Gadgets and gizmos aplenty

When I was a kid, and even in high school, I despised any kind of physical activity. I was grateful to get out of swim class, or to be able to walk the track during gym instead of playing flag football. However, I don't know what happened, but after I started college, I became interested in exercising. I remember doing some workouts at home from TV shows—Bodies in Motion with Gilad Janklewicz (or however you spell his name, and can you believe, I think he's STILL making these shows?!?), and then there was another one called Boot Camp or something that his sister hosted. I did them both, plus some Denise Austin shows.

Then, my friend Kim and I joined the local gym called Living Well Fitness Center. I remember struggling on the stationary bikes to go for even 10 minutes. I also remember taking my first aerobics class there, as well as learning how to use the weight machines. But then they went out of business, and I went back to working out in my home. I had a Kathy Smith VHS tape from eons ago. I wish I could find that now. I remember those outfits and crazy 80s hair! And then came the step, and more Kathy Smith tapes, and then DVDs. I joined another gym for a while when Jack and I lived in Westview. It was 5 minutes from our house, and I would get up early in the morning and go before work. But then we moved to Whitehall, and I was back to doing DVDs in the basement.

Several years ago, I remember my Aunt Bev talking to me about how she and Uncle Bob started walking every day, and that they were able to lose weight doing this. I decided to give it a try, and so now, in addition to DVDs that I use, I also try to get out (weather permitting) at least three times a week and go for a 30 minute walk/jog.

These days, my workout routines consist of DVDs from Kathy Smith, The Firm, and Chalene Johnson (Turbo Jam), as well as the walk/jog, and always a 10 minute ab routine. I've also been doing Zumba once a week since September. This is a Latin dance style aerobics class, and it's a lot of fun, and a pretty good workout, too. I try to work out 6 days a week, but sometimes it ends up being only 5. Last year, I worked out 75% of the days of the year. Yes, I'm insane and I track this on a calendar in my basement. Recently, I started attending personal training sessions with my Zumba instructor. I do it along with two to three other women from Zumba. It's fun, and she pushes me in ways I would never push myself at home.

So what's the new gizmo, you're asking? It's called a bodybugg. It's like an armband that has sensors in it; these sensors detect different things going on in your body (and it's a pedometer, too) to determine how many calories you are burning as the day goes on. There's a little wristband receiver that looks like a watch that the armband talks to. The receiver is what shows you how much you've burned. If you're like me and are tracking what you eat, you'll easily be able to monitor whether you're intake is more than you're burning. After tracking my food for so long on and off, I tend to have a sense of how many calories I'm eating throughout the day, so even if I weren't keeping a food diary, I think knowing how much I'm burning would be useful data.

Well, look at me go. My first day of blogging and I've already posted twice. I must have had a lot to say. I plan to post once more for the day, to document how the day went for me in terms of my diet and exercise. But maybe I'll be too tired. Time will tell.