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Old 11-25-01, 09:40 AM  
Elizabeth Stein
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Introducing myself

My name is Elizabeth Stein and I've been coming here on and off for several years. I started doing workout videos when I moved from Boston to Albuquerque, NM, where there was no exemely convenient excellent gym so I needed to work out at home. I had little success with it til I found VF, though, and was able to vary my workouts more and acquire good ones on the first try.

After spending most of my life pretty unfit, I was very consistent in my workouts for awhile, culminating in a trip to Africa that included a hike the the summit of Kilimanjaro in the summer of 2000. That was awesome and VF absolutely got me there. But since then, I've been extremely inconsistent -- a result of returning to my old ways, lacking a tangible fitness goal (like a big mountain that needed to be climbed), and moving back to NYC and starting law school. I'm currently trying to restart for approximately the third time since starting school in fall 2000.

In an effort to use my law-school-constrained time as efficiently as possible, my current tactic is centered on videos that combine cardio and strength, but mostly not the Firm because (a) it usually annoys me and (b) I never seem to get quite the right sort of cardio workout (though my muscles beg for mercy). I had planned to alternate those with short (20-minute-ish) yoga workous, but at Ruth Rosenthal's suggestion, I'm giving yoga a more serious shot, because it might annoy my downstairs neighbors less than other kinds of workouts (and the constraints of apartment living are among the things that have gotten me off my habit since going back to school!).
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Old 11-25-01, 09:48 AM  
MelissaAnne
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
I've been lurking for about 2 years, but posted a few times when the VideoFitness first started in 1996-97 and joined the VF roadtrip to the Firm in April 1998.

I'm 38, live in Staten Island, NY, single, two cats, on - off again BF and one 14 year old VW.

I have Firm, Kathy Smith, Gilad, and some Crunch and Living Arts tapes. I do have Cathe's XT set but I need a bigger workout space to really appreciate her cardio.

Unfortunately, when I attempt to enforce a video moratoruim on myself, I end up spending the money on books!

My schedule will force me back into lurkdom, but I just wanted to give a "face" to my username when it pops up.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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Old 11-25-01, 10:07 AM  
Marilee
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Baltimore, MD
An Introduction

Hello VFers.

I'm Marilee, 33 years old, married for almost 10 years and mother of three-year-old twins and three cats. We live in Baltimore, and I'm a part-time bookkeeper for a CPA firm in Columbia, MD.

I've worked out with videos off and on for many years, but made a major lifestyle change by working out regularly since some time this summer. The early years involved Cindy Crawford tapes and the various body parts of steel. This summer I got a second-hand Reebok step with the Gin Miller tapes. That began the obsession.

I found VF through Shape magazine this summer and have been reading the forum for quite some time. I've only posted once, because I'm in the learning stage.

I have found Cathe (Rythmic Step) and Christi (Still Jumpin') through VF and am incredibly grateful. My wish list includes Andre, Mindy, Todd (after reading about the video taping), Kari, and many others.

I really enjoy step the best. I get those endorphins going and actually whoop and giggle during the workouts! I do some strength training with Tammilee's 15 minute Arms/Abs workout. My DH is finishing the basement, so the Bowflex is covered in drywall dust. Strengh training makes me feel powerful. I actually do bicep poses (my little biceps) in the mirror! My next goal is to add Yoga. Here's hoping for Santa.

I really hope to meet some other VFers soon.

Now that was fun!
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Old 11-25-01, 11:27 AM  
ChristinaK
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Infrequent Poster

I've been coming to VF since May 1998. I'm 32 and have been married for almost 10 yrs. We have a 3 year old son. I work for the state conducting administrative hearings regarding entitlement to benefits and DH is a firefighter. I like strength training the best so my favorites are Cathe and the Firm. I am working on making myself do more cardio. I like step & kickbox and don't care for hi lo, mostly because I can't do dancy stuff.

