#184 - The Workout Videos of 2025

Getting back in shape is really annoying and difficult.

But << Galinda voice >> I'm determined to succeed.

And while I know there will be days I miss or forget to write things down, I think it's important to believe in my ability to...try! Because that is, after all, the first step.

So, I'm going to try something a little different and attempt to record a log of what (if any) workouts I do on any given day. I don't think I'm going to track my steps on here because this isn't turning into a Fitness Goals Tracker it's just more of a log and hopefully some attempt at self-accountability.

I did a good job starting my (late in life but shame will keep you trapped forever so we must move forward) positive life habits these last few years, but where I've always struggled is consistency and that's the goal for this year. Hence, this diary/log thing of free workouts I do off of YouTube with commentary that I will add to throughout the upcoming year (the specific challenge to myself is going to be logging them right after I work out because I always have an awkward cool-down before shower period anyway that I never know what to do with myself during!) and yes I am riding that overly-ambitious high of the New Year but so what we'll never know what's possible if we don't allow ourselves to tryyyy!

Okay here we go!

January 1

This is one I did a lot last year, but since learning more about my actual form and how to engage my core, doing it again was fresh and far FAR harder!

I give a lot of credit to this one for helping me regain my sense of balance after a foot injury really threw me off for over a year.

While this instructor doesn't give a lot of queues or describe proper form, I like this one because I can put it on low volume, listen to a podcast, watch it in the mirror, and still hear the beeps for when to stop.

(I also walked a bit but I have two very bad blisters on the soles of my feet and the walk made it clear I need to give them time to actually heal so I'm staying low tomorrow!)

January 2

I found this instructor via a viral TikTok video about her 30 minute pilates ab-workout. I did that video last month and uhhhh it took me like 3 days to be able to laugh again without being in pain, so I thought a 15 minute version would be friendlier.

And WOWZA does she really kick your ass without making it seem like the moves are going to be that hard. I do think you get out of Pilates what you put into it, and oooooh babes ouchy wowchy I am a-smartin' but I feel ALIVE and I felt every single second of this workout in my lower ab region and I got so sweaty that my mat had to be wiped down yaaaay 15 minutes of absolute bangers in terms of body usage. Pilates is incredible! Our bodies are so weird!

I feel very weak and simultaneously noticed just how strong my arms are compared to last year. I may not have been consistent throughout the entire year but my random bouts of weight workouts definitely added up. The "easiest" part of this for me was the pushups which would have definitely not been true last year!

The feeling weak thing is also just an out of shape thing. I'll get it back faster than I realize if I stick to Doing Things but it's also one of the major reasons I know I don't push through – because feeling weak sucks. Having a grudge form against your past-self for their lack of care??? Lame! A series of feelings that are necessary but ultimately must be gotten over/left behind in order to proceed in any real way!

January 3

Ouch ooch ouchy yowch!
- My thighs & glutes every time I sit

This workout rules, I did it last year the first time I ever used the kettlebell and it really helped orient me to how to use it and what my body should be doing throughout the workout, plus she's got a fun Aussie accent and that's always a fun sonic experience.

I don't use my kettlebell the entire time I do this, I switch to an 8lb dumbbell for some of the floor stuff because I am not prepared for holding 15lbs above my body at that point in the workout.

Between re-learning how to breathe and realizing that I had never not once properly engaged my core until like August of last year, workouts have gotten both easier and harder. I understand how to breathe, what to focus on, and to be very much in the moment throughout the movement, so that makes it easier. It's harder physically now that I'm actually doing it correctly and not just getting away with whatever form I thought I was supposed to be achieving.

My squats are not nearly as deep as hers, but that's uhhhh fine! I'm not a pro! And hey that's something to work towards so that's great too. Mark that down, me!

January 4

When in doubt, stretch it out!

After the Great Thigh Aches of yesterday, this one felt really good. I always forget how much of it is spent on all-fours but it's a great one to keep in rotation while I'm rebuilding wrist strength.

Another fun side bonus of working out is not being able to look at my phone during it! I will break my phone addiction via having a full life this year if its the last thing I do!

January 5

Well it's already working I definitely forced myself to work out at 8:30 because it was going to be annoying to me if I didn't fill this out we did it gang we annoyed ourselves into consistency!

Today: dance! Specifically this dance livestream but since there's every chance I won't continue to subscribe to the membership (it's good I just don't do this as my Main Form Of Exercise as often as I used to) I'll also link one of their free dance videos below.

