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.

Comments

[erin]

I signed up to walk a marathon....and I am proud to say I crossed the finish line yesterday!

[Vanessa]

The craziest thing I ever did to motivate myself is half-heartedly ask my friend if she wanted to start doing From Couch to 5K. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately...she said yes! This is week 5, I'm sore and I'd rather do all of those things than work out too!

[Vanessa]

I follow you on Twitter (@jewelsntreasure)

[Vanessa]

Tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/jewelsntreasure/status/27063020864

[Etocalino]

I have registered and paid for multiple races but never got around to training so I had to skip. I've even picked up the race packet (and gave away the t-shirt!)

[Stephanie V.]

Craziest? Maybe in college eating like half a pizza and knowing the only way to deal with it was working out
tvollowitz at aol dot com

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlgrZX2QOx-QA4DALgZESfGYCh9ey-3HoM]

Promised myself a new pair of shoes if I would just do _________________.

[Adrienne gordon]

Why didn't the sailors play cards?
- Because the captain was sitting on the deck.

[Heather S]

My funny story is using the treadmill and feeling good then I lost my train of thought and kind of shot off the back of the treadmill onto the floor. I laid there and laughed...guess I am not very coordinated

[Nadine Larsen]

I have to say, I am a klutz, always have been, always will be. So I should not be surprised by my results with "the Firm" videos years back and I know my hubby is not surprised. He in fact warned me....I bought the whole series and all the gadgets that went with it,including the step. When I bough the step hubby said "are you sure that's a good idea?" I of course became very indignant and told him it's only a couple of inches off the ground, how much damage can I do to myself" Well, I found out pretty quickly...I did fine at first, but then it came to a part where the tempo picked up and I had to go front to back instead of side to side and on my third step back up I tripped over the step, fell face first into the tv, broke the screen, got a gash in my forehead , had to get 6 stitches. So yeah, the step was put away quickly, never to see the light of day again. I am surprised I can use my treadmill without killing myself

[Scott Martin]

My wedding was one of the happiest and worst days of my life. As we were getting ready to walk down the isle, we heard sirens. It turned out that the photographer we hired had a heart attack in the parking lot. He later died at the hospital. There were various family members taking awful pictures. After the wedding, we were driven by a limousine company to go take our wedding pictures at a nice park with a lake. After about 15 minutes of pictures, our limo driver said he had to go pick up another client even though we still had him booked for another hour. His company failed to give him the right time of departure. He left us at the park. The real kicker was during the “first dance” my wife and I get to the dance floor and start to dance as we heard the music. Unfortunately, the DJ did not play the song we requested. Instead of our song, he played a song called, “time to Say Goodbye”. It was a remarkable day. Some say it was an omen but my wife and I have been married for over 10 years now and I love her more everyday.

[Lori Hart]

I'm such a klutz sometimes!!

Walking out of the Oakland Colliseum after a Raider game years ago. Jus twalking and chatting.... till I missed the BRIGHTLY PAINTED yellow curb and sevearly sprained my ankle. A trip to the ER and crutches and I was fine.. but my sister has never let me hear the end of it.

rugerpuppies at hotmail dot com

[Jennifer short]

Right now something motivating me to work out is I called a friend who's a body builder a wuss. I don't want to ever run out of energy when we're doing something together now! lol

jenndiggy at gmail dot com

[Andrea S.]

Telling my husband my REAL weight motivated me to lose a few pounds. His jaw dropped, and I never wanna see that look on his face again!

[allyson]

looking in my closet and seeing all those cute clotes that no longer fit- i joined a gym

[Susan S.]

My son has always cracked me up, but this time we had tears in our eyes we were laughing so hard.

My son wanted to go with my brother and sister-in-law, and we kept telling him that he couldn't go. Finally he asked why, so I told them "Her grandma died. They are going to her funeral." He asked, "What's a funeral?" I told him, "It is where you go and see someone laying in their coffin." He replied with a big smile on his face, "Now I know you are kidding, if she was dead, she wouldn't be laying there coughing!"

Yep, even my sister-in-law got a kick out of the difference between laying in their coffin and laying there coughing.

rsmstahley @ adelphia dot net

[EMMA L HORTON]

YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE IS WAY TOO HIGH....YOU NEED TO EXERCISE.....IS A GREAT WAY TO GET YOU OFF THE COUCH

[Natalia D]

I asked my 4 year old son to put away toys. His answer: Why I must do all the lame job in this house?!

[Anna]

I'm a nursing student. Going to the pulmonary medical unit of the Mayo Clinic a couple days a week is HIGHLY motivating! Saturday I will run my 3rd 5k in 4 weeks! Hoping for a 10K in two weeks!

[dj]

sign me up

[janna]

I have been attending water areobics and have been losing weight. A few weeks ago I noticed that the other people in my class were staring at me. I looked down and my chest had come out of my suit while jumping around! So embarrassing! Worth it for the weight loss though.
Awesome contest! Thanks for entering me!
Janna Johnson
jannajanna@hotmail.com
Janna@Feedyourpigblog.com
www.feedyourpigblog.com

[Jjjbennett]

My stroller broke and i was forced to pull my DD age 3 in a wagon when I exercised. It was really tiring and in the south TX sun and heat the extra resistance is draining. One day after pulling her for 2 miles while she reclined on a pillow in the wagon we finally reached home. I was so exhausted and then my DD says, "Mommy you will have to carry me inside, I'm too tired to get up."

[kate slapczynski]

I have been dealing with my mother's illness this year , and so I thought just to get out of the house and taking care of her for a couple of hours aweek I decided to try something I wanted to try for the longest time . I took Belly Dance Aerobics from my local public schools . I went there thinking " I am so not in perfect shape for this " when I got there I started and all through class I laughed . I was always laughing enjoying myself , I am far from any good at this but it seems that laughing is what I thought I gained from this , in the process I seemed to have lost 10 pounds ! So maybe laughter is away to loose weight and excersise at the same time :)

[Cynthia C]

Seeing how exercise affects my cholesterol levels is a great motivator for my daily walking.

[Sarah Hirsch]

I put a tv set in front of the treadmill and I only allow myself to watch my favorite reality show guilty pleasures if I exercise while doing so. And since, of course, I can't resist these ridiculous shows, at least my body gets a workout even when my mind doesn't. :)