I have lately been inspired by Ali and her success at losing the little extra weight that just seems to mysteriously appear. I'm not sure at what point I began to slowly creep up, but for someone who used to be quite thin, I am decidedly Rubenesque lately. Not into plus sizes or anything, but heavier than I like to be. Of course that extra weight had to go directly to my boobs and my hips - while the guys out there may not see the problem with that, I would like to get back to being comfortable in a tank top, rather than look like I'm imitating Jayne Mansfield or something.

I joined a new gym in Boulder, it's 24 hrs. and for women only. It's small and doesn't offer classes, but they have plenty of equipment, it's close to home, and I can work with a trainer. My trainer is called Jodi, and I meet with her every Wednesday morning. I'm obviously not as committed as some - Jodi told me about another client that she meets with 5 mornings a week - not only can I not afford that, I'm not sure that I could bear it. I make the effort to get there another 2-3 times per week, besides my workouts with Jodi, but lately I've not been too successful at that.

Last night I was flipping through a magazine, and there was an article about Gabrielle Reece and Laird Hamilton, their gorgeous kid and home in Hawaii. There was a quote over a photo of Gaby working out, and she talked about how working out has to be like your job - some days you don't feel like going to work, but you've gotta go anyway, and that you have to adopt the same attitude about working out or you won't be successful. That really hit home for me. So as I was just starting to wake up this morning, still groggy from lack of sleep and slowly coming out of my dreams, I started to try to talk myself out of going to the gym. Oh, you can head over there on the way home from work tonight. Oh, what's the big deal if I go tomorrow instead? Oh, I'll take a walk at lunch instead. I was suddenly aware of how easy it was for me to make excuses, and resolved to just cut it out. The truth is that I feel great if I go and do my workout, it really changes my entire day. I KNOW this, so why can't I just quit arguing with myself and go?

I don't intend to turn this into a weight-loss blog, but reading about Ali's efforts really helped me get clear on my goals, so I am in turn sharing this with you.