The Demise of Marriage

I don't normally watch a lot of TV, but since I've been at this newer job, I've had a little more time to see what's on weeknights and weekends. Retail made it difficult to have any type of schedule. I've taken up watching a little bit of The Biggest Loser and American Gladiators [I have to be honest: The original was much better.]; however, for the first time last night I decided to tune in to The Moment of Truth. By the end of the show, I was just shaking my head in disbelief.

This show had a girl named Lauren Cleri who seemed sweet enough: She's a hairstylist who loves animals and just got married two years ago to her husband, Frank (ironically enough, her ex-boyfriend's name is also Frank). I knew something bad had to be coming when Lauren said, "The money is no object to me. I just want to get these things off my chest." Guilty conscience? I think Frank is in for a big shot to the heart.
This video shows the last three questions of the episode. Earlier, she'd already been tested with her faithfulness by being asked if she'd ever removed her wedding ring to appear as if she were single, and she truthfully answered that she had. That alone was a sign to me that she has no regard for or sensitivity towards her husband and marriage.

My question is this: Why get married if you don't really want to be married? It's a waste of time, money, and broken hearts. If you can't be monogamous, then you shouldn't walk down the aisle. Unfortunately, this is happening so often these days; especially with people my age. I thought marriage meant being with your partner (and only your partner) until death do you part, but I suppose maybe my husband and I are just old fashioned that way. We follow the rules of marriage the way it should be (unless you're a swinger, but don't even get me started on that), and we don't do it because we feel like we have to because now we're "stuck with each other," but we want to because we love each other.

If she still had feelings for an ex-boyfriend on her wedding day, then I'm pretty sure she saw it coming long before she put on that wedding dress and the ring was slipped on her finger. Not only that, she felt like she should be married to that guy instead. This girl is definitely not marriage material if she can't get herself focused on one person and let go of the past.

Am I one of the few people that gets absolutely frustrated when I see a marriage being jeopardized because someone is being stupid and can't keep it in their pants/keep their legs closed? I think Webster needs to update its definition of marriage to fit today's society: "Noun; the social institution under which a man and a woman temporarily commit to one another without any basis of loyalty, faithfulness, trust, or respect."

One Quick Voting Request

A friend from high school was picked as one of the top ten finalists to sing the jingle for Bonnell's Collision. Her name is Mary Jo Titus, and she has a beautiful voice. That little jingle doesn't do any justice for the real talent she has, but I'd still like you guys to help her out and vote!

If you click here, you'll be directed to the page where you can vote. The poll is on the left, but you can also watch the video if you so desire. You can vote once per day per computer (or vote once on Firefox and once on IE on the same computer each day).

This girl really deserves to win. She was the only one that supported me for Erie Idol the first year since none of my family or friends bothered to come. Neither of us made it onto the next round (which we figured out how it was weighted by the number of people that came to see you, so we didn't stand a chance), but it helped having her there to hang out with.

So anyway, vote, vote, vote! She'd appreciate it! Plus, the girl in the lead (pardon me) isn't very good...

Exercise and Another Blogger Get-Together

Ok, I know it's been quite a while since I last blogged, but ever since I've been doing this workout program, I've been on a completely different plane, and most of my time has been wrapped up in that. I'm finding foods that are better for me to eat, so I'm working on my diet, as well...but you guys don't want to hear about all this anymore, I'm sure.
I will say this though: It is coming along really well, and I'm already starting to see some definition in my abs. Can't say I'm at all unsatisfied thus far.

Anyway, it's time for yet another blogger meeting tomorrow evening. This time we'll be at Borders starting at 7:00pm. Even if you don't want to hang out with us, you can sit in a corner with your book and stare while you sip your mochachino. Whatever works for you...but we would like you to get to know us all. We're a fun bunch.

Maybe I'll pick up some "delicious" baja chicken soup from Moe's to sip on while I read Dostoevsky...

More P90X...

Oy, this is a sorry sight to see: I'm sitting here singing to Barbra Streisand. Please tell me that one of you is belting out Backstreet Boys right now.

Anyway, I'm still sticking with the P90X program, and--man--it's kickin' my butt royally. Today was my third day, and it was a cardio workout, which was quite a break from the first two days. It had some yoga [I can now see why people lose weight doing that.], Kenpō, plyometrics, and core work.
I started on the classic program for the first day and decided to switch to lean since it entails a lot of cardio and shoulder/arm exercises with some legs and back thrown in. That's what I really want to focus on. Yesterday was core synergistics, and I didn't realize how truly weak my core was until I was trying to do those exercises. I held out a lot better than I thought I would and was even able to do the bonus exercises without too much trouble, but that workout was killer. I think I've finally found myself a real challenge. My entire body is writhing in muscle-soreness, but as they say: No pain; no gain.

