Exercise Fun with Kango Jumps

In September 2002 I brought a pair of kango-jumps (photo)
I went to the mall specifically to get them.
That’s an endorsement in itself. (I hate the mall.)
Anyway, they looked fun and that’s what I most want from my exercise routine. I also want it to show results fast.

I remember enjoying them for a long time. I’d also brought this music tape. The music is silly, “jump, jump, jump, like a kangaroo …” over and over again –there were others but that’s the song I remember.

My kanga-jumps have been in the basement for some time. I don’t remember why I stopped wearing them. They even give my abs a workout. I think it had to do with that fast results criteria. Somewhere in my mind I thought they’d do it all; aid in weight loss and tone and trim my lazy body. I didn’t measure so I didn’t have a baseline. I did them a disservice. They may have been doing all kinds of wonderful things but how would I know?

Well, last night it occurred to me that I should pull them back out. I’d been walking around my neighborhood with M.A.G., my dog, and that started getting stale. Actually, it started getting depressing because of the high levels of litter.

Plus the past couple of weeks I’ve developed a strong urge to be alone and unseen. I wonder if I could be developing agoraphobia. (The fiction writer in me is fascinated by phobia in general and agoraphobia in particular).

Anyway, I realize that the neighborhood walks were not a complete waste. Despite their inability to make me drop 20 pounds in a week (somewhere in the back of my mind this must be what I expect), they got me moving and I learned a lot about the neighborhood, had some interesting conversations, and I even found a couple of people who will walk with me if I call them. Which I have done a couple of times but I like to walk at 8 am and I don’t like talking on the phone that early (or really at all).

So I decided to keep moving but inside hence the return of my kango-jumps. With this decision came the epiphany that I should only hold myself responsible for the things within my “circle of influence”. I can’t really gauge when I’ll lose weight or where I’ll tone but I have total control over rather or not I follow my plan; put the kango-jumps on, walk/dance with them for 10 or so minutes, etc.