My brother’s visit this weekend was a lot of fun. He and his girlfriend Debbie were planning to get here around 1 p.m., but – and this is not surprising if you know Chris at all – they got here closer to 6 p.m. It wasn’t a big deal since I didn’t really have anything planned, it was just one of those things that made me roll my eyes because it’s so typical of him. Fortunately they showed up with birthday gifts for both me and Catie, so I got over it quickly. We had dinner and played board games, which probably sounds incredibly dull, but we had a really good time.
For the record, Catie already adores my brother, but she absolutely loved Debbie too. I was a little concerned since they’d never met before, but in no time, Catie had learned her name and was giving her unsolicited hugs. So I think she found a new friend there.
This morning we all went out for brunch. Chris and Debbie headed home shortly afterward, since it’s a long-ish drive back to Charlotte (about 2-3 hours). So it was a short visit, but good.
On an entirely different topic: I have finally caved to the peer pressure from all of the other bloggers who’ve been talking about it, and I ordered a copy of the 30-Day Shred. I’ve been doing this damn diet for two weeks and I have yet to lose a single pound, so I’m going to try something drastic to kickstart my metabolism. It arrived on Friday (happy birthday to me!), and I tried it out during Catie’s nap. It really is just as much of a butt-kicker as everybody says. I haven’t done it this weekend since we’ve been busy with company, but I plan to start my official Thirty Days of shredding tomorrow. Monday is the day for fresh starts, right? My only worry is that I have very weak knees (so do most women on my dad’s side of the family – thanks, crappy genes!). So I’m being very careful, because I really don’t want to end up needing a bionic knee like Alexa got.
And yes, it’s kind of silly to order a workout DVD when I have a gym membership, but the thing is? I haven’t been to the gym in ages. Catie hates the Y’s daycare and is totally miserable when I leave her there. I mean, sometimes she’ll be ok – she’s not happy, but she’ll manage. Then there was the time that a lady from the daycare had to come and get me fifteen minutes into my yoga class because my kid wouldn’t stop screaming and it was upsetting the other children. (And let me tell you, any relaxation or de-stressing that the yoga class had given me by that point? Was promptly undone by the embarassment of having to grab my shoes & yoga mat, and bolt out of class.) Sigh.
Perhaps even more importantly, there’s also the fact that I’m lazy. With the gym, I have to get Catie and myself dressed, get her daycare bag packed, get in the car, drive over there, make sure it’s during the gym’s (rather limited) daycare hours… it’s sort of a hassle. With a video, I just pop in the DVD and work out for 20 minutes during Catie’s nap. It’s basically impossible to come up with an excuse why I can’t work out. So that’s my plan. We’ll see how it goes.
EDITED TO ADD: OMG! I totally forgot to mention that my husband is awesome and got me the greatest birthday gift ever: he got me a Nintendo Wii. Right now all I have is the Wii Sports game, because the Wii Fit was on backorder. The sports game is fun (bowling in your living room!), but it’s not exactly aerobic exercise. I should have a Wii Fit in a few days, though, so yay! This way, if Jillian Michaels does totally kick my butt and I need to rest my muscles a bit, I’ll just do a little Wii Fit yoga in my living room, and either way, I don’t have to go past my front door to get my daily exercise. Woot!
Yay for caving to peer pressure! I agree, the biggest appeal for me is that there really is no excuse — 20 minutes is totally doable, and totally worth the self-congratulations you get to give yourself for working out that day. I also have a (not-so-)secret crush on Jillian that makes watching her say gems such as, “Can’t I just do bicep curls. NO YOU CANNOT.” very appealing.
One word of causion: If you have weak knees, I’d take it slow and only shred every other day. I’ve heard that’s a good rule of thumb for all forms of exercise, to give your muscles a day to recover, and in this particular case, I do think your knees take something of a beating. I’m starting a Monday/Wednesday yoga class tomorrow, so I think I’m going to do a Tuesday-Thursday-once over the weekend schedule for the shreddage.
Thanks Gwen, mentioning yoga just reminded me of a big ol’ paragraph that I accidentally left out of this post. (See above.) I probably won’t be able to maintain the 30-Day Shred every single day, but I have a feeling that the Wii Fit is going to be a lot of fun, so I’m going to try to work that in on alternate days.
Btw, I can’t tell if Jillian Michaels just REALLY hardcore, but I get the impression that women having crushes on her (and vice versa) is probably not a new concept for her.
Let me know how the WII Fit works out, ok? I am SOOOO very tempted to get a WII just to get the Fit but want to know from someone who will give an honest assessment. I run and swim but sometimes work just gets too busy to workout at lunch, ya know, and I agree, taking your kid to day care at the gym, however convenient it might sound, sucks!
I have heard so many people talking about the shred. I’d love to hear if you see results!
Lol. I blame Gwen for all the Shreddage. My copy just came via Netflix this weekend. I’m going to try to start it tomorrow, too. Although, I might have to wait until next Monday. I have a big important exam this Friday that I need to be studying for 24/7.
I’ve been using the Wii Fit for about 6 months now. I think a lot of the games are fun, but I would not say it’s a hardcore workout by any stretch of the imagination. Also, there is not a lot of variety within each game, so I find that I get bored with it once I have mastered a particular game. Although, it is kind of fun in a competitive “I can headbutt more soccer balls that you can!” kind of way, if that kind of thing motivates you at all. It does for me. 🙂
Also, EA is coming out with a couple of new games soon for the Wii Fit. One is called Wii Resort (I think), and Oprah’s fitness guy (Bob Greene?) is also doing a new fitness game. So, hopefully there will be better options for it soon, because the technology in it is kind of cool, but underutilized by the current options for it. IMHO.
Whee! I am starting the Shred today (Monday). I agree with Alissa, it’s totally Gwen’s fault. I’ve got a month to take off some of this leftover fertility treatment weight. After the Shred is over, we’ve got an actual exercise machine and I’ve got some yoga DVDs from Gwen that I’m going to give a shot.
Y’all, the shred is EVERYWHERE. Here are some of the other bloggers who’ve been doing the Shred and talking about it:
– Gwen and Shannon
– Amalah
– Alexa @ Flotsam
– My lovely friend Danielle
– Tracy @ Sweetney
– Jodifur
– Beth @ So The Fish Said
…and I’m sure I’m omitting some people. But see? Peer pressure. All the cool kids are doing it, so I’m going to do it too. And if they all jumped off a bridge, yadda yadda yadda.
I’ll make you a deal-I promise to not shred. In fact, I will continue to sit on my big butt. How’s that? 🙂
You are going to love Wii Fit – it is so much fun! Even more fun to do while having cocktails. Which defeats the purpose of burning calories, but makes for an entertaining Friday evening 🙂 Bell likes to do it with me as well – it is hilarious watching her get into some of the yoga poses!
shred=dead
it’s killing me and i’m only on day one! are you people surviving this? is there a light at the end of the jillian-machine tunnel?
please tell me i can do it and live to tell about it (and enjoy the results).
Shredding gives me joint pain. I mean, I’m still doing it, just saying. My toes hurt. Is that weird?