I Only THOUGHT I Was In Good Shape

I am easily talked into joining most anything.  Especially if it has any sort of competitive edge to it.  So when one of the bloggers I follow issued a challenge to join her in a 30 day fitness challenge, I was all over it.

I immediately ordered the DVD, it came two days later and then I just laid it down and tried to forget that I’d kind of promised to do this thing.  Everyday, the woman on the cover of the DVD would glare at me in a very mocking way and every day I would find some way to put off starting for one more day.

But then Big Mama and Boo Mama wrote about their experiences and  Vicki did a follow up asking how everyone was doing and my guilt got the better of me.  I decided that today was the day.

Oh how I regret that decision tonight.

I’ll admit that after reading some of the comments from other people that were doing the challenge, I was feeling a little superior.  I mean, I run several times a week and I think of myself as being in pretty good shape.  And this workout?  It’s only 20 minutes long!  How hard could it possibly be?   All these babies whining about how hard it is.  Hummph.  They must be REALLY out of shape.  I was sure that I would breeze right through without even breaking a sweat.  And since there are 3 levels, I was pretty sure I was in such an advanced state of fitness that I probably should skip right on into level 2.

Oh how the proud have fallen.

This is the woman who brought me to my knees.  And I may never get up.

I wouldn’t go as far as calling this woman a devil, but she must have some experience with the dark side to be able to pack that much misery into a mere 20 minutes.  Five minutes into it, I was sweating.  Ten minutes into it I was calling for my mother.  Fifteen minutes in found me begging the Lord for mercy.  By the end, all I could do was whimper and collapse onto the floor.

I am not kidding.  That’s the hardest workout I’ve ever done in my life.  Minutes after I finished, the phone rang and since I have a terrible habit of carrying the phones all around the house and then laying them down and forgetting them, I had to go upstairs to find the receiver.  I was pretty sure my legs weren’t going to hold me going up the stairs.  They were a quivering mess.

THREE HOURS later, I was making some chocolate chip cookies (yes, I appreciate the irony of this) and the recipe called for me to whisk  the batter vigorously for 30 seconds.  I am not lying when I say that that simple movement brought tears to my eyes.

I can hardly wait to see how I feel when I wake up in the morning.

So here is my question.  I’ve watched her work out these seriously out of shape, morbidly obese, unhealthy people on The Biggest Loser for 3 seasons.  How in the world do these people not die right there on the gym floor?  I have a new found respect for all of them.

And a resolve to continue this journey.  If they can do it, I’ve got no excuse in the world.  Even though I may sleep on the couch tonight to avoid walking up the stairs.

P.S.  I double dog dare you to join me.  You can order the DVD here, or just pick it up at Target or Wal-Mart.  Come on!  It’ll be fun!

Okay, no it won’t.  But misery loves company!  And I’ll need all the accountability I can get.