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.

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.

Have I mentioned how much I love my Bender Ball? I know I’m in the middle of a story about my short-lived career as a weight lifter. Well, that wasnt going so well, weightlifting was even effecting my moods and relationship with my wife. She told me she had a friend whose cousin had seen a really interesting video on youtube about a new way to exercise. It was called the Bender Ball method. My wife didnt really know much about it, so we called the friend and got the cousin’s phone number. My wife and the cousin, whose name is Nancy, really hit it off on the phone. Nancy gave my wife the link to the video, and my wife and I watched it. We were both really impressed, but we werent yet sure what to do. My expericnece at the fitness club had left me feeling pretty bad about myself, and I didnt know if I could commit to exercising at all. More to come…

Let me finish up this discussion of my short weightlifting career before Bender Ball became my exercise of choice.

After my fist two visits to the health club, I got into a kind of routine for about two weeks. I drove over to the health club, either on my way to work or on my home. I spent about a half hour sweating and straining and day dreaming about being anyplace else but there.

Finally my wife said she didn’t like how grumpy I was getting, and I was always tired. I told her I just wasn’t enjoying the lifting weights.

She said it was OK because she had just heard about a great new way to strengthen the abdominal muscles (abs) without having to leave home. That turned out to be the beginning of our Bender Ball exercise experience.

More to come….

In my last post I was talking about my short involvement with weightlifting before I found Bender Ball.

My wife had purchased a membership for me in the local fitness club. The first time I went was not a good experience. (See my last post about this.)

A few days later I went again, but after work, instead of in the morning before work. I didnt want that same trainer to see me again. This time I thought I would do some sit-ups to strengthen my abs, so I started crunching. But I think I crunched a little to much, and I heard my back go “crunch.” To make a long story short, let me just say that its a good think I came by car instead of jogging, like I had the first time.

To be continued…

The Bender Method of Core Training and Selective Stabilization^TM from Leslee Bender puts you in the right position for results. Each ab sculpting exercise cranks up the intensity and targets the muscles you want from all sides.

Leslee Bender has spent years developing the perfect exercise tool for optimizing muscle tone in the abdominal area. Men and women alike are feeling great and enjoying a smaller waist size.

The Bender Ball workout is 408% more effective than ordinary crunches. Develop beautiful abs fast!