Christina from A Mommy Story is a Loser Too

Check us out! Another guest post. Please give a warm round of applause to Christina from A Mommy Story:


I'm A Loser, But Not Losing

Some may know that I've been on a Hot by BlogHer quest for a few months now. How's it going? Well, uh... it's stalled. I've made some changes to my eating habits - less junk, more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc. - although emotional eating is still a downfall for me. However, that isn't the real problem. What I'm lacking in is exercise.

I've lost about 10 pounds, but I've been stuck at the same weight for a few weeks now. I'm sure the problem is that I'm eating better, but doing nothing to rev up my metabolism and convince my body to let go of a few pounds. We had a gym membership for the last year. Know how often we went? Never. I know - insane, right? I only wish I could have that money back.

My biggest excuse for not exercising is my children. I fully accept it's an excuse. Trying to find someone to watch them or packing them up and taking them to the gym's babysitting seemed like too much of a hassle. So I decided it was time to take away my excuse.

No, I didn't get rid of my children. (Good guess, though!)

Meet my new friend:

We acquired this elliptical machine from a used sporting good store before Aaron was laid off. Actually, it was our birthday gift from my mom, so we didn't pay anything for it. And yes, the gate must remain around it at all times, because our daughters do not share my aversion to exercise, and will try to kill themselves on it if I let them.

I can't escape exercise now. It sits in the corner staring at me as I eat, a reminder of what I should be doing. When I eat ice cream, I can't look up without feeling guilty. If the kids are awake, I can fire up the Tivo for them and get at least a half hour in. That is, if I could do an entire half hour on it. I didn't realize just how out of shape I was until I worked out for the first time.

I lasted 5 minutes.

This machine has several programs, but I like the steps program. You can set a goal of 500 steps, 1000 steps, or any other increment of 500. I started with 500. After two weeks (only twice a week at this point) I'm now up to 1500 steps, which I think is a great improvement. My goal is to eventually get to 10,000 steps.

I've got less than a month until BlogHer, so it's time to put my Hot by BlogHer plan into overdrive and make these last days count. I'd like to at least break through this plateau and lose a couple more pounds before the big event, and I think my new elliptical machine may be that kickstart I needed.