The Fitness Situation

 There is not a date or year anywhere associated with this video, judging by the listing on Denise's Wikipedia it would have to be pre-1988, and the musical selections' timing would coincide with this timeframe.  Business woman intro is back!  This workout is quite a bit more inspiring due to the increase in production all around: sky-blue tinted studio with multi-colored 80s geometric shapes on the walls, a crew of aerobics buddies for Denise all in cool-colored leotards, Denise in hot pink, an orchestrated soundtrack (heavy on the synthesizer) of upbeat 80s hits, and a multi-camera setup that allows a few different views of the action. Hair and makeup are pure 80s perfection.   Here are the highlights:  1. Warm up is easy enough, done to instrumental arrangement of "How Will I Know?" by Whitney Houston. This is the only part of the workout that is not challenging, at least the first time through. 2. First floor segment has several stretches and exercises directly on

 I spent last week's mornings walking through the slush and doing mostly low-impact aerobics videos (switching between a semi-difficult Denise Austin lower half strength video, which I'll review soon, and a few of her Fit 'N Lite television shows), which all went well, considering the temperature. The little weigh-in on Saturday was slightly disappointing in that I only lost a pound this week, but overall I did take it sort of easy, looking back. I had a couple meals that were pretty high in calories, homemade Mac 'n Cheese and Beef Burgundy, which are special meals that I really enjoy making for the family, but this time no wine and no cheese beforehand. Yay for that. I decided to step up intensity with my walks and workouts next week and to add a yoga video first thing in the morning. It's kind of a lot, enough to have been really overwhelming before quarantines and lockdowns and such, but with the number of COVID cases surging in Minnesota and many surrounding su

(Also referred to as "Total Workout") This was a bit of an adventure. First, the hair and hot pink cutaway leotard on Denise, which is late-80s perfection, and second, the exercise ball (medicine ball?). Were those ever a thing in aerobics? I don't remember anyone ever having one, although I grew up in a town of cornfields where working out was probably seen as some feminist Democratic waste of time.  The copy on YouTube was much like the big bands copy, pretty muffled audio and blurry video quality, but the overall production on the original was pretty low quality, too. It's filmed in a gym, on a mat, with poor acoustics, there was only so much they could really do in such a place, and the camera just sits, static, and records straight ahead, head-to-toe on Denise for the entire workout, which was normal in 1988. It runs about 35 minutes, and for low impact, the speed and intensity were both pretty manic. We're Businesswomen . Here are the takeaways from the expe

 The weather in Minneapolis has not really cooperated for what you'd call a traditionally satisfying fall experience, but we have kept up with our morning walks. Knowing full well the intensity and extreme difficulties the upcoming months in Minnesota will hold, weather-wise, it may have been a foolish commitment, but we've decided to stick with this routine, whether it's walking, running (let's be real, it'll be more like light jogging), or riding, for an entire year. We began it all October 5, 2020, so I'll log each walk, run, or ride for an entire year. Yes, I realize this will be a challenge, not only because of the weather but because I have a tendency to begin blog projects and then get busy with other things, but I am going to try.  This looked a little to me like the lamppost in Narnia where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus but with a lot less snow. Minnehaha Creek is actually quite beautiful through all of the seasons; we are so lucky.  Before the snow started, le

 My route is anywhere from 3.5 to 3.9 miles each morning, with splits ranging from sixteen- to nineteen-minute miles. Today I actually stopped to capture some of the beauty we saw . . . before the snow started. 

 Denise Austin was the first fitness expert I ever watched, back at six in the morning before school on ESPN. There weren't that many other options then, in the late eighties. Jane Fonda had several videos, of course, but those seemed very mom-ish to me. Corey Everson and Gilad were on in the time slots after Denise but these were mostly studio shows, maybe a beach here but not as interesting. Denise travelled a lot for Getting Fit ; I think I learned half of the Caribbean islands just from her introducing them on her show.  So it's as a Denise Austin fan that I've approached fitness videos and exercise in general throughout my life; if I felt like I needed to get in shape, I looked for her videos. I still own several of them on VHS (Hit the Spot is my absolute favorite series) and a few on DVD, but once everything started popping up on YouTube, I was able to find awesome, old school late eighties and early nineties Denise Austin videos and put together an awesome vintage w

 I've made some changes in the last two weeks of my life.  For background, I've never limited myself when it comes to food or wine, and I especially didn't put any limits on myself during the lockdown and quarantine during COVID-19. I have lived my life eating and drinking pretty much whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I gave birth to four children, easily, and bounced back physically each time with little to no effort. What I'm saying is, I've made it 44 years without really having to think about what I ate or whether or not to exercise, things just sort of worked out, health-wise.  Two weeks ago, I injured myself on the inside of my left ear and it swelled up terribly. I tried to tough it out but after a few days the pain became so intense I knew I needed to head into Urgent Care and have it looked at. At Urgent Care, a nurse took my vitals and weighed me, as is of course, common in such situations. When I saw the number on the scale I had to stop myself from s