When You Were Young

I've started to notice things about my body...like the fact that I should be doing something to keep in shape because it's starting to lose the "look" it had a few of years ago. Thankfully, my roommate A. and I have started a workout regimen. Yay! I have never been a very dedicated gym-goer, except for a few stints in college, but I've always been an active person. I'm not into lifting weights and doing other "gymy" things because I would like to stay fit by doing normal things...like walking, haha. Here is a look at my gym history:

• 1st Year of College: I lived right across the street from the Aquatic Fitness Center and had never been on an elliptical machine. I was mesmerized by it in collaboration with my roommate's iPod (because I didn't have one yet...), and I worked out on the elliptical for about 40 minutes every night at 11:00 p.m. for a few months. I'll say that The Killers played a huge role in getting me through the entire 40 minutes. I tried lifting weights one time with my friend Phil, but I became bored with that after about five minutes.

• 2nd Year of College: I got into racquetball in a huge way and played 3-4 times a week. Racquetball is awesome and is the only reason I would ever join a gym.

• 3rd Year of College: I was rockin' it on the racquetball court and even tried out Squash for a bit (didn't take because my friend Danno ruthlessly conquered me every time), but I would throw in some elliptical workouts for old times' sake. I tried a yoga class with my friend J. and my roommate once, and they said they'd never go back with me again because I was trying not to bust out laughing the entire time (I didn't care about how the sun related to our yoga pose; we were inside, for crying out loud).

• 4th Year of College: I was still playing racquetball (not as frequently as I would have liked to), but more importantly, I joined an intramural sports team: Inner tube water polo. I'm serious. It was a real team, and it was so awesome. I wish I could still play inner tube water polo. I have some video footage I'll have to post on here sometime.

So, with all that exciting gym time gone, I've had to resort to other ways of keeping in shape. Not only do I get to walk up and down stairs all day at work (I'm on third floor, no elevator), I walk a lot, and that's the extent of my work-out regimen...until this past Sunday! My goal in this regimen is to strengthen and tone, with an emphasis on the upper arm. So far, we're off to a great start! 

Sunday, we did a segment on a Gaiam DVD called Lower Body Cardio Express (express, meaning 17 minutes, score!), and then yesterday morning at 6:45 a.m., we did the Upper Body Cardio Express (14 minutes, another score!). The "express" portion of the workout pleases me the most; the workout lady is very efficient and not annoying, and before you know it, the video is over. The fact that I can't really raise my arms today is a good indication that the video has been successful to this point. Maybe that's really sad and I shouldn't have admitted it. This regimen is going to be a 2 days on, 1 day off kind of deal.

I'll be honest and say that my favorite part of the workout regimen is the fried eggs and toasted whole wheat English muffin breakfast we've been eating post-workout every day. It's turning into a cottage tradition. In fact, I even ate the aforesaid breakfast of champions this morning on the first day off. 

Since I don't have a corresponding photo of A. and I work-out-videoing-it-up (trust me, there won't be one), here is one of us at a Halloween party this past weekend where she wore orange to commemorate Halloween and I wore a sequin blazer because I've found that sequins are wildly appropriate for most holidays (you can't see the sequin blazer in the photo because we had just arrived). Can't you tell we're sooo into Halloween?