Life in Chicago Reviews

Has It Come To This? Tricking Myself Into Working Out

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and The Laughing Cow.

I've been writing a lot about how overwhelmed I am by my life these days, and it's no secret that one of the biggest parts of the chart to take a hit has been that little pie slice of exercise. It just seems to get smaller and smaller all the time.

It hasn't helped that when Greg got laid off we put our gym membership on hold, but even so I've long been a runner and know that there is no excuse for me not being able to go for a quick run most days. That said, there are almost a hundred boring and annoying things I'd rather do some days than go for a run.

Here's a few of them:

• Watering the plants
• Folding laundry
• Reorganizing my cookbooks
• Sorting through Veronica's too-small clothes
• Organizing photos
• Cleaning out the fridge
• Sweeping underneath the stove

Seriously. I would rather SWEEP UNDER THE STOVE sometimes than drag my lazy butt outside for some exercise. It's stupid, I know. Because every time I finally do manage to go for a run all I can think about is how good it makes me feel, and how I should do it more often.

All of this has forced me to come up with some pretty sneaky tactics. Yes, I'm tricking myself here people. The latest involved signing up to run a 5K. And it totally worked. In the weeks that led up to it, I had a much easier time choosing running over things like sweeping because I knew that if I didn't want to be carried out of the race on a stretcher then I better get in some training.

The only really tricky part of this plan became convincing Veronica to chill out in the stroller for the 30 or so minutes I was running. Turns out that she's not too concerned about my exercise regime. She is, however, pretty concerned about snack time. Plying her with something tasty like Laughing Cow's Babybel is the perfect thing to keep her occupied while Mama gets her run in.

The only problem remaining? I have NO excuses now.

What about you, Internet? What's the craziest thing you've done to motivate yourself to work out?

Share a funny story, video clip, picture etc in the comment section and you will be entered to win $150. You should also visit BlogHer.com special offers page for 11 other chances to win $150 each month & the chance to win $100 weekly from the Daily Laugh Hub!. If you share something really funny, we may even use it in The Daily Laugh!

Here are some rules:

• No duplicate comments. (In other words: NO CHEATING)
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on Twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by following me on Twitter: @clairebidwell and letting me know in the comments
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• Please keep your comments G-rated as any profanity or offensive content will automatically disqualify you from sweepstakes entry.
  
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• You can read the official rules here.
• Contest ends November 7, 2010

  So let's do this! Let's win some free money! Tell me a funny story!

--

New to Life in Chicago? Find out more here.

Find more give-aways here.

More Household-y Things I'm Bad At

Now that I've confessed how terrible I am at keeping my kitchen organized and doing laundry, I may as well admit that I completely suck at being thrifty. Stuff like cutting coupons has just never been my forté.

I've tried, I promise. I even find it kind of fun to sit down with the coupon section and go through it, clipping things here and there. But it's after that where the disconnect happens. Something about the carrying of the coupons, the organizing of them, the remembering them once at the store, yeah, all that stuff, just DOESN'T happen.

 

All is not lost though. I recently had the opportunity to try out Dominick's Just For U program, and this may have been what I needed all along. First of all, it's perfect for an Internet junkie like myself. All of the coupons and savings can be found online, and everything is personal to you and your shopping habits. The coolest part is that all the coupons you get are based on your shopping history, so you're not tempted to buy like 6 boxes of gross frozen breakfast pizzas because that's your only option. 

Furthermore, it was really easy to sign up for, and really easy to figure out. Try it for yourself: Dominick's Just For U.

And just to make things really exciting, I'm giving away a $25 Dominick's gift card to three lucky winners. (These can be used at Safeway, Vons, Genuardis, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Pavilions & Carrs stores). Just leave a comment in the comment box below telling me what your favorite aisle at the grocery store is and why, and you'll be automatically entered to win.

Here are some rules:

• No duplicate comments. (In other words: NO CHEATING)
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on Twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by following me on Twitter and leaving a comment telling me you did so: @clairebidwell
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• Please keep your comments G-rated as any profanity or offensive content will automatically disqualify you from sweepstakes entry.
  
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Contest ends 11/1/2010

So let's do this! Let's win some free groceries! Tell me what your favorite aisle at the grocery store is and why! I'm actually really curious.

--

New to Life in Chicago? Find out more here.

Find more give-aways here.