This blog is on hiatus. Read here to find out why.

Staci G. sent an email applauding my recent weight loss. When I wrote back to let her know that I’ve now lost a total of 14 1/2 lbs. in the past 30 days, she fired off an immediate request that I share details about my workout routine on the blog.

I’m happy to do so — especially since I didn’t have anything else in mind to write about today — but keep in mind: (a) I’m not a fitness trainer; (b) I don’t claim that what I’m doing would work for you, it’s simply what’s working for me; and (c) I’m not at all efficient about exercise so doing a 90 minute workout actually requires a 2-hour commitment for me.

And, no, that’s not a typo: I’m setting aside 2 hours out of my day to exercise 6 days per week. Before someone wastes time typing in the comments “Oh, I don’t have that kind of time every day” let me just point out that YES YOU DO. If you’ve got time to read blogs and comment on them, you’ve got time you could be exercising. You’ve simply made a choice not to.

It’s no coincidence that I’ve been blogging less while exercising more. That’s a choice I’ve made for my life, and now that I’m seeing the benefits — losing weight without an outrageously restrictive diet, better sleep, less joint pain, clearer skin and seriously lower stress levels — it’s a choice I intend to stick with. Because, as I mentioned before, it works for me… but you may need to find something else that works for you.

That said, here’s what I’m doing:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday
• 10 minutes yoga (usually with Wii Fit) to warm up
• 30 minutes “Sweat I/II” from Power90 In-Home Boot Camp
• 10 minutes “free run” on Wii Fit hitting 1.5 miles
• 15 minutes cardio workout with My Fitness Coach
• 30 minutes “free step” on Wii Fit at fastest pace

Total minutes: 95 per day

Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday
• 25 minutes yoga with Wii Fit to warm up
• 15 minutes cardio workout with My Fitness Coach
• 30 minutes “Sculpt I/II” from Power90 In-Home Boot Camp
• 15 minutes “free step” on Wii Fit at fastest pace
• 5 minutes balance games on Wii Fit to cool down

Total minutes: 90 per day

Yes, it’s a lot of exercise. Yes, I’m sore in the mornings. Yes, I get tempted every single day to skip my workout. But I won’t, because giving into that temptation is exactly what helped me get fat in the first place. (Okay, that and a hell of a lot of pizza.)

And what’s really strange about it is that I AM LOVING EXERCISE these days. So, okay, seeing the scale dip lower each morning might be part of it. But the majority of it comes from simply knowing that I’m doing what I know, deep down, is the right thing to do if I want to lose weight.

Which reminds me: it’s time for me to get offline. See, I have some shopping to do now that I need yet another pair of smaller-sized jeans.

I’ve had the same excuse to get out of workouts for years: I’m too busy! Initially, I was too busy being a new mommy. Then I was too busy raising a toddler. After that, I was too busy homeschooling my son, and when he began attending public school in 3rd grade, well, I was too busy cleaning house.

Every night, I’d go to bed thinking that tomorrow I’d find time to exercise. And every morning I’d get up intending to work out… just as soon as I cleaned house, did the laundry, blogged a little, and worked on my freelance writing job. But once those things were out of the way it was time to pick my son up from school. Then it was time to help with homework. Then I had to start dinner. Then there were dishes. And then… Wow, bedtime again already? Okay, tomorrow I’ll start working out.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

You may have noticed since I started exercising earlier this month that I haven’t been blogging as much. If you could see through your monitor and mine, you’d also notice that the house — although “clean” in the general sense — isn’t as spotless as it used to be. There’s even a load of laundry piling up near the washer. And, while I’m still doing my freelance work (hey, a girl’s got to pay bills!), I’m pretty much leaving it for the evenings and weekends.

Picking my son up from school? Helping with homework? Making dinner? Dishes? Yes, I still do them — and will probably have to continue doing so until I win the lottery and can afford a nanny, a cook and a maid. (Dream big, I always say.)

In the meantime I’ve made a commitment that everything else has to take a backseat to my morning workout (even on days I don’t feel like it). That felt selfish to me at first — how dare I spend the entire morning not working AND doing something just for myself? — but after a while it began making sense. A lot of sense.

Being overweight is bad for me as well as my family. I’m sick most of the time with conditions that are related to being overweight. My feet and joints hurt from carrying around excess poundage, so I’m not nearly as productive as I could be. I don’t have much energy to play with my son. I hate taking him to the playground because my clothing options are limited to miserably tight jeans or baggy, ugly sweats.

I don’t like meeting new people — even longtime blogging friends — because I am embarrassed about my weight. (There’s nothing worse than being told “you have such a pretty face” and knowing that, because of your weight, that’s the kindest compliment they can think up.)

