Plank is just another word for fun...

“Plank is just another word for fun,” said my trainer Reuben as he forced me to hold the weight of my body up with my toes and forearms. He then requested that I lift my left arm and right foot. I had a response in mind but it required using the “f” word and “off” and that didn’t seem polite. Usually I am unwilling to pay someone to work me out. I would rather buy shoes, but I had reached a point that I could only describe as… sloth-like.

Let me back track a bit. I have always been good about exercising. When my parents took up jogging, they quickly decided it would be good for the whole family. I didn’t live with “the Great Santini” but sometimes it felt like it because my entire household got up every morning at 5:15AM and ran 4 miles. This started in the 5th grade and ended when I graduated from high school. My Dad felt he was preparing us for a lifetime of exercise. I thought he was trying to torture me. When I went away to college, I did not exercise for six months and then I promptly started running again and have been at it ever since. I hate to admit it but my parents were right. I have been pretty dedicated to working out my entire adult life. I did the aerobics thing, boot camp, ran the New York City Marathon (which I highly recommend because you can eat as much as you want), rollerblading, circuit training, rowing, biking, strollersize, etc. If there was an exercise fad, I got involved. I am not a skinny person but I am usually pretty fit.

When I moved to Florida to host “iVillage Live”, I was also under contract to do six episodes of my show on A & E called “Clean this House”. I was working all week on one show then flying back to NYC on Friday nights to shoot the other during the weekends. In between, I was trying to be there for my daughter as she adjusted to a new school and home. Something had to give and easiest thing to drop from my schedule was exercise. I have periodically stopped working out because of crazy times, moving, tough rehearsal schedules, and pregnancy. But -and it’s a big one- I had not taken time off since I turned 40 and this was a gigantic eye opener. First of all, I got weak really quickly. We have trainers from Bally Health Clubs each week on “iVillage Live”. They lead me and our audience through different workouts. It got really funny because I could not get through the exercises. Here I am on live TV just laying there because I can’t do another lunge or sit-up. It seemed ridiculous because I once ran 26.2 miles without stopping. Only six months before the show started I was able to do hundreds of lunges and squats, and now I am just laying there like a pile of blubber.

The scary thing is that once my schedule calmed down, I still wasn’t working out. I had really lost all interest in exercise. I would think about the horrible shape I was in and just eat another package of starbursts. But then I noticed the changes that would turn my slovenly ways around. My body had turned to cottage cheese. I am used to a little cellulite and, I promise you, I have never had great legs, but this was brutal. So I broke down and actually hired someone to make me workout my 40-year-old body. The good news is it seems to be re-motivating me and my energy is getting better.

One of my brother-in-laws won a silver medal in rowing at the 1984 Olympics. He always says, “Energy out, energy in.” I usually roll my eyes at this but now, “Edward, I bow to your insight.” I ran yesterday and today and the “plank man” is here every Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully in a few more weeks the only cottage cheese I see will be on my plate. Still, I’m not giving up the starbursts!

Comments

Good for you!

Molly,

Met you today backstage at iVillage Live where we were both getting felt up by the sound guys.

You were funny and in no way out of shape, but as we used to say back in Minnesota where I grew up, "Good on ya!"

I try to make working out about the high I get from the endorphins (free, cheap, healthy) and not worry so much about the result re: looks.

I'm sure you'll get back on your game.

It was fun being on your show!

P.S. You're great on the show...

Dear Molly,

I'm a friend of Reuben's from New Jersey. How kind of you to mention him in your blog! He's an awesome trainer...and I watch the show just to see how great your looking as the weeks pass. Make him earn that money!

Karla