Evolution and Resurrection

A few days ago, Megara recommended a series of exercise videos she thought I might enjoy. This got me thinking, because it's Sunday today, about Sunday sorts of things like evolution and resurrection.

Well, not The Resurrection, per se. More like resurrected things.

Like these weights I asked a loved one to give me for Christmas a few years ago. I'd like to resurrect them.

You never want to give your spouse this kind of gift for Christmas unless they specifically ask for it.

Most people only make this mistake once.

I haven't found my weights yet, but I did dig up my Jane Fonda Workout tape.

"Are you ready to do The Workout?"

Yes, Jane. Hit it.

We were friends.

If you wanted to look like her you wore the whole outfit: leg warmers, footless colored tights, striped leotard with babydoll sleeves. I did. Wear the outfit, I mean. Except, my hair color was the only part of me that ever really looked like her.

I still have the outfit if you ever want to borrow it.

My next get-in-shape era included a set of 7 Winsor Pilates tapes that began with The Basics.


If you preferred, you could start with The 20-Minute Workout and move on to The Bun and Thigh Workout or

The Ab Sculpting Workout,

or The Upper Body Sculpting Workout.

It was a beautiful thing, pilates on tape.

You never had to leave home and you could exercise in your Skivvies, but I never did.

Wear Skivvies, I mean.

I'm not that kind of girl. I wore my Jane Fonda suit.

I bought all of these pilates videos, oh, maybe ten (or seventeen ) years ago and have yet to try the Accelerated Body Sculpting one:

Well, I suppose, to be absolutely honest with you, I should disclose that I don't remember doing any of the videos except The Basics. And maybe the 20-Minute Workout.

It would be fair to say that Advanced Body Slimming would be over my head at this point:

A person can get super deals on these if she's really looking.

I'm always so motivated to exercise when I'm out looking.

Like when I got this video at Costco:

This is its PG-rated video cover. The one I actually bought was more like R-rated so I hid it from my husband because I didn't want him making any comparisons. Not that he would. But still.

I have always tried to err on the side of caution.

I don't remember ever doing Buns and Abs of Steel either, but I did run across this Simply Pilates multipack a year or two later. It came with 26 flash cards, a dvd and a booklet.

I was taken in by the flashcards. Flashcards call my name.

Because they know I'm a teacher.

Maybe I'll open them tomorrow and see what they look like.

My most recent purchase was this 3 in 1 Exercise Ball: The Complete Collection.

I actually bought it right after Christmas and my husband found it in my car about 10 days ago.

I had been wondering for some time what was in that pile in the back seat.

Apparently he didn't want it in there when we picked up our friends to take them to dinner. Apparently.

In fairness to myself in my latest efforts to get fit, I did lose 1.5 pounds in my first week, and I'll be weighing in at school again on Tuesday to see how my second week went.

And walking on this every day.
Which brings us to the current evolution of my ever-endangered, precariously-perched-on-the-edge-of-extinction workout routine.

One of my colleagues at school is using the following exercise plan. I think he found it on the internet. If I can't find my weights, I think this will be a good alternative:

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb. potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb. potato bags. Then try 50-lb. potato bags and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb. potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.) After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

This concludes my Sabbath thoughts on evolution and resurrection. Thanks for reading.