As you probably guessed from my last post, I'm working on refinding my motivation, which is particularly hard this time of year because of 1) cold, icky, damp, ucky weather that makes my hip hurt, my lungs rebel (yay asthma) and my body in general just want to curl up on the couch with a mug of good tea and a good book and 2) no time (in addition to my normally over burdened schedule, add holiday shopping, dinners, package wrapping, more dinners, fund raisers, making Christmas gifts, etc.) Add to that it's really hitting home this winter that I've been working on exercise/therapy for almost 6 years now and actively trying to lose weight for at least 3, and, well, motivation is an issue.

Some time soon I hope to write a "why I'm doing this to myself" blog, but for the time being I've decided--and my husband is okay with it--that it's time I reward my hard work with some new fitness related toys--er, gear. I've hit quite a few mile markers in the last few years--I've hit my goal of at least 10,000 fitness minutes a year for all the years I've been on sparks (last year I hit 12,000+ minutes and hoped to do the same this year, but I was sick too much and couldn't get caught back up; still 10,115 fitness minutes so far this year-and it's not over yet!--isn't too shabby. I've officially hit 33,369 fitness minutes total (and still going!) and I had promised myself a reward at 30,000 and then never followed through.

So I've decided--and my husband is okay with this--that if I don't get them for Christmas, I'm giving myself some fitness related gifts to help re-spark that fire.

1) a scale, preferably one that also measures body fat percentage.

2) new fitness clothes. I'd already talked to my husband about getting new yoga pants in particular, and then discovered that one of mine is starting to wear out. So that just got bumped up in priority! Also, I'm hoping to get at least one more good sports bra.

3) Some new exercise dvds. That's actually getting to be a yearly tradition--right around November-January, I buy myself some new exercise dvds. It gives me something new, different, and fun to look forward to in the winter when I mostly work out indoors, and helps keep things mixed up. I just bought myself while Christmas shopping one called Dance off the Inches--Belly dancing, just because I'd been saying a belly dancing workout routine would be a blast (and really good for my bad hip). I have no idea if it's any good, but it wasn't very expensive so I figured it was worth the risk. Most likely, I'll get another Tae Bo and the AM/PM yoga dvd a friend of mine recommended (I hope to get the actual title this week, in fact) and maybe one of those walking dvds I keep hearing about. As that will double my current DVD stash, I figure it will keep me both busy and challenged through the winter.

4) New Tennis shoes--actually, both my husband and I will probably be getting new tennis shoes. I'm not sure how often people normally replace them, but they are two years old and while they look okay on the outside, I don't think they are supporting my feet like they are supposed to. They just aren't that comfortable any more.

Also, while this isn't really a gift to myself, my husband has promised to help me clear out the living room so that I have room again to work out. It's gotten horribly cluttered this fall, especially this month with Christmas presents to be wrapped, stuff being made, and just stuff in general (books, SCA gear, gaming gear, crafting supplies, etc.) I can barely move or work here (a problem, since this is also the space where I write), let alone work out.