My Other Hobby: Fitness (With Couch to 5K Links & My Current Workout Playlist)

I hardly ever post on weekends, but I thought I would today. It is the next to last day of spring break; Monday we go back to school, reviewing with a vengeance until our students take state standardized tests in two weeks. It's enough to bring on stress in overwhelming abundance. So what do I do when stress seems on the verge of overtaking me? Well, I used to eat. But now? I exercise.

When I started working out again a year ago (after several years of doing little to nothing), I couldn't run a mile. It was probably a stretch for me to walk a mile. I began my working out by doing the Couch to 5K program. I cannot say enough good things about it. It got me motivated, it was always different, it involved good music, and it was a challenging but attainable goal.

I highly recommend it as a jumping off point. Also, if you have a long way to go in terms of exercising, losing weight, or getting in shape, you can tailor the program to your needs. For example, you could easily use it as a walking program instead of a running program. The best thing about it is the free podcasts that you upload onto your iPod or mp3 players. They tell you when to walk and when to run. It couldn't be easier.

My favorite sites to use were Carli's Running Into Shape, Go Nicole Yourself!, and Inside the Mind of Suz. Many people also use Robert Ullrey's Podcasts for Running, DJ Steve Boy's Podrunner: Intervals, and Christian Indie Tracks.

Since I joined the Y last fall, I have enjoyed taking advantage of their classes. I love the mixed cardio class, spin, sculpt, and yoga. On non-class days, I do my own cardio using interval training workouts on the treadmill or the elliptical. My favorite fitness blogger, Trainer Momma, has written several posts on the topic of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts. I have used her basic HIIT formula, but this week also began doing varied forms of it, found in her More Interval Workouts post.

Also, I have mentioned it before, but Ali Sweeney's book The Mommy Diet lists some excellent workout plans, HIIT-style. They will have you doing things you never thought of on a treadmill! (Like walking lunges and climbing.)

Music is my main motivation when I am exercising. I love the high-energy music tracks played in most classes, so when I'm exercising on my own on a Saturday, I have to match that intensity with my music. Here is what I've been listening to lately as I HIIT it on the treadmill (Get it? "HIIT" instead of "hit"-- funny, right?):

45-Minute Workout Playlist:

1. "Stay Here Forever" - Jewel
2. "Blah Blah Blah" - Ke$ha
3. "Say Hey (I Love You)" - Michael Franti & Spearhead
4. "Only Girl (In the World)" - Rihanna
5. "Only Prettier" - Miranda Lambert
6. "Blow" - Ke$ha
7. "Everlasting Light" - The Black Keys
8. "Forget You" - Cee Lo
9. "We R Who We R" - Ke$ha
10. "Coming Home" - Diddy - Dirty Money
11. "In the Sun" - Joseph Arthur

If you noticed that list was heavy on Ke$ha, you are exactly right. I can't think of any other band or singer whose music is so perfectly suited to working out. I also mix in Katy Perry, the Black-Eyed Peas, and Usher from time to time. Most of these artists are not people I listen to regularly, but they make working out very easy! I also purposely start with Jewel's laid-back song for my warm-up, and end with the somewhat slower "Coming Home" and then "In the Sun" to cool down.

In my opinion, my two hobbies -- reading and fitness -- are perfectly suited to one another. Reading is a solitary, sedentary activity; exercise (at a gym anyway) is more social and balances out all that sitting/reading time! And dedicated exercise for a year equals results -- 37 pounds of results, in my case.

Get moving, and happy reading! (Oh, and even happier reading starting on Monday, when you have a chance to win one of my Favorite Reads each week in a new giveaway series! Come back for the details!)

Trainer Momma Spotlights Me! And Working Out With Ali Sweeney's The Mommy Diet

I was a fan of the Biggest Loser for several years -- I don't watch it as much now, but I still think it's an awesome show. Very inspirational & moving. Watching that show made me a huge Ali Sweeney fan. I watched her several seasons ago, as she was pregnant and then the next season as she was losing/ had lost her baby weight. I thought she looked amazing, and I felt as though she was an inspiration herself -- separate from the show.

She has released a new book called The Mommy Diet about her journey before, through, and after pregnancy. I'm not a mother, and I've never been pregnant or had a child. However, her workout routine and healthful eating was something I was very interested in. I just flipped through many sections (the pregnancy details, for instance), but there were also many great tips I wanted to use. Those I read in detail -- and actually have been using.

Last night before I left for the gym, I jotted down the detailed, 45-minute treadmill workout she shares in the book. It is a kind of HIIT workout, where you pair intervals of pushing yourself to the limit with periods of "active rest." It kicked my tail, but I felt accomplished when I completed it. I made one adjustment, but for the most part finished it as she laid it out in The Mommy Diet. Eventually, I'll  master it and move on to the 60-minute workout.

Before I picked up Sweeney's The Mommy Diet, however, I had been a longtime fan of a fitness and healthy-living blog called Trainer Momma. The site offers a wide range of helpful hints and inspiration: video workouts, print-and-use training sheets for the gym, an Eat With Me post each week (probably my favorite part of the blog), questions from readers, inspirational stories, and much more. When I had been working out for a couple of months, I emailed Trainer Momma for help. I had been running, and I (thought) I had been eating better, but I wasn't seeing the results I wanted to see.

My email back was inspiring, but frank. I probably wasn't making the changes necessary in my eating habits to lose weight and maintain it. But my running? Really good. Trainer Momma made me see that I still had some changes to make, and it pushed me to do so. It also offered me the help & support I needed to actually do it.

Since March 2010, I've lost 32 pounds (and counting). I eat much better -- both food-wise and portion-wise. I workout 3-4 times a week. And as a result, I'm the Before & After feature for this week. Click on over to Trainer Momma's blog to discover all the amazing offerings she has, and also to read my interview.