Again, the thing about working out is....

that you can equate working out, which is considered healthy, to many other things that are equally unhealthy, like drinking for example.

When you first decide what kind of drink you are going to have, it's kind of exciting... there is just so much promise to how good you're going to feel afterward. You'll be able to relax and the rest of the day won't be so stressful. That's how excerise people sell you their drug of choice. Excerise will release all those endorphins and you will feel amazing, I promise.

Then you start drinking/excerising regularly, maybe you go to happy hour or the gym every other day and you socialize and realize all the great things you've missed out on. Man this is awesome, I should have started this years ago!

And then behavior becomes a habit and your bodyjust doesn't respond like it used too. Soon it takes one more Cosmo/ lap to get that good feeling. Before you know it, happy hour has become happy night and you have spent more time at the bar/gym then at home.

You think, Ok I will be fancy and try something new.  Now you've done too much. And usually the result is hurting yourself, because you either drank too much or you tried something that your body was not ready for. You spend all of the next day wishing for someone to have mercy on your sorry behind all while promising never to do that again.

And it you didn't throw yourself over the edge, then you probably have a friend that will. You know THAT friend. The friend that always goes just a little too far and is always egging you on, sure you can another shot.... Why NOT go another 15 mins at warp 9 on the treadmill? It will be fun.

As a sidenote- this is one part of the analogy where the subject in question is actually the same person. The friend that probably is in amazing shape, doing pilates and running 15 times a day, si the same person who drinks a lot and is the first to run to stripper pole at a night club.  The friend that  plays club basketball, golf, soccor, and softball,  is the same one who drinks a lot, wears his sunglasses indoors and ends up getting into a fight with the guy in the Ed Hardy shirt.

Finally, you miss one night of fun/working out. And then you miss another. And another. Hmpf, I guess I don't have to go tonight. There is always tomorrow. And then after soon enough, you are where? Right back where you started. Man I can't believe its been so long....it will feel good to get out there and do it.

Why?

because if it wasn't difficult, it wouldn't be a part of life.

This week's best horoscopes courtesy of The Onion...

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20
Your crude and primitive sense of humor will offend lots of people, but just wait until they get a look at your crude and primitive sense of justice.

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22
You'll learn the value of patience, compassion, and tolerance next week and be rather disappointed that it's actually so low.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20
Mars rising in your sign indicates you are something of a coward, mostly because of the way you keep flinching at it.


The other signs can be found here.

The thing about working out is...

Once you start, it's easy as hell to stop. I have always admired people who enjoy excercising, and I've come to terms with the fact that I'll probably never be one of them.

Confession: I am on an uncharted, scary mission. I have two public events this fall that I have to go to that will require me to wear a bathing suit. (See above for why this mission is scary.)

The first is a bacholorette party in Vegas with a pool/spa day. The bride of said wedding is in awesome shape and so are most of her friends (that does not include me). I have decided that I will not be the one to sulk at the amazing bodies that these women have so hard for. I don't want to feel that shameful embarassment that can wash over you so quickly when it comes to self image. I want to feel confortable and think that I look good. Not as good as them or good in comparision to them. Just good about myself with confidence and self-esteem.

The second is a destination wedding in Mexico for a high school friend of mine. Now in this case, I just don't want to be the cute girl that fell off after high school. This event is for my pride and vanity, not self- esteem.

So, I have taken up a cause to work out and eat better (but there are just certain things I will not give up, hello mac-n-cheese, I am talking about you!). We have a treadmill in our garage, a park that has a track for walking or running, I bought a Jillian Michaels "No Trouble Zones" work out DVD (OMG, I almost died), and a friend of mine has let me borrow the Yoga X DVD from her P90X collection.

Now, before anyone gets impressed, I completely failed the first time I tried to get super serious about this campaign. I mean, seriously?!? Who has time for all that? Then I realized that my expections were WAY too high. How can I go from not working out at all to expecting to do 2 DVDs, run on a track and lift weights all in the same day? I realized that if I plan not only did I have enough time to do this right for the events, but that I have enough time to do this right, period. These changes should be life changes, not temporary modifications so I "unveil" myself at these events.

With that realization, I have modified my working out expections. My goal now is to do a minimum of 30 minutes of something physical everyday. And it can be whatever, like walking the neighborhood with my husband or getting on the dread-mill or cursing at Jillian Michaels on my TV while circuit training in my family room.

