltime job for God’s sake! But last night, having a glass of wine as I was making dinner would have been so relaxing. It’s almost like giving up a habit. But I fought through it and feel good!

When I woke up this morning, I pleaded with the clock to please let it be 3 or even 4 am so I could get another couple hours of sleep. Nope. A torturous 5:20. Exactly 20 minutes before my alarm would go off. Should I just get up and use the extra 20 minutes to workout? Or fall back to sleep and be even more tired when the alarm goes off? I probably should have gotten up, but it’s Monday. You should never rush Monday. Instead I fell back to sleep and then had to guilt myself out of bed 20 minutes later.

This morning, it was just me and my buddy Jillian. We Shredded. And miraculously I was able to push myself. Not easy at 6 in the morning.

So now I’m at work, I’ve just had my oatmeal, and a big cup of coffee staring at me, all my goodies packed for later. It’s going to be a good day. Plus, with a vigorous walk around the neighborhood tonight with a friend to look forward too, and I feel thinner already!

P.S. I found out a little motivation secret for running on the treadmill. If you watch downhill slalom skiing, you feel more athletic and less willing to give up. I promise!