Winter Motivation

It's hard to motivate yourself to keep jogging through the winter, well, at least it is for me.  Today it was -2C (28F) and 2 weeks ago it was -3C (26F).  Do you know how hard it is for a Florida native to grasp jogging in these temps?!

Some days I have to watch out for ice, today there was frost everywhere, and even a small snow flurry.  It's hard on your breathing, especially for someone with mild asthma like myself.  It takes you twice as long to warm up before you even get going.  You have to buy special clothes, and wear a hat & gloves, there is so much more to think about.  What happen to my fun, motivated, short (30-35 min) jog twice a week to keep fit?

Besides the weather we have been sick off and on for about a month now.  All of this is causing my pace times to go down, down, down.  This is really frustrating, because every time I get out there I want to see improvement.  There has been no improvement since winter hit back in December.

Usually after a month I switch up my playlist and jog/walk times.  Mostly because they have become too easy and I need to step it up.  I haven't adjusted my playlist in a while because I am struggling from beginning to end of the jog.  Finally I realized I just needed to do it, good or bad weather I needed to make it more challenging in order to get over this slump.  So in the weekend I adjusted my playlist, rearranged some songs, added a few, and of course lessened the walking time & increased the amount of time I would jog.  I was a little nervous this morning before starting out.

See, I am taking jogging slowly, especially after injuring myself in the beginning (besides the asthma it is why I still rotate between walking & jogging).  So for me jogging just 30 seconds longer is an accomplishment.  In total I added 1 1/2 minutes to my jogging time with this new playlist.  Today was the first day I was going to jog 5 minutes straight without walking to catch my breath. 

And I did it!  Fog, frost, cold, & nerves, I still did it!!!  And oddly enough, I felt motivated and it wasn't as bad as I expected.  I am really glad I decided to push myself.  Maybe my body will not say that tomorrow, but who cares, I did it!

Any of you had any minor accomplishments lately?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

10 Min Workouts

Looking to firm up your abs in 10 minutes?  What about tighten up your arms?  Well, I have two go to dvd's that help exactly with that.  I've mentioned these pilates dvd's in the past but here 2 years later I'm still turning to them for the in between workouts.

(If you're a little overweight and still fairly fit these workouts are perfect for you.  If you don't exercise regularly or are more than 20lbs overweight they are most likely too hard.)


My go to 10 min ab workout (for the past 10 yrs) is :

Crunch - Pick Your Spot Pilates - Belly

Sure there are other exercises on the dvd but I always start with the ab exercises and depending on time work my way through the other 10 minute exercises like butt, thighs, or total body.







My go to 10 min arm workout is :

10 Minute Solutions - Pilates - Sculpting

This one actually gives you obvious results in your arms.  It doesn't bulk you up but manages to firm your arms and help create a bit of definition.  It also has 4 other 10 minute workouts.







I've tried at least 5 different 10 minute pilates dvd's and I promise the two workouts I mentioned above will give you results within a couple weeks.

At one point pilates was my main form of staying in shape.  These days I try to jog twice a week, and use pilates when I see my arms or abs could use some attention.  Or during the weeks when I know I over ate in the weekend.  The beauty of these 10 minute exercises is that you barely break a sweat, if you even do at all, unlike cardio workouts. 

Unfortunately last weekend we packed up my beloved crosstrainer (elliptical machine) into a storage unit.  But to be fair, I haven't been really using is since I started jogging, plus the weather is too cold for my crosstrainer workouts in our outside shed!  When we eventually get a house we'll be sure to bring it back home and incorporate it into our fitness regime.

Besides jogging & pilates (wow, I almost sound fit but I promise I have 5-10lbs that come and go monthly) I dabble in other home exercise dvds.  I recently just tried some of Jillian Michaels workouts, but I'll save that for a future post.

