No Pain = No Gain

So I've made it 10-days without diet coke and mostly healthy eating (see wicked unhealthy weekend [and I swear I'm not REALLY a new-englander])... Surprisingly that's the really easy part as long as I can put down my foot with my family/pick healthier choices when I'm out with my friends.

Exercise, however, never ceases to be hard. I started out sticking to mostly in-door workouts (the Wii fit or Riding the Wave [cheesy yes, but it's burning calories]) because of the weather. Plus, trying to make sure I'm doing it right helps to distract from the pain more often than not.

Unfortunately, coordination is not my strong suit. I feel like as I start a work out I'm coherent and strong and focused and then the longer it goes on the more my brain seems to lose concentration. My arms and legs end up going every which way until I look like I'm doing the chicken-dance.

I always imagine that this fuzzy brain feeling has something to do with diving blood sugar numbers, but that's NEVER the case. It's always stable/coasting or much higher than I expect it to be. It's a blue moon when I need to treat a low while I'm exercising.

So I wonder: How do you keep your focus when working out? How often does that fuzzy brain feeling set in while you're exercising? and most importantly, does the big bad D make you less coordinate?

ALSO: Any recommendations for protein powder without artificial sweeteners / sugar?