Crystal Light Pure Fitness: How Do You Stay Fit?

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Crystal Light Pure Fitness.

Before having the twins, I was a runner. I'd wake myself up every morning before school and run three miles. If it was nice outside, I'd run on the Crescent Trail. Most of the winter, I ran indoors on a treadmill.

Running was how I maintained my weight. It was my stress relief, my alone time, my thinking space. I can't say that I always loved dragging myself down to the gym, but I always loved the afterglow of exercise. I spent a lot of time feeling proud of myself for sucking it up and putting on my sneakers even when I'd rather stay in bed.

My doctor told me to stop running during fertility treatments and I truly didn't know what to do with myself at first. I stopped sleeping at night because I wasn't working out my nervous energy. The weight started creeping up and I felt sluggish. But soon I grew accustomed to having that time back, and once the twins arrived, I couldn't imagine giving up sleep for exercise. Even long after they were sleeping through the night, I could still find a better way to spend my time rather than running in place.

In the six years since I gave up running, my body has changed drastically and unhappiness with how I look and feel coupled with the fact that I can't afford a new wardrobe drove me to get back into shape starting last winter. I began with getting a Wii and committing myself to running every day, recording my progress in a small notebook that resides on my desk, reminding me of my commitment to schlep down to the basement and trot around WuHu Island.

So far, it's working. I've been able to stick to a five-day-a-week plan. Part of it is that it's easy--I don't have to leave the house to exercise so I can do it at any time. I even exercised straight through Washington, D.C.'s Snowmageddon since I didn't need to leave my house and get to a gym.

The increase in exercise has increased my water consumption. I've been mixing it up by drinking plain water, water with lemon, unsweetened iced tea, and some samples of Crystal Light Pure Fitness the kind people of Crystal Light sent me for this program.

Some of the weight has come off too. It's slow-going, but I'd rather have it sustainable and have the weight stay off. Beyond that, I'm feeling better and I'm sleeping better and both of those things are just as important as fitting back into my jeans.

So now I'm asking you--how do you stay in shape? Tell me by leaving a comment below. Each comment is an entry in the sweepstakes I'm holding at the end of this four-part series for a $100 gift card. And I'm not the only one running this contest: by clicking here, you also have 4 other chances to win $100 as well as a $1,000 sweepstakes on the round-up page. You can also read more on the official rules page.