I have several exercise videos I bought 10-15 years ago, that I just got out again after probably a few years. One series is from 1993 with Liza Elliot (now Liza Elliot-Ramirez, owner of a modeling agency for pregnant models–you can see her on Discovery Health’s “Runway Moms”) and was produced by Goodtimes Home Entertainment, and is a “29-minute” series. I have the abs, total body, and aerobics workouts. I think I used to have the legs video but can’t seem to find it now. My other video features Daisy Fuentes and is from 1995. This one is my favorite even though it’s longer because it’s a lot more fun–the movements are better explained than the other aerobics video, and while you get your heart-rate up, it’s a little bit slower–a few more sections where the movements are smaller so you can breathe a bit better. But the main reason I like it is that Daisy is not perfect (but you’d have to really watch it to catch it)–occasionally she makes a misstep, and towards the end she seems rather tired–which is great, because so do I! She’s not the aerobics instructor, but is more a “color commentator” in the video as she follows Giselle’s lead. In the Liza Elliot aerobics video, the three girls never seem to be tired–in fact, one of them is just about as hyper as a little puppy dog, and makes me feel like a slug for barely being able to follow the movements while she seems to barely be able to remain inside her skin for the energy she exudes. Maybe I’ll get there some day, but until I do, it’s *really* annoying. I like all of the videos and don’t see a need to get any others–but I really hate change, so that’s one factor–some people get bored doing the same videos over and over.

I also have some Leslie Sansone “Walk Away the Pounds” videos, and they’re fine–I can walk to them longer than I can on the treadmill; but for some reason I prefer the other videos. I should do more of the walking ones if I don’t get on the treadmill, but I’m enjoying my new old videos. One of the worst things about getting a new workout video is that you feel like a total klutz while learning the moves, but the people on the video are just perfect–in looks as well as in their movements. That’s a definite plus of Leslie Sansone’s videos–she uses people of many fitness levels, and has at least one of them modify the movements to keep them easier to do, for those people who are just starting out in exercise; and she has a few basic movements (varying things by increasing the intensity or doing different arm exercises) which are really simple to learn. While I might not be able to follow a typical exercise video properly until about the 5th or 6th time I tried to do it, I could follow hers on the first or second try–as long as I didn’t try to do too much the first time out.