It's a New Year!

A new year has arrived, and this usually means only one thing; New Year's Resolutions. For some it is to quit smoking, for others to stop drinking, and for me (and probably quite a few others as well) it is to get back into shape again. The odd thing about a new year is how it encourages us to make promises to ourselves (which we tend not to keep anyway). It's almost like we feel magically renewed and ready for whatever lies ahead. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with promising to better ourselves. It's the follow-through that is a bit of an issue. For example, I started out doing cardio exercises in December. It took only a short time for me to realise that I was not pushing myself. That falling off of your exercise machine after a paltry 5 minutes (with breaks in between) was not going to get the job done. So I decided to push myself and see what I am capable of. And lo and behold, I was actually capable of an hour on the machine, during which time I was sweating like I was in a sauna, and pulling a wide variety of faces that would surely scare even the dead. (Not to mention my lovely companion). I have now dedicated myself to a routine that sees me spending an hour on the exercise machine every morning, sweating excessively and scaring the dogs with my facial expressions. There is just one problem.....it is extremely boring! Sure, I have the music going and I am peddling like I'm in a marathon, but the view doesn't change and the wind in my hair is courtesy of a fan situated on a desk. And it's not like you can read a book or something, not if you have a machine like mine.

It is called an Orbitrek, and don't let the happily smiling fitness model fool you, there is nothing to smile about once you get going. Your legs are begging you to stop about 3-5 minutes in, which you then have to push through. After a while it does get easier, as your body just gives up yelling at you and decides to drench you in very unflattering sweat instead while planning diabolical muscle stiffness for later on. But what a workout! It even gives you a little indicator which tells you your speed, distance traveled and how many calories you have burned (which is annoyingly little after an hour). So, my New Year's Resolution should actually not be to get in shape, but rather just be to spend an hour every day without getting bored out of my mind. Maybe I should think up games while I'm peddling. Maybe I should pull more innovative faces and see if I can get the dogs to actually run out of the room yelping. Or maybe I should just shut up and keep peddling.....