Am I too dressed down for the gym, of all places?

Besides my signature Hannah Montana water bottle, here’s how to find me at the gym. I’m the one who rolled out of bed in a wrinkled T-shirt, threw on a pair of unflattering sweat pants, put my tangled, unwashed hair in a high ponytail, laced up my sneakers and called it good. I’ve probably got yesterday’s mascara smudged under my eyes. It’s not always a safe bet that my T-shirt is clean.

Until recently, this was just fine with me. Sure, you bump into people you know and then you want to kill yourself when you pass a mirror, but it’s the gym, and people come here to sweat, so whatever.

I started noticing in the locker room, however, that some women are putting much more effort into their attire. The other day there was a matching pink track suit. It was 8-ish a.m., pre-workout, and she appeared to have a full face of makeup on. Then I remembered back a few years to when I took Step classes at 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Many of those women seemed to put thought and $$$ into their ensembles as well.

Am I supposed to be conscious of my appearance at the gym, of all places?

My interest was piqued even more when I read a story on the AP wire on this very subject. Here’s a snippet.

Those vows to hit the gym more often or adopt a new exercise regimen seem to be part of the human condition. And although your choice of outfits is secondary to the search for motivation, the right clothing can't hurt.

“Women want to look good while exercising,” says Kelly Cooper, vice president of merchandising, design and product development for Athleta, the Gap-owned athletic and lifestyle manufacturer and retailer. “When you're wearing things that are more flattering, then you're more motivated to work out.”

Could this be true? If I wipe away my mascara smudges, apply a little rouge, gets some slimming black stretch pants that actually fit, and a stylish zip-up black hoodie with a pop of pink underneath, maybe a girlie stretchy fashion tee, will I feel more motivated to kick some butt in the gym?

The article goes on to say: Many of us appear to agree with (Cooper). In 2010, Americans spent more than $30 million on women's fitness clothing, a 2 percent increase over the previous year.

Wow. $30 million. ON CLOTHES TO POUR SWEAT INTO. ... Yeah, no. Sounds a bit asenine, to be honest. So if you’re looking for me, ignore the black-and-pink fashion outfit I outlined above. Look for the tired girl in the dirty T-shirt. That’ll be me.

Burpees and mountain-climbers, nope, not today

Monday morning, when I arrive at the gym for my training session with Jackie, it will have been about a month since I’ve seen her.

It has been a series of almost comedic roadblocks in our way from mid-February until now.

One day we were snowed in, then she got the flu, then I got a chest cold, then I had a doctor’s appointment, and last week she was on spring break. It’s as if the fitness gods are against us.

Luckily, she’s got a pretty darn good student, if I do say so myself. I’ve stuck with the program, and I started taking Step classes at the Y to make sure the workout intensity stayed high. Other days I went to the Life Center like a good girl to make sure I put in my five hours of exercise per week.

The component that has been missing is the strength-training. A couple of days I went into the weight room and put together some circuits that I remembered from training with Jackie. But I’m nervous that it won’t be enough to have sustained the level of strength I achieved with her the first six weeks.

I made an attempt today to try a class in the upstairs studio that I thought focused more on strength. But after watching for just 30 seconds, I headed downstairs to the Life Center. I didn’t see anyone with weights, just mats and Bosus, and just two minutes in, they were doing mountain-climbers and other high-impact cardio moves that didn’t have much to do with strength-training.

And, honestly, moves like mountain-climbers and burpees will not be a part of my life much longer. When my sessions with Jackie are over, so are my mountain-climbing days on the Bosu. So I wasn’t about to take a class where those kinds of exercises are emphasized if I had a choice in the matter.

I said these exact words to someone, and she responded, “You’ve got to keep pushing yourself. If you don’t like doing something, maybe that’s exactly the exercise that will be most effective for you.”

I can see her point. On the other hand, if the goal is “lifestyle change,” then I want to find exercises that work for me and that I can incorporate into my routine consistently. If I dread doing something, I won’t keep doing it. Plus, there are plenty of other cardio exercises that get your heart rate up, which is the whole point of a dumb ol’ burpee, anyway.

I still got a solid month left of them, though. And something tells me, if Jackie reads this column, I’ll be bouncing around on that Bosu good and plenty on Monday morning.

