“Beauty knows no pain, so what you cryin’ about, girl?”
-Frank Zappa
Quick update: exercise hurts. Running, which I’m used to, isn’t bad at all, but strength training should be somewhere in Dante’s hell. As a punishment for sloth, perhaps? I’m sure I’ll turn out toned and fabulous, but in the meantime ouch!
Yesterday morning after lifting weights, I was putting my makeup on and was more than a little embarrassed to discover my hand was shaking. My eyeliner was a bit dodgy and ragged around the edges, I looked like a raccoon vibrating from a caffeine high. Today just lifting my arm high enough to apply mascara was a chore.
I need a goal to keep me going at 6am on Friday morning instead of whimpering, “Stop the treadmill I want to get off!” Suggestions? My fallback bribe of choice, chocolate, seems counterproductive for some reason. And legally morphine is out.
Small Dog Syndrome 
Feel the burn.
Well dang, I just realized that was the title, yeah, I feel like a moron…
New clothes? New shoes? Dinner at a nice restaurant? If you keep your goal for x weeks or months or something…
When I exercise (or do anything kind of resembling such), I like to reward myself with some wonderful treat including (but not limited to) cookies, ice cream, cake batter or cheesecake. It is a very good system to keep my spare tire nice and round.
p.s. I like your blog’s new look.
Stretch thoroughly before lifting. It may not be apparent by my skinny English rock star image, but I’ve spent quite a lot of time in gyms lifting… Stretching helps! Other than that, you just have to lift consistently three times a week for a while and wait for your muscles to get used to that life style. Then it won’t hurt so much.
Might I suggest the rowing machine. You get all the benefits of weightlifting, but fool your body into thinking you’re doing cardio. It’s a fantastic invention. Although, I think actual rowing would be torture. What gets me to the gym everyday at 5:45am – the knowledge that if I do it now, I’ll actually have time in the evening to read or relax. Good luck!