accidental exercise

If you disguise fitness in the fun then it's, well, more fun! This is an inflatable structure at a Halloween block party. It was accidental exercise!

You put on a vest connected to the inflatable wall that has a bungee-type cord to recoil you back to the starting line. The goal is to SPRINT to put your marker farther than your competitors!

Who do you think won here?

fitness goal inspirations

Have you ever tried to take a phone picture of the elliptical screen right after you worked out? It takes some skill. It took a minute and twenty seconds to finally do it. The first attempt was in vain...I got the message PEDAL FASTER. With the next few tries, I almost fell off the machine trying to use two hands to work my iPhone camera. Yes, I felt a little silly. But here, I did it.

What did I do? Well first of all, I made to the gym. That is an accomplished feat in itself. Second, I triumphed over the boredom of the elliptical machine by watching sports highlights and Food Network and listening to my iPod. And third, I drained 379 calories.

What does that mean? Well I should be healthier, right? I mean less calories the better if I'm trying to lose weight. At least that's what I've read. I've also heard to not eat carbs after 3pm, cut out the sugar and flour in your diet, and drink lots of water. Will those tips help me on my quest to lose weight?

Who knows.

But what I do know is that I actually like going to the gym. It's a little ME time when the kids are not around to ask me if they can go to the library or show me little cute Lego ships that they built or show me cheerleading moves that they learned recently. It's just time for me.

More important than that is I have fitness goals. As farfetched as my fitness goals may be, it's what motivates me.

A friend told me today that she went from a size 16 to a size 8. Very awesome. I like inspirational things. I like inspirational quotes, books, movies, and songs.

Maybe my inspiration today should be to PEDAL FASTER.

ordinary miracle

Just another ordinary miracle today...

• Drove my daughter to preschool and was on time. 
• Paid her tuition on time.
• Told a young mom that her infant is cute.
• Went to Target to buy ONE thing...laundry detergent.
• Fought off the urge to buy something at Starbucks.
• Told a grandma that her infant is adorable. (No, we are not gonna have any more babies.)
• Made the checkout guy laugh with my one item purchase. He said, "Gonna do some laundry?" I said, "My goal was to walk in to buy one thing and walk out with only one thing." He said, "Oh! Good job. Stay out of trouble!" I said, "Not only will I stay out of trouble, but I'll be doing some laundry. What more can a husband want??" He laughed. I told him not to give me a plastic bag. "I forgot my reusable bag in the car so please, I don't need a bag." He gave me the receipt and let me walk out with my Tide.
• Outside Target, I signed 10 petitions. What were they? I don't know. They all sounded good. Asked the guy questions about himself. He answered them and said, "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"
• Listened to a guy talk about his thoughts on global warming. He didn't think that we, as humans, could cause global warming.

I might not be able to talk intelligently about global warming. But I can be nice. And being on time is a miracle for me...but I smile at everyone. Sometimes I can get some nice smiles back. Sometimes.