I like this group because they choreograph to modern music, what I don't love is that they often keep the exact same choreo throughout a song regardless of if it heavily baises one arm/leg/side and I think for dance workouts that's actually unacceptable. Gotta switch it up! I don't find their friend banter as charming as a lot of commenters but clearly that's a personal taste thing and I enjoy following along so really, nothing to complain about! Oh except sometimes they include Chris Brown songs and like, ew, skip!

I'm so sweaty and it's 9pm but the good news is: I did this to myself!

January 6

This is the first video on my YouTube playlist that I save workouts on so it feels like a default to throw it on when I'm not looking for anything too difficult. I do it with 8lb weights and have enjoyed getting noticeable better at keeping my elbows in place when I do the overhead stuff.

Fun! I didn't really feel like doing anything because I was exhausted today emotionally and a little physically but then I remembered one bicep curl is better than none so I did 10 minutes which is exponentially better, yay!

January 14

Sometimes you buy a couch and it gets delivered six months later and you spend a week moving your apartment around and taking walks and get so sore you splurge on a massage and then your body feels brand new so you start doing videos again because it's cold outside and your walks are great and incorporating muscle building into the routine is awesome because posture has become really important to you especially now that you're trying to use your standing desk to practice not rolling out on the edges of your feet.

Just me?

Back with our girl Mic and her twisty ab workout that makes me feel engaged but not dead in the core! I h8 when laughing hurts the next day even if it does bring me some sick joy to have gone for it.

January 20

Oh no today is terrible for concentration and feeling good about the world let alone oneself but I felt like doing Something but I had no patience or concentration so we're whipping out the covid-era "dance" workouts I used to do!

It's not really dance so much as rhythmic squatting but oh BABY if you're looking for a short-but-intense workout this one still rips!

January 22

My thighs are still a tad achey so that meant it was time to dance! My all-time favorite form of movement AND the one that allows me to best tailor it to what parts of my body I want to feel into because if there's one thing I know how to do, it's dance!

I really like these follow-along dances (I did this exact paid-membership one today) because when the move is boring/not challenging enough/too challenging based on soreness levels, I just...dance around. Contemporary pop music played in full allows you to do that! There are no rules! March in place who cares!! Everything counts and no ones watching so if you're not going to dance then when can you?

January 23

I'm trying this new thing where when I can't concentrate/my anxiety threatens to swallow my day whole, I do a workout instead.

So far, it's working! Again, can't link the video I did above but it was this one today! To be completely honest it was a mix of that one and the intro to a 60 minute one that seemed to have some technical glitches. Oh well! We move!

While talking with my best friend who doesn't dance yesterday, I said some things that feel worth repeating in a slightly more public forum because I think dance is so much fun and can really be an incredible way to connect with your body, your sexuality, your enjoyment of music, etc. and ALL of that feels worth cheering for!

• If you don't get a dance move right away, do not panic. Pick some part of it you can do and focus on that until you have it (say, take the arms first and then do the feet) (or take just the punchy part of the arms and do some step touches if that feels more fun there are no judges)!
• The nice thing about following along to these videos is that they'll repeat the moves in the second verse and chorus so you can spend the first 1/3rd of the video trying and 2/3rds of the video having fun nailing it.
• There's a lot in dance that goes unsaid, particularly where your body weight is supposed to be. In modern hip-hop a lot of it is very deep plies with your weight directly in the middle of your foot, or high on your toes. "Light on your feet" is mostly referring to the fact that you should have the ability to pick up one of your feet at a moments notice because you always know where your weight is and how to shift it. Try doing a jump and landing how you normally would. Then jump and try to land lightly. If you didn't take the oppurtunity to get up out of your seat right now and do it, I'll spoil it for you: you are able to do that when you're thinking about it. You already have the skill, dancing just requires a varied application of it. The fundamentals (good posture, holding your ribcage, balance) you have! I promise!

January 26

Another day, another dance workout.

This time I worked out at 9:00pm and didn't let my fear of maybe annoying my neighbor stop me because I'm trying to be less anxious about my actions in general, but particularly when it's like...totally appropriate even if I jump around a little to workout at night.

Anyway! Today I did one that I think is free for everyone and it was okay. I don't know that I'll do this one again but I am thrilled to have worked out because I got a lot of other fun stuff done today too waheyy!

And my blow dryer being easy to use and drying my hair so effectively makes it easier than ever to make the choice to workout I'm so glad about this unforeseen side effect of spending too much money on a blow dryer. And AND my super greasy hair is getting less greasy what is happening how is that possible have I never actually dried my hair before or something???

January 28

Yesterday I didn't do a video but I did randomly lift some weights while I watched something on TV and that counts but doesn't count on this list and for some reason, since this list is turning into a thing I've actually kept up with, I just want to make it clear to my future self that I was doing other stuff on the days I wasn't posting here it just wasn't...workouts to follow along to.

