This is a compensated post by BlogHer and EA Sports Active.

I went to dinner with a friend, whom I will call The World’s Biggest Skeptic. I love her, but she has a tendency to call things out, like openly examining the bedazzled jeans I’ve squeezed into that should have stayed on the rack. She also hates video games, burned after years of her husband playing whatever sport that makes him yell like an irritated panda.

I was trying to explain the EA Sports isn’t a game and there are no mad pandas: it’s a workout. She was still unconvinced by my initial explanation so I continued and here’s what I told her:

It’s cheaper than your latte habit. For a workout program that’s less expensive than a dozen grande lattes combined, it offers a variety of exercises like in-line skating, volleyball, tennis and dancing. I don’t enjoy every latte I have, sometimes it’s burnt or there’s too much foam but with EA Sports Active, I consistently enjoy it. I pick up the remote, secure the leg strap on and thirty minutes later I get a buzz no double tall vanilla latte has ever given me.

You can work out at home. We both have young kids and one of the biggest deterrents to working out are, as I mentioned previously, the work it takes to transport yourself to a work out. With EA Sports Active all you have to do is roll out of bed. It’s easy to work out while my son plays with his books and toys. I don’t have to worry about his screaming in the daycare or how long I have before my daycare hour runs out. And if I do it before he wakes up or after he’s gone to bed, that’s even less I have to worry about.

You are an active participant. The personal trainer in EA sports doesn’t forget about you. I’ve taken a moment or three to drink water or adjust the leg strap and Delilah, the name I’ve given my personal trainer, says, it’s okay to take a break. When I’m not holding the remote correctly, her words will flash on the screen, telling me, hey is your nunchuck inserted correctly? Most likely it’s no, because I am an exercise Luddite and luckily I have Delilah on my side.

No one yells at you. My friend the skeptic and I have both had the grueling PE teachers who didn’t care that we were expected to burst with hulk-like upper body strength despite only given thirty minutes a week to hone our muscles. My trainer Delilah only has soothing words when I’m having difficulty with alternating side lunges or my forehand swing and she totally praises me when I conquer inline skating and FYI: I don’t just conquer, I seek and destroy.

You will sleep better. I have had trouble sleeping in the past, night when my mind races faster than one of those psychics in the movie Scanners. After the first workout, I noticed that I was sleeping more soundly, my body resting instead of pulling me out of slumber at three am so I am wide awake and trolling YouTube for all the R&B videos from 1996.

I don’t know if the reasons were cogent enough to sway my friend, but if she does pick up her own EA Active Sports, I’m going to be at her house in no time, ready to for a fitness match with my longtime friend.

Are you a fitness skeptic? If so, what do you need to win you over? Would a video of my working out for twenty minutes convince you it’s not so bad? Well, then, here you go:

Working out with EA Sports Active from mona on Vimeo.

This is a compensated post by BlogHer and EA Sports Active.

Now that we’ve reached the second half the 30-day Challenge, it’s easy to squash the piercing sounds of The Old Mona, the voice that would say, “Go easy today. You deserve it.” That’s where it starts. I would think, lighten up today, or go ahead and eat the leftover cake that’s in the office fridge, you are entitled. Since working out with EA Active, I have a new voice running in my head. One that says, “You deserve to be healthy, to have enough energy to keep up with your toddler.”

At a work retreat, we were given the most delectable chocolate cake with whipped cream and raspberry topping. I know it was delicious because I had a bite, but ended at that. I did not eat the whole cake, like the Old Mona would. I didn’t want to negate all the work I had invested, making it easier for the Old Mona to say, “Why workout at all now?” I also wanted to fill the interior of the room with my shouting, “I DID NOT EAT THE WHOLE CAKE!” but I’m sure the facilitator would have included an emergency session on how to control our outbursts.

Not only has keeping to a 30-day routine been great for an inherently lazy person like me; it gives me a deadline every day. Every day I contribute to my goal, every day I get closer to a person I want to be. I have seen how my shirts have started fitting better, the tightness around the arms giving room to the body wearing it. Clothing that welcomes a smaller version of me, however slight the change, is a huge motivation for me to keep going.

I’m not cringing at the workouts selected, even though I definitely favor the punching bag over the tennis. Instead of just skipping over alternating side lunges, I give it my whole grunting, sweaty effort. I can’t believe that at 26 years old, I finally understand what my teachers meant by, “You’re only cheating yourself.” Now I can add to that mantra, that if I do not give every attempt at a solid workout, I am only cheating myself, and I am going to wear maternity jeans another day.

I know the old me is a constant force that looms and hovers over, but the more I work out with EA Active, the easier it is to keep that voice at bay. If I don’t work out, then I will revert to my old ways–barely exerting more energy than what it takes to get my body from the doorstep to the bus stop, or a shorter route, from the couch to the fridge. I don’t want to be the woman that sleeps under her desk. I don’t want to be the woman who can’t get through a conversation without yawning wide like a baboon. Every time that I pick up the Wii remote, I get further and further away from that possibility. I like the woman who is sitting here, typing this, ready to tell you that this works.

In two weeks, when I have reached the end of this 30-Day Challenge, I am going to reward myself with something that isn’t food. No celebratory cake or heavy milkshake, I’m thinking a dress, something that will make all the lunges, squats, and laps worth it.

How do you reward yourself?

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