Come May/June I want to be able to have the strength and physique to do some drawn-out bike rides and runs. I want to be able to get out to the Peninsula more often to keep this up because--let's face it--I'm not getting any younger, and that just makes it that much harder to keep weight off and stay in shape. I'm already starting to feel it, and I'm not quite 24 yet. I hate to see what I'd be like at 30 without exercising and dieting.

Keep me motivated, guys!

A Little Late for Resolutions But...

I think I've finally decided to push myself into better health. My husband has been trying to get me to actively go to the gym on a weekly basis for several years now. It’s been extremely frustrating for him, I can imagine. Working out is something that he enjoys doing, and it’s a healthy hobby. I’ve tried to adopt that into my lifestyle, and I’ve gone in and out of it for the past four years. I guess I just feel a little uncomfortable and somewhat distracted when I work out in the presence of a bunch of people.
When I was a teenager, I was a lot better about exercising. My diet wasn’t necessarily in check, but I went outside and did a lot of cardio-based exercises. I rode my bike practically everywhere [This tends to explain why my calves are bigger than a lot of women’s.]. Once the weather started to get even a tiny bit warmer, I would bust it out and ride it to school over taking the bus or hitching a ride from a friend. As an added challenge, I would race the school bus home, which proved to be difficult, but I managed to do it a couple times. It’s the little things that get me excited and happy.

Now I’m finding that winter is taking a toll on me more and more every year. I see myself getting more senile and depressed each time it comes around. I do less and less, and I never feel like going out. Going to the gym is at the bottom of my list, which sucks because I want to be active. Bottom line: I just don’t want to go out. I do have the motivation to do something but no means of doing it at home (i.e. a decent weight set/resistance bands, curl bars/straight bars, benches, etc.). It makes me wish we had our own gym set.

I know a lot of people say, “I’m going to start working out but rather than getting a gym membership, I’m going to buy a Bowflex and work out at home! I’ll have washboard abs in no time!” Cut to two days after they’ve received the product, and it’s already catching dust. They never really had the true incentive to stick to a workout.
I don’t want to spend money on a Bowflex or Coreliminator (or whatever it's called). I don’t weigh 500 pounds and think I need to lose weight to get that beach body this summer. I just need weights, bars, bands, etc. to get myself going so I can be active again. Being bottled up in a house without being able to exercise for the duration of winter is no fun; especially for someone who loves being outdoors when it’s warm [Well—let’s face it—who doesn’t?].

Over the course of almost a year, I’ve seen these P90X infomercials running on occasion. The first time I saw one was when I couldn’t fall asleep one night and was up coughing, hacking, sneezing, and anything and everything else you want to throw in there (nice timing, right?). After having watched a few minutes of it, I was actually kind of impressed that they had a fairly legit workout program out there. You don’t know how sick I am of seeing ads for aerobic exercises, new machines to help you do crunches “more efficiently”, L.A. Weight Loss, and the like. They’re all a joke, and if they’re exercise DVDs, they make no mention of changing your diet; if they’re diet programs, they make no mention of exercise. Everyone is looking for the easy way to lose weight or be in shape without having to do any (or much) work.

Now, I obviously don’t need to lose weight because if you’ve ever seen me, I’m a stick compared to some people, so that’s not my motivation for wanting to get exercise. I just want to be in shape so I can feel better about myself and possibly have some more energy. That’s why I think I’m going to try P90X to see if it works for me. I’ve watched a lot of the different workouts they have in this series, and that’s enough to wear you out and make you work for everything you want. It’s better because the people they have on there aren’t just standing there smiling without a drop of sweat while they do these exercises. They’re actually struggling to get reps out. To me, that makes more sense and gives people a more realistic view of exercise instead of false hopes. Plus, they give you a diet guide, so it’s not just delving into the exercise aspect of it and completely ignoring the fact that you can’t drink Coke and eat Fritos while you’re doing this. Also, the fact that it contains pure weightlifting (with more than dinky, 1-pound dumbbells, mind you) doesn’t hurt.

I think the nicest thing about this program is that you don’t need tons of equipment to do the exercises. You just need dumbbells and a pull-up bar, basically, and if you don’t have the bar, then resistance bands with a door anchor can do the trick. It’s not exactly the same as doing a pull-up, but I guess faux pull-ups will have to be my workout for the time being.

I think this is a program I’m going to stick out and go through for 90 days (at least), and we’ll see how I look after that. I’ll get my diet in check and do these workouts relentlessly. My husband said he might even do a few with me, which would be cool. It’s nice to have a partner. Don’t expect any progress photos to be displayed on here. I’ll probably take some, but I can’t see myself showing the “interwebs” my midriff, so you’ll have to take a cold shower and forget about it…ha…ha…and ha.