Anyway! Surprise surprise I'm still on a dance kick!

Today's actual videos were a mix of this one and this one because I wanted to do an hour but ended up doing 45 minutes because I did 15 from the first and then a half-hour. If the playlist isn't hitting for me, I've been changing to older streams-. Idk why but it's keeping it interesting.

I got so fucking sweaty and then I had to pee and then to distract myself from how much I had to pee I texted my friend about being too sweaty to pee. Just too scared of slidin' right off the seat!

January 29

We're doing it we're in the groove I did a ton of laundry this morning because when you work out in the middle of the day you wear a minimum of three outfits!

Once again, we're dancing! To two different playlists for some reason. This one & this one. Neither I'd particularly recommend?

I also ended up just choosing some of their dances from the playlists they make because idk I was feeling both impatient and picky! But I cooled down to this one and while I think the album this song was on is, uh, a choice, it's a good end-of-workout dance!

February 1

Well, it's another "dance" video that's really more of an aerobic squatting exercise, but this time it's to One Direction.

I hadn't done this video since Liam passed and that may have contributed to the unhappy thoughts that really took over for me during this workout. I used to really struggle with working out because my inner critic often became the loudest and I would spend an hour just feeling...awful about myself, past choices, mistakes with no solutions, y'know just the general highlight reel of things we use to make ourselves feel bad about every possible facet of life!

That had stopped happening for a while, and I doubt it will be a regular thing because I've battled/conquered the habit once before (I make myself say nice things about myself out loud and list things I've done that I can be proud of) but uuuuuuugh this is the part of Life that I'm really not enjoying in general right now. Progress should be a fixed point. Backsliding should actually be impossible there should be safety mechanisms in place around this kind of thing.

But! Butbutbutbutbut. The important thing when dealing with depression & negative thought overwhelm is to keep going and keep pushing and get outside and do things in the world because even if you're sad while you do them, they're still done and you still get to feel good about that part!

February 2

Another dancin' day! I worked out to this dance playlist but only did about half of it and then I switched on the Nintendo Switch and danced to Rasputin for the first time in a long long time. A thrill!

Last year I had a secret challenge to myself to get a 100% perfect on this song but there's a move in the middle I literally cannot get the timing right on and I drove myself slightly batty trying so I stopped (also the network connectivity issues were really frustrating to deal with mid-workout so it stopped being worth it). Anyway I kind of want to do it everyday again, just to see if I can without it being A Thing since I probably won't use the game as my main form of workout this time.

February 4

Do I even need to say it at this point?

Dance party time babeeey!

I did about half of that video and then once again tried my hand at Rasputin because...well I'm a simple girl when you unlock a past fixation it will inhabit my body for a minimum of four weeks.

And THEN I was working out at like 8:30pm so I decided to actually commit to doing a cooldown and did an old bedtime yoga routine and laid (sweatily) on my mat and enjoyed rolling around on my back for a while.

Also I haven't done chill yoga in a while and I forgot that one of Goob's favorite pasttimes is flopping down next to me and rubbing her head against my head really hard while I do it and its SO CUTE I love her so much she's been such a chill cat recently.

February 6

When in doubt/moments of high anxiety, why wallow when you can move your body vigorously enough to forget about it for a little while?

Dance playlist of the day here! Dance video of the day below!

And and and I'm still on my Rasputin kick and somehow getting worse before I get better but that's okay life is about repetition not perfection!

February 11

You know the deal by now!

I did this playlist today and liked the majority of the songs! No skips this time! That cool down still hits! I got really fucking sweaty!

And then I did two rounds of Rasputin because it's clearly stuck in my craw at this point and I'd like to get myself back to consistency in terms of scoring. Also maybe one day I'll actually bother to figure out the math behind these scores because they really don't make sense to me and this is a perfect 1x + 4y + 124z = ? scenario!

February 20

Big gap! Whoops! I'd be more apologetic but February has been hellish so I'm just actually really proud I did anything at all.

Look at me Michael, I'm being proud of myself despite the effort seeming lackluster!

Today I danced to this playlist and was surprised at their playlist for "party girl" because like they have...way better dances to fit this genre but whatever I'm doing it enough to be picky and opinionated about it so that's a good sign!

And we're still on the Rasputin kick!

There's a clip in s1 of America's Next Top Model where Adrienne is trying to say the word "passion" in a neutral accent and when she can't the director very meanly but plainly says, "You were consistent."

And that's the feedback I'm going to give myself about this dance! I'm not getting worse but I'm also not putting in the effort required to get better!

February 27

One week laterrrrrr (but two days less than the last break way-o) and I'm back at it again in my living room.

