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My husband, the most wonderful man in the world, did tons of research and purchased a treadmill for me. Normally, I would have been offended by the implication, however, in this particular instance, I was pleased. Actually, I encouraged (that's code for "nagged") him to buy one. My pants have become uncomfortably snug (that's code for "Damn! I'm fat!) and I felt compelled to fix the problem (that's code for"get of my rapidly expanding ass and do some exercise").

I had read in some fitness article that if you really want to loose some belly fat, you simply have to walk aggressively for one hour a day. Talk about unrealistic and ridiculous. I walk my pups for about 10 minutes and that's plenty of walking for me. It is also about the most free time I have lately. But....it is either that or spend a small fortune of a wardrobe of larger sizes. So, the lesser of two evils....get to walking.

When I married my husband, the both of us had been living in the adult world for some time and brought to the marriage a household of stuff. The result was two of everything. So, when the treadmill went into the basement, so did a television and a DVD player. With some clever design tricks, I turned an unfinished basement into my personal happy space good for sweating.

I have extra bath mats (provided by my mother who sold her Bed and Breakfast. She had tons of towels, sheets and assorted linens that found their way to my house. I now have enough blankets to keep my family warm even if we were snowed in with no heat for a month.) that I put down all around my treadmill. I hooked up the TV and DVD player and got out the old small refrigerator from my college dorm days. It is stocked with bottled water and lately, I noticed my fabulous husband has adopted it for chilling beer. I have hung baskets on the rafters and draped decorative tapestries over the concrete walls. Because my pups like being with me and I am a sucker for those big brown eyes, I have brought down an ottoman and a dog blanket for them. Now, they can keep me company in comfort.

In the past, I tried doing the stationary bicycle, treadmill, and elliptical at the gym using headphones and listening to a book on tape. I figured I could get my literature fix while exercising. Unfortunately, I found myself making short-term goals like "I'll stop at the end of the tape." Those goals grew shorter and shorter to "I'll stop at the end of the chapter" and finally to "I'll stop at the end of the paragraph."

I didn't want to fall into the same pattern at home. With the DVD player, I had a brilliant idea. My husband, although amazingly wonderful, does not enjoy watching the same kinds of movies that I do. So, I decided that I would rent/borrow DVD's like National Geographic Presents and girl movies like Where the Red Fern Grows. That hour passes quickly and I get to enjoy seeing nature shows and movies that I otherwise wouldn't be able to see. It's a win-win situation. Just so you know, at the end of Where the Red Fern Grows, the story turns very, very sad. I found myself having difficulty maintaining proper breathing while sobbing and snotting myself. I would recommend an alternative viewing experience while exercising.