I also enjoy reading and scrapbooking although I don't get to do either nearly as much as I would like.
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Old 11-25-01, 11:39 AM  
Sharonm
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Collinsville, VA
I'll jump in here. I think my life has gone through as many changes as VF has since I discovered it back in early 1997.
I'm 43, married almost 16 yrs. and have a 12 yr. old daughter. I didn't start exercising until I was 31 yrs. old. I had about 6 tapes, all Kathy Smith and 1 Jane Fonda. I developed a love of weight training and step. Now fast forward many yrs. Thanks to VF and my own need for new and exciting workouts, I have close to if not over 75 videos. I discovered Cathe, Christi, Franny, Gay, met many of my instructor idols on various workshops I've gone to. I've been on a couple of Firm trips and met lots of super VFers, met so many nice NC ladies and attended a few get togethers. Now I'm in sunny S CA and look forward to meeting some West Coast VFers.
As for my love of fitness, I decided many years back that I'd love to see if I could teach fitness. I started teaching aerobics in 95 and I love it. I'm now certified through ACE and just recently achieved my ACE personal training cert. I plan to go back to school and get my fitness specialist certification. Who'd have thunk all those years ago that I could actually make a living doing something that started out as a hobby.
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Old 11-25-01, 03:26 PM  
Helen S
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Utah
Hi Everyone

I think I've been posting on the VF Forum for three years now. I've never been a lurker. In fact one of my earlier posts, I even disagreed with our very own WWWendy. I thought Firm Standing Legs was the toughest leg tape. She said that she couldn't stand it so she liked Tough Tape. Back then, Cathe didn't make strength tapes. This however is my first post to a "Let's Introduced Ourselves" type thread even though I've seen many of them. I do enjoy reading the other posts from other VFers though. I also like the pictures on various trips because then I can place a face with a name. VF introduced me to CIA and therefore Christi, Andre, etc. I already knew about the Firm and had two Cathe tapes. I used to also visit various other fitness sites like Cathe and the Firm. But I found that I was spending way too much time reading/writing to these forums. I needed to get other things done. So now, I only come here since it covers more exercise videos. I do visit CIA and sometimes Collage because there isn't as many posts/threads. You probably will never see a GIF or sig from me. I probably will only have time to read/post and not time to experiment with all the fun features of this software. I also don't really know what's the best thing to describe myself.

I'm 38 years old and I've been dating/married to my husband for 18 years now. We have two wonderful beautiful daughters. One is eight while the other is three. We also have a big black beautiful dog named Sasha. She's a cross between a labrador retriever and a Chow. She's so big that sometimes she accidently knocks over the three year old. But my three year old loves animals (all kinds) so much that she just loves playing with her. I program satellites for the Air Force but I work at home. Most people that I know don't even know that I work outside the home. That's fine with me. I think being a mother is actually tougher and gives me so much more enjoyment. Other people have mentioned that I should go work for private companies so that I could have a bigger salary or have IPO's (a lot of this was when our economy was better). But spending time with my daughters is what's important to me right now. My husband also recently bought his dad's business. So he's going to start working at home too. This should be interesting. I wonder how much we'll like each other since we'll be together almost 24 hours a day. He already committed one of my biggest pet peeves. I was sick in bed the Monday before the Todd trip and he moved some of my exercise videos!! He even told his dad, "Helen is going to say that I messed up the order of her videos." But he needed room for his work stuff and he did it anyway. Of course, I said exactly what he thought I would.

I had so much fun at the Todd trip. I've only met one VFer at Utah before. I've never met any fitness instructors. So it was nice to meet a lot of VFers and Todd. Now, I want to go to a lot more VF trips.

I enjoy all kinds of workouts so I have tons of videos. I used to not like power yoga because I only wanted to stretch to improve my flexibility. I didn't want all the strength benefits because I did weight lifting too. But now, I'm really getting into various types of yoga. So lately, I've only been buying mostly yoga videos. Because of the Todd trip, I found that I enjoy jump-roping too. So now, I want to buy a whole bunch of those. My husband gave up a long time. But he never has said that I should stop buying more videos.