And don’t even get me started on how it’s affected my sex life.

Then there’s the fact — and it’s indisputable, really — that being overweight increases the risk of diabetes, coronary problems, dementia and arthritis. In short, being fat is life-threatening even when it doesn’t seem life-threatening: not only does it diminish my quality of life, but every day I carry around excess weight means a shorter lifespan, too.

There’s NO bag of chips, slice of pizza, bowl of ice cream, burger or fried what-have-you that’s worth giving up even one day of my life. And, honestly, looking back I can’t say that I’ve eaten anything worth that trade, either.

That’s how I’m looking at things these days: is that pile of laundry more urgent than my improving my health? No. How about the dust on the living room table? Nope, not that either. Do email, reading the news and keeping my blogs contribute more to my health and quality of life than increasing my flexibility, stamina and cardiovascular health? To quote Whitney Houston: Oh hell to the no.

I let myself get fat by putting other things ahead of my fitness. The only way to reverse that? Well, that’s just it: to reverse that by putting ME first.

Three weeks ago today I got a Wii Fit, mostly in the hope of adding a little more exercise to my day. Little did I know at the time that it would become downright addictive to the point where I’m exercising over an hour a day. Gladly.

In fact, I’ve been enjoying the exercise so much that I also bought My Fitness Coach for the Wii. Let me just tell you, although I’ve been busting my butt doing the Wii Fit workouts — doing both the 20-minute step exercise and the long-distance run daily in addition to the full menu of yoga, strength training and balance games — the Fitness Coach workout really brings on the burn.

Oddly enough, I mean that in the nicest way: after 40-60 minutes with the Wii Fit and a 20-minute Fitness Coach workout, I feel amazing. Or, rather, I get to feeling that way once my breath returns to normal and the sweating stops.

Yeah, it’s a lot of exercise. It’s one thing to say to yourself, “Self, I’m going to exercise for 60-90 minutes today” — the recommended amount for weight loss — and it’s another thing to do it. But doing it I am.

In all honesty, I get out of bed every single morning thinking up excuses not to exercise. (I’m tired. My legs are sore. I worked out plenty yesterday so one day off won’t hurt. I need to clean house. I don’t feel like it.) But that’s the kind of thinking that helped me gain weight in the first place, the kind that led me to believe I could lose weight if I’d just find the right diet and perhaps the right weight loss pills. Three years and countless diets later, and it’s obvious to me that dieting alone (with or without pills) isn’t going to do it.

Surprisingly enough, even though I argue with myself over exercising the entire time I’m driving my son to school, by the time I get home I’m actually in the mood to work out after all. Maybe it’s just that I’m tired of my own whining? Or maybe — just maybe — it’s because I’m seeing great results.

As of today — three weeks after I started exercising and watching what I eat — I’ve lost 9 1/2 pounds. But wait, there’s more! I’ve also lost 1 1/2 inch in my waist and 1 inch from my butt. And my chronic joint pain? It’s gone, baby, gone. (Yes, I still get sore muscles regularly — but so what?)

With results like that, I’m not about to give up. And that, perhaps, is the best response to all of those early-morning “I don’t feel like it” excuses: I don’t feel like being fat anymore, either.

At some point in the past two weeks I started enjoying exercise. No, that doesn’t accurately describe it: I love it.

I love no longer shaking as I hold formerly difficult yoga poses. I chase the burn on strength training and weight-lifting, gladly adding reps until I can’t take anymore… then resting a bit and tackling another set. Aerobics? Bring ‘em on, babe. In the evenings, even though I’ve done my one-hour workout earlier in the day, I’d rather be doing the Wii Fit freestyle step workout while watching TV than just sitting there.

As strange as it sounds, all that exercising lately has translated into serious pain relief thanks to those lovely, lovely endorphins. (Granted, being exhausted by 9 pm may help distract me from pain, too. But as they say: it’s all good.)

So what’s the scale saying? Eh, it depends on the day. At first it frustrated me, seeing my Wii Fit BMI and Weight line graph looking like a roller coaster; one day my weight would be down 1 pound, the next it would be up 2. And, of course, when the thing asks you to indicate the cause of your weight gain, “retaining a hell of a lot of water” isn’t among the options.

But that’s fine. I’m eating right and avoiding booze, and according to my daily nutrition tracker I’m getting roughly 1450 calories per day. As far ax exercise, Between my 60-minute daily Wii Fit workout and the other 20-30 minutes exercising Wii-free, I’m burning roughly 535 calories per day. Weight loss will happen. It’s bound to. Oddly enough, for the first time in my life I can say I’m not exercising to lose weight; I’m just exercising because it’s fun!

