An Infomercial Day

After going to sleep very late (at 2:20 a.m.) I wasn't sure what would become of my bike riding for today; I wasn't sure when I'd be getting out of bed. Sure enough, I didn't get up until around 9:30 a.m.; I believe it was minutes beforehand. Maybe I should have hoped right on then at 9:30 a.m. to begin my every-two-hours "formula". Well, I didn't. If I had done so, I likely would have trudged on & pedaled out seven, maybe even eight 5K rounds; but, I didn't.

In fact, at 10:55 a.m. as I had been realizing for half an hour that I really needed to start, if I ever intended to finish five rounds of 5Ks for the day - or, if I intended to attempt smaller amounts of recuperation time in between. (I've tried that before & it didn't necessarily work out.) I even had a moment in there, maybe two consecutive moments, where I also considered just biking one 5K for the day & feeling satisfied with that accomplishment.

With all of the other factors of my day in place as they were, I really couldn't tell myself that today was a day meant for just one 5K, because it wasn't. I didn't have nearly the time invasions that I typically might have & my DH was otherwise occupied in so that I wouldn't have to be concerned with being a bother to him. I trudged on.

As it is Saturday, normal weekday programming isn't on today. Instead, I flip through the channels avoiding ball (& puck) games. They're just not my thing; I'd be a more productive stationary biker with the television off than with a game on to increase my pedaling productivity. 

Before we were married & I lived on my own I didn't have cable (as is now) & I watched plenty of my local PBS station while I sat & crocheted (my stationary bike wasn't situated in view of a television at that time). A PBS station is much like an infomercial: watch all you want, even learn a thing or two about selling, just don't call in.

On Saturday's I frequently end up on infomercials. I have a few rules for watching these.

1. I won't stick with it if it's about hair, make-up, nails, any beauty products really, or other feminine concepts. I'm not a girly-girl anymore than I'm a "game watcher" & thus my pedaling productivity is synonymous to that which I wrote about above.
2.  I also won't stick with it if it's related to AARP, life insurance, devices related to falling & not being able to get up, assisted living facilities, or anything else which someone would need to be considering who is definitely 50+ (more like 55+ & I'm still being rather generous).
3. I will watch it if it's about healthy eating whether that be a healthy product, vitamin supplement, or kitchen utensil (blender, etc.) which will help me better take care of myself.
4. I will also watch it if it's an infomercial or an exercise product. This could include a DVD to workout, or a device with which to exercise. The Total Gym, P90X, and Hip Hop Abs all fall into this category. The latter two are awesome because the energy they provide actually gets my body rate up & I get a better 5K workout in, but all three are positive, body moving health producers.
5. And for the purpose of this posting I will sum up the rest of the infomercials I'll watch with this final number five (as well as this means I'll have listed these points in an increment of five, which highly pleases me). Vacuum cleaners, spray on cleaning products, & other household & outdoor products.

I would never purchase any of these from an infomercial; however, as is the case with the Ninja, I will purchase them after personal research, etc. from a retailer.

I bring all of this up because even though I have previously seen the infomercial for the Total Gym & Hip Hop Abs, I watched both of them again today. I began at 11 a.m. with Total Gym & at 1 p.m., I watch Hip Hop Abs. Hip Hop Abs did get me to get my biking rate up higher than normal & I highly enjoyed that. I happened to "dismount" & head to my computer. As a big-time Amazon.com customer I searched for Hip Hop Abs there first. I had a little nostalgia in doing so & soon came to realize that I'd previously "viewed" it on Amazon's website. The DVD package doesn't cost a lot, but as I've recently been checking out various songs on YouTube.com, I figured why not check to see what's already on YouTube.com for Shawn T (who designed P90X & Hip Hop Abs). Once I found this on my computer (at this time it was 1:45 p.m.), I decided to set it up on the "big screen" & I went to Roku on the television, clicked on YouTube & typed in Hip Hop Abs. The same result showed up on the screen & as I watched it I did a low-key version of it.

I was surprised at how quickly the time seemed to go while working through it. One big bonus that I really enjoyed (besides that each move has a name & working through each move entailed a segment of its own) the time for the whole workout (roughly half an hour) was counting down on the screen the entire time as was the timing for each segment/move.

From the infomercial I know that there are many different DVDs which focus on different aspects (i.e., hips, buns, & thighs) & the length of time for each of these DVDs varies. I'll admit I'm interested to check out the Hips, Buns, & Thighs version; but, I'd also like to know the titles of each of the other versions. I didn't get to this today. Maybe I will soon. I didn't get to bike the seven 5Ks that I thought I might today, and I did consider getting back on at 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. Oh well, it wasn't meant to be...I may not have rowed for a half hour today, either; but, I did spend a half hour personally trying out Hip Hop Abs for the first time. For someone who is still trying to get back into The Biggest Loser Cardio Max & Power Sculpt, I'm quite satisfied for today's achievement.

June 8 accountability: Biked 5K 11 a.m., Biked 5K 1 p.m., Video 1:45 p.m., Biked 5K 3 p.m., Biked 5K 5 p.m., & Biked 5K 7 p.m.