A Workout for the Exercise Challenged

I hate to exercise. And I resent that losing weight and keeping it off just about REQUIRES me to do some form of exercise.

I have a Fitness Flyer which I've tried to be diligent about getting on for 20 minutes a day. But given the chance, I will find just about any excuse to not exercise.

And I've tried taking exercise videos out of the library with the sincere hope that I'll find one that I really like where the cheeky host doesn't grate on my nerves in the first five minutes. Not an easy task. All those skinny, perky former cheerleaders who never struggled a day in their lives to maintain a single digit size....and the class participants with the same MO is enough to make me want to strangle each and everyone of them. UGH.

Last month, Claire, over at Burning the Scale, posted a blog entry about a promotion that Wrigley was doing in conjunction with the Biggest Loser. The Gumisgood.com web site wanted to know how gum had helped you in your weight loss efforts. Well, this was right up my alley since chewing gum has been one of the constants in my efforts. Keeps me from the vending machine.

So I signed up, told them my little story and in response, they sent me a gift of a water bottle, a pedometer, 5 packs of gum and a Biggest Loser workout DVD. Pretty cool, huh?

But remember...I hate to exercise.

But it was free. So first I took it out of the plastic...then it sat on my nightstand for 3 or 4 days.

Well, today I finally decided to give it a try. And I was REALLY pleasantly surprised.

Instead of the usual one-size-fits-all workout that is usually on things like this, there are 9 different segments to choose from. The opening menu allows you to chose which segments you want so your workout, not only doesn't have to be the same every day but you don't have to spend your time forwarding between segments in the middle of a workout.

The segments are:
Warm Up (5 min)
Low Intensity Cardio (15 min)
Boot Camp (15 min)
Functional Flexibility (10 min)
Cool Down (5 min)

You can also choose a High Intensity Cardio (10 min) or Power Sculpt (10 min)..one for Men...one for Women.

For my first time out, I chose the Warm up, Boot Camp and the Cool Down. (After I had done 15 minutes on the Flyer).

Best part of the whole thing? Bob Harper (the trainer) didn't annoy me. And the participants on the video were former Biggest Loser contestants. NO skinny perky cheerleader types. Real people. Real sizes. Very refreshing.

I'll try it again tomorrow with a different mix. And perhaps I'm on to something. We'll see.

Stay tuned for less of me.