Before I had children, I actually wasn't a die-hard VFer. I only had a few Firms and the two Cathe videos. That's because my husband and I joined a gym and we did a lot of outdoor activities with our friends. We went skiing, hiking, did long organized bike rides, played rollerblade hockey, etc. I also did a lot of running on my own and took dance classes. So I didn't have a need for lots of videos. But now, I only work out to videos except if I use my treadmill (yuck!! I prefer outdoor running). Once in awhile, we go bike riding with our children but strictly just for fun.

Helen
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Old 11-25-01, 09:25 PM  
meredith
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Hi all,
I am Meredith and I live in Baton Rouge. I have lived all over (except the northeast) but have been here for 17 years. I'm 39, work as a systems analyst and have a husband and two small kids. I worked as a aerobics instructor for six years until I got p.g. with #1. I felt frustrated for a while with trying to fit in exercise until I discovered videos. It was a real awakening. Now I am more of a fanatic than ever and feel no guilt because my kids are there with me.
I am on the wellness committee at work and am chairing a subcommittee that is building a $ 1M on-site fitness center. It is really exciting and I am learning more about fitness than I ever thought possible. If anyone else has ever done this, please email me at mltompkins@aol.com so we can trade war stories and I'll take advice too. We are in the process of preparing our bid package for all the equipment and it is a big job.
I am a super-duper Cathe fanatic. My poor DVD player sees nothing but her. I love VF. I like all the opinions and advice and the real sense of camraderie - did I spell that right? Oh well, you know what I mean I'm sure.
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Old 11-26-01, 03:11 PM  
giacchina
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Vienna, VA
Intro

I'm 38, married 4 years, and was a more active participant, until I had a baby (my first) 8 months ago. Now I'm lucky if I get to check the forum once per week.

I found VF when I did a search for kickboxing videos (before kickboxing was cool). Thanks to VF, lots of my $$ is pumping through the video economy. Working out at home has always appealed to me - I'm really shy, so I hate going to gyms.

I work as an environmental consultant, which has taken me to many places (49 of the 50 states, China, and Antarctica). However, I've learned that Superfund sites are never located in the scenic areas. I'm working part-time since motherhood, but I am having problems finding time to work out (and cook, clean the house, and a million other things that need to get done).

I was lucky enough to go on the first Christi trip and went on the last Cathe trip while I was pregnant. I never met a VFer I didn't like.

Kudos to Wendy for the fabulous new forum!
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Old 11-26-01, 05:43 PM  
JennC
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Western NY
Hi everyone!

My first post on the new software!

I found VF while I was in college, but have been using videos since high school. I’m glad to know there are others out there who share my video obsession. I'm a somewhat lurker, I don’t post very much, although I keep saying I’m going to. I did meet a bunch of Vfers on the Fall 1999 Cathe trip.

After graduating from college, I spent 4 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers (I started when it was still Price Waterhouse) passed the Certified Public Accountant exam. Got finally sick of working way too much and joined a local manufacturing company in August 2001.

I love to rollerblade, mountain bike, cross-stitch, read and travel when I can tag along on my boyfriend’s business trips (that’s where we came up with the name “Cayman” for our dog). I’m a fairly new aunt (and Godmother) and my brother and sister-in-law are expecting another in April 2002!
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Old 11-27-01, 09:18 AM  
elisas
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Westchester County, New York
Holy Cow, we're EVERYWHERE!

Forget lurking; I didn't even FIND VF until last year and I'm amazed to realize what a following there is for videofitness! I represent the suburban NYC demographic; born, schooled, and raised right here. I'm 41 and spent my 20's and 30's shlepping to various health clubs, on my lunch hour, after work, etc. Somehow always felt that videos couldn't give me a proper workout but, boy was I wrong! I love step (hi/lo doesn't do it for me) and, I'm proud to say, increasingly diffucult strength/sculpt tapes. I alternate with the treadmill and, at my husband's urging, his rowing machine (fun, and definitely different). When the weather's better, I love walking outdoors and can manage a three-mile walk now in about 40-45 minutes. I just want to say, I love this forum and becoming part of this terrific community!
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