Review: Leslie Sansone DVDs

I used to live in New York. You probably know that already.

I didn't have a whole lot of money, so I ate as frugally as I could despite not really having a kitchen (I had a hot plate, a microwave, and a George Foreman grill). Mostly veggies and ethnic food. So I didn't eat a whole lot, but I definitely didn't go hungry. I also couldn't afford to take cabs very much, so I mostly walked and took the bus and the subway. I walked half a mile to the subway (3 long blocks) every time I wanted to go anywhere), and frequently walked home from work (1.6 miles, according to google maps).

After I moved to England, 6 years ago, I became...er...slightly more sedentary. I took the car to and from work, went for the occasional weekend walk, but otherwise sat. And sat. And sat some more.

I gained about 15lbs - not a huge amount, but really noticeable, at least to me (and my wallet).

Then, I signed up for the Global Corporate Challenge through work, in the summer of 2010. And walked. And walked some more. And kept walking. And lost most of the 15lbs. (Go me!)

Then the challenge ended. I started taking the train to and from work a few days a week, with a 1.3 mile walk to and from the station at the other end. When I was home, I noticed that my mom looked GREAT.

She said, "Oh, it's Leslie!"

"Who?"

"Leslie! One of my friends looked amazing so I asked her what she was doing and she said. 'LESLIE!'"

It turns out that the famous Leslie Sansone has a seemingly endless catalogue of DVDs, all of which let you walk and hop around at home in your pjs (or your fancy exercise gear) and stay in shape. I can't say that I ever would have picked one up on my own, but I love the two DVDs that I have. They're especially good for the Cold Dark English Winter, when the winter blues remedy of exercise can be slightly hard to come by in dark, snowless Suffolk.

My goal for the rest of the winter is to get up to the full 45 minutes (I normally do 15 to 20 before collapsing in a puddle). We'll see.

And after the Leslie, I can go back to the baking and the reading. (A semi-fail of coconut-raspberry tray-bake - the tray was too deep and not wide enough so the middle was a mush...sigh).