I'm gonna pump me up.

Once upon a time I was a really active kid. I rode horses, I danced, I climbed trees. I may not have been strong, but I had a body that worked and worked well.

Fast forward fifteen years to a 26-year-old wife and mother who, aside from her average-American-sedentary-life, has a chronic disease that causes muscle wasting. Put those things together and you have a tragically, pathetically, ridiculously weak person who struggles to pick up her 28lb preschooler--also someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired and weak.

But I hated to exercise. Like, every fiber in my body hates those traditional cardio workouts like running or elliptical-ing. Like, I would rather eat an oatmeal stuffed onion dipped in dirt. But conventional wisdom says that you have to do some form of cardio exercise or you lose forever. So I tried some things. And promptly said, "never again."

That's when my husband showed me an article about a gal named Staci. This Staci was lifting weights, and not the pink 5lb dumbells that every Women's Magazine says are just perfect for me. She was lifting hundreds of pounds! And she was not like one of those lady body builders that look like they eat nails for breakfast. (I mean, to each his own but they are a little bit scary.) But, I was dubious. So for a year I continued to do nothing.

Then David found a new weight lifting program that consists of two workouts with three exercises each. It starts you at the very lightest you can go and with every workout you add 5lbs until you can add no more. Than you do some math and start over again, but this time not at the very lightest. (I'm not really sure how that part works yet, since neither of us have "stalled" yet.) And because I was finally determined to get into shape, and then gave me a starting place...I started.

I, who has never been able to do a pull up or push up or any other kind of "up," have started to lift weights, and my goal is to lift heavy.

It's been one week. Three workouts.

I started with a 10lb bar (someday I'm going to use that 45lb bar that David uses...) and have progressed with every workout. Here's a breakdown!

Workout A - Week 1
Squats. I couldn't do the squats with a 10lb bar, so I just did body weight squats. Turns out, a proper squat is really hard because DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR DOWN YOU HAVE TO GO OMG? . So I did: Body weight x 5 x 5. (You wanna learn something? You track your progress like this: weight x sets x reps. So, now you'll know what I'm talking about for the next few paragraphs!)
Bench Press. 10 x 5 x 5.
Barbell Row. 10 x 5 x 5.

And I felt amazing! I loved it! My muscles were gloriously tired and I was hella sore the next day. (I'll give you a moment to facepalm my use of the word "hella" which I think is a hilarious word. Much like "totes" and "cray cray.")

So, because I needed David to help me learnt the next workout, and he wouldn't have time for five days, I went ahead and did the same workout again a few days later.

Squats: 5 x 5 x 5 (I managed to add a weight plate to my workout so yay!)
Bench Press: 15 x 5 x 5
Barbell Row: 15 x 5 x 5

I just finished Workout B...and it's a killer! Whew. Man. But I feel great and I can feel lit-trally every muscle in my body.

Workout B - Week 2
Squats. 10 x 5 x 5.  I used my little bar this time! So hurray!
Overhead Press. 10 x 5 x 5.
Deadlift. 60 x 1 x 5. With this exercise you lift considerably more than any other, but you don't lift it nearly as many times. That one is...wow.

So. I did it! I started! And I like it. A lot. It feels good.

But now I am tired. (Imagine me saying that like "Ah am tarrrrrred," because that's how I say it.)