You know you've made it when ...

You know your blog is reaching a ton of people when a few of them start to peddle you their wares and services.

The first time it happened I thought it was a funny fluke. I received an e-mail with the subject line: Your blog! Body was something like this: Amanda, I've been reading about your "fight to be fit" and, wow, congratulations. Great job! I wanted to offer you something to help you on your journey. I'm a certified trainer, and I know you've got one already, but I think you'll find my rates competitive, and it might be nice to mix it up a bit. Call me and we'll set up a free session so you can try it out. And yes, feel free to use my name in your blog.

Hmmm, I wondered, do you think he had an alterior motive?

Turned out, Mr. Trainer was the first of about a dozen pitches I have received the past few weeks, which just blows me away. It's hard to believe people are seeing dollar signs on this blog!

So far, the pitches have included: vitamin supplements, gym memberships, athletic equipment, exercise classes and training sessions.

Most of the pitches have a tell-tale wording that shouts, "I want free advertisement in exchange for a free Whatever-I'm-Offering-You." The wording is thus: "I think your many readers would be interested in reading about my ... ," or, "You owe it to your readers to keep them informed of the latest in ... ." My favorites are, "I know when you try this, you will be so blown away by its effectiveness, you'll be excited to share it with your readers."

Trust me, having been on the receiving end of press releases and marketing pitches for the past 8 years, I know when I'm being given the hard sell.

It's all kind of flattering, I guess, but come on, folks, this blog and this blogger ain't for sale.

... Unless, of course, you think my readers would be interested in reading about a new car or a million dollars or a new garage door, 'cause I need one of those, or maybe a DVD player (mine just broke). Not sure how I'll tie any of that to fitness, but I'll figure something out.

Ben and Jerry's will always give me pause

Certain things get easier as one chugs along on her weight-loss journey. I used to look at the elliptical with the same disdain as the dentist's drill, for example. Now I look at it more like a piece of ugly furniture: not happy it's there, but it serves a purpose, so I'll keep it around.

Food is another animal entirely. I will never get used to opting for a Clementine over a bag of pretzels. When shopping at the grocery store, it will always give me pause to cruise down that loooooong aisle of ice cream flavors. And I will never not glance to the right at Cotton Candy Kemps as I'm reaching in the cooler for Edy's Whole Fruit Bars.

I have to admit, I really miss that instant reward that comes with sugar. The trouble with dieting is that the payoff comes so slowly and gradually. The choice to eat low-sugar oatmeal for breakfast instead of a heaping pile of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds doesn't provide instant gratification. And being a somewhat impulsive person, it's difficult to wait for the reward later on. Pop a Hershey's chocolate in your mouth, and two seconds later: Bliss, in more than one way.

Getting me through these decisions every day is something I never thought I would use beyond high school: Math. I force myself to read labels. (I used to purposefully hold a box of Wheat Thins or a bag of chips with the label facing away from me so I wouldn't know how many calories I was eating and, therefore, not feel guilty about it.) And I force myself to measure and calculate exactly the number of calories I'm eating.

This led me to wonder, during my label-avoidance days, how many calories was I eating in a single snack? The results are horrifying. Take a look ...

1. A pint of Ben and Jerry's Pistachio (about 2 cups): 1,040 calories, 68 grams of fat.

2. 1/3 bag of Crunchy Cheetos: 800 calories, 50 grams of fat.

3. 20 Hershey's Kisses w/ Almonds: 511 calories, 31 grams of fat.

4. Wheat Thins, 4 servings (otherwise known as one snack): 641 calories, 27.5 grams of fat.

5. Gummy bears, 1 bag: 609 calories, 0 fat.

Makes a 35-calorie Clementine look pretty good, doesn't it?

During the month of March, the scale be damned

I'm as guilty as anyone about wanting to cut right to the chase regarding someone's weight loss. "How much have you lost so far?" is by far the most popular question I receive. I totally get that. I DVR "The Biggest Loser" so I can fast-forward through the crying and get straight to the weigh-in at the end of every episode. So, believe me, I understand that the numbers are the most interesting part.

