The Connection Runners

Can Someone Fetch Me a Thighmaster?

With just 6 weeks to go (give or take a few days if LBA decides to be one of those fickle baby things who doesn't like to arrive at the exact time her Type-A Mom has penciled her in for), I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Or maybe that's the blinding glare of Christmas glitter being pooped out by every store in America right now.

Either way, I had an epiphany recently: I won't be pregnant forever!

(source)

(On the contrary, Michelle Duggar will be pregnant forever. She must be stockpiling babies in there like Wal-Mart stockpiles crappy TVs in the months leading up to Black Friday.)

Yeah, I know pregnancy is nine ten months long, but it can feel longer. In almost 34 weeks, I've nearly forgotten what it means to button jeans or sleep in a comfortable position. Hell, I'm having a hard time just rolling over to my other side while sleeping. (Kevin literally had to roll me over a few nights ago. That sounded dirty, but I promise it wasn't. It was kind of sad and kind of funny.)

It's not that I would've traded any of that to not have a baby; it's just that there came a point in all of that when I forgot what it was like to not be pregnant.

And now that I'm hopefully in the home stretch, I'm starting to peek back into stores I used to shop at on the regular (Oh, hello, pretty fluffiness that is J. Crew), and make plans for a triumphant return to the running world, and stock up on wine that I'll sample here and there.

I'm also thinking about the reality that will be me attempting to get back into shape while on maternity leave with a new baby in the dead of a Michigan winter.

Running outside won't be much of an option, as the icy sidewalks and near-zero temps don't sound like a great environment for a newborn.

Instead, my plan includes treadmill runs at our local rec center coupled with at-home fitness DVDs, which I can do in the basement while baby naps, advises Hermain Cain on his 9-9-9 plan, or does some stem-cell research.

However, my current collection of DVDs can be described, at best, as a suitable stand-in for Courtney Love when she makes her rare red carpet appearances: dull, lifeless, and annoying.

What I already own but could do without:
-an MTV Pilates video (apparently MTV was my go-to workout source back in 2003 because the station is clearly an expert when it comes to physical fitness)
-a random yoga DVD that always makes me fall asleep once we get to the corpse pose
-bootleg P90X routines

I thought about beefing up my collection by ordering a Thighmaster.

Because a Thighmaster will magically make my favorite pair of Gap skinny jeans fit again, right? (And I just really wanted to include the Thighmaster video in this post.)

But then 2011 called and told me to stop living in 1991. Damn. There goes that plan.

So I'm turning you guys for some help.

1) What fitness DVDs do you recommend?
2) Besides some free weights, which I already own, what other equipment should I snag to keep in my at-home gym?