Jillian Michaels looks fantastic with her rock hard abs and toned body and while I have to admit it wouldn't hurt my feelings if I looked like that......for me that's not what it's all about......it's really about being healthy, feeling healthy and of course, looking healthy is just bonus!For me, exercise is not a choice, but rather a necessity due to my injuries from my auto accident almost 7 years ago. Exercise is physical therapy for me, it keeps my muscles strengthened, keeps my energy up and literally keeps me walking and enables me to get around with ease.
My problem has been trying to find the right equipment because I have to have low impact. My favorite machine pictured above is the Eliptical because it is very low impact and I actually feel the least amount of pain while doing it. Now don't get me wrong......it is hard work.....I mean it's a killer, but I can burn double the calories in half the time compared to walking on my treadmill. I've learned a couple of tricks that make it easier for me though, I put a dish towel over it, so I don't focus on how many minutes I've been on it and I put in a good chick flick to watch and get lost in, to keep my mind occupied. Once in awhile I will peek at how many minutes and then I will almost hear Jillian telling me, "DON'T YOU QUIT........KEEP GOING........KEEP GOING.......YOU CAN DO IT!" So once I hit 30 minutes, I think.....I can do 10 more minutes and so on, until I hit 70 minutes. It's brutal, but I've learned to push myself and just push through the pain even when I'm having sciatic pain down my leg and I think it is almost unbearable. I always feel so good when I'm done and I feel like I've really made Jillian proud! One day I even did 90 minutes on it.......ok well, I haven't done that again!!! I've been known to overdo it, just a bit! LOL
