Day One results...

(Meant to post this last night, but the gale-force winds whipping through Central Iowa kept me from connecting to the wireless network transmitter we use a quarter-mile away. Life on the farm is kinda laid back, you know...)

Day One of the ten week challenge went pretty well - rolled out of bed after going three rounds with the snooze alarm (it finally won on the third round) and grabbed the workout clothes I laid out the night before. Rather than heading back to the Farrell's location I've been visiting since last summer, I've decided to take what I learned there and put it into my own workout program. It will save me nearly 25 minutes of drive time each morning, plus the mental anguish inflicted by having to listen to either Motley Crue or Taylor Swift workout songs at 6 a.m. I put together my own mix of workout songs (which I will not list here for fear of being publically shamed, since I have been told I have the musical sensibilities of a 12-year-old girl) and loaded them up on my iPod nano this weekend. I headed down to the exclusive gym in my basement, open only to those with red hair and thick ankles. :)

Thirty minutes, six songs, 50 push-ups, and innumerble sit-ups later, my first workout was done. I’d use the breaks between songs as my cues to hop on the elliptical trainer, switch between push-ups/sit-ups, or some of my favorite kickboxing combinations. It worked out pretty well, and I didn't have to deal with 80s music or instructors telling me I was "coasting". :) I need to keep telling myself that in my head, but I don't think I ever did coast. At least not in the first workout. :) My abs are definitely sore today, so I think I did all right.

Issues I encountered yesterday:
- Earbuds kept slipping out of my ears as I punched or used the arm supports on the elliptical. Apparently, even my ear canals sweat. (Sorry if that's TMI for some of you.) New over-the-ear phones should fix that.
- The floor at my exclusive gym is HARD. Doing girl push-ups on a hard floor with a bad knee is not fun. Tried using a pillow under my knees, but it kept sliding out. Will need to find a cheapie yoga mat or something to substitute for the padded floor at Farrell's.
- Kept my eating pretty much under control, except for the impulse buy of Swedish Fish at Target when I went shopping for new earphones over my lunch hour. But they were on sale! You lose money if you don't buy in bulk!

Haven't attempted a workout yet today, and my eating has been OUT OF CONTROL thanks to my final Food Friday at the office. It isn't looking much better for tonight, since a friend and I are going to Biaggi's for her birthday. Perhaps today will be my cheat day, and I'll stick to the plan for the weekend. Or perhaps not. :\

Ten weeks from today...

Ten weeks from today (well, ten weeks from about seven hours ago...) I'll be getting off the plane at Heathrow, ready to embark on my very first solo vacation. I'll be spending a whole week in London on my own - a prospect that is both thrilling and terrifying. :) And in order to be in the best shape I possibly can (and to be adequately prepared to fight off all those Jude Law lookalikes) it's time to kick the old workout plan into high gear.

Nearly a year ago (eek!) I went through the Farrell's eXtreme Body Shaping ten week program and had fantastic results. Then, true to form, I figured the results would just keep happening even when I stopped exercising as regularly and ate whatever I wanted. Because that's just exactly what an intelligent woman should expect to have happen, right? And why again has it taken me 32 years to figure out that this philosophy doesn't work?

So, beginning tomorrow, I begin again. Given that the ten week program did fantastic things last summer, I want to take these next ten weeks and put the pedal to the metal before my London trip. And I'd like to have all my cyber-buddies along with me. Mainly, because I need to be shamed in front of you when I fail to live up to my own goals. :) Enough of this, "I'll start tomorrow..." nonsense - I really DO start tomorrow, and I'd like to have you all there with me.

I'll be back here each evening, in this little corner of the Interwebs, to report to you all my exercise and nutrition efforts for the day - as well as any other random thoughts that I feel inclined to share. If you'd like to share your random thoughts as well, I would be pleased and proud to read them.

Ain't this gonna be great? :)