Barb L!! Congrats on meeting Mr. Fab! LOVE THAT.:love:

that's very sweet of you to say :) hihi :)

I consider myself in the VF generation after the original veteran crew, joining less than a year after the big software update that changed everyone's join date. It's great to see some familiar faces here, especially those who were such big influences on me in the CCT check in. Welcome back everyone!

Hi! I was on the *old* forum and was a regular poster for a few yrs on this forum... Was in my 20's 30's with 2 kids. Then had my 3rd and posted much less regularly. (Work and 3 kids will do that to you. ;) )

Then got cancer, had a ton of surgeries and chemo and took some time crawling out of *that* craptastic hole.

Still a vidiot throughout. :love:

A couple yrs ago, I started running/jogging. Getting outside was essential to getting (mentally) through the stress... So, I've relied less heavily on DVDs.

However, I do all of my strength training at home bc I have to modify lots and I get self-conscious at the gym.

Long story short, STILL HERE!! Mostly lurking. ;)

It's great to see you all posting, Laura, Susan, Michele, ... I am glad I started this thread :heart:

I guess I'm considered vintage too. I used to post frequently years ago...not sure why I drifted away from it. I do, however, regularly read the forums because I still consider this place a wealth of knowledge, and ok maybe also a very enabling place too! ;)

I'm still an avid video exerciser/collector and lately, have been combining classic Anna-era Firms with current Beachbody workouts in my rotations.

I found this in the 90's as well, although always more a lurker than poster, but have grown 'cyber-fond' so many wonderful people. I will never ever forget the 'cyber-shower' I was thrown by many wonderful VF'ers when I adopted my two kids from Russia back in 2003..I get teary just thinking about it...

Anyway, other long timers that come to mind: Lydia, SharonNYC, Sophie, Loretta, Kimberly33, Aline, AnneV, and Francesca (from Malta) some of which still post and others, can't recall in a long time.

Great thread! Anne Y

Am I allowed to say that a veteran VFer whose posts I miss is WWWendy? I found VF back in the late 90s through some reviews she had written for another site, including Cathe's Power Max and Kari Anderson' Fitness Formula. Her reviews were well written and the convinced me to try those workouts. From there, I discovered VF, and my collection and love of workout videos has only grown. Her reviews were always very insightful and well balanced, and I found them very valuable.

where is WWWendy? And Clare?

Aww, thanks Paula! The thing is, I've gotten rather boring in my "old age." I am not really buying new workouts and I am mostly just sticking with what works for me, and running/walking is my main cardio and I have more than enough strength workouts and sometimes I just lift weights on my own with music. I don't know why at some point I stopped craving variety, but I did. Simpler works better for me at this stage. It's perhaps Vidiot sacrilege to say it, but it's the truth.

Posting to see my join date. Don't remember exactly when, but back in the days of the old Firm forum, and when the classics in their original clamshells were all the rage! I'm 54 now. My user name, too, was inspired by the Firm.

I'm Facebook friends with Clare. I just sent her a message about this thread.

I joined in 1996 I think.

I still keep in touch with my VF friends on FB, but haven't been to the forum in ages. I used to be a regular trader but haven't bought or traded much at all in the past 2 years. I still do Firm workouts (mostly Anna Benson era).

I participated in a few Friday night chats and went to a few Chicago area get-togethers. I remember one was at a Fitness Conference and I took my very first live fitness class ever wtih Christi Taylor! :)

I remember all of you! wink!
 

Hi everyone, this brings back memories, I started on the Firm Forum in the 90's, and quickly found this one.
Back in those days, I kept buying videos, and I've only sold maybe one or two.
And believe it or not, I still work out to all of them. I did Firm Upper Body parts last week.
and Yes! I was the one that had the 899 videos in 2004, I have quite a few more, kept on getting all the CIA's, Cathe's etc.

I was known mostly for my reviews..:D

I had a site with all my reviews on MSN groups, until one day MSN decided to delete "all group sites" without warning or emails and without my knowledge.:eek:
I got over the devastation, I only had a few backed up, I didn't know about backing things up. I stopped posting, but did not stop working out.

Now I still work out and I still get all the Cathe DVD's that come out.

I just happened to get back on this Forum this week after several years of being away. Good to see y'all.

Eulonda S here!
 

I'm here after a verrrrrrrrrrry long hiatus. Hello all! Miss the SF Bay Area crew. Dawn P, where you at? Celia M? Caroline R? :love:

Hi Maryan and everyone else from the VF "good old days!" I started posting at VF in 1999. I had been reading the video reviews; I was surprised to find other people who were as passionate about exercise videos as I was. My first fitness message board was Cathe's. I found Cathe through the Collage catalog, and was doing her step videos, and she mentioned the Ask Cathe website at the end of the videos. I also found the Firm through a commercial on TV (it cost $49.99 then); I think it was on ESPN, and at the time, I was into Cory Everson's Body Shaping show and Gilad's Bodies in Motion show, both of which I recorded on a VCR every day. Even though there have been so many new videos and new instructors since the early days, I find that my favorites are the vintage ones, and Cathe is still the instructor I work out with the most. I enjoy her older workouts more than her newer ones.

I went on my first VF get-together, and then several more, including one of the early Cathe roadtrips. We would watch videos at people's homes or in the hotel room. I remember watching Zsa Zsa's video and some other funny ones. I met so many great people, whom I miss to this day. Some of the original gang are still here, which makes me happy.

