Over the past year I started to notice that some of my clothes were fitting differently. Slowly my pants were getting tighter and I was just not feeling as comfortable. Bending over was getting harder and I was just not feeling great physically. Based on my BMI, I was about 25 pounds overweight. Not a huge amount but I decided that I needed to do something about it for my health. My plan was to start a diet in the new year and add some cardio as well.
Running is out for me as I have bad knees. I had a gym membership a while back but I never really committed and went probably twice. I started looking at ellipticals and other exercise equipment but nothing really got me excited. Then I came across Peloton and my interest was piqued. A Peloton is a spinning bike with a large internet connected tablet attached. You login and can choose between live and on-demand classes. The usually run 12 or so live classes a day and there are tens of thousands of on-demand classes to cater to your fitness level, musical preference or how long you want to ride. The real draw though is the community of other riders that motivate you to get on the bike every day. They have integrated gamification where you earn badges for riding x number of days in a row, your first ten rides, personal records and numerous other milestones. Sounds great except for one drawback....The bike costs about $2250 and you need to pay $40 additional a month for access to the classes. That is just a crazy amount of money for an exercise bike so I started researching other solutions.
The new year rolled around and to start my weight loss I made some diet changes. I stopped drinking soda and eating potato chips, and other snacks. I stopped snacking at night. We started adding more vegetables into our meals and less red meat. As can be expected I slowly started losing weight but I knew I needed to add some kind of a cardio to improve my health. I kept coming back to the Peloton. Yes it is expensive, but I think that is part of the motivation to use it, you spend so much money on something you damn well better get you moneys worth. I also loved that it is a tech product and I knew I need the convenience of having a bike in my home to use it regularly. I also knew that the community and gamification of the Peloton was what I needed to stay motivated. So my wife and I talked it over and I pulled the trigger, It took a couple weeks for the bike to be delivered and I have had it for over a week now and haven't missed a day of working out yet.
Mt first couple rides were hell. My butt hurt from the seat and I though I was going to die. Each ride though has been progressively easier and I am scoring personal output records on every ride. That is the great thing about the Peloton, everything is data driven so you see you progress and how much better you are doing for each ride. At this point I am about 12 pounds from my weight loss goal and I have no doubt I will reach it before spring.
Along with the cycling classes Peloton also offers classes in stretching, running, walking, yoga meditation and strength training. I have taken a bunch of the stretching classes and a couple strength training but all are part of the membership. Last year Peloton also release a treadmill, this is twice as expensive as the bike at $4000. Not something I am interested in but many runners seem to love it.
When you buy the bike the offer a bunch of different packages that include cycling shoes, bike mat, headphones, weights and a heart rate monitor. If you are at all interested in purchasing a Peloton do your research but if you use the below referral code you will get $100 off accessories.
MGSWY3
Besides my solar panels this is the most expensive smart home product purchase to date. I can justify it though as nothing is more important than health. So if the tech is going to keep getting me on the bike every day then it is worth the price.