I've done okay with getting outside and walking around this week though because it's been in the 40s and tbh the older I get the more I believe my favorite temp is like a slightly overcast 52degrees.

I just want to wear a leather jacket and jeans without getting sweaty while walking around!!! My best outfits have LAYERS to them!

Anyway, we're working out, we're cleaning the house, we're seeing a Led Zepplin documentary in the middle of the morning because I refuse for my Regal Crown Club subscription to just break even I demand VALUE EXTRACTION but I also have so much going on the next few days it's comical and usually my life is like...really quiet and this upcoming week is, uh, not that!

Anyway today I did half of this dance playlist and then did a bunch of squats and a round of Rasputin. But, okay, Just Dance only works with single joy-con controllers, and I can't find the right side joy-con this morning which means I had to use the left hand one. Fine! Except that the pro controller doesn't work AT ALL and the left joy-con doesn't have the home button, so now my switch is stuck on Just Dance until I find/charge the right joy-con and idk that seems like a flaw in the design and is part of the reason I stopped using Just Dance as my primary workout because the friction involved is just too much!

So, if you're anything like me and struggling to make the habits stick, look at the friction/find the chafe and rework the routine.

It might seem really silly or like something you can "get over" but if you're not, you're not! And that's okay!!! New plan!!! I literally got too annoyed at having to activate two controllers when I wanted to play Zelda after work one too many times and stopped working out altogether so I think that has made me feel far sillier than admitting the issue and figuring out a solution to it (for the most part, I had never ever factored in the possibility that I wouldn't know exactly where the joy-cons were at all times because like, I don't lose things).

ANYWAY wheeee end of Februarys almost here and then life gets even weirder in March but the sun comes back up and the flowers are almost back so, we're gonna make it.

March 12

Well! Took a break, went to Vermont, set off a fire alarm by accident, but we're back in the city and back on the horse/dance playlist babeeey! Today was this dance workout and I got through the songs despite not loving the playlist.

This song isn't my favorite off Brat but it makes for a good warmup!

March 16

I felt like I had really "wasted" my day despite having a perfectly fine day where I even got up and went for like a two mile walk first thing in the morning so I did a workout starting at 7:45 so that I could shake! that! feeling!

Yes I am now using working out as a crutch to get over my crippling self-doubt and that's what we call a coping mechanism whooooo!

Today I did half of this playlist but then I got really annoyed with the playlist (starting to think I need to make a list of the ones from THIS list that I do like but I also love to do the more recent streams to see if there are any fun new dances but it's just not worth it when you're not in a great mood!) and tried to play Just Dance.

ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT JUST DANCE IS NO LONGER AN OPTION BECAUSE THEY GOT RID OF THEIR "UNLIMITED" PACKAGE AND NOW I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO DANCE TO RASPUTIN ON THE SWITCH AGAIN AND I DIDN'T GET A PERFECT SCORE AAAAHHHHH.

I'm so sad. I love Just Dance as a concept but the game developers are greedy and bad! I bought a newer version last year because it had BTS songs and I was getting over a head cold and it was on sale so I didn't check the reviews and then was ASTOUNDED to find out that you couldn't make playlists. Like at all. Also now their back catalogue is locked behind "Dance+" but it isn't as many old songs as their previous, cheaper, now discontinued Unlimited option had. Not worth it! STOP RUINING GOOD THINGS!

I'm gonna have to plug in the WiiU and buy an old copy of Just Dance 2. I have Just Dance 3 and used to set the whole thing up (including the motion sensor bar, the worst gadget with the worst wires of all time) just to dance to Hey Boy, Hey Girl by The Chemical Brothers. They never licensed the song again over the years.

Anyway! Dumb and stupid and totally threw me off but again, having a not-so-great day so I was determined to do something that would allow me to feel Accomplished so I did this 10 Minute Dumbbell workout because I hadn't lifted weights for 5+ minutes in a while and it felt really good!

I <3 lifting weights! I <3 feeling strong! I <3 sensing the overall growth I've made sticking around between the gaps in my routine because I was consistent at one time and I did build muscle, and I can again!

I cut my bangs too short. They'll grow out but I'm really annoyed at myself about it. Okay wheeee we did it yaaay!

March 17

Well, we've retroactively pinned the date at which I totally fell off tracking these things but by going meticulously through my YouTube history, I here from the future (July 13, 2025) impart that I did this dance workout but since it's not publicly available there will be a routine from the channel below!

April 12

Just Dance, gonna be okay, da da doo doo Just DANCE, spin that record babe.

Etc!

April 13

Woke up and did YOGA for the first time in forever!

And then finished off the day with some dancing because I got the game so we may as well fucking use it!

