Our new elliptical

I decided a little while back that what I really need is an elliptical. Why? Let me jump back a little.

When I met with my wonderful sleep doctor a few months back she told me to lose 50 pounds. After two months, I'm going in the wrong direction. I've only gained maybe two pounds, but I'm definitely not losing any. I know some of that stems from bad habits I need to break (eating at 1 in the morning, drinking soda on an almost daily basis) and while I'll work on those too, having a better diet won't make enough difference. Because I've been off soda and I've been more responsible with my eating.

Okay, I tried exercising. I tried running around my neighborhood, which sucks when the temps in the 90s and the humidity is really high. And I have to take Will with me in his jogging stroller, so I have to stop to sunscreen him and hope he doesn't get heat stroke. I also tried taking walks on my breaks at work, which would get me a 15-20 minute walk. Not bad, but it's rough in the summer and winter.

So, the elliptical. I know I'll use it on a regular basis because in the past when I've had access to exercise equipment I've been good at using it. I mean, I can pull the thing into the living room and watch TV while exercising.

I've actually been looking for awhile. Most ellipticals are more expensive than I'd like. I mean sure, the $500 model is really awesome looking, but it's also $500. So I hit up Craigslist.com and found some models I'd like, but no one would call me back. Silly people.

Then I tried ebay and Amazon. With ebay you have to go to the effort of bidding and hoping you get a worthwhile price, remembering that you have to pay for shipping. With Amazon and other retailers you also have shipping.

I ended up at Walmart.com. The benefit with them is they have a lot of items on their website that they don't sell in stores. What you can do is buy it and have them ship it to your local store. They do this for free and all you have to do is pick it up. Not bad. So I found up two ellipticals that were pretty cheap. And I'll tell you how I picked. Here they are:


Okay, here are the factors. There is only about $4 difference in the price, they are about the same size, and both have the electronic display. Here are the issues that made the difference. On the second one, the gears in the back are exposed. You can see the little fan like wires goign across. Little fingers, like Will's, may be able to get in there and get smashed. Smashed baby fingers, not so good.

The second issue is the model that comes with the bike. The top model is your stereotypical cute blond who probably doesn't know which end of the elliptical to stand on. It's like those Chuck Norris exercise commercials. You know those people don't actually use the equipment, they're in a real gym 18 hours a day. Or, in this blond's case, she's just one of those annoying girls who can eat a cow every six minutes and still retain her shape.

Then there's the redhead. What can I say, I just have a thing for redheads. So that's the elliptical I bought. I expect to pick up said elliptical and said redhead in 7-10 business days. Emily will probably be fine with that.

So now I'm starting on my goal to lose weight. Now, the goals I try to set aren't goals you can't control, like lose 3-5 pounds per week. Instead, my goal is to come home from work every night and use the elliptical for a while. I'd also like to use it in the mornings (or noon, when I actually get out of bed). I'll keep everyone up to date on how I'm doing.