OK, first the confession: my plan to join in on the morning fitness scheduled at Blissdom? Didn’t happen. I have no one to blame by myself for that, too.

The first morning, I mistakenly set my alarm for PM instead of AM, so it didn’t go off and my body took full advantage of the extra sleep. The second morning, I was feeling unwell after a night full of rich foods and way too much wine, so I chose to sleep in and rest my poor angry stomach.

In my defense, I do work third shift, so mornings are usually the worst time ever to ask me to be awake.

The good news is that despite the lack of formal exercise, and despite being surrounded by a non-stop array of delicious foods (Blue Bunny ice cream! Lobster bisque from Red Lobster!) I didn’t gain a pound while in Nashville. I did eat plenty of good food, but the Gaylord Opryland is practically a city within itself, so you have to walk a mile to get anywhere. I may not have been in a group fitness class, but I logged a lot of distance in my shoes!

But this week, oh, I’m gonna be served some serious penance. You see, last month Groupon ran a special for a 6 week bootcamp program offered by Body by Todd here in Columbus. It includes two 1-hour sessions a week, with the promise of serious results if you stick with the program. The deal was too good to pass up (seriously, it was like 90% off the usual price!), so I bought it.

On Saturday I went for my “fitness evaluation” which was really more an orientation of the facility and how they operate. It was a little frightening. I mean, the facility is very nice, and the trainers seem dedicated to helping people reach their goals, but it sounds…hard.

Everyone has to bring a Gatorade to their first three sessions in case we feel any nausea and need to get our blood sugar up right away. We also bring our own towels and were told that we will be dripping with sweat. Wet with sweat and a threat of vomiting – sounds like lots of fun, right?

I’m aware this will be hard. However, I rarely make enough time to take care of myself, choosing instead to let other things get in the way of my needs. For the next 12 weeks (I bought 2 of the Groupons), I have two classes that I’m scheduled to attend, and I will attend them because I’ve paid for them and won’t let that money go to waste. At the bare minimum I will have two hard workouts each week, with the hopes that I’ll squeeze in some workouts at home in addition.

And during the fitness evaluation, the trainer was reviewing my materials and saw my goal weight listed. My weigh-in weight was 181, and I wrote 155 as my goal weight. She looked me up and down for a moment, then said, “Hmm, you want to get to 155? Well, I’m going to list your goal weight as 155-162. At 155, you’ll be SKINNY!”

I nearly laughed. 155 is considered the top of the “normal” BMI range for my height. I’ve always seen it as my “wouldn’t it be nice, but not dreaming too big” goal, because I figured I’d still be heavy at that weight, just not quite as bad. Hearing her say I’d be skinny at 155 made me feel really good about that goal, or even getting near it.

I’ll report back after my torture tonight – it’s my first bootcamp session. Here’s hoping I don’t vomit or pass out!

Keeping up a workout routine and good eating habits is hard enough when you’re in your normal environment of home and work. You can select what foods you bring to work. You know when you have free time to work out. You select what foods go in your cart at the grocery.

But when you’re away from home at a conference or on vacation? All bets are usually off.

Not this time.

I’m leaving this morning for Blissdom, and not only am I excited about attending the conference again, meeting up with great friends and having a fantastic time in the Gaylord Opryland Biodome, I’ve also signed up for morning fitness sessions.

Say what?

Yes. I’m going to get up way too early – ON PURPOSE – and drag my (likely) underslept self out of my room to exercise. Willingly. Twice.

Maybe this has become a lifestyle change? Or maybe I just want to get in a good workout to justify the extra calories I will be consuming while at the conference? Either way, I’m going to make sure I’m at each workout to ensure I don’t completely derail my progress in one trip.

I just hope I don’t look too bad when I’m red-faced and gasping for air in my frayed workout gear.