If you haven't noticed the theme, I like to save money by not having a gym membership.  I can use the same exercise clothes for jogging, pilates, & the crosstrainer.  And equipment I have collected over time as I find them on sale.  I have pretty standard stuff like an exercise mat & light weight dumbbells, and of course a couple fads like the balance board & kettlebell.  All of this keeps me fit for little costs and saves time by being able to do it from home.

What do you do to stay in shape?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Still jogging!

It's hard to believe, but I have kept up with jogging!!!  Rounding off my 4th month of jogging I feel I might be getting the hang of it, because the first few months sure didn't go as planned.  One thing was for sure, I knew I wanted to do it and I was going to figure it out no matter what I had to go through.  It seems so silly, it should just come naturally but it didn't for me.

In the beginning (ok, couple of months) I experienced extreme leg pains, to the point it was even affecting me when not jogging.  I read every article I could find and they all seemed to provide different information.  But after a while I saw the same pattern, shoes, terrain, and stance.  Well, shoes (Asics Trail Tambora 3) were taken care of for my birthday, and as far as terrain, I do my best to jog in woods, asphalt, or stone paths versus the sidewalk.  But this wasn't enough.

I turned to my stepdad who is an avid jogger and he said I needed to think about compression, wrapping my legs to help with the pain.  Well, I unfortunately don't have time to wrap my legs, see, I squeeze jogging into my schedule twice a week and it can't take up anymore time than it already does.  Then I remembered when researching shin splints and tibia pains, they kept mentioning compression socks or sleeves.  They're expensive but luckily I received an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday and I knew just what to buy.  Being that I order from the UK and have it shipped to The Netherlands you can't always get the exact item you want, so I ended up with men's compression socks - but hey they still do the job.  I love them, from the moment I put them on I knew they were going to help.  Too bad it takes 5 minutes to get them on, they are soooo tight, probably could have gone with the next size up.  Besides the socks I ordered support soles for my shoes but after a couple uses took them out and never thought about them again.  (BTW, I use 2XU Men's Compression Performance Run Socks.)

 

Now that the socks were helping I felt I could start making progress.  Yet still I was experiencing pain while jogging, and I knew this just wasn't how it was supposed to be.  But who is supposed to teach someone that doesn't want to spend the money for a trainer, I'm a beginner and didn't want to invest anymore money than I already had.  I went back to the articles I had read about stance and thought I should just try something different, even if it was for one session.  For some reason it was pounded into my head to jog heel to toe, maybe that's because it's how we walk.  So when these articles said to land on the middle of my foot or even my toe, I thought they were crazy.  But I tried it.  Instant relief, wow!!!  After this point I had already been jogging with injuries, so it took a while for the pain to go away and the muscles to properly start building.  I used to ask everyone, why do I only feel it in my calves and lower legs when I jog, and no one could answer me.  Now that I land midfoot instead of on my heel, I can feel my thighs and abs working, yes!

It's been a couple weeks since I adjusted my stance and I finally feel I am making progress.  The only other thing I had to work on was my playlist.  I had been using a couch to 5K program but since I don't have the time to jog 3 times a week it wasn't working, plus the music sucked and didn't motivate me at all.  I decided I needed my own music but since I still walk & jog in intervals I couldn't just let the music play on, I wanted it to change per activity like the program I had used.  So I searched out an MP3 cutter, and now adjust the songs to the amount of time I want to jog or walk.  It's simple, fast peppy songs mean jog, and slow songs mean walk, I even added a warm up & cool down.  It's been really motivating.  And as I improve I adjust the length of the songs, I trim off walking time and build up jogging time.  I hope to one day be able to jog for at least 20 minutes straight (have to set small goals and be realistic).

Needless to say, I enjoy jogging and pushing myself.  Telling my body to just hold out and keep running because the song will eventually end, ha-ha!  (I'm only up to 3 minutes at a time.)  And besides everything I mentioned above, I still tote my dog along for company and use Endomondo to track my results.

Any of you have any jogging tricks to share?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Fitness Update

I figured it was about time for a fitness update, especially considering I haven't been quite doing what I had originally planned (big frown).