I keep making playlists on the new version of this video game that I was forced to buy because they discontinued support for their other older video games that had access to a much better music library ooooh Activision when I CATCH YOU!

April 30

A classic weights workout for today yaaay we're in it we're doing it again!

May 1

I don't remember much about this day but thanks to taking photos I know I did a Just Dance workout for 30 minutes wheee!

May 3

Back at it again with the dumbbells!

June 22

Just Dance babeeey! I did 35 minutes of dancing and was "in the zone" for 31 minutes according to my FitBit. I'm so glad that dancing actually is as engaging as me & my sweat level presumed.

I can tell I'm rusty because I got three (3) "good" ratings and usually my only "good" comes around the time that he's lowering to the ground and goes to put his hat on his head.

June 26

Back at it with Just Dance again!

This time I got an "ok" and nearly started the whole workout over but I'm also trying to not give into weird thoughts about perfection and blah blah blah. Between now and the last time I worked out was the hottest June on record in NYC but we VOTED ZOHRAN so I did a high kick when I found out and then ran down the street.

June 27

I walked all the way to Williamsburg to get my cat food! I started out thinking I was going to take the train but then it was actually like a Nice Summer Day and I figured I could do it without being the sweatiest person ever to exist throughout time by the time I would have to interact with the lovely ladies who work at the pet store I buy from.

So I did it! I even took some pictures along the way.

3.17 miles according to my watch!

But I wasn't done yet I also did a workout at 8:30 that evening and yes, it was Just Dance again and no I didn't shake the "ok" curse just yet!

June 28

I have to go get vegetables every Saturday and the round trip is just under a mile and I never count walking around as a workout BUT since it is mostly uphill on the way there and I carry 10+ lbs of vegetables on the way back, it gets my heartrate going!

It's funny that a piece of tech reframing this as a workout makes it sink into my head a little bit more but hey, if that's what it takes that's simply what it takes. Coming to an accurate understanding of what working out means is key for me. Also I'm just really self-defeating around movement in general and I need to lean more towards positivity when it comes to giving myself credit for Doing Things.

Even if it's for short periods of time, even if it's not maxxing out my heart rate, even if it's already going to be included in my day. Still counts!

June 29

Dancing babeeeey!

NO GOODS JUST SUPERS AND PERFECTS AHAHAHAHAH I CAN TASTE IT I CAN TASTE THE 100% PERFECT RAAAAH.

July 3

Weights & Yoga today!

I must get better about actually cooling down and stretching out in the morning/evening and before/after working out. I'm creaking and cracking in new ways and I'm not 25 anymore! Haven't been for a while!

July 4

Walked around! Went to a rooftop party and had some nice chats! It was HOT and I didn't even complain that much about it! 3+ miles of walking recorded wheee!

July 5

More walking! More vegetable pickups! More space on the sidewalk because EVERYONE is hungover from July 4th even people who don't drink because the fireworks cause some major fatigue!

July 7

Did some weights and then did some like...walking in place exercises for 10 minutes after doing weights because I had some get-up-and-go-I'm-already-sweaty-may-as-well vibes going on.

The walking-in-place workouts are great for when I want to workout but I also want to listen to a podcast because they're not rhythmic so I don't need to keep a beat in order to complete them. But also they're kind of boring so I don't often think of them "first" you know? But they're good! I just skip the weight loss propaganda in the beginning.

July 9

Just Dancin' it up once again!

35 minutes straight no breaks just one playlist the whole way through. There are always some classics that surprise me with the intensity of the dance itself like I Kissed A Girl (which also CENSORS THE WORD CHERRY a decision I truly have been baffled by for a solid decade) and I wish Just Dance would go back to doing some really intense workout aerobic-style dances like they used to.

A version of just the workout dances is the product I would like to purchase in the future instead of having to re-up the subscription. I know that's on purpose but I still get to resent it!

July 10

A classic double-feature!

Followed by like 10 minutes of this:

I've tried to find a consensus on if I should lift before/after cardio but ultimately I don't think I'm doing like such strenuous cardio that I have to worry about the order of operations. I'm also trying to just like not start/stop cold when it comes to weights because that is a bad habit that I have and need to break!

July 12

So to be completely honest I've started working out again recently but keep putting off updating this thing because I know that a bunch of days are going to be missing – my goal as of now is to work backwards and fill in some of the days and what I did blah blah blah. (Update: I did a bunch of updates but may have to let March - June go at this point. We'll see!)

I got a FitBit recently and I had one like–holy shit I'm realizing this in live time–a decade ago and I forgot how much I really enjoy having all the stats and finding out exactly how much sleep I got and all of that. Annoyingly, I do need some external forces to hold me accountable sometimes in order to motivate things and honestly that's fine.

