I’ve been on many fitness journeys since I began this blog. In college, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. nearly every morning and forced myself to go to the gym. I looked great, I felt great (if not a little tired), but looking back I also recognize that it was a bit of an obsession.
“A bit of an obsession?” I can hear my former roommate laughing at that understatement.
After graduation, I was thrown into a job that worked me long hours and left me exhausted. The obsession quickly deteriorated, and I was lucky to get in a couple of workouts per week. No longer was I the dutiful daily exerciser. You can probably guess what happened next.
I put on a few pounds, felt generally lethargic and hated every minute.
Since I made the leap and began working for myself, I’ve been able to make exercise more of a priority again. But I’m no longer the girl who forces herself to workout on 4-5 hours sleep. The “obsessive” part of me never came back, and I’m a lot happier for it. I’ve realized that in order to truly enjoy my life, I need to give myself permission to occasionally skip a workout in favor of curling up with a good book or wonderful husband – and (always) a glass of wine.
There’s always tomorrow. Thanks to these great workout challenges, it’s easy to get back on track. Hopefully they will help inspire you and your fitness goals, whatever they may be!
Current Training Plan
Self-Created Workouts
These workouts are based off of others I found in magazines.
P90X Workouts
Video: P90X – 90 Days Later
Insanity Workouts
Workout Successes
- November 16, 2008: Special Olympics Fall 5K
- April 19, 2009: Special Olympics Spring 5K
- September 27, 2009: Susan G. Komen 10K
- May 16, 2010: SELF Workout in the Park
- August 7, 2010: BlogHer 5K: New York City
- January 16, 2011: Phoenix Half Marathon
- February 28, 2011: Hustle Up the Hancock: Take One
- August 12, 2011: BlogHer 5K: San Diego
- October 16, 2011: A “Grand” First Year Anniversary
- February 26, 2012: Hustle Up the Hancock: Take Two
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dang… i’d be scared to get in a ring with you!
love it Bender. you are my hero.
NICE GUNS!!!
Love the picture.
That picture is awesome! You sure are buff 🙂
I’m excited for your new workout experiment!
And I love the pic!
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It’s so easy to just go through the motions and not make the most of a workout. I hope I’ll find some good tips here on taking it to a new level 🙂
It’s so easy to just go through the motions when you’re working out—it’s great that you’re trying to “take it to a new level” 🙂 I’ll look forward to reading!
Thanks everyone! You all are too kind 🙂 I’m excited to share the workouts with you!
Good luck on the P90X!! I am starting a similar program also produce by BeachBody: ChaLEAN Extreme. Very similar but marketed more toward chicks! 🙂
Stock up on heavy weights!!
Judy ~ Thanks! Please let me know what you think of ChaLEAN. I might try that next 😉
Look at those guns!
Brittany ~ Haha your comment reminded me of one of my professors who always dressed in t-shirts that had his students saying, “we’re going to the gun show!” 🙂
Look at those biceps! You are beautiful!
foodsthatfit ~ Thank you so much 🙂
Wow, you look like one of those girls everyone hates because she can go strapless and look fantastic!
Kristin ~ Haha I don’t know about that, but thank you so much for being so sweet 🙂
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Oh my god, your arms are my goal! I need to start following your workouts!
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Hey Jenn, I just found your blog and I am in love for so many reasons:
1) you did p90x
2) you have awesome recipes
3) you are from chicago!!!! – i have been on the search for chicago food/health bloggers 🙂
4) we’re close in age. i’m in my last year of college at u of i.
Well, just wanted to say hi and I look forward to keep reading your blog!
Hi there! Thank you so much for the sweet comment 🙂 I just checked out your blog – AWESOME! You want to run the marathon? I hope to do that…someday, haha! I’m totally going to keep reading and would love to meet up with you next time you’re in the city. There are quite a few of us Chicago food/health bloggers, so it would be a lot of fun!
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Yep, impressive muscles there. I’d be really interested to know your thoughts on the various workouts because I’ve just reviewed a whole bunch of them. I’m getting ready to move to the country where there is no gym, so I have to resort to my own motivation and devices. So I looked at what info there was on the web to help me decide which program to go for. So I’m definitely interested to know which program rocks your boat!
I’m currently on day 12 of 90 for the P90X Challenge! How are things working out for you? No pun there!
[…] been a fan of Beachbody for a while now. I received P90X as a gift a year and a half ago and have completed the full program once, along with several attempts at doing it again (not always making it the full 90 days) and […]
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[…] Eating Bender: Here’s someone I can really relate too- Balancing a busy, and sometimes chaotic, life with a love of food, health and exercise can be tough, but here you can see it all documented in a fun and relatable way. […]