Good morning, Jillian Michaels

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I hated my husband at 5:00 a.m. yesterday. After months of hemming and hawing about whether or not to rejoin the gym that we quit a year ago when we realized we were paying them money for us to sit on our butts at home, Phil came up with the brilliant suggestion to do the Jillian Michaels 20-minute Shred workout video three mornings a week BEFORE WORK.

For most people, "before work" could be anytime before 8 or 9 a.m. But my husband leaves for work at 6 a.m. at the latest, so, yes, that little "before work" clause translates to five o'clock in the freaking morning. But it's 20 minutes. And it's three days a week. And I'll have the workout done before the day even starts. And I'll get back in shape. And I don't have to look remotely "cute." And I'll have accountability right next to me in our warm bed. And I probably won't even sweat because it's so cold in our house in the mornings. And why the heck not? It's a lot cheaper than rejoining the gym. (Why not just rejoin the gym, you ask? I'm blaming Jen Hatmaker, but that's my next blog post, so stay tuned. )

So, at 5:00 a.m. yesterday, the alarm went off and my excuses took off: "I slept terribly last night and had to get up once with Moo. I really need my sleep so I can have energy today." "It's sooooo warm in bed." "We can just do it tomorrow." "Cough. Cough. I think I'm sick." But then I remembered something a running friend once told me. She runs every day, regardless of excuse (unless she's so sick she has to stay in bed). She runs in the rain, the snow, the cold, the heat, on vacation, on holidays, and when she's busy, because if any of those conditions become an excuse, she'll quit running altogether. So, I decided that if I didn't get my butt out of bed today, I probably never would.

So we did it. And it wasn't terrible. By 5:36, I didn't hate Phil anymore. I may or my not be walking with a a limp today, but it wasn't terrible. Day one down. Bring it, Jillian.