My workout story and philosophy

Hey friends, things have been non-stop around here as you can tell from my somewhat sparse postings of late. I missed my workout today but in my mind, I'm picturing myself working out. Does that count? Oh, well, whatever but since we're on the topic, I thought I'd share my story of how I got started working out.

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Up till about 8, maybe 9 years ago, exercise wasn't in my genes. Six teams of horses couldn't get me to lift a finger, let alone drag myself to the gym which is a 15-minute drive away on a good day. But I'd just left my job at the time and I had some time to kill and I thought, heck, let's see if there's anything fun to do at the gym, and basically, I just never looked back.

It still brings a smile to my face when I think of my noob days when I didn't even know how to work the treadmill and had to ask for help. So embarrassing! Well, walking was fun for a while. I progressed from km to km and I was feeling like a hero by the time I could do 3 km at a stretch. I started brisk walking but never got into running. That's so not my thing.

And that's been my philosophy, pretty much. If I don't like an exercise, I won't do it. There's lots of workouts to choose from, so I figure why push myself to do something I loathe or that isn't fun? Personal trainers may not agree but that's how I roll.

Speaking of which, a gym buddy of mine signed up with a personal trainer which made me contemplate the idea. Should I? Could I? tolerate the bashing her trainer was giving her? Umm, nah, I'm not much for a strict, structured routine or for paying someone to kick my butt. I'd rather kick my own butt, thanks, it's cheaper LOL.

These days, I do a bit of everything. A bit of yoga, a bit of pilates, a bit of strength training, whatever. I get bored easily so I'm always changing up my workouts and if something looks interesting, I might just try it. I kinda like to surprise myself and keep my muscles guessing. So on any given day, I'm just doing whatever springs to mind.

I love working out, it's fun and the endorphin rush is well worth every drop of sweat. It makes me feel like a champ every. single. time. So tomorrow, I'm getting back to the grind. Fo'shizzle. It's go, go, go!! No more excuses. End of mental workout.

Okay, your turn. Do you work out or want to? What got you started? What's your workout philosophy? Would you hire a personal trainer? Can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Working out: How to get back to the grind

I'm back in the thick of working out again. No more excuses. I let it slide, I have to get back on track, that's all. Sometimes easier said than done, I know. But it can be done. I've done it before.

For starters, I need to find that motivation. Some folks relate exercise to eating. They look at exercise as their ticket to guilt-free eating. I don't. I don't believe that's how it works. I simply enjoy working out. I like the endorphin rush and the feel-good-after. And tank tops being my regular garb, I have to get my definition back.

Getting back to the grind isn't always a smooth path though. At best, there will be false starts. This is real life, not Keeping Up With the Fardashians. I may get all enthusiastic one morning and beat myself up for a half hour, then nothing for 3 days. It's sometimes slow-going at first but once I get my rhythm back, it's all going to work out, literally.

I don't try to do too much at first. You fire up a disused engine, it's bound to splutter for a bit. I just listen to my body and if it says, I'm tired, I say, okay, fine, let's stop here today. I was sore at first, that's normal, but it's important to give your muscles time to recover and get readjusted. So I usually start out light, go easy and ease back into things.

I'm back on track now. It's been 3, 4 weeks. I'm so crazy I even work out on Sundays. Heck, I never work out on Sundays. What's wrong with me (lol)? But that's just how good it feels to be back.

Anyone else starting to work out after a break? Care to share your tips? I'm sure we could all use some fresh ideas. If you're finding it hard to reestablish your workout routine, you might want to give my tips a try and let me know how they work for you :)

Slacker mode off

So I slacked off working out for 8 months. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm a workout junkie but life gets busy and lazy sometimes - kids, travel, circumstances. It's not such a big deal. Happened to you before, I'm sure. No? Then you must be, let me guess, a robot?!

I've just over the past couple of weeks gotten back to some sort of workout routine. Which is like anywhere between 4-6 times a week. My schedule isn't cast in stone. And there's good reason for that, I'm a mom and my family comes first. I keep things flexi around here.

I've missed working out. So pumped about getting back to some sort of routine even if I'm not on it 100% of the time all the time. It's good to be back!