Hello, my name is Kate and I’m an endorphin addict.

I stink. No, I mean it. I just finished my one-hour Wii Fit workout for the day and I reek. Of course, being a chubby Mommy, I’m going to be sweating for the next, oh, half hour or so. That means showering now would only be a waste of time — by the time I was clean, dried off and moisturized it would be time to do it all again.

So I’m sitting here doing my damndest to stay downwind of myself. Not an easy task, even if I am getting pretty good at that yoga thing. And speaking of yoga, today’s workout consisted of 22 minutes of it followed by 15 minutes of strength training and 20 minutes of aerobics.

I tried out the “freestyle step routine” for the first time. Basically, it’s 10 minutes of stepping on and off the balance board in time with an annoying ding sound emitted by the Wiimote. The only good part about it: being able to watch a news channel while still getting my Wii Fit credit for exercise time. The entire fun factor was gone, though, so I doubt I make that a regular part of my morning workouts. May start doing it in the evening while whatever my remote-controlling husband insists on tuning in.

Aside: Hold on, let me see if I’m still sweating. Yep. Eww.

While we’re on the topic of my husband, tomorrow he’s heading to Korea for some stupid business trip or another. Why, no, I don’t have many more details beyond that. What more do I need to know than he is once again going to be traveling, and I am once again going to be solo-parenting.

Another aside: Yes, I realize many of you are single moms, and I feel for you. I did that route myself for 8 years with my daughter. And while it may sound like I’m whining about spending the next few weeks doing what you do every day, keep in mind that I scrub his underwear, pick up his socks, wipe his balls of phlegm off his clothing and our furniture and generally tend to all of those other wifely duties that are part of my deal for not having to solo parent a/k/a marriage.

Anyway. The nice part about VH’s trip this time is that I have a Wii Fit to entertain me in the evenings. Also, I can stop recording all of those stupid shows he insists on watching every night, and maybe even I’ll get a chance to catch the finale of Real Housewives of Orange County (the women I so love to hate).

Oh, and in case you’re curious, I am STILL sweating. Also, I’ve lost 5 pounds in the 2 weeks since getting my Wii Fit. Which means that despite the stench of my armpits I can still savor the sweet smell of success.

My back got to feeling better late last week, so I’m back to working out daily with my Wii Fit.

No, wait, let me be even more specific: I’m back to working out an hour per day for five days in a row now, thanks to my Wii Fit. And that doesn’t count the time I spend playing Raving Rabbids, one of the funniest games I’ve ever played, or the time I spend playing hardcore-yes-I’m-grunting tennis on Wii Sports.

You know how exercise is supposed to give you more energy? I’m still waiting for that part to kick in. I’m tired! Every morning when my alarm clock goes off, I am so tempted to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. The only thing stopping me? My arms are too freakin’ sore to move quickly enough to reach the dang thing before that incessant buzzzzzing wakes up everyone else in the house. So, I drag myself out of bed, turn the alarm off, and groan as I shuffle to the bathroom.

Working out barefoot hurts!
First lesson learned — okay, second lesson, since my first one involved not getting too over zealous doing the hula hoop game — Crocs work just fine on the Wii Fit balance board. This was an important one, since my feet were killing me for the first week. Picture a large baking potato bouncing up and down repeatedly on two grains of brown rice and you’ll understand why. So, after weighing in on the balance board, I now slip on my Crocs for my workout. Ah, relief!

Avoid the Wii Wobbles — Wear a good bra!
Next lesson: a good sports bra is worth every penny you pay for it. Seriously. I tried exercising in my regular bra for the first few days and rubbed my right nipple raw in addition to stretching out the elastic on my shoulder straps. Two super-strength sports bras and one tin of Udder Cream later (yes, really, it’s good stuff!) and I’m no longer wincing when I step into cold air, if you know what I mean.

Yoga is NOT a substitute for stretching.
Stretching before the Wii Fit workout is imperative, even if you plan to start off with yoga! Now, despite being overweight, I’m a fairly limber person to start with. I can still do front splits with either leg leading, for instance, and as far as touching my toes… well, I can almost put my elbows on the floor. (Yes, my husband is appreciative of both skills, thanks for asking.)

But I’m also 41 years old, and certain parts of my body are definitely unused to bending, twisting and gyrating, so I’ve taken to stretching for 5 minutes or so before beginning my workout. I have little doubt that the lack of stretching is somewhat to blame for last week’s back injury. I also have little doubt that stretching is the primary reason why I’ve shaved my Wii Fit age from 47 when I first started (ugh) to 34.

