Lately, I’ve been avoiding my gym. And let me tell you – that doesn’t bode well for my thighs, butt and mid-section. But I’ve decided, rather than do the same thing I do all the time at my local gym (elliptical, stationery bike and treadmill), I’m going to do five things that will hopefully melt the fat from my lower half without me realizing I’m actually working out.
1. Rollerblading – Back in the day (meaning the mid-nineties), I was quite the rollerblader. In fact, my favorite thing to do each weekend was to strap on my blades, slip on my headphones and sing as I rolled through Central Park. During the winter, I’d even rollerblade to Wollman Rink, put my rollerblades in a locker and ice skate for an hour. Hello, Old Me – where are you and how do I get my mojo back?
2. Dancing Lessons – When I was on a cruise recently, I realized that I am a dance spaz. I mean, I can certainly do the typical side to side, hand bopping move that I perfected in the eighties and I personally love the “Baby Mama” ‘Stop Framing Your Face’ line, but what I’ve realized is that dancing burns a serious amount of calories – just look at how Kelly Osbourne transformed her body. Sign me up for some salsa lessons stat!
3. Commuter Calorie Burn – Give yourself less than 10 minutes to catch your train. Then sprint in high heels carrying your purse that includes a laptop, your cell phone, iPhone, files and notepad. Now, make sure your train is on the furthest possible track imaginable – for an added burn, climb three flights of stairs at top speed and then collapse on the train. Do not, under any circumstances buy a bag of pretzels before you board the train because if you do, the calories you burnt will be useless.
4. Tennis Anyone? My favorite sport since the time I was nine years old is tennis. The reason – when I’m in the zone, I can really play well. And when I play outdoors, I actually sweat – which means I burn calories. So I will step into my time machine, pretend I’m back in high school and start hitting those balls like a fiend.
5. Wii and My Family: Never count out my Wii Fit – which will definitely call me obese once I step on that balance board but I can take it. All I need to do is stick with a routine, even if it’s 15 minutes per day and I will be on my way. Besides, I love the kick boxing and hula hoop games – feel the burn without the burden.
So there you have it – five ways to lose weight without it feeling like a total chore. I’m kick starting my routine tomorrow and will let you know soon how it’s working for me. Summer is right around the corner and all I can say is I refuse to spend another season fretting over my knee fat and cankles!
If you have any fun calorie burning tips to share, please feel free to comment!
The Girdle Chronicles
Earlier this fall, I wrote a post about the fact that I was forced to wear a girdle after spending the entire summer eating bad food and drinking way too much wine. I vowed after that fateful day in September when I couldn’t squeeze into a new Ann Taylor Loft dress without it fitting badly in all the wrong places that I was taking a stand and heading back to the place that taught me how to eat right and lose weight the old fashioned way, Weight Watchers.
And so, I joined again, went to a few meetings, lost 3 pounds, gained back two and never returned. Every week, I had another excuse about why I couldn’t make it and now, nearly three months later, I’m up nearly 10 pounds, my Wii Fit called me fat and I’m ready to take lose weight for good this time.
I plan to chronicle my weight loss journey on this brand new page, titled The Girdle Chronicles. On this special section dedicated to weight loss, fitness, healthy recipes and more, you will hear why I have been obsessed with my weight for most of my life. And hopefully, as I share my triumphs and my many falls off the weight loss wagon, you will find a place where you too can relate, laugh and commiserate.
Related Posts:
The Girdle Chronicles
My Wii Fit Called Me Fat
My Life Through Facebook
Our Latest Blog Talk Radio Show
Kim and I are back for our New Year’s show with a special guest, Julie at Cool Mom Guide. Julie is kicking off her Wii Fit Mommies forum on her site and will be hosting an event on Twitter tomorrow night for moms looking to get back on the wagon, grab that balance board and get in shape. Plus, we share lots of shout outs to some amazing moms (and a dad too)! But no need to read about it…listen in right now!
My Wii Fit Called Me Fat
I never thought this would happen – especially since I’ve struggled with my weight for what seems like a lifetime and I’ve been conscious telling my kids never to tease others about their looks, but last night, my daughter teased me because I was overweight.