Today I got so sweaty on my walk to get my #weeklyveggies (I signed up for a CSA this summer/fall) so when I got back I put on a sports bra and fired up Just Dance only to discover that my subscription ran out and instead of buying that I went on over to YouTube and got a month subscription to TheFitnessMarshall dance workout channel because I wanted to see what my stats would be between the two.

I definitely go harder in Just Dance it turns out!

I did the latest 30 Minute session and then when I didn't feel "done" I went and did like three more dances from this other video, and THEN I did half of a weighted workout because again, was just feeling like Taking It There but also like idk the dance wasn't making me feel like I was really working and sometimes that's what you want in a workout, you know?

So I have that for the next month so I'm going to go back through and make a new playlist with the ones I've already documented enjoying in this very newsletter (thanks, past-me!) so I don't have to spend a bunch of time deciding or being disappointed if I don't love that playlist that day.

I'm trying to get better at stretching after and actually doing a cool-down. I have been getting sweaty and gross recently (it's summer and I'm actually like putting in a ton of effort when working out right now) and the last thing I want to do is sit on the ground and stretch.

But that's like actually really important and I'm trying to get back in the habit of doing 10 minutes of yoga before work and wearing compression socks again because it really does make a difference!

Also I'm creaky and I'm turning 33 soon and that all feels like too real to deal with but, we MOVE!

July 14

I did 3/4 of this dance workout and then wanted to keep dancing so I switched over to this dance workout when the first one went into the "cool down" portion of the video.

And I also did a yoga video before doing work because it's quite literally always helpful for me and that's just something I have to re-learn again and again in my life until it sticks!

July 16

Okay I actually really liked the playlist on this sweat session and Padam Padam should still be on more playlists its such a good song, Kylie 4ever. I also did about half of this playlist because I've been enjoying pushing myself to do 35-40 minutes per workout.

I also did the exact same yoga video as yesterday because you actually don't need to do a different video everyday!

July 17

Did the first 22 minutes of this dance playlist (sometimes I just can't get into Ariana Grande's latest album without thinking about the article Ethan Slater's ex-wife wrote about her life and the consequences of being an (unwilling) part of a massive tabloid scandal and therefore must skip to the next playlist!) and then finished by doing more than half of this dance playlist.

Both had the song Yipee Ki Yay by Kesha on them and the first time I did the dance my weight distrubution was all over the place which made the transitions between moves really annoying BUT I stuck with it and learned and while line dancing is just simply not my preferred form of choreography I appreciate the incorportation of different dance styles within these playlists.

July 18

I put my watch on "workout" mode to track my heartrate while I was deep cleaning my house and while I do think mopping absolutely should account for a higher spike, I was surprised to find out that I walked over 2,000 steps during the 40-minutes I was tracking. My apartment is small but it is long and honestly there are days that I barely go outside and still walk over 6,000 steps which I just think is funny. I also think my decision to include the commas in the thousands, is funny.

Okay that's it!

July 19

I love that my FitBit thinks my 0.8mile walk that I take on Saturday's to pick up my vegetables counts as a workout. I mean, it is in some ways because I do end up carrying 10lbs+ of vegetables for half of it. But still! It's a good reminder to myself that even on the days I'm not Getting Sweaty On Purpose (there...hasn't been a day in my life that I haven't gotten sweaty) I'm still moving and allowing my body to get stronger.

Other than that walk though, I also danced!

Went back in time and did this dance playlist which was randomly saved within a playlist. It was decent! I got very sweaty. I also didn't feel satisfied once it was over and did about 10 minutes of this walking workout.

I had this song stuck in my head all day and remembered that they had a standalone video for it, so I did that too. I think it's fun choreo even the cheesy parts!

July 20

I went on a mini-break to Cape Cod to visit my dad and we went for a mile and a half long walk on the beach and oooohhhh man walking on the beach is beautiful but I was in platform sneakers (I should have taken them off but there wasn't time and then I was too deep into it) and hoo baby I was a-sweating under my baseball hat.

I also toodled around with some of their 10lb dumbbells because one day I will have to upgrade my 8lbs to something else and the difference wasn't immediately evident which I'm taking as a good sign!

July 21-25

Well I didn't do like any workout videos but I still worked out and moved my body and that feels important to note!

When I came back from the Cape I also carried my very heavy weekender bag + tote bag through the bowels of Penn Station and get very sweaty doing so (but my heartrate wasn't that spiky and I find that data interesting!) but yeah I averaged 9,000 steps a day while on my vacation and am kind of thrilled about it!

