February 20, 2005 1:35 pm

Exercising Dilemma

:note: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – “One Tin Soldier”

I attempted to be healthy today. I got up and found my Pilates DVD that I’ve never used (I watched part of it to get a feel of what it was like, but I hadn’t actually done the exercies yet) and my yoga mat and exercised along with the DVD. I actually played the thing twice, because after the first time I still wanted to do more stretching. I didn’t do everything the second time through, but I did the first time. It felt really nice.

When I was in aerobics in high school (no regular P.E. for me, no sir) I used to love Fridays because it was either a Pilates day or a Yoga day. I love stretching.

I think this carries over from gymnastics. Actually, I’m almost sure it does. I loved being able to put my nose on my knees during the pike stretches and being able to put my tummy on the ground during the straddle stretch. I used to be really flexible and I liked to show it off. :roll:

By the summer after Junior year, my Recreational-Optional team (Rec-Op) had dwindled to me and about three other girls, who gradually stopped coming. For a while, my classes consisted of just me and my coach, Miles. That was really fun, because we could just work out together and sort of do whatever we wanted, like spend an hour trying to get one crazy move down. Then, at the end of the summer, my beloved gymnastics coach Miles moved away to go to college :tear: and the gym closed for the month of August (the owner thought the coaches needed “a break” :grumbly: ). When it re-opened, none of the girls from Rec-Op were continuing to go, and I had no coach. Reluctantly, I stopped going.

Gymnastics is just one of those things, presumably like ice-skating, where if you’re over the age of about 12, there’s not really much for you unless you go pro. I wasn’t bad, but I was certainly not good enough to do it professionally, that’s for sure. That’s why Rec-Op was created – it was a way for those of us who were about 15-16 years old to still work out and go to competitions. Eventually though, most of the girls lost interest and/or started going to a gym 45 minutes away because it was better. I don’t blame them, really, but it meant that my class ended up just being me and Miles.

I wish I could find a gym in Portland to go to, but I know I’d have to drive there (I don’t have a car) and it’d be expensive (I don’t have the money to pay for it). Lame. :sad:

I find that I don’t like exercise much unless it’s self-imposed. I can run on a treadmill for half an hour, but tell me to walk up a hill for exercise and I’ll probably tell you to F- off. I would probably never go jogging for exercise, but give me an elliptical machine and I’ll elliptical my little heart out. Daniel says I’m like a hamster. I’m not somebody that gets excited about taking the stairs instead of the elevator, because that isn’t “excercise,” that’s having to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. I have to have my exercise be designated as such or else I’m not motivated to do it.

With that said, I’m going to embark on a late new-years resolution. I’m going to drink a lot more water (I already have an awesome Nalgene water bottle for this purpose) and I’m going to try to exercise regularly (at least three times a week). I’d vow to eat healthier, but that’s really hard to do on a college budget – fresh/healthy food is really freakin’ expensive. And cooking is a total pain in the ass here. So I’m going to start small. I ate an apple for breakfast today. :)

Has anybody else tried Pilates? Did it work well for you? Did you go to a class or did you work out at home with a tape? Anything that might help me along?

Also, you’re totally going to laugh at me (I would), but I want this:
thightrainer

It’s called the “Lateral Thigh Trainer,” and I saw it (laugh all you want) on an infomercial when I was at home over x-mas break. Learn more about it here. The movement is much like rollerblading, kinda side-to-side. It’s only $100 with $15 shipping, and I’m really freakin’ tempted. It’s small, so it would work well where I’m living because space is totally an issue. I’d be inclined to use it, because I don’t have to leave my house and I can watch the accompanying tape or a movie while exercising… I think it’d burn calories more efficiently than just doing Pilates all by itself.

What do you think?

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