My personal trainer, Mr. Darcy
Posted on April 29th, 2008 – 8:01 AMBy Josephine Marcotty
I promise to write about dieting and weight loss rarely, and only when I have a good reason. Today, I do. Colin Firth.
Oh, and my colleague Laurie Hertzel, who writes Three Dog Blog in her spare time, and who can make anything engaging. Even aerobic exercise. So here are her wise words.
I had gained five pounds in Paris, and over the next few months found that not only was it impossible to get rid of them, but they were calling their friends. Parisian pounds, sadly, are no more glamorous than Midwestern American pounds. Desperate measures were needed.
So I rummaged around in my bag of old boring tricks, and came up with this: eat less, exercise more. I already walk a lot–well over an hour a day, with my dogs. I needed to add something aerobic.
I have an elliptical trainer in my basement, but I have never been able to stick to it. Music, podcasts, TV–none of it kept my attention. Each time I started an exercise routine, I ended up quitting in boredom.
This time, it occurred to me to haul the laptop into the basement and pop in a DVD. I started with Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” and found that exercising with Captain Wentworth was not a bad way to go. Watching it 20 minutes a time kept my exercise routine going through February and into March.
And then PBS started running “Pride and Prejudice” on Sunday nights. I realize I am 13 years late to this party, but trust me–even 13 years late is pretty good for me; I seldom show up at parties at all. I caught a few snippets of it on Sundays, but only enough to determine that Mr. Darcy was a strange stalker-type character who did nothing but glare at the vivacious Lizzie from 10 feet away.
My friends assured me I was wrong; he is not a stalker, he’s reserved and proud and awkward, and he gets better. So I bought the DVD.
Ah. Now I get it.
“Pride and Prejudice” took me through March and April, 20 minutes at a time. It not only made me exercise, it made me want to exercise, so that I could find out what happened next. (Will the odious Mr. Collins really propose? When will Bingley come back? What is Mr. Darcy doing in that pond?) It made me extend my exercise time from 20 minutes to 25 minutes and occasionally beyond.
I have lost nine pounds.
And now that Mr. Darcy is transformed; and Lizzie is –well, not tamed, exactly, but made a bit less impetuous; and the big-eyed Mr. Bingley has finally done right by Jane, it is time for me to find a new boyfriend to serve as my personal trainer into the summer.
Any suggestions?
9 Responses to "My personal trainer, Mr. Darcy"
Now there’s a thought … I always thought period dramas were a good excuse to lie on the sofa in pyjamas eating my weight in ice cream. Now you tell me that it could actually be GOOD for me?
I’m not convinced - does it put the fun into exercise, or suck the joy out of Austen? I guess I should give it a try and find out.
Next up on your list has got to be North and South. I would recommend Cranford as well, but I’ve just finished the last episode, and if you’re anything like me, I’m not sure you’d be able to exercise for all the sobbing you’ll be doing. Unless crying is good for weight loss … perhaps the drama equivalent of a detox wrap?
Watching British shows with my portable DVD player sitting on my treadmill is the ONLY way I get any exercise! Often each chapter is a good 45-50 minutes, which keeps me walking briskly for a respectable amount of time. I’ve been doing it consistently for a month (this time)and am not seeing the amazing transformation I had hoped for, but I figure I’ll give it another month in hopes of something good happening before I’m off to Hawaii.
Since I only exercise in pools, I can’t use British masterpieces to spur me on, but I watch them, on tv or on The Box website….after exercising. I agree that North and South must be next, so you can join those of us already in love with Mr. Thornton. Jane Eyre. Cranford. And then you can start getting the Sharpe dvd’s. You will be thinner than you’ve ever been with all these prescriptions.
I think Laurie has found the answer to exercising. Now if I could only figure out a way to put a portable DVD player on the exercise equipment at my condo. If you manage to get through North & South, Cranford, and all of Sharpe, you will be in great shape and very thin.
you guys are tops!
i’m ordering “Cranford” from amazon.
i already have “north and south” ready to go.
as soon as i look at just a few more choice scenes from pride and prejudice….
What an excellent idea, every minute spent on exercise equipment can feel like ten without a little distraction! The only exercise I get is walking to work, so visual entertainment isn’t an option, but I do listen to podcasts on my i-pod, you can get them on just about any subject, and I’m also starting to get into audio books. It would be so much easier if I was one of those people who love to play sports or go running or whatever, but let’s be honest, that’s never going to be me, so the only way I’m going to exercise at all is if I can make it enjoyable in some other way.
Laura, for a while i listened to podcasts on the elliptical trainer, but it wasn’t quite enough.
though they’re great for when i walk the dogs. i download Documentary On One from RTE (irish radio)–their documentaries are about 45 minutes long. (free on iTunes, like all podcasts.)
the dogs love it because they get a nice good long walk.
I’ll also recommend my current obsession - To Serve Them All My Days. 13 episodes, all available on Netflix. I think you may find yourself on the treadmill or trainer for the length of each episode. It’s wonderful.
thanks, thea. i’ll give that a look. it means hogging one of our netflix offerings, but as long as hockey playoffs are going on, i don’t think my husband will mind.
