OK, if you have read the humor section, you will have read about me, Dana, and know that I have struggled with weight gain for many years now.

It is horrible. I am only 37 years of age and I feel 20 years older.

So, I am starting a new exercise DVD that I bought at a sporting goods store. It is called Get Moving! Walking for Weightloss by GAIAM (www.gaiam.com). Your hostess, award-winning fitness instructor, Madeleine Lewis, designed this workout for people who struggle to find time to take care of themselves. She also intended it to be a workout for those days when it is inconvenient to go outside and walk. Per the booklet that accompanies the DVD, the workout "features low-impact movements that are similar to walking and marching movements – nothing too fancy or complicated. The idea is to get you moving and start burning those calories…"

I was intrigued by the fact that the workout is divided up into four ten-minute segments. Lewis says it is easier for people to tell themselves they only have to do ten minutes of a workout and then gradually work their way up to the full forty minutes later. To be honest, I didn’t make it past the first segment. I was pooped. But, I plan on doing the second segment later today.

An interesting feature of this DVD is that it allows you to program the segments in any order you like every time you turn on the DVD. So if you prefer to stretch first or last, you have that option.

There are three women on this video. One does the harder versions of the exercise, one does the easiest and Lewis does something in between. This makes it easy for people in any fitness level. They start out marching in place, then gradually add in arm movements, side-to-sides and leg-lifts. To be honest, as a beginner here, I found the pace to be a little too fast for me to finish the segment. It shames me that I couldn’t even do ten minutes of something I used to do in college daily (I was in marching band). However, I plan on doing the segment until I can manage all ten minutes.

Later, I plan to write about my experiences with the other segments and how it works, so y'all come back now!

Dana Sieben

Dana is a writer of southern humor who has been published in various web magazines and journals such as, www.usadeepsouth.com, www.longstoryshort.us, and www.asouthernjournal.com. She is a member of Southern Humorists (www.southernhumorists.com) and the GonnaBeez romance writing group. You can reach her at her blogs, www.losingapartofme.blogspot.com and www.southerngalgoesnorth.blogspot.com.