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 ...

 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...

 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...