Ellipticising

Yes, I have made up a new word again. In case you didn’t know, I do this from time to time. I have been meaning to write this post for awhile to celebrate a momentous occasion. I am the proud owner of an elliptical machine. I know most people wouldn’t care too much but this is very important for me. I have been needing to work out since about October 2006. I sometimes look back and see very cute and skinny pictures of me and want to know where that body went. Well, I can actually tell you exactly where it went.

Here

and here.

Well, pregnancy from these two beauties. Now I would like to get one thing straight. I wouldn’t trade those lovely faces for one pound I gained. Or even 10 pounds that I gained. Though, to tell you the truth, I lost the weight rather quickly with them. However, things just moved enough during each pregnancy and never found their original place again. But, again, they were worth it. What I did notice was that my pants were starting to get tighter. I finally was excited to come back to work after my maternity leave with Madeline in my regular clothes. However, I didn’t fit back into everything. I even stretched out a few pairs of pants. But I was NOT going to buy new clothes. Something had to change.

A quick background for those of you who may have forgotten or don’t know. I used to run, a lot. I ran track through middle school, high school and 3 years in college. I love the adrenaline kick of a track meet and loved that I could eat whatever I wanted because I would just burn it off the next day. I had a nice tan, flat abs and had a very low body fat percentage. Once I graduated college, I continued with working out and had a gym membership. One of the best things was that my gym was on the way home to my apartment. I would have to literally pass by the gym to go home and thus made going there 3-4 times a week, that much better. Yes, I could have gone more but I never was one to workout on the weekends. Even when we moved to the other side of town from the gym, I still went. But then Miss Abigail started to make her debut. During my first trimester I was just too tired to even contemplate driving home let alone going to the gym. So I let my gym membership lapse. The reality was I could either workout or spend time with my baby. No contest. I decided that I could take her for walks or runs around the neighborhood and get my exercise there. However, when you get home at 5:30 and the sun starts to set at 6:00, going out for a run started to happen few and far between. Not to mention we don’t have sidewalks or even street lights where we live. If you have seen where we live, you would NOT run in the dark out there. Once the daylight savings time started to change, I was able to purchase a jogging stroller from Craigslist ($40 for a Graco. One of the best finds!) and did start to workout here and there.

Then Miss Madeline started to make her debut. I was cursed again with unbelievable fatigue and had to give up my workouts. Not to mention, you are not supposed to elevate your heart rate like I do when you are pregnant. So the workouts subsided again. During maternity leave, I decided that I would take Madeline for walks here and there while I am home. Unfortunately, September and October in Florida are not times of the year you would want to be outside. I tried for mornings but it just didn’t happen. I resigned myself to needing something inside. I tried a few DVDs and nothing was really giving me any results. I knew the only way that I was going to get this accomplished was to get a machine. I started to comb my old friend, Craigslist. I did my research, checked Consumer Reports, and consulted a few websites. I finally decided I really wanted a Nordic Track Audiostrider 990. Yes, that model specifically. Finally, I found it. There was someone selling one about 40 minutes away for a steal. I talked (made) Josh into going and checking it out. He went all the way there, decided to purchase it, and couldn’t fit it in the car. Naturally. What I was really blown away by was that the ladies selling it actually drove it to our house for us. Amazing.

I have never been so excited about a purchase before. Currently the elliptical is in our bedroom next to our bed. I figured it would get more use if I have to walk by it to go to bed at night. That way the guilt will just be radiating from it if I skip a night. So far, I have been pretty good about doing a workout 3 nights a week. What is better? I have lost almost 10 pounds. I have noticed it and my clothes are fitting better. I still would like to lose a few more so hopefully this post will motivate me…and maybe others.