I have a love/hate relationship with exercise. Most of the time I hate it, but I will admit that once I get into a routine I begin to love it.

Here's my dilemma... I gain muscle very, very fast. So fast that when I started jogging (during the low-fat diet days) I gained two pants sizes in less than a month, but wasn't burning the fat that I needed to to make that new muscle look good. I know that had I stuck it out the fat would have eventually come off but as I was closing in on the 3 pants size increase I got frustrated and scared and quit.

People have suggested Pilates for my body type so I bought a tape. It's not a great tape, in fact, it's mostly just an aerobics tape. I am thinking of purchasing the Windsor Pilates set. I hear great things about it. So I would love for some feedback if you have it. I also used to own the Firm tortoise and hare set. I remember finding it hard at first but really enjoyed it after awhile. I might pop over to the exercise section and see what I can find.

A little more about my daily routine. I get quite a bit of general exercise at work. I am a server in a busy restaurant. One waitress with a pedometer walked a little over 20 miles one busy Sunday. It's not constant, but it can be up to 20 minutes of steady movement 2-3 times per shift. Also the vacuum is a large, hard to manuver machine that takes real muscles to work. I actually work up a sweat. I figure that coupled with the cleaning is similar in exercise to gardening. Not nearly enough, but a good start.

My goals are small to start. I'd like to do 15 minutes of extra cardio, 4 days a week for the summer. This might come from swimming and nightly walks/bike rides. I'd also like to do 15 minutes 3 days a week of some sort of strength training. Until I can purchase the Windsor set, I will probably do the floor work in my current Pilates tape, coupled with some upper body strength training with bands or light weights. Whatever is cheap. I don't need lower body right now as the cardio will tone and build that area without any help.

My long term goal , other than great looking muscles, is to hike to Phantom Ranch (at the bottom of the Grand Canyon) on our trip next year. I could probably do it now, but with great strain. I want to enjoy it!! And both, body that I love and Phantom Ranch are on my list of life goals to do by 35 (I'm 32 now).

Anyway.... advice and help is always appreciated.