With all the pressure to do 5 bazillion excercises-a-day out the window, my behavior is changing and the results are motivating. One day I ran more on the treadmill than I ever thought was possible and when I finished, I was beaming with pride and a sense of accomplishment. Less surprisely, after doing all that work, the last thing I wanted to eat was mac-n-cheese. I wanted something lighter and healthier, so the effects of my run would last.

Oddly enough it's not just my behavior that is changing, it's also my mind. Maybe I could be one of those people who enjoy working out. You know the thing about working out, is that once you start enjoying it, its easy to keep going.

This week's best Horoscopes, Courtesy of The Onion

Leo:

Often it feels as if everything is too hard for you and that anything you try ends in failure, but take heart: Those feelings have to be wrong eventually.

Scorpio :

Decent people everywhere will be shocked and appalled by the treatment you received and the conditions under which you were held, but it's not like their jobs are any better.

Aquarius:

You've been fooling yourself for so long that you've lost track of your sense of identity, your joy in life, and which one is actually the real Shroud of Turin.

Things I am over....

1) Eating outside. I am not sure what it is about Southern California and the constant need to be outside. Yes, we have beauitful weather for walking and running and swimming. But must I always eat outside under the baking sun with an unrelenting assault of leaves and tree bits attacks my plate?

2)Furry boots and short skirts. Again, I am not sure what is it about Southern California and the need to where what looks like winter boots with appears to be a handkerchief masquerading as a skirt. Its a juxtaposition that I don't understand and quite frankly think is silly.

3)The overly agressive driver in the jalopy. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off while driving to work, by some idiot who is barrelling down the freeway in the broken up, sad clown car version of a 1999 civic. Unlike, the beamer and the benz that regularly mash out my saturn, your car is not fun to look at or aerodynamically pleasing. Its just annoying. So instead of buying that super muffler that sets off car alarms, can you please just get the rear bumper fixed so you can take the packing tape off? Thanks.

4)Spirit Airlines. Haven't heard them? Good, because they are the nickel and dime kings and queens.  Want to check your bag? $40! Want to bring a carry-on bag onto the plane? $35! Want to pick your seat in advance? $5! Want something to drink on the plane? $3 (including water)! Oh and by the way... those fees are just for one way, suckas......

5) The debt ceiling debate. I wish everyone would stop trying to be cute and just solve the problem. The country will continue to run at a deficit no matter much or how little you raise the ceiling... so just do it!

Julian Bond is awesome

Last night, Andre and I went to a Zocalo event last night at the Peterson Auto Museum . It was a discussion betweent he awesome Warren Olney and former NAACP chair Julian Bond.  The civil rights leader was eveything that you would hope for: charasmatic, charming, witty, sharp, and funny.  He recounted several stories from his days at the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee as well as fondly remembering his days at Morehouse college, specifically in a philiosphy class taught by Dr. King.

One of the best moments of the evening was Mr. Boond describing his views on LGBT issue and the black community. He actually "boycotted" Coretta Scott King's funeral because it was held in a church that openly discriminated against gays in the church and had an anti-gay marriage policy. He told stories of how Coretta Scott King was a huge gay rights activist and would have been appalled to know that her service was taking place there. I respect him for trying honor what he thought her wishes might have been.

He also spoke about how  President Obama was disappointing him, but that every other president had disappointed his as well, so there is nothing particularly special about that. He also remarked that he felt somewhat naive in anticpating the kind of negativity that the Republican party has throwing toward the president. He recalled his continuing surprise with the effort and willingness of the Republicans to throw the country into  debt and chaos so that Obama wouldn't get his way.

Lastly, he told great stories about Dr Barnes and Lincoln college after someone in the audience asked about his Dad and the documentary called "The Art of the Steal". If you haven't watched it, go do so, its great.

Sadly, the question and answer section og the evening was quite short and I didn't get to ask either of the questions I had, which were:

1) As the black community struggles to maintain and achieve progress, how can we look at  the dissolution of the black family unit as part of teh problem and what can we do to mend it?

2)I wanted to know what his thoughts were on the Justice department recently announcing that they would not reopen the Malcolm X murder case because they did not view it as a pressing matter or him to be a significant enough person of interest.

What would you ask Julian Bond?

Here is a link to the artcle from last night (AND.... a photo of Andre and I in the audience!)

http://zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2011/07/25/the-names-bond-julian-bond/read/the-takeaway/