But, sorry folks, I will have none to report for a while. I don't want a repeater of whatever negative/frustrated/desperate emotions led to me resorting to unhealthy behavior in February just so I could hit the magic number of 32. I'm about due for a plateau, I would imagine, and I don't want that to get me down.

The focus needs to be on the new lifestyle and healthy behavior without the distraction of numbers. So, during the month of March, the scale be damned. Whatever it says at the month 3 mark will be an improvement, and that's all that matters.

Time for some honesty

This week I weighed in at the Y for month 2 results. I hit my mark and have lost 32 pounds total.

Needless to say, I’m excited about this. I’m meeting my goals, and every day I notice changes in the way things fit and the way I feel.

However, I feel like I’ve been dishonest this month, and I owe it to many of you to come clean. But first I’ll explain why.

In recent weeks, as more and more people have stumbled upon this column or my blog, I’ve received the most inspiring e-mails and letters. People are writing to me about their own weight-loss journeys. They’re telling me stories about starting in the 300-pound range and losing an enormous amount of weight.

Some of them are even telling me that, after they read my blog, they decided to start their own “fight to be fit.” I treasure these messages the most, and when I read them, I feel even more responsibility to set a good example in the way I’m losing weight.

Which brings me to my confession. I mentioned, in my first blog entry, that my MO has always been to simply stop eating when I need to lose weight. I cut calories to an unhealthy level, and I sustain that until the weight drops off. I also mentioned that the weight loss never lasts because the pounds comes right back on when more calories are consumed. You simply can’t sustain a starvation diet.

In a recent column I mentioned how hard February has been. Workouts got canceled with Jackie for various reasons, the scale wasn’t being kind, I’ve been battling a heal injury, and I had difficulty finding motivation to workout.

So mid-month, when the numbers weren’t what I wanted them to be, I resorted back to my old behavior.

Maybe it was out of frustration, or maybe I feel pressured, being in the public eye, to perform to a certain standard. Regardless, I found myself cutting calories many days this month to about 600-800 per day. Sometimes less.

I’m not proud of this, and, I owe much better to the people who are following this journey and finding inspiration through my example. One woman in particular writes to me about trying to lose weight while going through menopause and having a thyroid disorder. For her, a pound a week is quite a feat. And for me to tout a number as large as 32 and not come clean about how I arrived there, that’s just unfair to her.

I am back on the regular program of 1,100-1,200 calories per day, with no more than 20 percent of the calories coming from fat. And I have no plans to resort to such a low caloric intake ever again, regardless of what the scale says.

I promise, whatever happens and whatever difficulties I face as I continue on, I’ll be honest about them to my readers.

Thanks a ton for all of your e-mails, comments and letters. Please keep them coming.

It's my fault my dog's a fattie

I have a dog named Squishy. And I'm realizing that the Squisher's story has paralleled my own in certain ways.

I used to be a Step Master at the gym (see below), and the Squish used to be one of the fastest sprinters at the dog park. I used to be smaller around the middle (and everywhere else), and so did my sweet, fluffy girl.

Here's the difference: I chose to sit on my rump and eat Cheetos. The Squish, on the other hand, stared me down every day of this long winter with the same plea in her eyes. "Ma, I'm begging you, take me to the damn park so I can run." Technically, yes, those same eyes begged me for bites of cookies and spoonfuls of ice cream and the last bites of burgers. But it was my decision to indulge the latter request and not the former.

Squishy would have loved nothing more than to run for as long as I would let her at the park. She would have been so happy to take a cold walk outside and burn off some of those calories. But laziness and a deep hatred for winter on my part kept her indoors, where she got fatter and fatter.

A dog park friend I hadn't seen in a few months couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Fatty Doughnut, which is our nickname for her, waiting for him at the gate.

But, the past couple of weeks, I've made a point to get her out of this house. She's not as fast as she once was, but she's still running her tush off.

So I guess you can say both of us girls are on fights to be fit these days. Maybe by mid-summer we'll both have things under control. Although, personally, I think the recent pleas in Squishy's eyes are for me to bring back some of her favorite people foods she hasn't seen in a while. If she had it her way, she'd still be eating ice cream and cookies. I guess we can't give 'em everything they want.