No craftiness today just a big fat slice of (what I hope will be) motivation. One of my Plurk friends recently mentioned the Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred DVD .  I’m not a DVD workout kind of person.  I run.  I bike.  I hike.  I occasionally do a yoga DVD but generally, I like to be outside as much as possible and not stuck in front of the TV.  I do enough of that later in the day!  However, after reading the 1400+ glowing reviews at Amazon.com and taking yet another look at Jillian’s beautiful abs I decided it was well worth $11.49 to try it.  The idea is an intense workout for 20-24 minutes instead of the typical longer one.  Great for those short on time and really, who isn’t?  Of course I’ll report in and let you know how it goes.  Check out the Popping Bubbles blog for more reports…she plans to start tomorrow and I may too depending on when the DVD appears on my doorstep.  I was thinking about sharing before and after pictures but I quickly came to my senses!  I just don’t think I’m that brave although the thought of having to put pictures up would likely be great motivation to stick to my diet.  At the very least, I’ll take before and after pictures for myself so I’ll at least have multiple concrete ways to judge progress. Maybe you want to join me?  lol…maybe not?

In other news, I’m on a diet!  I’m always a healthy eater but I’ve been stuck with the weight gained from my “issues” that resulted in the hysterectomy thing two years ago.  I’m still in the healthy range weight wise, but I’m at the very upper end of it.  My clothes haven’t fit for a while now and I think I’m finally at the the point where I’m disgusted enough to really do something about it.  It’s a little difficult to restrict calories while running 20 miles a week but so far I’ve been able to handle it.  It’s only been five days though so we’ll see how that’s sticking after a couple of weeks!  Increased mileage should help, which leads me to announce:  I intend to train for the Phoenix Marathon in January 2010…with a 16 week training plan that starts next week.  The only thing that might put a crimp in my plans is the ongoing knee/hip pain I’ve had for well over a year.  I’ll have to see how my body handles increased mileage, but after seeing the orthopedic sports medicine doctor today I’m feeling much better about my chances.  She started a treatment regimen of physical therapy and stronger prescription NSAIDS (my PCP started me on some a month ago…helped but still some pain).  I’m also having some blood work and scans done so we can try to get this figured out.  Wish me luck!