Hi Lucy! I remember you from the FIRM check in which ended up being the FIRM plus other workouts. Some others from those days are still here too.
I remember the reviews you posted and how much detail was in them. It's good to see your video fitness journey has continued. :sun:

I joined in 199something
Linda

I just re-engaged looking for joint friendly workouts. I've been a member since I think 1999 but probably have not posted in over 5 years. I've still been exercising to videos but stopped doing high impact, tall box climbs and step workouts probably about 5 years ago. Wow great to see some familiar names.

I have been a VF-er since the old days at concentric.net. Some of my reviews date back to the mid-1990s when I was trying just to get daily workouts in while balancing work, marriage, and a little girl. My job has gotten MUCH less stressful over the last year or so, our daughter is a freshman in college, and my husband and I will have been a couple 24 years next month. I was probably 39 when I found VF. My husband gave me a Reebok step for my 40th birthday--I still use it two or three times a week!

Next month I will be 58. I still work out to videos every day except when we are traveling (I just get out and walk or do the treadmill). I lurk more than I post, but I am still here and have no plans to leave. Good to see so many of you from a couple decades back!

OMG! It is a couple of decades, isn't it? :eek:

I don't come by here very often -- my husband and I spend about half the year traveling and the Internet varies from place to place. I found VF in 1996, when I was 51. I am, er, older now. I still run into Sophie, Kimberly, and others elsewhere on the Internet.

Hard to believe it's been so long. (I still have the exercise habit.)

Wendy, I've turned away from variety too. I do my own thing and try to make it to yoga class when I can. I guess after a while, many of us figure out what works and stick with it. (Of course, for some of us, what works is variety -- just not me.)

I started in the 90s too, pre-kids. I didn't rejoin right away, but I still followed. I met a bunch of VFers in Philly at the CIA College of Aerobic Knowledge in 2003, including 2 who lived really nearby and we had viewing parties all the time for a while after. One was Jackie and I think the other was Lynne. I lost touch with them over the years. I :heart: VF!

I remember the Friday Night Chats...does that make me a Veteran? :D

I definitely haven't been around as long as some of the OLD old-timers, but my "join date" is also skewed by the software update. I think I have been on VF since around 1998 or so.

It is nice to see so many familiar names and pics! I have always been a big lurker, can't remember the last time I posted. Trying to get back into the shape I was when I started here in 2004; coming back to this forum is really motivating! :sun::sun::sun::sun:

I'm also one whose join date isn't as accurate as it should be, but I originally joined somewhere near 1996, when I first had "Internet" and would only check on my lunch hour at work. I still have some of my original VHS trades from back in the day! I used to scour the Collage catalog and highlight what I'd buy next, which was pretty much just step back then.

It's odd to think of all the life changes that's happened since then, and how different my life is now. I'm glad that I still exercise when I can, through all of life's ebbs and flows.

+1 on this! I think my original join date was 1998. Before that, all I had to support my "habit" was Collage catalog, which I must have requested through Shape magazine (otherwise no idea how they found me!) and the little section of exercise vids that most video stores carried back then. Usually retail consisted of Jane Fonda, Jazzercise and maybe Buns of Steel. I can still remember reading and re-reading those Collage catalogs--everything in them looked so promising.

Fast-forward to now: I still can't believe how much content is available, for free on the internet and for cheap at thrift stores. I still remember the ad for the Firm w/o for $50!

Although I've come and gone from vf several times over the years when life got in the way, the exercise habit it supports has stayed pretty constant. I'll always be grateful for that.

Has Lydia (lfcjasp ) been mentioned? Whatever happened to her? i miss her posts so much. I hope and pray she is ok.

Hello! I joined around 1996. I went on one of the first VF Firm Trips.
Still working out after nearly 20 years here with Cathe! I can't believe that it's been that long. Boy do the years fly by.
I ventured into other workouts, but always seem to come back to Cathe!. Excited about her ICE Series. Remember when she first introduced IMAX and Pure Strength (and the mini-topper that was stapled together?) I actually had my carpenter dh make me one and it's still being used today!

Lesia

She does post on Facebook.

Oh good. I've been so worried for a long time!

Had to think, but I joined just after my 3rd child was born so mid 1998 or so. My word, doesn't seem that long lol.

I joined late '90s when I also posted on the old Firm forum since those were the only videos I ever did. Like others have said, I now do what works best for me and am not really interested in anything new.

I remember when the format of this forum was similar to the makeupalley.com current forum -- which I hate! Why don't they upgrade over there! :mad:

Hey--how did it get to be 2016 already?? I just re-upped my support for VF, even though I haven't been present on the site. My video workouts still mean everything to my fitness commitment! Maybe it's time to check out what's new.

Happy New Year everyone!

Hi Barb! (waves) Happy New Year!

I may not have been an original member or part of the 'first wave', but I remember all of you over the years, very fondly. You have all inspired and motivated me numerous times. :heart:
Happy new year!!

I discovered VF in the late 90s but didn't become a member until 2004 so I haven't been around as long as some. Life (or work) has been keeping me way too busy and I don't visit as much. It is still a great community and I've met many on-line friends over the years!

I think I qualify. No. I KNOW I qualify!

I also found video fitness through old Firm forum. :) Gosh, I feel ancient now. I used to post some, but it seems to me that I never can work less than two jobs... Now, I have two full time jobs... so I am mostly lurker here on a daily basis. I don't buy as much as I used to, but I am still work out with my videos. At one point of time, I stopped buying Cathe all together and don't know why. My preferred current training are kettlebells.