BMI is bunk!

OK, so I'm not disclosing what my BMI is, but trust me, I'm overweight. I've often wondered how BMI works-- how it doesn't take into things like muscle weight, bone density, even things like small girls with big boobs-- how all weight is the same. NPR posted a great article on why BMI is bunk-- turns out it's not really scientific, but just a guy who wanted an easy way to do some statistics! No fair!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439&sc=fb&cc=fp

Michelle: I Quit the Gym (Sort Of)

I hate the gym. Not my gym specifically, which is actually a nice quiet pleasant gym (as far as gyms go). But I hate going. I hate working out on machines I'm not overly sure how to use. I end up just using the elliptical or treadmill and the recumbent bike, and I'm done. I'm also completely freaked out by other people at the gym. I have so little confidence in what I'm doing, I feel like everyone is staring at me and laughing. OK, I know they're not, but I feel like they are. And all those hot moms who have nothing else to do in the summer but hang out at my gym (which is also a tennis club) just intimidate me further.

Last year, I worked with a personal trainer for 6 months. She was supposed to teach me how to use the machines, but she didn't really. She was more into stretchy resistance bands and giant balance balls. Sigh.

About a month ago, I broke out the dusty Wii Fit. I keep hearing how people lose weight using it. I've got to tell you though - I never really worked up much of a sweat with the Fit, although I had a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of the game where my Mii is dressed up like a penguin, diving for fish.

In an effort to perhaps use this gaming system to my advantage, I picked up the Gold's Gym Cardio Boxing game. That's a lot of fun, but it's pretty much just boxing. I enjoy cardio boxing a lot, but I still needed more if I was going to do this every day.

So we went out the other day and purchased EA Sports Active Personal Trainer. It comes with a resistance band and a leg strap for your nunchuk. And it's fun.

I chose to do the 30-day fitness challenge. Every day it's a different series of exercises that work all my muscles. Trust me on that one. The squats and lunges are killing me. I never felt the burn at the gym the way I do with this video game. Did I mention it's fun? I look forward to doing it.

The 30-day Fitness Challenge takes me right down to the wire for Alaska. We leave June 30. I'm hoping that this game, combined with weekly ballroom dancing and occasional hiking, will have me in tiptop shape for both vacation and BlogHer.

So I suspended my gym membership for 3 months. That will give me time to decide what the hell I'm doing.

Amy: Week 40 Ugh

I mean nothing life threatening of course, maybe a tapeworm or something.

That about sums up the last month or so, how are you guys doing?

Amy: Week 34 - Enough is Enough

It was hard stepping on that scale today, knowing the number awaiting me would not be a pleasant one. I had been steadily gaining up until a few months ago when I just completely went off the wagon. That's putting it mildly, I fell off it, then slashed it's tires, then set it on fire. It now sits in my front yard, up on blocks covered with a tarp, a family of woodland creatures reside there now.

I wish I had some trauma to blame it on - you know like alien abduction or something equally cool, something other than busy schedules and laziness and general lack of motivation. But I don't.

For this to work, you have to want weight loss more than you want that cookie or cake or bag of chips or the couch. For the last few months I have not prioritized health over instant pleasure, I have opted for the temporary buzz over the long term happiness.

I'm mad at myself. I know it's a waste of emotion and it does little to get that number down. It does little to make it so I'm not gasping for breath after a flight of steps. It does little to give me the energy to want to do anything - play with my daughter, tend to the house, cook a meal - after a long day at the office.

Yes, I'm mad and sick of feeling this way. Sick of wishing I was thinner when a special occasion rolls around and I have nothing to wear. Sick of abusing this otherwise healthy body I've been blessed with. Sick.of.it.

It needs to stop. I gained ten pounds since mhy last weigh in, in early February. Ten pounds that I've worked hard to lose only to gain back again a dozen times. It stops here, it stops now.

It's time to get to work. Who's with me?