Bottoms Up! Time to Shape Up

In 1994 I bought this book by Joyce Vedral on getting in shape.  I do not typically purchase how-to or self improvement type books, but I was in school pursuing my A.S. in Accounting and my second child had just turned one.  Twelve months of carrying the extra baby weight was quite enough.  

One course I enrolled in was Physical Fitness.  I no longer needed physical education courses for my degree, but wanted to learn how to get in better shape.  I had this class two days per week, but all others were three.  I would workout my required time and put in extra time on Friday, when I had a free period.  But I wanted more.  In comes the book.  Bottoms Up! still is a book I would recommend.  I read this book cover to cover and still have my copy.  Joyce Vedral talks about losing inches without bulking up.  Lose fat while building muscle and you could look better at 50 than you did at 25.

I am a firm believer in measuring success in inches and how my clothes feel rather than watching the scale.  I do not own a scale and care very little in knowing my actual weight.  If it is 140 and I feel good, then I am okay with that.  Generally I tend to gravitate towards 125, but am not married to that number.  It is just a number, after all.

Fast forward to a two, maybe three, years ago.  I found my copy of Bottoms Up! and thought it would be far more helpful if there was a DVD or something showing me these exercises.  I really did not want to do this incorrectly.  I found the DVD’s, purchased them, and put them away.  Yes, that is right, I bought exercise videos and did not use them.  Until now.  Do not get too excited.  Joyce’s videos are sort of boring.  She knows it and does not care.  It is about getting in shape and staying that way.  

So, now I am trying to get my slant board into the garage and out of the basement.  The basement is too dark for me to enjoy exercising to someone who will get me into shape but does not care how exciting the getting there is.  But, she does use light dumbbells and a slant board and the garage would work out quite nicely for me in this regard.

Today I did my Winsor Circle Pilates.  This is 20 minutes and it went by almost too quickly.  I love pilates.  I plan to incorporate this into every workout.  The weather is getting nicer already and I want to break out my jump rope for another cardio option.  It is almost time to start the garden and that will be part of my routine as well.  Oh, and I was able to pull up my jeans today.  They are still tight, but I can get them on.  It is a start.  By April I will have them on and comfortable once again (hopefully sooner).