I left my coffee up front

It's the end of 2008 and every body is getting ready to diet and exercise again. Haha! Good luck with that resolution, it will be nice working out with you new people for one or two days. Let me know how it works out for you!

Here's a great reason to get started now rather than cheat today: I gained 10 pounds on Christmas. Don't say it's just muscle, either, because I've already lost it again but - holy crow - TEN POUNDS in one day!

I weighed in on December 22, 2008. I register XXX on the scale. I ate perfect until Christmas Day, when I hate two peanut butter balls and some corn casserole. I weighed in again on December 26, 2008 and registered XXX+10.

I ran my tootie off! Drank lots of water and have religiously followed my diet with the exception of December 28, 2008 when I had another Christmas party. I now weigh XXX again. Sigh

I just hope that now after I got rid of what was probably a bunch of water weight and hormone side effects (nasty, mean ole aunt!) I won't be gaining it back again while I take the next two days off from my training regime. Hopefully, this pain in my hip will go away soon; or I'll be running with a bottle of Advil. I'm not missing this race.

Seriously, people, if you really want to get fit in 2009, don't wait until you've finished all of your cheating. Don't go buy new work out clothes just so you're motivated. Just go do it! It's not that hard! Start with walking a little bit every day, then walk some more, then jog. Lift a few weights but don't kill yourself or you will burn yourself out!

I am on the crash diet from hell, if you haven't noticed. Fortunately, I've been hitting the gym for awhile now so changing everything for my half-marathon goal wasn't as difficult as if I'd just started my first day on a treadmill after eating six Big Macs and a biggie fry the previous day! If you don't go to the gym now, your body's not accustomed to the tough stuff you think you have to do to succeed. Take your time, start slow and push yourself but don't kill yourself!

Weight loss and good health takes time. It's not like how the Democrats perceive our economy; it won't get better overnight. Your body is a machine and you have to keep it well oiled and spend some time and effort on it to get running properly. Take your time.

Here's my advice on how to succeed in the gym in 2009:

• Make a goal. I want to be able to run 1 mile without stopping. That's a great goal to start, then move to two miles and so on..
• Give yourself a cheat day. Once a week, go to Los Torascos and eat a chicken chimichanga for me, and dip it in a lot of that cheese sauce...oh, my mouth is watering...
• Schedule gym time. Find 20-30 minutes in the day and make that your gym time no matter what. Treat it like an appointment.
• Push yourself but don't kill yourself. Every work out needs to be a challenge but if you are seeing spots in your eyes when you are doing cardio, you are working too hard! Work on the Perceived exertion scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest and feeling like you are about to die! Try to keep it between 5-8.
• Get a partner. Nothing helps more than having someone meet you at the gym and push you when you can get one more rep. You don't want to stand them up, either. Bad form.
• Reward yourself for the small things. Weight loss will never happen overnight. When you lose your first five pounds, go buy a shirt or jewelry or something. Give yourself a pat on the back for the hard work. Five pounds really is a lot to lose considering one pound = 3500 calories (or a lot of time running on the treadmill) and the average amount of weight lost in a week is about 1-2 lbs!
• Don't make your diet too hard! Plan ahead, meal plan, but don't limit yourself to salads only. Actually, most salads have more calories and sodium than other foods which means you not only have more to burn but more salt to store water! Add fruit to your breakfast plan. Grill chicken for the week in advance and use a tasty marinade for flavor! There are tons of healthy recipes you can make yourself with little effort! It just takes a little creativity!
• Have fun. If you aren't doing something you like, you won't go back. Find a fun spinning class, go to a karate class; don't be afraid to try new things or you won't find what's fun! Keeping it fun keeps you going!
• Just Nike it! Just go to the gym and do it. Stop procrastinating and go. Actually, quit reading this and go to the gym or park or somewhere and get active. Just go do it!!