That fat isn't going to melt itself, ya know...

Big surprise - it's raining here again. I'm talking hours and hours of a steady downpour. Hibernation-mode weather, if you know what I mean. Last time I checked, I wasn't a duck, so no - I'm not really digging this wet crap that Mother Nature has been concocting on the east coast as of late. It does a number on my motivation to workout like you wouldn't believe which is NOT GOOD considering the challenge for this week is to get in at least 6 hours of exercise. How bad would it look if the creator of the SSSDC failed at her own challenge? Never mind, I'll answer that. It would be horrendously bad.

THANKFULLY, I didn't let the ice-cream loving, cellulite-rippled, lazy devil that resides on my shoulder talk me into being a couch potato today. I donned the old sneaks and hit the gym today to get my sweat on, proper. I knew I had to go, no matter what my motivation level, because yesterday was a complete bust eating-wise and exercise-wise. Yes, I'm still faithfully tracking my eats and drinks, but the foods/beverages on my calorie count page yesterday was akin to the lifestyle enjoyed by the "old Rochelle"....it was a complete carb-fest that involved a litany of profane words such as "bagel", "cream cheese", "soft pretzel", "quesadilla" and "beer".  All told I was nearly 800 calories over my recommended 1270 that I have been diligently trying to stick to. Talk about self-sabotage. Jesus!

So, you see,  getting to the gym really wasn't even a QUESTION today. It was a MUST. And because I aimed for 7 hours of exercise this week, I knew I had to bust a move today, come hell or high water. (And if it doesn't stop raining soon, that high water will definitely become a reality - and yes, it will be hell). Today was SUPPOSED to be my swimming day, but since that didn't happen, the elliptical trainer and "dreadmill" were my go-to calorie burners for the day, followed up by some nautilus machines for a quick upper body workout.

I have been incredibly inspired by Shannon over at Mama Shan who has been working out like Wonder Woman on speed lately and she takes pictures of the equipment she works out on to track time/calories. I think this is so cool because I often forget what the machine says I burned by the time I get home (they say the memory is the first thing to go - Ha!) and this is a great way to remember AND to keep accountable on here to show I actually made the effort to get my ample arse to the gym! I do want to get a heart rate monitor, especially now that I bought one for my husband for his b-day and he is addicted to it....seeing the calorie burn is highly motivating and he is hooked! I want the same feeling - I honestly have no clue what I burn while doing the free weights and nautilus machines so I think it's a worthy investment. I bought Josh (my hubs) the Polar F4 which is probably what I will get for myself.  Do any of you use a heart rate monitor to gauge your calorie frying?

Anyhoo - so,  in the spirit of biting off of Shannon's gym pic idea (thanks, Shan!!!),  my workouts today looked like this:

The elliptical machine (30 mins)  - Goodbye 343 calories - consider yourselves sizzle-fried!

And this:

The old Dreadmill - this one shows time (30 mins) - I even sprinted for a minute here and there!!!

Dreadmill calorie burn - 197.5 (hey, I'll take it!)

I also spent 15 minutes doing Nautilus machines - working on biceps, triceps, back and shoulders.
I plugged that into calorie count and it only allotted me 77 calories burned for that. Not sure if it is accurate or not, but without the HRM, I have no idea, so I have to just roll with it. So, all told, 517.5 calories torched today, even though I wanted to do nothing at all. I think this challenge is inspiring more than I ever thought it would.

So with my walk on Sunday and the gym today, I am at 2 hours and 26 minute of exercise for the week. It's not anything to write home about but I know I will kick some exercise ass over the next few days, plus I have my session with my trainer on Friday. I'm a little nervous because Josh and I have a wedding on Saturday and I don't want to be a crippled mess that can't move (usually the situation the day after I am trainer-abused at the gym).....we'll just have to wait and see!

Hope you all are blazing calories like it's your job this week....mainly because IT IS YOUR JOB THIS WEEK!!! Good luck to all - I'm checking in as I can with everyone! And I am working on trying to get a link for this week - so stay tuned!