Unlike the Skinny Bitch Workout, which uses annoying language like "do pushups until failure," I find this routine to be a bit more encouraging. That's because you get to "take breaks whenever you need them." There's only one little problem: What the hell is a mountain climber?
I imagined it to be someone standing upright and moving her arms and legs as if she's climbing a wall, à la Spiderman. Oh, how wrong I was. My co-worker (who ran track at Georgetown, I might add) demonstrates mountain climbers for me in the middle of the office and my ultra-healthy, yoga snob editor stares at me like I'm the dumbest person alive. I have no idea how to do tricep dips either, but I'm going to hit YouTube for that answer.
Tricep dips knocked me sideways. I can only make it through two before I realize that it's a muscle I never use. The strain is instant. The pain will last for days. Out of all the exercise moves I've done so far, the tricep dip is the most challenging move for me to complete. Oddly, that fact motivates me to keep at it. Perhaps the vision of flab-less arms is keeping me going ...
Photo 8/10
Beach Workout
Run three miles on the beach while doing a circuit that includes 50 jumping jacks, 50 lunges, and 50 squat jumps at every 1/2-mile interval. Come again? I can barely walk from the boardwalk to the water without getting winded. But I'll take any excuse to go to the beach, so I'm game to give this workout a try.
Running the first mile on the beach isn't too hard. But I'm woman enough to confess: That's because I stay near the water, where the sand is super firm. After the first circuit, I collapse (thankfully the sand is there to cushion my fall) and have zero leg strength left to complete two more miles. Circuit be damned. If you have the stamina, this is a great workout.
But I have to say, next time I head to the beach I'll skip the squat jumps and lay out instead. Baby steps, right?
OK, so you've seen me work out for the first time, now find out if I can abandon my beloved McDonald's Chicken McNuggets for my first detox. Read up on my experience with "The Fast Track Detox Diet" here.
For whatever reason, there's this prevailing idea that all beauty editors are skinny girls who eat salads, down shots of wheat grass, and live to take spin classes.
Me? I spend my evenings on the couch, eating Hot Cheetos dipped in cream cheese, watching "The Walking Dead." Oh, and I also don't work out. Ever.
I'm diligent and responsible in most aspects of my life, but when it comes to working out or passing up my favorite snack food, I've never been able to muster any willpower. And, so far, it hasn't really mattered. I've always been one of those "lucky" skinny-fat girls who look decent in clothes but couldn't run a mile to save her life.
But then something bad happened: I turned 25 and gained 7 pounds in a month. Not only was my metabolism screeching to a halt, but I also realized I couldn't climb a flight of stairs without panting. To add insult to injury, I noticed my back is perma-hunched from a lack of any measurable upper body strength. All of this points to the fact that even though I wear a size 2, I am the most unfit person ever.
Since the idea of hiring a personal trainer to forcibly make me shape up is laughable on my writer's salary, I opened my laptop and started searching for free workouts. My first stop for inspiration? Pinterest. It inspires all other aspects of my life, so I figured it might help in the exercise realm, too.
I looked for the four most re-pinned workouts that I could easily print out and follow. And to hold myself accountable, I decided to share my workout journey with y'all. Want to know if I'll live to do another wall squat? So do I ...
