Exercise...

So, I lost a lot of weight not that long ago. Then, after moving and getting a job I gained about half of it back, which was annoying, but not really unexpected.

I've had trouble regaining the willpower to start losing weight again (I wouldn't make a good Green Lantern, clearly). I've finally got back into the habit of writing down everything I eat and weighing myself every morning. By writing down what I eat I've reduced my total intake of calories a bit, but not nearly as much as I'd like. Next step is to start exercising again.

My desire to exercise has been zero. I have not had "time" because of my job. The result has been a lot of slobbing around, because in order to get exercise, you have to get up and move around.

We've been talking about getting exercise at work, with various ideas including walking outside. In general, they aren't bad ideas, but they aren't totally practical. Time constraints and weather issues make exercising during the workday unlikely at best. So I really need to exercise before work, or after work.

Because of the nature of my job, after work is not really an option. Depending on the day, I might have a quiet evening at home with the husband... or I might be at a council meeting, school board meeting or other event that needs to be covered. With weight loss like this, a person HAS to form habits. It's next to impossible to form evening habits with my schedule.

So that leaves before work. This is when I had the most success before. I'd get up every morning and do a Wii Fit routine and sometimes take a walk with the hubby. It was a good habit to have, and I regret not being able to keep it. I've been trying to get myself to start again, but somehow the mere act of turning on the Wii and going through the steps required to just get to the exercising has been too much.

My co-worker mentioned that there are some new iPhone commercials using the old "Chicken Fat" song. Yes, I am old enough that P.E. classes were still using the song when I went through school, so I exercised to it a long, long time ago. I happened to have a copy of the song on my phone that I downloaded some time ago, so I played it for her. We giggled a little, and that was the end of it, I thought.

Sunday morning I got up feeling very tired. There is no good reason to be tired after getting a full night's sleep, but there I was, tired. As I lay in bed and thought about it, I recalled that exercise tends to make me more energetic. I remembered that while I was losing weight, I had a lot of energy because I exercised regularly. Sleeping too much just makes a person more sleepy... exercising a bit has the effect of giving a person more energy. What I needed was a workout.

But laying there, I couldn't face the Wii Fit and the smarmy little voice of the program. I just wanted to get up and move. Then I remembered "Chicken Fat". I wondered how many of the exercises I could do. Seized by the inspiration, I jumped out of bed and set up the song on my phone.

It was a shambles. I couldn't understand half of what he said, and couldn't do half of what I thought I understood. Embarrassing. This is a kid's workout. I should be able to at least get some of it done. Still, I did a bit, and enjoyed it. Hubby-Eric came in about the time I gave up and asked what I was doing, so I told him. I said I might try it again Monday (today). He was amused.

Yesterday I hunted down some videos of people doing the full routine on YouTube, and found a good one that shows an entire group of youth working their way successfully through it. After noting how each of the exercises is done, I was ready.

So this morning I got up and started the routine. I was unable to do the push up and the sit ups, but otherwise managed it quite nicely. I was completely out of breath at the end, despite the breathing exercise. But it felt good. It got me moving, even if I couldn't do it all. And now I'm ready to face the day... let's see if I can keep this up at all, or if it'll fall by the wayside like everything else.