FAQ-“How much do you workout?”

This is a fairly common question for a few reasons.

a) There is a still a misconception exercise is as important as diet, so it is often assumed I must exercise obsessively to maintain my current body weight as it is the lowest I have weighed as an adult.

b) I have taught group exercise for 11 years and only recently stopped having regularly scheduled classes as my life has changed so much after my book was published.

c) I am a well known gym rat. I exercised the day before both of my kids were born, I have belonged to a gym since I had my first job and got up at 4:45 the entire year I was engaged to get in a workout. I look at exercise the way some people look at meditation – I am not my best self without it.

The answer to the question is about an hour 6 days a week. I don’t have any hard and fast rules anymore, I once did where I could never miss two days in a row, or anything less than 30 minutes didn’t count and activity wasn’t enough it had to be proper exercise. Those days are long over, I recently took 3 days off in a row because I was sick, and was comfortable with my decision. Sometimes 20 minutes when my intensity is up, is good enough. I do not need to change into my proper workout gear in order to check the box of exercise, walking all day or surfing counts just fine.

I love to exercise because it is MY time. Even if it is in a windowless hotel gym in a 3rd world country. As long as I have a charged Ipod, I am golden. I need to be able to be alone with my thoughts, and sometimes that requires a kickass playlist.

I love to exercise because after years of teaching others, when I am in a group class, it is all about ME. If the girl in the back row doesn’t understand what the cue is, not my problem. When the guy in the UCONN shirt is doing a bicep curl when everyone else is doing a tricep dip, I still do bicep curl.

I love to exercise because it connects me with my body. It reminds me how I good I feel when I am reminded of my physical form. I have found times where I am detached from my body, I tended to get into trouble.

I love to exercise because I feel flipping good afterwards.

I used to workout to make up for all the extra food I ate that I didn’t want to tell anyone about. I am so glad those days are over.

Xo,

Erin