July 26

I had to do a bunch of errands this Saturday (pick up Vegetables, go to Williamsburg to make a return at Muji + pick up cat food) so I let the tasks be the workout. I had to carry heavy stuff and walked over 10,000 steps so, it worked! My plan prevailed!

I've been talking with my best friend about movement a lot this past week. She's a runner, she loves running, when she tells me stories about getting to go for a run I don't even grimace anymore.

She doesn't love to dance. So for her movement, she runs. I hate running, so for my movement, I dance.

Neither of us are bad or wrong for our perspective or decisions we're making, we're making the best choice for ourselves.

Running especially seems to be considered this like workout-pinnacle and the thing that you should do if you're fit or want to enjoy working out. But that's simply not the case! Working out is only sustainable if you enjoy it. (Either the physical act of working out and/or the outcomes!)

It's been almost seven full months of me tracking my workouts on this blog (ignore the blip where I never ever updated about anything because we recovered and filled in that gap) and I've been really trying to work on my mentality around Fitness and Getting Fit because it is a long-haul journey with very few short-term payoffs. Besides like, achey muscles and being afraid to drink water on the days after I do that Mamma Mia squat workout because my thighs are so sore that sitting on the toilet becomes an Experience.

I want to be strong because I like feeling strong and I like being capable and living alone also kind of demands a certain level of competency in order to not have my day interrupted multiple times by a heavy object or task that will require squatting to complete. When I lift weights, it's for the future me who will have an easier time putting away dishes.

When I lift weights it's also to help me lift my bags into the overhead bins, it's to help me carry my vegetables, it's to make it much easier to buy my cat food en masse instead of having to do it bit-by-bit. Going down in size or weight is actually not the goal, longevity of life is the goal regardless of what size pants I'm wearing while I do it.

There has been so much body negativity online. Especially heartbreaking when it comes from accounts who just a few years ago gained their following by being positive and speaking with love about their larger bodies. But I just...I can't keep hating my body or myself for having this body. I've only got this one body and it does genuinely incredible things for me everyday.

I'm so grateful that I find it easy to go to sleep/stay asleep. I'm so grateful that my body interprets music through dance regardless of tempo or genre. I'm so so so grateful that when I'm faced with an odd object I manage to move it.

We're doing it everyone! One day and one dance workout/dumbbell workout at a time!

July 27

Back at it again with the dance workouts!

Today's playlist was this one and then I finished it off with half of this one (again).

I went really hard on the song Barbie Girl for whatever reason and tried to actually jump around as much as possible throughout because I'm determined to get my heartrate into the "peak" category for longer than 1% of the workout and this is why giving me numbers to compete with myself over is both bad and good.

July 29

I woke up really annoyed at myself because last night I made some not-so-smart late night snacking decisions before passing out for two hours on my couch and then having to do all my night routine stuff at midnight and finally getting to bed at 1am and since I was away last week, BooBoo currently likes to make her presence known around 6am and then when I finally did wake up 4real and roll out of bed I for whatever reason decided today would be a good day to tap back into Pod Save America because idk I wanted to see how the centrists are currently talking circles around their two year long display of willful ignorance/ineptitude and then I got so upset I couldn't concentrate so I decided to do a morning workout.

I was going to lift weights but then I had a really good sports bra on and I moved the living room table so it seemed worth it to use that space and DANCE.

Also, just since I'm getting it all out there, my fucking watch paused at some point during the workout (and definitely when my heart rate was highest because I noticed it was paused when I went to see where my rate was) so I definitely worked out for longer than I had planned because I then still had to hit the arbitrary number I had set my workout clock for. But whatever, that's not like a bad thing but I love data and am annoyed!

Anyway, I did this dance playlist (all the way through until the cool down) and then I switched to their Lada Gaga/Dua Lipa only playlist and did that for like 6 songs + the cooldown. I wish the Gaga dances were like 1.5x speed, y'know? It's good choreo but the beats are just so sloooowww sometimes. But I had a good time and then I stood in front of a fan until I was cool enough to shower, had a cold shower because it's summer, then I stood in front of a different fan while I blow dried my hair because its 110 degrees out there today so we are STAYING COOL.

Okay well, writing all of this was cathartic and I'm glad that even if I'm still getting my shit together around my like overall eating habits it's really nice that my brain now goes "hey why don't you workout instead of stewing in anger and scrolling twitter" because that is actually way better/actually helpful especially when I'm too upset at the world to function.

July 31

Okay I did a different weight lifting video today and uhhhhhhhhhh reverse lunges are my nemesis? I've maybe never gotten THIS sweaty within a 20 minute workout?

