Since I've been nearly pain free (sorry I keep bringing that up, but it just gives me such a rush!), I've been trying to get back my fitness. I have been working out six days a week for the last five weeks. I was so intimidated when I started—my 30th birthday.

No, intimidation isn't a strong enough idea: I was afraid. My first serious post-hysterectomy workout was a five-mile power walk with my cousin about five weeks after surgery. (I don't know how to ease into things.) Two days later I experienced a decent setback in my recovery, and though it would have happened regardless of my activity level, my psyche screamed EXERCISE=BAD! every time I so much as thought about trying to move my body.

I decided to bite the bullet on my birthday because I was tired of being afraid. I was feeling extremely out of shape; I felt awful about myself, so I had to face it (especially on the first day of a new decade). I went to an old friend—Tae Bo. My body is extremely efficient with kickboxing. I'm not sure why that is…maybe it's just that I spent so many years getting most of my exercise from roundhouse kicks and jabs. I was used to kickboxing being my fun workout, the workout that didn't make me swear or cry or do anything uncivilized…the easy workout.

Well, to sum it up, that first hour back with Billy Blanks kicked my butt. My heart was beating so hard that my chest actually felt bruised. I don't know how many times I had to stop and pant! The experience both shamed and motivated me. I was determined to get back to where I was before this mess began.

I stuck primarily with the kickboxing until last week when I threw one of Jillian Michaels' workouts into the mix. In case you don't know this, Jillian Michaels is just as tough on DVD as she was in the Biggest Loser gym. I got through it without issue, but I hurt for days afterwards. Gathering my courage, I decided that tonight I would attempt the hardest workout DVD I own—another Jillian workout.

When Nick and I did P90X last year, everyone told us that "Plyo X" was the hardest, most terrifying and defeating workout on Earth…ever. I ended up doing that workout for the first time by myself (Nick was having a hard time detoxing from his caffeine addiction), and my first reaction after finishing? "Jillian's is harder."

I am so proud to say that after five weeks of hard work, I got through that workout without any problems—none whatsoever. I am finally starting to be more like myself…jogging up flights of stairs at work instead of taking the elevator. Also, I'm finally starting to build back some of the muscle tone I've lost—both through illness and my exclusivity to running throughout most of last year.

Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot of work to do, but I've finally crossed that line where effort becomes the norm, and I feel great.