There's No Place Like Home (10 reasons to love the at-home workout)

1. No checking the weather and assessing what attire should be worn. No considering the time of day and wondering if the gym will be crowded.

2. I can wear whatever I want. I can work out in my underwear or in a heinously mismatched ensemble or those extremely inappropriately short tight shorts that I bought without trying on that say "you are too old to be wearing THAT" all over them. All those socks that have no match can be worn for the at-home workout too.

3. I can bake and do laundry. I can turn this whole thing into an interval cardio session if I work things the right way.

4. If I watch TV, I have more variety at home. On-demand episodes of Sister Wives, Intervention, and My Fair Wedding (I know, I should be ashamed of myself) are not available at the gym.

5. I know the bathroom is totally acceptable for use- unlike the boardwalk bathrooms where I run or the gym bathroom where it's kind of hit-and-miss as far as cleanliness and toilet paper likeliness.

6. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE TO DITCH. As a runner, if it's pouring or too late or too windy I can justify delaying a run. If I only have 45 minutes and the gym is 10 minutes away (and therefore another 10 minutes to get home) I can decide that the time constraint is too tight and not go. Working out at home doesn't allow any excuses. 20 minutes? Interval training. 30 minutes? Cardio. 45 minutes or more? Cardio/strength/core, etc. Do not tell me you don't have at least 20 minutes every day to invest in your health.

7. I can test out new things without being "stuck" if they don't work for me. Different shoes or clothes- I can just stop and change if a wedgie is persistent or if shoes don't feel right. And I can try new methods and ditch them if I think they're lame. (Unlike the Yoga class I took at the gym last week- I was painfully agonizingly bored, unchallenged, and FREEZING but didn't want to leave abruptly. What a waste of an hour of my life just to spare offending or upsetting anyone.)

8. My kids see that it's a regular, essential part of life. We don't do it when we have time. We make the time to do it. And we do it even when we'd rather be doing something else.

9. It makes me LOVE running outside that much more. The monotony of the elliptical makes me cherish every moment of being outside in the elements on real terrain.

10. When I'm done, I can rehydrate with a glass of Stop and Shop diet grape soda. It is only sold in a 2 liter bottle. So there is really no option of bringing a single serving anywhere with me.