posted by Jennifer on Uncategorized

Remember the last day of school, the bell ringing and flying out of the doors to a summer of freedom? Ahhh…those were the days! 2 of my kids were done today and my high schooler is done tomorrow and it’s officially summer. Well, it feels like summer in Chicago with 90+ temps!!

But, the weather hasn’t stopped me from my first goal of the summer which is???? Exercise!! Exercise and I are not friends. I don’t really like to work out so much which has got to change. It’s funny even completing 2 marathons and several half marathons you would think that would motivate me to keep going, but it hasn’t!

So, I’ve joined my sisters group in the 2nd annual Summer Challenge!. It’s not too late to throw your hat in the ring! So, my goal for this summer is to move every day. 100 days straight!!

According to the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only 5% of the U.S. population gets a vigorous work out in daily! I am trying to change that myself. So what have I done in the last 4 days?

Day 1: Rode my bike in 90+ degree heat for 40 minutes.
Day 2: Did Jillian Michaels “Boost Metabolism” DVD for 57 minutes
Day 3: Rode a bike during my lunch for 30 minutes and walked home from work (1.5 miles) in 90+ heat!
Day 4: Walked 30 minutes home in 90+ heat + some weight exercises after dinner

We’ll see if I can keep it going, I usually start strong and then fizzle out. BUT, I have a few new online weight loss pals and we are keeping tabs on each other, and I also have a lot of support at home as well as at work. (which helps!)

I told my daughter (who is 9) that I was going to do some form of exercise and she suggested we could run around at the park and maybe take long walks after dinner – both great ideas!

I thought of Shelley because the bike I rode yesterday was actually a loaner from a company that works in my building. They actually provide bikes for their employees to use if they are going somewhere local instead of driving to stay green – how nice is that? The bikes are super deluxe and it reminded me of Shelley’s pink bike. This is the one I rode:

I’m friends with someone who works at that company and when I asked her if I could use a bike to get some exercise during my lunch, she got the OK from the Owner of the company. So, that will be great when I can’t ride my own bike to work for some reason – it will just give me another option.

So, I’ll be updating my progress to let you know how I am doing.

If you exercise regularly – what is your favorite kind of exercise and what motivates you to work out??