Miss Fathlete and the Christmas Cookies

This is pretty good considering what I've been eating. The tummy's getting defined, and the arms...Ok, I'll admit it. The arms are very cool.

The title is my homage to "Monk," which I'll miss.

You know what I will not miss? This last week in fitness and eating. The holidays are always a maze of mini quiche and champagne, which means I need to step up the workouts like a workout stepping-up banshee. Unfortunately, it was also the week where I aggravated an old injury from an excessive mix of running and P90x-ing (the plyo kept tweaking my heel, which I ignored because...cookies.) No running or P90x until at least Wednesday, says my doctor, Dr. Fox. And this is a man who is at all the races I run, so if I show up at one, he'll know. He's sneaky.

Also, my poor Victor the Trainer and I have been like two fitness ships passing in the night over the last two weeks. And now, he's recovering from a car accident (sob) and is out of commission. Get well, sweetie! I will not let you down! Hopefully!

I could just feel the extra cheese forming on my butt, so I gave in and joined Planet Fitness for $20 a month, their Black Card option, which lets me bring a guest and also allows me to go to all the other Planet Fitnesses for free. They don't have classes, but they do have all the weights and the cardio machines, so for the next two weeks, before I can run or P90x or Shred again, I am gonna do the elliptical for at least 45 minutes six days a week, plus weights and abs (the P90X Abs Ripper X).

I have a wedding in 6 months, a 39th birthday in 4, and a lot of cookies to brave. Wish me luck!

A Fathlete Meets Jillian's "Shred" and Doesn't Die!

OK, possums! I greet you on the second day of my journey with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. I haven't gotten p90x yet - waiting for that - but so far this is great! I was expecting it to be horrific, because I've heard people can't walk after it. But I guess I've been prepared by all of my workouts with the Notorious Victor, and by all those boot camps at my now-former gym, especially Trina's. Trina is no joke. At all.

Neither is Jillian - I did Level 1 on Wednesday night, and was worked out well but not murdered. On the advice of my bridesmaid and planner and soul sister Kiki, I did Levels 1 and 2 this morning, and I am not gonna be happy tomorrow morning, I can tell you that. It was very challenging - I think I need to get 5-pound hand weights, because some of the lateral moves are hard with the 8 pounders I have. But it was 40 minutes, and I wasn't destroyed. I hear that Level 3 is insane. Like, brutal and bad.

I am gonna run tomorrow, and do Jillian's 1 and 2 on Saturday, because I have Halloween shenanigans on Saturday and am not committing to running Sunday. At all.

Introducing: The Fathlete Bridal Blog! Celebrate!

This is not my wedding dress. But it could've been.

So, this blog is about me trying not to be a big fat girl. And my life, recently, became about being a bride. So now, this blog is going to be about being a bride, and not a big fat one.

And also about the difficulties of finding a tiara to go with a fro.

I should call it "Go With The Fro!"

Anyway, this is an interesting week for me, wedding and fitness wise. I am now officially divorced from my big gym, BiggestLoserFitness (ahem), and am maximizing my fitness dollar. I am still seeing Victor, the evil trainer (Hey, man!) and still running (I think I am doing at least two more half marathons before the wedding, because if I am always training, I am always focused.)

I also just purchased two home remedies - Jillian Michael's "The Shred" and the fearsome-looking P90X, along with a chin-up bar. I cannot do chin-ups now, but the P90x people swear I'll be able to do a thousand, plus bench press a bus and Jillian Michaels, when I'm done.

The cool thing is that my dress is beautiful as it is, although I'd love to lose about 10 pounds between now and June. Or just tighten up. Do the tighten up! I'm Archie Bell, and these here are the Drells! We got a new song called the 'Tighten Up!'

Sorry. Drell break.