Working out with the Things.

Let me be clear about something right off the bat.
Exercising - running, walking briskly, pretty much any form of sport and anything that makes you sweat - is definitely not my favorite.
But because I want to keep the blood moving through this old bod, so I don't have to lie to my doctor when he asks if I exercise like I lie to the nurse when she asks how much I drink, and so I can continue to eat crap that isn't good for me, I do it. I hate every minute of it, but I do it.

It's probably true that most people are motivated to exercise by visions of things like this -

and some even make a strong effort to eat things like this -

But since I know I'll never - ever - look like a swimsuit model (damn pasty white & freckly skin and lack of anything substantial to fill out the top), I keep the following pictures taped to my treadmill.

It's truly the most motivating reason that I run.

So I can eat crap like this once in awhile often enough and not have to buy bigger pants.

I actually prefer to work out on inside on my treadmill because I have a fabulous workout partner there who keeps me focused and distracted all at once and helps the 45 minutes fly by.

But last week the temps in the mornings dropped to the low 70's and so I decided to hit the lovely loop at a nearby park with a new running partner (Ellen wasn't returning my calls).

I gotta say, Thing 2 was every bit as effective in keeping me distracted from the task at hand and the sweat pooling in places where I'm always amazed sweat can pool as she chattered away non-stop for the 2 miles we ran about everything from starting middle school to......no, actually that was pretty much it. 

Don't let the photos fool you into thinking we didn't run consistently for 2 miles and that we stopped to take photos, swing for a bit and watch an adorable muskrat nibble on some lily-pads.
Nah - we totally did.

It was lovely. 

Probably didn't burn the # of calories that I do with Ellen or the Toddlers in Tiaras, but if I could work out with my little chatterbox of a Thing 2 more often, I'd even give up an Oreo or two a week.

And then this week, Thing 1 decided to try out the "sweat-it" feature on Just Dance 3 and invited me to join in.

Being a former dancer (cough...cough) I was thinking, "well...this isn't gonna be much of a workout or very difficult for me, but how adorable that my 16 year old wants me to work out with her!!"

Cut to 12 minutes later....me completely confused trying to follow the damn digital 80's dressed 'instructors' who are doing moves that are impossible to copy (especially when they are facing you)  and dripping with sweat and searching for a drop of any kind of liquid and wishing to god that I could just jump on my treadmill and run for 15 miles.  

(And nope....no photos were taken during this disastrous display of uncoordination. So sorry You're welcome.)

But then....then....along came this song (and easier dance moves) and I was ALL IN.

We're totally doing it again today.

Our goal now is to memorize a few of the sweet 80's aerobics moves so one day we can break them out when we hear the songs in random places (then we'll take pictures).

Have I mentioned how awesome my kids are?? 

Enjoy your day...even if there's a workout involved!