How are the smoothies going?
Well, I'm definitely still drinking at least 3 a week.  I'd like to work more into my schedule, but it seems like lately I just haven't had the time.  Smoothies take a bit of effort, and I don't always have time to chop up the fruit, make the smoothie, and then clean the blender.  Occasionally time wasn't the problem, it was the fact I was already full and even though a smoothie is a drink, well, it's still quite filling.  Think my last smoothie was in the weekend, not too bad.

How is the arm & ab challenge going?
The first week went great!  But after that it started becoming harder and more time consuming.  There were so many exercises I was having to split them up into reps and then split that up into a morning & evening exercise just to be able to squeeze it into my schedule.  At some point I actually just forgot about the challenge, oops.  I did see results in my arms even after just a week, so maybe I can use a toned down version of the challenge & create something more realistic for my life.

How is the jogging going?
This is the most frustrating part!  I love jogging, besides immediate results, the strange trance of endorphins was quite addicting.  Unfortunately within 3-4 jogging sessions I developed ridiculously painful shin splints, ouch!  Meanwhile, jogging has been cut back to once a week, and I'm working on my stance.  Besides that I've adjusted the surface I run on and plan on new shoes for my b-day.  Hopefully these adjustments and rest will get me back out jogging 2-3 times a week!

How is cutting back on energy drinks going?
I went a week without any, which was great considering I had been drinking 1 a day.  And now I've allotted myself 1-2 in the weekend as a treat.  This seems to be working out.  Who knows, maybe once I get fit again, I will not even want the energy drinks.  (Kind of like the McDonald's I ate last night, which made me feel gross, I didn't even finish my burger.)  Perks of starting to get fit - the unhealthy stuff is more yuck than yum!

The beauty of getting fit & healthy is you can start immediately!  With that said, I'm hoping to get to water aerobics tonight and if not, there's an elliptical machine with my name on it!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Ab & Arm Challenge

After seeing these challenges floating around online I've decided to give it a shot.

My original plan was to participate in the ab challenge but then when looking for the right calendar online I stumbled across the arm challenge and decided to add that in as well.  I might have to drop the arm challenge after a couple weeks, we'll just see how much time I have.

 

Today was the 1st day and obviously the easiest of them all, finished in less than 5 minutes and didn't break a sweat.  But looking ahead on the calendar I see there will be some painful days to come.  Besides the 2 challenges I will also keep up pilates (use a dvd at home), occasional jogging & crosstrainer (depends on what my leg allows after the stitches), and hopefully water aerobics if I can ever find a day when my friends can join.

Wow, I sound kind of like a fitness freak, but it's not true.  I exercise so that I can eat and drink what I like, and in the end hopefully just look normal and healthy.  (See, I have a soft spot for beer, and chocolate chip cookies, of course!)

Any of you feel like joining in the challenge?  I'm trying to get the husband on board, unfortunately his schedule is just a bit too busy to keep up the challenge consistently.

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Endomondo

A few months ago I was trying to get myself motivated to jog (even wrote a post about it).  Seems like everyone around me these days jog, even old friends back in The States.  I figure if they (other mothers) can squeeze it into their schedules, so can I.  Well, it takes more than just time, it takes a lot of will too.  And somehow since I wrote the post back in March I haven't really kept it up like I had intended.  And since then I have even put on a couple extra pounds, oops.

It's time to get back to it, so today I started the process again.  But this time with extra help!  First off I downloaded a podcast that helps me build up to a 5km run.  This is great, it tells me when to jog & when to walk, and in between provides music.  This is better than just winging it and jogging based on how I feel instead of an actual rhythm.  Maybe if I was a seasoned jogger it would all be more natural, but I'm not there yet.  Besides the lovely guide encouraging me through the iPhone attached to my arm, there is the company.  This time instead of just me & my dog, a friend & her dog also joined.  Joined, well, I should say I joined her, because she's been jogging for a couple weeks now (hope I didn't slow her down).  O.k., now there was a guide & company, both added benefits... what else?