And I was soooo proud of myself and then TWEAKED my shoulder during the cool down. I stopped doing the stretch as soon as I realized but uh, yeah, not ideal!!!! Injuries are sooo annoying because they're very human but also like, how dare my body betray me in this way! And to lose it on the COOL DOWN? How embarrassing.

My shoulder feels okay today though (surprise! I'm writing this on August 1st!) but my quaaaaads are killlliiiiing meeeeee.

I also went for a 40 minute walk RIGHT before the terrential rain in Brooklyn yesterday and nothing nothing nothing makes me happier than carrying a bouquet around before I get to give it to it's intended recipient. One of the most redeeming qualities of Seattle is how many people in the summer are carrying around beautiful bouquets! Almost tricked me into moving there!

I love walking and I love going for walks and I love that my watch is screaming at me to take it easy and continues to give me a hilariously low "Daily Readiness" score even thought I'm sleeping a ton more this week than weeks past. Ah well.

August 1 - August 4

Walked a lot! Usually hit over 10k steps! Walked with good posture and no bag on my shoulder! Walk walk walk walk walk.

I love to walk in the mornings instead of getting back into bed. I love feeling like I'm getting to see my favorite city before it's really awake yet. I love to listen to my little podcasts and toodle around and pretend I have no responsibilities.

I love to go on walks and get a drink, I love buying my friends little gifts, I love when I walk around and get home right before the rainstorm.

Walks!!!!!

August 5

Since last week this routine absolutely kicked my ass (or, more specifically, my glutes) once my body had recovered via persistent-yet-gentle walks, it was time to do it again!

I have to make sure I'm not using my back on some of these moves but overall I do find this one to be highly challenging but really fun.

Getting my legs back into the best shape they can be in is a fun new challenge! So many squats! So much tensing as I stand up!

I'm so so so glad I got better at breathing before I started doing weights because I can actually understand the whole "breathe into the muscle" thing being described.

August 6

Loosening up all my joints and wiggling around for a while is always the best way to recover. $20/month is about to become too steep for my wallet, which has lead me to cancel this membership despite having fun with it. I do think that making my playlist of dances that are free/available/that I actually enjoy will be a good call. Might also get a years pass to JustDance again too since that definitely works (does it become repetetive? yes! but I like the scores, so.) but am enjoying running out the clock for now.

Today I did this dance playlist! It was fine, some of the dances were definitely fast and fun, I overextended my elbow pretty early so I had to be careful not to just fling my limbs around. Sometimes I really wish they would do a better job of working out both arms/sides equally, they definitely favor the right side which happens all the time in dance but is annoying during a dance workout. Sometimes during the long periods of posing-during-the-song I just do repetitive arm workouts to the beat.

Anyway, fun!

August 7

Okay well the first time I did this weight workout it felt impossible and now it feels way more possible but also I definitely need to pay really close attention to my posture and making sure I'm doing correct like...arm placements and not lifting with my back and stuff.

Also I need to remember to COOL DOWN and that's part of the workout too!!

August 10

Double duty today!

I cleaned my apartment in the morning and then did weights and a dance workout and honestly I can feel my quads getting stronger in the past few weeks and that's very fun!!

I did this for weights:

and this playlist for the dancing. It was fun! I disregarded their entire choreo to Missy Elliot's Lose Control and just did my own because ahhhh best song EVER it still rips all these years later yaaay!

And this was the warmup song and it's my favorite warmup to do!

Okay that's it for today yaaay sweating!

I've never done something like this before, but I do think adding some sort of practice to this routine is important, if nothing else because I like looking back at lists and seeing evolutions and I am tired of feeling like I can Get It Together but I can't Keep It Together.

I won't be sending this out as a weekly post. I thought about just posting it and not sending it, but there's an added layer to making a the intention public. I'm honestly just much more likely to follow-through! So that feels worth it!

What I will be doing, is updating it regularly! And if you'd like to pass along any free video suggestions, please do!

I will be getting back into longer zen yoga for the next few days but I almost always try and end every workout with stretching and this Yoga With Adrienne one is a faaaave:

Reworking my relationship to Working Out by understanding it as a greater Life Thing instead of keeping it in a weight loss category that–frankly–I still don't know how to healthily engage with and therefore won't be! Numbers are a no-go for me and therefore won't be introduced to this process this time! Step counts are already something my brain really latches onto (the average tabs are mean don't let me play with math I WILL become competitive with my past self in a way that makes me feel weird!) so beyond "I feel good/exhausted/satisfied/sore" I don't plan to analyze Myself. (or, more importantly, my body!)

Okay well, here's the funniest Sweaty Selfie I've taken recently (it was after a Pilates workout that I was INCREDULOUS about the difficulty of!)

And I'm out! (But will be back!)