Learn to love the jackknife.
My abdominal area is definitely in the most need of help. After 6 years of spending most of the day blogging, I’ve lost whatever abdominal and back strength I used to possess and it shows. Oh, I’ve done crunches and bicycles sporadically over the years, but even when going at them regularly I’ve seldom seen any improvement in the bulge beneath my belly button. Two weeks of doing the jackknife exercise twice daily (20 reps each time) has changed that. Yes, it hurts. But it hurts in a good way… and I am glad to be fitting into a size smaller jeans today because of it.

As an added benefit, the combination of the jackknife and torso twist strength-training exercises and yoga’s triangle pose is great for stimulating the body. (That’s yoga-speak for “you’re finally going to shit out that gum you swallowed in second grade.”) Yes, it’s possible that has something to do with the smaller-size jeans, but who am I to complain?

Don’t have a Wii or Wii Fit? Hurry — Amazon has them in stock!

• Nintendo Wii Console
• Wii Fit

As you know, I was quite excited about my Wii Fitness board and disc finally arriving. Finally, I thought, a fun way to work off those extra pounds and, hopefully, get rid of my saddlebags (which are starting to resemble Delsey luggage).

You know those screens on exercise DVDs that warn you to see a doctor before beginning an exercise program? Yeah, I don’t read those, either, and that goes for the Wii Fitness warning, too.

So, Day One on Wii Fitness went something like this:

• Weigh in.
• Groan.
• Made a fool of myself doing various games for a while.
• Was stunned to find I’d worked out for almost 90 minutes.
• Felt proud.

Day Two on Wii Fitness went something like this:

• Weigh in.
• Groan.
• Did the Super Hula Hoop game for six rounds, huffing and puffing but still having fun.
• Decided I’d do just one more round before quitting for the day.
• Threw out my back.
• Spent the next two days taking pain meds and wimpering.

Tomorrow I plan to get back on the thing again now that my back is done spasming. So, although I don’t have any weight loss to report yet, I do have something to share: the combination of Flexeril and Vicodin is goooood.

We’ve all heard it: the best way to get into an exercise routine is to find an exercise that you love.

So, I tried loving my exercise bike but I just couldn’t escape the fact that its seat made my ass hurt. Then I tried loving my treadmill, but it’s so unbelievably noisy that I couldn’t hear my iPod even with the earbuds shoved in as far as they’d go, and forget about trying to hear the TV across the room.

Come to think of it, there are a lot of styles of exercise I’ve tried to love over the years. Tae Bo? Oh, no. That bulked up my legs. Step aerobics? Same deal plus I twisted my ankle. Regular aerobics? By the time I’ve learned a DVD well enough to go along with the routine it’s usually no longer much of a challenge. After that eye full of crotch I got the last time I tried walking in my neighborhood, I’ve pretty much given that up, too.

But I *heart* my Wii. Seriously. Oh, I know: it’s a video game, for chrissakes, it doesn’t “really” count as exercise. Yet it does, at least according to my scale. That half-hour a day I spend playing Wii tennis as if I were on a real court? It leaves me drenched with sweat and feeling well worked-out… without the annoyance of having to wear one of those stupid skirts. (And did I mention that I bought it on sale?)

Now I’ve decided to take the plunge and buy a Wii Fit. I’ve heard and read about so many people who’ve found the Wii Fit to be the answer to their hate-to-exercise problem. In fact, some of them claim that because it’s a video game you don’t even realize you’re exercising (though a few who’ve been going hardcore on the aerobic games say otherwise).

The only downside about ordering one is that I really don’t have any motivation to exercise until it gets here. But that’s okay: I’m pretty certain I’m still getting a workout dashing to the front door every time I hear a car drive by in the hopes that it’s finally the FedEx guy bringing my Wii Fit!

Despite the “marriage penalty” built into the U.S. tax system, I have a record number of friends getting married this year. Maybe the economy has something to do with it: it’s cheaper to pay for one home, after all, than to keep two separate residences for propriety’s sake when everyone knows you’re really only using one.

I suspect the economy is also the reason I’m receiving wedding invitations from people I barely know but who should know me well enough to realize I don’t like them.

Yes, I do plan to attend a couple of weddings this year for friends whose union I’m actually thrilled to witness. But, because they’re friends, I know they’ve invited me for my presence more than my presents. Even so, I plan to get serious about dropping 10-15 pounds so I look good in their pictures. (Also, so I can find a dress that doesn’t look like it came from the camping section in Wal-Mart.)

The others? Well, let me put it this way: if they weren’t too cheap to have an open bar at their receptions I might actually have accepted their invites. At least that way I know I’d be getting my money’s worth for bringing a present.