so much for my excuses . . .

so today . . . i moved my pilates exercise machine downstairs into the family room.
i bought this machine several years ago. i saw it on shopping tv (which i love!) and it looked so easy to use. the thing i liked about it was that you could exercise while sitting or laying down. that sounded do-able to me, so i logged onto the site and gave them my credit card number, and in about a week it showed up at my door.

i was so excited! i was sure this was the answer to my exercise issues. some assembly was required, but all the nuts and bolts went in where they were supposed to, and in no time at all i was ready to sweat! i popped in the instructional dvd and prepared to get into shape.

i used the machine a total of 3 times.

i loved the machine, but there were still issues. first of all, the dvd wasn't the kind that you exercise along with--it just showed you what to do, and then you were supposed to do the exercises on your own. i suppose they thought this would give people flexibility in the kind of work out they chose to do, but for me it meant too much thinking! i couldn't remember the moves, so i would have to watch 2 minutes of the dvd, pause it and do the demonstrated exercise, then go back to the dvd and watch the next move, and then do it, and so on . . . it was just too chopped up to be any fun. when i exercise, i want my mind on autopilot, and all of this deciding what to do next was just not working for me. so, of course, my next step was to go online and try to find a dvd that showed actual work out routines on the machine that i could just follow along with. the problem was, there weren't that many of these machines out there, so there wasn't much of a market for that kind of a dvd.

my next problem was the location. i had assembled it in the extra bedroom upstairs. there was a tv in there, and there was room for me to use the machine, and it was out of the way. i thought this would be perfect--my "work out" room--but it was not. it was too far out of the way, which meant i didn't trip over it and think, "oh yeah, i should use that today." also it felt very isolated, and i was a little claustrophobic when the machine was opened up in that room.

time went on . . .

i always had intentions of putting it somewhere else and memorizing the exercises and using it, because of all the machines i have used, this one is the best! but i got busy, and then i broke my wrist (which was a great excuse for several months!) and then we needed the room.

when i had to move it out of the extra bedroom, i didn't know where i was going to put it. considering i had only used it three times, there are those who would say i should get rid of it. but i wanted to use it--i just couldn't seem to get started. so i moved it to the end of the upstairs hallway temporarily (which turned out to be more than a few months) where i saw it every day and thought, "i really need to move that downstairs . . ."

and so tonight it came downstairs. i found a place for it in the family room. i have dusted it off and tried it out, and i think i will like having it here. it doesn't look pretty, but i think having it staring me in the face every evening as i watch tv will encourage me to get on it and at least do a few things. because i have decided that it doesn't really matter how i use this machine--everything i do will benefit some part of me. who needs an instructional dvd anyway . . .