Life is Healthy

My daughter Cassie wrote the first half of this review. My comments follow (along with a question about sexuality). If you want to win this video, leave a comment or send an email to lynnbering@verizon.net and I’ll draw a winner on Saturday!

Cassie’s Review:

When I first sat down to write this review of “Dance Off The Inches: Cardio Striptease” featuring Megan Armand, I had only completed the workout once and wasn’t really pleased. I sucked it up and did it a second time and was in a better place. I don’t know if I will continue with it, but it was a nice change of pace.

“Cardio Striptease” isn’t really about performing strippers’ moves as much as dance club moves. Workout wise, it was different from all of my other DVDs. It was fun, humorous, and had me laughing out loud. That in and of itself was worth the time put in to complete the workout. It wasn’t difficult by any means, and only a few times did I feel my heart rate elevate.

A move that I did enjoy was the one in which I’d squat fast and then slap my inner knees before slowly rise to standing. It made me feel hot and in charge.

When Megan would tell me to move sexy it would make me giggle and I’d feel both silly and glad that no one was watching me. Then I would get into it, and then I was really glad no one was watching, but I was having fun!

On a beginner level, this DVD is perfect for shaking it up. I would imagine that if I was having a fat/bloated/taking-on-water day this would be great to make me feel empowered again. It takes the same, mundane lower body exercises and makes them fun and full of energy. It’s good for anyone of any age and any fitness level.

I’d also recommend you do this DVD on either a weight training day or on a break day because it may not pump up the heart rate enough to be counted as a full cardio workout.

My overall impression “Cardio Striptease” is fun and flirty, but just not enough “oomph” to get me excited to do it again.

Lynn’s Two-Cents

The only thing I’d add to Cassie’s review is that I recommend you do this exercise on a hard surface and not carpet. It was a little hard on my knees and I couldn’t perform all the moves completely, but if your knees are in overall good condition, you’re in for a nice lower body and core workout.

Having said that, I got way more out of this video on an emotional level than a physical one. I know that sounds out there – I mean, it’s an exercise video for goodness sake. But maybe a few of you might understand where I’m coming from.

I grew up Lutheran in Minnesota. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it made me a bit anal retentive. I’ve also never been very graceful, and I get less coordinated the worse my knees get. Anal retentive plus graceless uncoordination plus overall body issues equals one very self-conscious woman.

I’ve been embarrassed by my body all my life, regardless of what I weigh. And while I’m comfortable talking about sex and have (obviously) had sex, I’ve never been comfortable with my body on a sexual level. Sexy has never been an adjective I’ve used to describe myself. That’s why “Cardio Striptease” took me WAY out of my comfort zone and despite my knees was difficult to get through.

The DVD features 10 moves, including the Booty Sit and Press and Swerve. The names alone made me blush. Megan encourages viewers to “work the hair” and “imagine you’re in stilettos,” but all the time I kept thinking how unsexy I am – and not just because I was wearing a grungy old t-shirt. And if feeling unsexy wasn’t enough, I had to watch unsexy in the mirror.

I’ve blogged many times about skin and other related self-conscious body topics, but when I tried to pretend I was taking my clothes off all sexy like, I felt all kinds of stupid and ugly and I realized I had yet another body issue frontier to conquer.

I’m very glad my daughter doesn’t have these same hangups. She felt “hot and in charge” when she did this video. I didn’t pass on my anal retentive anti-sexy genes! Woohoo!

I’d like to say I’ve made great strides in feeling sexy since I did this video last month, but I still feel as awkward and unsexy as before. I don’t tell you this to elicit sympathy. I’m hoping this starts a conversation about body acceptance in terms of sexuality, specifically in terms of being or having been overweight or obese.

How has weight affected the way you feel about yourself sexually? I understand if you don’t want to comment. This is pretty personal stuff. But I think it’s important we all think about this. We all deserve to be sexually happy in the body we have.