Now let me backtrack a bit and explain. You see, early yesterday morning, I decided it was time to get back on track with weight loss and finally hopped aboard my Wii Fit (after a 237 day moratorium). At first, I started doing a few of the exercises but then I stupidly decided to do a body test on myself right in front of my two kids and guess what? After my BMI was calculated, my Wii called me Fat! My kids had a rip roaring time with that news. Actually, my son insisted it was wrong (gotta love little boys) and my daughter, on the other hand, became the food police the rest of the day.
When her friend came over to visit and she brought over a tin of chocolate covered pretzels, I asked the girls to hand me one and my daughter looked me straight in the eye and said, “Mom, do you really think you should be having that? I mean, the Wii said you need to lose 7.7 pounds!”
I dismissed her comment and grabbed a pretzel stick lathered with chocolate and oreo filling and continued about my business of the day…responding to several old friends on Facebook.
After our guests arrived for our mini New Years Eve shindig (we thought we were having 12 adults and lost six due to weather, illness and let’s just call the other category “Other.”) As a result, my DH went all out…ordering food for a third world nation and rather than cancel half the order, he kept it intact and we found ourselves eating sliders, penne with Vodka sauce, chicken piccata, steak, spinach, pigs in a blanket and more for 5 hours straight. Add several glasses of wine and I’m sure by now the Wii will say I now have 9.7 pounds to lose.
Back to last night. So I’m in our sunroom chatting with my friends when my daughter walks in and remarks that I was having a very large glass of wine and shouldn’t I be watching what I was eating and drinking because the Wii said I was overweight.
Say what?!?!?! At that point, I gave my daughter an exasperated look and sent her out of the room and then remarked how rude that was…knowing I was going to deal with her at some point in the night. But I didn’t have to do it myself…my DH came to the rescue after I filled him in on her comments and the next thing I knew, she was being read the riot act about the importance of not teasing others (especially their moms) about their weight.
When I went upstairs to have a private chat with her too, she gave her side of the story. “Mommy, I never thought you were fat. I think you’re skinny. It was just the Wii that said it. I never meant to hurt you – I’d never do that, ever!”
And in that instant, I realized that my daughter really wasn’t trying to be hurtful. She thought the Wii Fit news about my weight was funny and decided to share it with friends and family.
I guess now it’s up to me to prove the Wii Fit wrong. So it’s day two and while I’m not going to be checking my BMI this morning, I do plan to kick some tuchis (pronounced too-chis) on the slalom and super hula hoop game. Nobody calls the girl formerly known as Stubby Beth fat without getting their ass kicked on the road back to sveltesville.
Another Year, A Few More Lbs.
Well, it’s almost 2009 and I’m facing the same issues I’ve confronted since I was 12 years old. Weight loss. As fate would have it, I’ve yo-yo’d again and am nose to nose with my all time least favorite New Year’s Resolution of the year…take off 10-15 pounds. Why this resolution is on my list every single year is beyond me, but I guess it must have something to do with the pizza, fried dough and glasses of wine I’ve been enjoying this holiday season.
And so, here I am back at square one. Thankfully, I just received a package of goodies from Weight Watchers – they must have been reading my mind – or maybe they saw a recent picture or video of me on the web. Plus, they just launched a new program called Momentum and anything with the word “Mom” in it is right up my alley. Either way, I’ve got my pantry stuffed with diet cookies, cakes, sponge cake and more and I even have my Wii Fit socks on this morning because I’m planning on hopping on my Wii Fit balance board so I can start shedding some lbs.
Recently, I met an amazing mom – Julie over at Cool Mom Guide who managed to take off over 70 pounds thanks to the Wii Fit so this year, I am truly going to make a commitment and hop aboard. Sure, the thing is going to tell me that I gained weight since the last time I stopped on by (it’s been 300 days since my last workout), but better late than never. Julie even started her own fitness group called Wii Fit Mommies that I plan to sign up for too. Maybe I can connect with other chubby Miis (like me) online!
So you heard it here first – I’m going to get back on the Weight Watchers wagon while working out on my Wii Fit. Check back with my on January 30 and I’ll let you know how I’m doing – hey – you never know – maybe I’ll reach my goal by then – or at least my Mii might be a little smaller.
