I left off on my last post at our family dinners, which are great, and I recommend it if you can arrange it. I know some people use their dining room tables as a storage space or a work space like a desk, but we are careful to keep the table cleared off so we can sit down to eat together without first having to organize everything that’s on the table. After dinner the kids do their homework, talk to their friends on the phone or whatever kids do in the evenings. My wife and I sometimes watch T.V., or, if there is nothing that interests us, we’ll take out our Bender Balls and do a few crunches before bed. If the weather is good we might even go for another walk together. I usually feel good about my day, and find this routine a great way to stay connected with my wife and kids, and work in a nice amount of exercise without too much trouble.

In my last post I started to tell you about my day. My wife picks me up at the end of the day, which is at about 5pm, and when we get home I go through the mail and my wife starts to make dinner. The kids start to wonder in from their various activities depending on the day of the week. One of my kids is on a basketball team, and another takes ballet lessons. More than one of the kids has piano lessons, etc… In other words, I don’t keep track of their activities, that’s my wife’s department. While the kids set the table for dinner my wife and I go for a 15 minute walk. Our family therapist suggested it as a way to talk without distractions, and also to get a little exercise at the same time. I love my walks with my wife. I find them really relaxing and productive at the same time. It’s really a great way to stay in touch. When we get home the table is usually already set, and the food is ready. We sit down to eat as a family, which I also love, and we almost always have a great time talking about our days and our dreams.

So the holidays are behind us, and so is New Years with all those resolutions. Now the winter has set in and we are back to our usual routine. This is what my day is like: I get up early and do a 10 minute workout with my Bender Ball. Then I bring in the paper and have a cup of coffee. I bought a new coffee maker, which I’ll tell you about in another post, but it’s amazing. My wife gets about now and wakes up the kids. I help her get the kids breakfast, and she usually makes their lunches. The kids are out the door by 8 to catch their bus to school, and then my wife and I leave for work. We both bring our Bender Balls to work. I usually get in one 10 minute workout during my lunch break. I think my wife also works out during her lunch break, but sometimes, if she gets to work early enough, she does her Bender Ball workout before she sits down at her desk. My wife told me she prefers this because she feels energized from her workout, and really ready for her work day, which is mostly sitting at a desk. The rest of the day is spent working, and then we both leave at about 5pm.

I was having coffee with a few of my buddies the other day, and I couldn’t help but laugh.  There we were, at the beginning of the new year, talking about exercise and hopes for the new year.  They wondered why I was laughing.  I’ve known these guys for probably close to 30 years, and every single year we talk about the same things!  We always spend January talking about our New Year’s resolutions, about our new gym memberships, about our excitement about getting fit, etc.

And then what happens?  By February, we’ve forgotten all about our resolutions and we are meeting for a few beers and a slice of cake.  I laughed this year because I’ve finally broken from the pattern! Thanks to my bender ball, I’ve started losing my beer gut and feeling so much better about myself.  And that made me get a gym membership and the whole thing has made me feel 100% better.  And I told my buddies that I didn’t even put exercise as one of my New Year’s resolutions - because exercise, and using the bender ball, are simply part of my daily life now.  I don’t even think about them, and I know that they won’t be pushed aside, as my friends’ resolutions will be.

Poor guys.  Let’s hear it for my fitness and my bender ball!

Of course, we all make New Year’s resolutions.  Who doesn’t?  What amazed me this year was that my New Year’s resolution didn’t include getting fit!  For years and years I’ve always had “Lose 20 pounds” and “Work on My Stomach” at the top of my list.  Why aren’t they there this year?  Well, you’ve probably guessed already.  My Bender Ball has saved my New Year’s resolution list!

Now that I’m feeling great and getting in shape everyday, I simply don’t feel like I need to have that on my New Year’s resolution list anymore.  Now, I will admit that I’ve thought of placing it there anyway, since I know that I’ll be able to cross that one off!  But, that’s sort of cheating, isn’t it, to place something on your list knowing that you will be able to cross it off?

So, now that I had that spot available on my New Year’s resolution list, it was a bit difficult to decide how to fill it.  You know when you always know there is something that you need to do?  It’s weird, because of my bender ball, to know that I don’t need to achieve that thing anymore.

Not to worry, of course.  I found plenty of other things that need to be done this year!

Another challenging aspect of the upcoming winter are those crazy holidays we have at the end of November and December.  But with my Bender Ball always on hand, I don’t need to obsess about controlling my eating like I used to in past years.