To help monitor my progress, and provide a fun visual of my progress I downloaded the app, Endomondo.  It's great, it gives you updates of your progress along the way, tracks you via GPS so you can see your route, and at the end gives a great overview of your accomplishment.  Since I love gadgets (and stats) this app is perfect and will hopefully motivate me even more.  Plus I can see if there has been improvement, or even just see the last time I jogged hoping to make more of a schedule (or shame myself into going more often, ha-ha).

Our results weren't bad, considering the last 10 minutes was just strolling back to the car, because the podcast was only 25 minutes!!!

Any of you use podcasts or apps to keep your fitness on track?

 

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Exercise Buddy

In order to keep my fitness routine interesting and not get burnt out so easily, I'm mixing things up.  Instead of creating unrealistic goals or fitness binging, I'm aiming to exercise around 3 times a week.  And also to help, I'm doing different types of fitness on each day.  There's trusty water aerobics, also dependable pilates and/or my elliptical machine, and now I'm tossing in speed walking / jogging.  Obviously I have to build up to the jogging, I don't last long now but who knows what the future holds.  I do have some inspiration & motivation behind this, 1 being my old bestie has transformed into a marathon runner (check out her blog), and I'm already daily in the woods with my dog, so why not jog along with her.  She really seemed to enjoy it when I started running along next to her, she was jumping all over the place and really encouraging me, thanks Maggie!  If this new routine is manageable I should be able to eat whatever I want... have I ever mentioned how much I looooove food?

What's your realistic & manageable fitness routine?

(Maggie is Wheaten Terrier, she normally has long curly hair, but I recently shaved her to help with the tangles, hope the breeder doesn't see this pic, ha-ha!)

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Jazz Dance

Well, I've done something I never expected... I joined a jazz dance class.  For someone with no rhythm or grace this is a huge step.  Sure, when I was 3yrs old I took ballet, and somewhere in my 20's I participated in a solo salsa class with coworkers, but this, this is different.  Salsa I understood, besides tripping over myself or forgetting the steps, my body knew how to make the moves.  Even street dance or hip-hop would be understandable for me, I like rap, and since my teenage years I've found myself trying to copy the videos (I should be ashamed but I'm not).  But jazz dance, border line modern dance, what the hell have I done!  A small speck of a conversation has spiraled out of control and now four moms have signed up for the 30yr + dance class.  Fitness wise, moving around for 45 minutes is great.  Social wise, meeting these moms from my daughters new school only makes integrating into the school easier.  But confidence wise, wow, what a blow!  Flat out, I am really bad at jazz dance.  I'm used to exercise classes, water aerobics or pilates, but this is way out of my comfort zone.  Someone has to be the worst in the class, I guess.  My body build doesn't agree with the moves, and my lack of gracefulness is startling obvious.  When my friend said, oh it's 30 +, I guess I didn't take the class serious.  Turns out all of the women in their 40-50's have been dancing for over 20 yrs and all of us newbies in our 30's have 0 experience, and they're putting us to shame.  As I performed the chasse or jazz walk, I felt more like an elephant charging through the room.  I am a confident woman, but this is really bothering me.  I know it will make me stronger in the end, blah-blah-blah.  It also doesn't help that the other moms just seem to get it, the teacher even called one elegant.  Then there is me.  You hear all of these talks about body image, that a lot of women don't truly see themselves as they are...and well, I'm going through this.  Looking in the mirror during class I feel twice the size of everyone else, and my bulky frame doesn't resemble their slim physiques at all.  I keep reminding myself we're all different, and that I've only attended class twice.  I know I shouldn't snack at night, but I do, we only have one life, and it's understandable I have some extra weight.  I keep reminding myself, these women also have their insecurities and all I can do is keep trying.  I've signed up for 6 months, and if I haven't progressed by then I'll go back to my comfort zones.  I keep telling myself new experiences are good, and that stepping out of my comfort zone will only make me a better person.  But it's not helping yet.  It also doesn't help that I am competitive, and I'm failing as of yet.  I don't usually write these kind of posts, but it's really been playing on my mind.  I'll do my best to keep you updated over the next 6 months of classes, one thing is for sure though, I AM NOT A QUITTER!

