Woman Down!

Last night as I dove into bed (literally dove) I miscalculated the landing and slammed my right knee hard into the wooden foot-board. I iced it right away but I'm in a lot of pain. Exercise was a no-go yesterday which already meant I would have to workout 4 out of the next 5 days. I woke up this morning and the knee is in poor shape. There is no way cardio activity is advisable or possible in this condition. It's a total bummer especially since I'm coming to an end of my month of exercise. Of course I plan to continue exercising going forward but I would have liked to finish this month strong. I've never been one to do a lot of abs or arms but I think that's the only way I can get in my workouts this week. Any advice?

Broken Computer = Bad Blogger

Yes, it's been a while since my last post and just after I vowed to check in more frequently. But the project rolls along and last week was fantastic! Monday night was my 4th workout of week 3. It was getting late and I hadn't exercised yet but I didn't want to put off exercising til Tuesday which would have been the last day to make 4 workouts in one week. I hate that added pressure of waiting til the last day. Anyway, Monday night Rob convinced me to try the plyometrics DVD of his P90X workout DVD set. (For those uninformed out there, P90X is hardcore, for people wanting to get ripped not just healthy). Well, after 10 min of the 45 min DVD I threw in the towel, waived the white flag, and called it quits. Realizing I probably hadn't exercised enough I grabbed my 4lb weights and attempted a pathetic set of weightlifting (if u can call it that). Tuesday came and I still felt like I gipped myself out of a good workout, so after work I turned down a very enticing offer to go for cocktails and instead stuffed myself once again into a sportsbra and went for a run in the park. That evening I ran farther than i ever have and it felt fantastic! 


On Wednesday I woke up and realized the plyometrics (even just 10 min of it) kicked my butt and I spent the day walking around like I had just ridden a horse . Bending over was out of the question and sitting/standing/kneeling and stair climbing took much effort and caution. That's when I had a stroke of genius and decided to cash in Rob's Valentines gift which was a gift certificate to a spa. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my hour long massage and well deserved day off from exercise!

Happy Father's Day!

Week 3 mid-week recap: First of all, after only 2.5 weeks I have begun to slack on the blog updates. This blog has really been a strong motivating factor - the thought of reporting a failure shaming me into working out. So going forward I will do my best to check in more frequently.

As far as exercise goes for the week, so far so good. After taking Thursday and Friday off I stepped it up this weekend with 2 sweat-inducing runs in the late spring heat. As long as I make some time to workout either tomorrow or Tuesday I will have succeeded in this week's mission. During today's run, which was challenging but not torture and at moments even enjoyable, I felt for the first time that exercise could kinda maybe perhaps actually become part of my life. At this early stage I certainly have more doubt than confidence in myself but I will just keep at it and see what happens.

My dad is also a huge exercise inspiration. He has made exercise and good health a priority in his life.  And despite working long hours, he incorporates exercise into his daily routine even getting up some days at 5am to get in his workout before going to work.  He is also my biggest supporter (together with my mom and Rob of course) and fan of the Lia in Progress Project. Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you.

highs and LOWS

Week 1 ended with a resounding success. Week 2: Fail (notice the capital F). Yesterday my cranky pants day carried over into night and not only did I NOT exercise, I also did not even attempt to clean my apartment or to do anything mildly productive and instead I chose to take a bath in a ginormous tub of Nutella. (Photo excluded to preserve my dignity). What a sad Bridgette Jones moment.

Having found myself decisively down but not yet out I took yesterday's misstep as just that - a bungle, not a loss. (Admittedly, last night I had a much more defeatist attitude). Today I went for a run and pushed myself to go further than I have to date.

I won't say I hope this week is more successful than the last, I will make sure it is!

Oh Misery!

It's days like this when I think back to high school and wonder why I was ever surprised to have been named Drama Queen in my senior year book. I am just in such a mood. The weather sucks (objectively it's not that bad - not too cold not actually raining just a bit dreary), I am inundated with work and my clients make my job much harder than it need be, my apt. is a disaster and it's my fault (something i will be working on in a future month's project) and after a long day I hate going home to a messy home and I hate that I have to go home and clean when all i want to do is veg.

AND I have to exercise. If there were only more hours in the day then adding exercise into my schedule wouldn't be such a massive inconvenience, but on nights like tonight - which are more common than not - it sucks! I feel bad for Rob who's going to have to put up with my cranky butt tonight.

The Pressure Is On

No exercise for me today. Spent the evening at dinner with Rob and Mom-in-Law and then baked up a storm for a pot-luck at the office tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the last day of week 2 and I must exercise. Not sure whether the weather will cooperate so I may end up doing some dreaded abs and arms in the apt.

On a related note, I just finished watching another inspiring and emotional episode of So You Think You Can Dance. If they had a spin off show called So You Wish You Could Dance, for people who lack training, flexibility, technique (and perhaps rhythm) but make up for it with passion, joy and enthusiasm for dance I would have found my calling and satisfied my need for a healthy dose of exercise. Maybe I will start by taking a beginner dance class. Any suggestions in NYC?

A Family Affair

Sunday's workout was a family affair. Rob (husband), the rents and I went for a bike ride along the Rockaway Boardwalk, stopped for lunch and rode back. Admittedly this was not my most ambitious workout. During lunch I easily ate at least double (quadruple?) the calories I burned on the ride. I'm not sure whether it should even count as exercise under the rules of the project. Yet, I made an effort to get outside; I moved more than I otherwise would have; and, I got in some precious QT with the fam at the same time. And since I created this project and therefore make the rules, I'll give myself a pass....this once.