Let me tell you a true story about one Thanksgiving my wife and I spent with her aunt Phyllis and Uncle George.  At that time Phyllis and George had three children, the youngest being a darling six year old girl named Stefanie. There were about 10 guests all together, and we had just finished the most amazing meal of a wonderful roasted Turkey with all the trimmings, and then some. We were all feeling quite engorged when the table was cleared and it was time for dessert. I don’t know how Phyllis was able to get up from the table to serve the pumpkin pie, but I know I couldn’t move off of my chair without the help of a forklift.  But Phyllis went into the kitchen, and she called Stefanie in to help her serve. Stefanie brought out the first slice of pie and respectfully handed it to her father, George. George said thnk you and then politely passed the plate to the person next to him. Stefanie registered a slightly surprised look on her face, but dutifully returned to the kitchen to get the next slice. She returned once again and handed the plate to her father. And her father once again passed the serving over to the next person. Slightly more perturbed, but undaunted, the confused girl went back to the kitchen for the next piece of pie.  She once again handed the plate to her Dad, and her Dad once again passed it on. This was just too much for Stefanie, and she burst out, explaining to her father that, “Dad, its not use. Mom is cutting every piece the exact same size!”

I sure wish I had known about Bender Ball back then, because I think I gained about five pounds at that one meal alone. I am sure happy that this year I can fight back with my Bender Ball and some great crunching action.

It’s hard to believe the summer is already over and we are looking straight into the face of winter once again. I find winter the most challenging of seasons to stay in shape. The days are shorter and colder which means less time to be outside, walking or jogging or biking, which I do try and do a few times each week, at least when the weather is good.  Places I would’ve walked to on a nice autumn day in September of October I will drive to on a cold day in November.

What I can look forward to as far as my exercising regimen is concerned is just as much time with my Bender Ball as I had in summer and spring. Since I can exercise with my Bender Ball anytime and anyplace, I don’t need to run to the gym in bad weather, and I can even take my Bender Ball with me to work if I have a few free minutes to squeeze in some crunches.

We are at the tale end of summer, and I am happy to report me and my Bender Ball are doing great. I’ve been loosing pounds, and my tummy is starting to resemble an ironing board rather than a bowling ball.

My wife and I went on a cruise last week, and the food was spectacular. I didnt feel bad about taking seconds or having another helping of dessert, because I knew I could work it off with a few minutes with my Bender Ball.

One day, on the cruise, I decided to go out on the deck by the pool and work out there. I started my crunches and someone came up to me and asked me about the Bender Ball.  How often do I use it? Where did I get it? How much did it cost? Did I ever do any other type of exercise? A lot of questions that I was happy to answer. Then he said he had noticed how much I enjoy eating, and that he had wondered how a guy that eats like me could look so good? Well, I can tell you, that made me feel like a million bucks.

After that day I always did my crunches on the deck. I noticed lots of people watching me, and a few even came up to speak with me. And I got quite a few compliments. My wife was beaming, too. I think she is really proud of me. I feel as good, maybe better, than I did when I was in school. My Bender Ball has really given me my life back.

By the time I finally got my Bender Ball I was sadly the heaviest I had ever been. I was pretty upset about myself and how I looked and felt. But my wife was very encouraging, and we started to use it together. This was only a few months ago, but I can tell you already that exercising with my Bender Ball has been an almost liberating experience. I know that I only need about 10 minutes each day, which isnt that hard to set aside for something so important. But even more, its fun to exercise with my Bender Ball. It doenst hurt my back when I use it, and in just the past few months I’ve already lost a significant amount of weight.  I am really thankful to Nancy for pushing me over the edge, and I think we’ll invite her over again soon. I just want to first get a tiny bit thinner.

After my wife and I watched the Bender Ball video on Youtube we became intriqued, but as I mentioned, I was scarred from my fitness club membership and weightlifting experience.  I couldnt bring myself to jump into this new way of exercising. So, sadly, I let a lot of time go by before I ordered my Bender Ball. But as I mentioned before, my wife had become friendly with the cousin who first told us about the Bender Ball. My wife is a very smart lady, and she invited Nancy, her new friend, over for lunch one Sunday afternoon. And she clevely brought along her Bender Ball. It was so light and easy to take along. Nancy then showed me the way to use it, and I was really astounded! Even I could easily use it. When I did the crunches Nancy explained how there is much less back strain when doing abdominal crunches with a Bender Ball. And there are lots of ways to use it. And best of all, in only about 10 minutes each day you can start to see good results. I was excited and ready to order a Bender Ball of my own.