-6C = 21F

We had an oddly warm begin to the winter, but the last week the temperature has dropped and made up for that!  Then the snow came and the snow stayed.  For the most part I like the snow, except for when it comes to walking to swimming class.  If the hour round trip plus class wasn't enough, try pushing a stroller through snow and ice on top of it!  This week when we walked to class it was -6C, which is 21F, brrr!  My daughter had on about three layers of clothes, plus a cozy warm bag and blanket for the stroller, and don't forget the plastic cover to keep the snow off her, she was snug.  Me, well, I started out cold but after about 10 minutes I began to warm up.  After 20 min I was hot, and by the time I reached the pool 30 min later I was sweating.  I was probably the only person turning up at the pool worn out and sweating (one sure way to get myself sick)!  I pondered taking our little sled, that would have made the trip easier, but then I wouldn't have space for the bag of supplies.  There's no way I'll drive in this weather, I've only been back on the road for 1 year, I'm not up for sliding around in traffic yet.  My husband wonders why I don't take the bus, but I explained I'd still end up walking over 30 min (round trip) to get back & forth from the bus stops and it costs money, I don't really see the benefit.  I don't think I passed another stroller on our trip, they're not crazy, but this is the third winter my tot & I have been forging through winter conditions to get to a short 30 min swimming class.  But when I see how happy she is in the water and playing with her friends I know it's worth it, plus I get a workout along the way!

Power of Pilates

I am a huge fan of pilates (I've mentioned it before in other posts).  I've been practicing pilates off and on now for well over 7 yrs.  Sure sometimes I take long breaks and focus on other types of exercise but I tend to always come back to pilates.  Why?  Because it's something you can do in 10 minutes and still see results... it feels more like stretching than working... it's possible to do it without breaking a sweat (requiring a 2nd shower)... you get results fast... you can do it at home in your pj's... it's relaxing... I could go on and on.  I've tried many different pilates dvd's, Crunch - Pick Your Spot was one of my favorites and 10 Minute Solution - Pilates my least fav.  But that was all until I discovered 10 Minute Solution - Rapid Results Pilates, they're not joking about being rapid!  I still love my elliptical machine but variation is good, I don't want only to do cardio.  Plus, like I said above, I can squeeze pilates into a busy day when I don't always have time to get on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes.  Within a week of doing the "waist slimmer" and "total body blast" sections of the dvd (and not always at the same time) I started noticing results.  Now keep in mind I exercise regularly, no I'm not slim because I eat too much but I am fit.  So if you're well overweight or not used to exercising don't expect the same results.  Pilates is also something you build up to, when I started this latest dvd I struggled with a few of the exercises but now a couple weeks later I almost have them down pat.  My favorite thing about this dvd is that they combine pilates moves, working even more muscles at the same time, I guess that's why you get "rapid results".  Due to some furniture additions in our bedroom I can no longer practice pilates on the soft carpet.  So I had to do the exercises on our hard living room floor, well there is one decorative rug but it doesn't help much.  About a month ago I decided I wanted to buy a yoga/exercise mat, I started pricing around and was quite disappointed.  In the store you pay around 25 euros, I found that to be too expensive.  I could find it cheaper online but then I had to pay for shipping, still equaling roughly the same amount.  I put it on my Christmas list but Santa obviously doesn't give you everything you ask for.  I had basically given up, then yesterday while at the grocery store I found one!  "The grocery store?" you're saying.  It's not where I do my normal shopping, it's where I go for random fun items that my store doesn't carry or for things like mozzarella that happen to be half the price there.  This store, Aldi, also has random things from appliances to clothes, and in the middle of some winter supplies was one mat.  I didn't see them anywhere else in the store, I managed to buy the last one, yes!  And it was only 18 euros, jackpot!  Now I can exercise in comfort.  Of course I tried it out last night and the biggest difference I find is that the pressure on my elbows is gone, what a relief.  Now I'm set for all of my home fitness... pilates dvd, check... fitness mat, check... elliptical machine, check!  It's just a matter of making myself do it now, unlike the lap swimming I tried once, ha-ha!

