yes you can!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used to be a competitive swimmer, but once that was over I did so little exercise you could say I developed an allergy to it. Sure, I took some pilates classes during high school and I was a cheerleader for a while, but nothing really struck my fancy to keep at it, and so here I am, at twenty four, with the athletic condition of an eighty-year old woman. My complete and utter lack of physical condition never really bothered me until one day, about two years ago, when I was at the subway with my best friend. A little backstory on the guy: he's thinner than Nicole Ritchie at her worst, smokes about twenty-twenty four cigarettes a day and hasn't exercised a day in his life. Yes, you read correctly, EVER. 

So you can imagine my surprise when we decided to take the stairs instead of the escalator because it was crammed, and by the time we went up the three flights I was wheezing so hard I thought I had developed asthma. He, on the other hand, was breathing normally and was staring at me with a strange look on his face. How was it possible that a hardcore smoker that had never seen the inside of a gym in his life could do the three flights of stairs without so much as a deep breath at the end, but I was practically dying of a heart attack? That's when it really hit home, and I began to wonder my body was so out of shape the day a broken elevator forces me to take the stairs I'll collapse. 

I've been in and out of gyms, pilates and zumba classes and even do-it-at-home workout routines for a really long time, but after a while I find a perfect excuse to quit and never look back. Right now, that excuse is work. I am at the office from nine to seven, which means I get up at 7:30 am and arrive back home somewhere in between 7:30 and 8 pm. Anyone that wondered if I was doing some sort of exercise (my family mainly) would get a well-practiced response consisting of 'Oh no, I don't have time! Hell will freeze over before I get up earlier than 7:30 to exercise, and honestly when I get home at night all I want to do is eat some dinner and sleep. I just don't have the time nor the energy...bla bla bla.' 

When I started this blog, I made a commitment to not only change my diet, but my whole lifestyle (hence the name of the blog), but up until now I had limited myself to avoiding unhealthy foods and counting calories. Alas, the time has come ladies and gentlemen. I have finally made up my mind to workout EVERY DAY, and I'm starting today! What made me come to my senses, you may wonder. Well, to be honest, I realized that I waste at least an hour of my time, every single day, trying to find a parking space when I get home. I live across the street from a college campus, and school just started last week, so my street is always packed to the maximum with vehicles. Seriously, they even do two and even three rows frequently, and it doesn't change until around 9:30 or 10 pm, when all the students go home. My building doesn't have parking spaces, so every day I have to drive around the blocks around my building, desperately trying to find a parking space. So then it hit me: instead of wasting my time driving around, I could go to my aunt's house, workout there (she has a fully equipped gym in her attic) and then go back home to be greeted with lots of available parking spaces. 

HOW GENIUS AM I?!

No seriously, I'm surprised it took me this long to figure it out. So anyway my goal is to do some cardio and a few resisteace exercises for about an hour, an hour and a half, from Monday to Friday. Hopefully that will also speed up my weight loss, but I guess it won't be as instant as it is when you change your diet.

So wish me luck you guys, I'll post all about my first session later today or tomorrow morning. 

Let's put that elliptical machine to good use!