You all know about my love/hate relationship with cardio by now.  Well, I found a way to show off the results in a Shape Magazine cover on newsstands this now!



I am generally a pretty shy person so I was pretty scared when they asked me to pose for the magazine.

Some people don’t know that in May 2007 I fell down a flight of stairs and fractured my back in 4 places.  I separated from my then-husband shortly after.  It was a tough year to say the least.  I was not allowed to do any physical exercise for 5 months.  I went from being a very active person to a person who needed help opening a door.  I couldn’t drive my own car for 2 months after the accident.  I couldn’t twist my body to look behind me.

Emotionally, I needed to hibernate a little – eat comfort food, be with friends, family, and complete my physical therapy.  I decided it was okay if I went up a size or two.  I had other things to worry about.  But after about a year of healing – both physically and emotionally – I was ready to tackle the task of getting back into shape.  It’s no fun to get dressed and go out when you no longer fit into any of your clothes!

Here I am at the Blades of Glory Premiere a few months BEFORE the accident:

Here I am at the Walk Hard Premiere a few months AFTER the accident:


Even though I knew there was nothing I could do but be patient and let my body heal it was still hard to see myself slowly going up a few sizes.  I just didn't feel like myself.  (In this photo, I think you can tell I was trying to squeeze into a dress that didn't quite fit.  I think that is a pretty common thing for people who have gone up a size or two.)

I quickly lost a little of the weight simply by making better food choices – salad instead of fries, egg white omelet instead of a donut.  Getting back to a feeling of physical fitness was harder.  My trainer – Tanya – is AMAZING.  She worked with my doctor and physical therapist to develop a routine that was safe for my back.  She eased me back into fitness.  We were about halfway to my goal when I started to get busy again with work.  I was travelling a lot and this made it hard to meet on a regular basis.  But I didn’t want to use this as an excuse.  Tons of people get in shape without trainers all the time.  If they can do it, I can do it!  I asked Tanya to help me with a Do-it-Yourself routine I could follow while on the road.  (Some of the moves she developed for me are in the magazine.)

I had to find some pretty creative ways to exercise.  I exercised in random gyms, hotel rooms, hotel gyms, at home.  This is when a jump rope comes in very handy!  You can take it anywhere and it's the best cardio around!  At one point I was at my parent’s cottage in Lake of the Ozarks far from a gym or any equipment. I hiked and did water aerobics.  I’m lucky because my Mom is actually a certified water aerobics instructor!  She lead mini-workouts each day while we went swimming off the dock.  If I was going to eat my Dad's BBQ every night I had to do something to balance it out!  

After 12 weeks of dedicated workouts – 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training, five to six days a week – I lost 10 pounds.  Ironically, Shape Magazine called 2 months later.  It felt like fate.  It was a great motivator to keep up my new fitness routine.  I’m now able to maintain things by working out about 3 days a week.

I can’t say I’ll always be this dedicated.  If I gain weight again some day that’s fine.  Different things become a priority at different times in life.  I just spent a week in New York for a friend's wedding.  I drank a lot of wine and ate a lot of pasta.  There is a time for everything! 

I’m just happy that I took the time to concentrate on fitness this past year.  I feel like I learned a lot about what works for my body.  And, I gained a whole new wardrobe – well, more like I got my old wardrobe back again.  It’s really fun to pull from the pile of “dream jeans” that used to be too tight and find they fit again.    

 
Thanks for all of your encouragement on the blogs!  I've used some of your tips.  It helps to stay motivated for sure.  Oh!  I have a new favorite cardio routine that I’ll post soon!

If any of you are thinking of starting a new fitness routine I just want to say "You can do it!"  I had the help of a trainer giving me tips but most of the time I was on the web looking for new exercises, reading Shape for their latest Cardio blast routine and cooking my own food.  This was not the result of a chef and fancy home gym.  You can do a lot with a set of 5 pound weights and a jump rope.

It's not easy to commit to being fit.  At least it didn’t come easily to me.  It means making sacrifices in other areas.  After working a 10 or 12 hour day all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch, eat food and watch TV.  I thought, "I deserve it!  I worked really hard today!"  But, I read a lot of Shape Magazine's real-women success stories and they kept me motivated.  I told myself that if a working mother of three could drag herself to the gym so could I.  My mantra became - no excuses!  Having workout buddies helps too.  Mindy Kaling and I trade cardio routines.  Lee works out with me at the gym.  Angela Kinsey and I go hiking together (even though she is naturally skinny and doesn't need to work out!) 

And, seriously, Shape Magazine is awesome.  I'm not just saying that because I'm on the cover.  I honestly buy it every month.  The stories and workouts are great.  Their website is a great resource too.  As is YouTube!  You can watch a lot of the correct ways to do exercises.  Tons of trainers post videos.

This is constantly a work-in-progress.  I'm always tinkering with new exercises or new foods (turns out I really love brussels sprouts!) so don't get discouraged.  It's a very personal thing.  And, don't freak out if you don't lose weight right away.  The best advice I got was to stay off the scale for the first 3 weeks of a new fitness routine.  You'll feel it in the way your clothes fit first.  And, start slow.  I started with 15 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of weights.  I worked my way up to what I'm doing now.  Just getting the blood moving in my body and stretching felt so good when I first started on this journey!  So...you can do it!  

Finally, here is a little behind-the-scenes video from the Shape shoot in case you'd like to see how that works.  We shot at an insanely beautiful home in Malibu California.  I've never seen anything like it.  I stood in an infinity pool on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  I had to stand on a little platform in the pool.  I just kept thinking "I hope I'm not the first person to fall in the water during her photo shoot."