Lap Swimming

In this ongoing quest to lose weight and keep it off I'm always coming up with great ideas to stay in shape... I just can't say I always follow through with them.  The only consistent fitness tool I use is my elliptical machine, other than that fads come and go.  Fads like, belly dancing & Zumba dvd's.  A friend and I used to regularly attend water aerobics, but we really slacked off the past year, something was always coming up and we just couldn't get our schedules aligned.  My friend was into swimming as a form of exercise way before I was, for me swimming was a fun activity to do with my kid.  As I mentioned we used to put ourselves through a grueling 30 minute water aerobic class (you might be chuckling as you imagine a pool full of senior citizens with dumbbells swaying back and forth, this class wasn't like that).  Once we were in the rhythm of attending class, we started adding laps to the routine.  So before or after class we'd swim the pool a few times.  Now a year or so down the road it crossed my mind again, I really should get back in the pool and I don't mean just for my toddlers swimming class.  I don't always have access to the car and the pool isn't close, but I do have a bike I'm willing to ride now.  (Our old bike wasn't meant for people who lack coordination.)  Taking things one step at a time, I decided just to give it a shot, no reason to get over enthusiastic if it doesn't suit me.  So today while my toddler was at preschool I headed to the pool (admittedly with a car).  I checked the schedule and options at both local pools and realized that only the 50 meter pool was open at the Tongelreep, despite my lack of understanding meters as I should, I knew that would be too much for me.  The Ottenbad didn't have their 25 meter pool open but their recreation pool was open for swimming laps, the same pool I used to take water aerobics in.  I'm not the bravest person in the world, and this was a big adventure to take on my own.  (I know, I know, I can move countries, but I'm nervous about swimming laps alone, silly, huh!)  Something I remembered about swimming laps was at the time it felt great and the next day my entire body ached.  So I set a small goal for myself, 15 minutes or 10 laps.  Surprisingly it wasn't my muscles that let me down, it was my breathing.  I was out of breath before I knew it.  This time I was mixed in with all the senior citizens (hooray for them, no need to stop exercising because you're over 60 or 70 yrs old) and they were putting me to shame.  No we weren't using the same stroke or speed, but they were consistent and not heaving for a breath on the side of the pool.  Maybe the muscle shock will come later today or tomorrow, but as of now I need to study up on breathing techniques if I plan on keeping this up.  I'm keeping my goals small, I plan to swim laps at least once every two weeks.  (I said small, and I meant it.)  We'll see where it goes from there.  With the winter nearing and not having my own car I can't exactly imagine myself biking through snow or -7C weather to get to the pool, but who knows.  All I know is I tried something different, I survived without utter embarrassment, and I fit in half a workout today (that means I only have to do 15 minutes on the elliptical machine in my cold shed!) 

Yearly Membership

Why are fitness memberships so expensive?  I recently had the urge to sign up for a fitness class but have been quite discouraged after looking at the costs.  In general I am content with my elliptical machine, and I do walk often out of necessity but things like power walking and water aerobics have fallen by the wayside.  I've practiced pilates off and on for years from home, I love my dvd, but I thought if I enrolled in a class I would do it more consistently but the costs are no joke.  Either you enroll somewhere specifically geared to pilates or at a gym that offers the classes, and either way the costs are €200-€400 a year, if not more.  I am a stay-at-home mom, I can't dish out that kind of money on exercise, especially considering the entire family is signed up for other activities throughout the year (the combined costs really add up). 