Giveaway Monday
Want to win a Wii Fit? I bet you do…well, just hop on over to the girls at Hot Moms Club and check out the contest they’ve got on their site. Best story of why you should be the proud owner of the Wii Fit wins. In the meantime, our grand prize winners for DS Lites were Pam Cohen and Vanessa Druckman! In fact, Vanessa writes:
I just received the Nintendo DS today – the kids literally walked around the house in a parade carrying it up high above their heads – they were so thrilled. Thank you so much. More fun giveaways to come!
The Eagle Has Landed
I have to tell you Role Mommies, I sort of feel like a Publisher’s Clearing House winner or one of those Extreme Home Makeover families today. Why do you ask? Well let me tell you. A limousine pulled up in front of my house today and out walked three athletic individuals who were just in the neighborhood dropping off a surprise present. Okay, want to know what it was? Get ready for it…A Wii FIT!!!! Yes, I am the first on my block, the first in my neighborhood, probably the first person in Westchester to claim ownership of this prized possession that now sits in my basement waiting for me to hop aboard.
So getting back to this morning. It had totally slipped my mind that the Wii Fit training team was going to be visiting, so I got dressed, hardly put on any make-up and slipped on a pair of incredilby holy (that would mean full of holes not actually the religious kind) socks. The trio felt so bad for me that they reached into my brand new Wii fitness tote bag and handed me a pair of socks that I could wear on the balance board. Then my private trainer Patrice started to put me through the paces. We warmed up with some stretches, did a little yoga moves and then I even attempted a few push ups. Then we were ready to assume the position. It was Wii Fit Time!
After calculating my height and age, I hopped aboard and much to my delight, I am not overweight! However, when I tried out a basic balance test, I learned that I am as fit as a 52 year old. For those of you who don’t already know my age, I’m only 38. Ouch.
And so, we got started. First I had to pick a trainer – I decided to go with a female since Patrice had been so friendly during the warm-up. We then did a few yoga exercises which I handled pretty well. You have to work hard to stay in the zone and the balance board even shows you if you’re not doing the pose correctly – that thing is friggin’ ingenious.
Moving on to the “Let’s make a fool out of yourself category.” I hopped right into the aerobics portion of the routine with the Hula Hoop game. Move your hips in a wide circular motion and catch as many hula hoops as you can without being bopped in the head by one of them. After a few tries, I actually got the hang of it and lasted about a minute rocking my hips all over the place. I can only imagine the laugh these trainers got when they hopped back into their town car and hit the Big Apple.
But wait, there was more. As my Wii Fit bank calculated how much exercise I had completed – 6 minutes for the day…go me – it was then time to try out a little balance training with some ski jumps. While the trainers assured me that no one usually lands on their feet the first time around, I was determined to redeem myself. And guess, what? I did! I landed on my feet both times and during the second jump, I soared nearly 122 imaginary feet in the air! What a head rush!
So before I knew it, my time with the Wii Fit team was over. But they left me with a wonderful parting gift…my very own Wii Fit. Now I can use it to set up my weight loss and fitness goals – I’m determined to be my own fitness age by at least July. I can even program how much weight I’d like to lose and the Wii Fit will tell me how much exercise I’ll need to complete to look halfway decent for bathing suit weather. While I’m contemplating giving it another whirl tonight, I think I may opt for something a little more relaxing since I caught a head cold from my daughter earlier in the week. Lucky for me, it’s like Christmas around the Feldman household. I received a box from Hachette Publishing filled with a dozen books from authors like James Patterson, Arianna Huffington, Kim Catrall (hello Sex & The City) and many many more! So now here’s my dilemma – work out or curl up with a book on the couch? That is the burning question.
A big thank you to the Nintendo team for making me feel like a million bucks today and for those of you wondering when you can get your hands on this priceless treasure, then set May 19 in your calendar. That’s when the Wii Fit officially arrives in stores. Or, if you’d like to come over and give it a whirl, maybe I’ll let you use it…psych!
Incidentally, I actually recorded video of myself trying out the Wii but by some strange stroke of luck, my Flip camera refuses to let me load it up to my computer. And so, you’ll just have to imagine me looking like a fool today and if you run into Patrice and those two awesome Wii Fit reps, they can tell you yourself!