The other day as I left the grocery store I heard this incredible music outside, quickly I realized it was coming from a dance studio.  Then a new idea popped into my head, I could sign up for adult street dance classes, I could get in shape and have fun at the same time.  Again I jumped behind the computer, looked up the dance school, and again I was disappointed with the costs, €300-€400 a year.  Realizing I wasn't going to spend the money, I thought I should buy a new exercise mat to help encourage me to do pilates more often, our hard living room floor isn't very inviting.  But again I was shocked at the costs, they want at least €25 for a yoga mat, what?  Either I'm the biggest tightwad in the world or everything is overpriced these days.  I guess for now I'll stick to my cross-trainer (elliptical machine) and pilates dvd, they're already paid for!  And if I can somehow get myself back in the routine, I need to get my butt to water aerobics because that only costs €2 a pop thanks to the yearly swim pass I already have for the city pool.

Beloved Cross-trainer

In 2006 my husband bought me an early Christmas present, my beloved cross-trainer.  I haven't been to a gym since 2001 and at that time relied mostly on exercise DVD's and my own calisthenics routine.  I originally wanted a treadmill (one of my old favorites from my gym days) but they are unfortunately too big for most Dutch homes, especially apartments.  I did some research and it turns out the cross-trainer (aka elliptical trainer) is actually better for you than the treadmill.  We ordered it online and it was delivered to my front door.  When it arrived in a box I grew concerned, I convinced the delivery man to at least lug the heavy box to my bedroom but he refused to assemble it.  Sometimes customer service baffles me, you pay hundreds of euros for something and they will not even put it together for you!  I pulled out the instructions and managed to assemble it myself, later I realized I had mixed some of the nuts & bolts up, and they later broke off.  So I advise you to read the instructions carefully if you ever purchase fitness equipment for your home.  I was immediately over the moon with my cross-trainer, it was such a smooth work out and had great results.  The biggest problem (I found) with exercising at home was boredom, using the cross-trainer while just listening to music wasn't enough.  I had to make it entertaining in order to make myself get on the thing (getting in shape apparently wasn't enough back then).  Grey's Anatomy was a fairly new show at the time, so I bought the first few seasons on DVD and started watching them while exercising.  One show lasted about 45 minutes, that was enough time to exercise and stretch out.  Eventually I ran out of tv shows and went on to movies, splitting it up over a few workouts.  When I became pregnant in 2009 I told myself I would keep using the cross-trainer, besides overhauling my diet I planned on exercising too.  But pregnancy wiped me out and I didn't set foot on the cross-trainer.  Even after my daughter was born I still didn't get on it, it haunted me, everyday hovering over me in our bedroom.  (It literally haunted my husband, he would hang his shirts on it and awake in the middle of the night thinking someone was in our bedroom, ha-ha!)  Finally after a series of efforts to lose the pregnancy weight... pilates, zumba, walking... I decided it was time to get back on the old machine.  Five years, and many workouts later it had grown creaky and was too loud to use while my daughter slept.  Excuses, excuses, I had plenty.  After growing depressed about the lack of weight loss, I knew I had to do something, I had my husband drag the cross-trainer to our shed and I set up shop there.  While my daughter napped I could use the loud old cross-trainer in the comfort (yeah right) of my shed!  In the summer it is occasionally too hot to go out to the oven for a workout and in the winter (weeks like now, -8°C/17.5°F degree weather) it is unbearable to exercise in the shed.  But all of the time in between, which is a lot, I can get out there 3-5 times a week, I try not to let more than 2 days go by without a good 30 minute workout.  I even added extra arm exercises with weights while on the cross-trainer to help tone up one of my problem areas.  Nowadays I get to stare at a supply shelf and listen to music through my cell phone, but I'm not complaining, I'm just happy to be toning up and shedding the pounds!!!  I'll leave you with a recent photo of my cross-trainer, it's cracked, chipped, and about to fall apart but I still love it.