I'll answer my own question since I found the answer thought I'd share with everyone in case anyone else is interested: get back into the habit. Use it as an excuse to get "me" time. If you lead a life of chaos where it seems like every moment of your time is consumed with work, family, school, or household obligations, use a consistent exercise routine as an excuse to spend some much needed quality time all by yourself. Block off a part of your day where you are utterly unavailable, and tell everyone in your circle of influence to leave you alone during that time. Spend at least 30 minutes working up a good sweat every day, and during that time give absolutely no consideration to anyone or anything other than your own needs and desires. Put away your "fat" clothes. ItÂs a lot easier to put off exercising whenever we can hide our fat rolls underneath clothes that make us feel like weÂre not as out of shape as we really are. Take all of the clothes that allow you to hide your extra pounds and put them in a box. Tape the box up and put it in your garage or your attic, and force yourself to wear clothes that donÂt hide the lumps. Make yourself an irresistible offer. The idea of giving yourself a reward for losing weight is nothing new. However, most people choose lame rewards like a nice dinner, or a night on the town. If you want to crank up your motivation to get in shape, donÂt offer yourself something that only lasts for a few hours. Promise yourself an entire weekend of frivolity, a shopping spree, or maybe even a new "toy" like a flat-screen TV, or a new dining room set. Make your reward something that you are actually willing to work for. Turn it into a social experience. Misery loves company, as they say, so why not get rid of your own misery with a partner who is in the same boat? You have a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, or a family member who also needs to lose weight, so grab a partner and make a solemn pact to force each other to stick to it. If youÂre single, use this as an excuse to find a mate. DonÂt "hide" your extra pounds when filling out an online dating profile. Put it out there for all to see that you want to drop 20 or 30 pounds. ItÂs guaranteed that other people are in your same situation. Take a good look in the mirror. When all else fails, get naked and stand in front of a full-length mirror. Take a good look from the front, turn to the side, and even turn around and look back over your shoulder at your backside. If you need to lose even 10 pounds, the mirror will be more than happy to show them to you. At least once or twice a week stand naked in front of the mirror until you start to like how your body looks from every angle. I don't know about this last one. I can't see it really working but it's worth a try!

By "help" for your thighs and backside, I assume you mean slim them down. Exercising them will increase muscle tone, which will decrease their size some. The typical wisdom is that weight training builds muscle mass (strength), but aerobics enhances cardiovascular fitness (stamina). The third objective is flexibility -- so you need to stretch. To answer your specific question about the effect of bike riding on your calves (I assume you ride a stationary bike) -- I do not think that bike riding works you calves very much. Body builders who want to work on their calves typically do a routine in which they go from a regular standing position to standing on their toes. If you do a few repetitions of that with weights, you really feel it in your calves. If you are bike riding, the bike will work your thighs, but I'm not so sure about your backside. The other thing you should consider is that a good aerobics program combined with a careful weight control diet will probably achieve an overall slimming in time. Trying to "shape" your body by exercising certain muscle systems is very difficult, and is not likely to meet with much success. Body builders spend 5-6 hours a day every day to achieve some of that and in the end what they achieve is mostly determined by their genes and only in part by their efforts. Really successful body builders are just lucky they have the "right" genes. You might find a book like "Fitness for Dummies" helpful in giving you a realistic perspective on what you can expect to achieve in your exercise program.

Hi Susy, glad to see you here. I agree with the journaling each day. I keep an Excel file and list everything I eat each day with the points. I sometimes don't enter anything on the weekends, especially if Jammer is home. Today I decided to not worry with points. I think that was a bad idea as I ate a sausage sandwich for breakfast and it's high in fat. I have been listless ever since, no energy. Do you think it was from the sudden change in diet? Maybe it's mental! anyway, I plan to be good for the rest of the day. I am really enjoying walking each day with my DIL and the twins. I get a good workout and can feel the burn. In the past 10 years I haven't changed clothing sizes, but can tell that I have really aged and that's mostly because I used to stay very toned and had muscles in my legs and now I have no muscle tone. To try to get in better shape I have several exercise columns on my excel file that I keep my points on. I tell myself that I have to check off one of the exercise types each day. So if it's getting late in the day, and there is no check - I better start doing steps or ab exercises! It's a mind game.

Thanks for the information. I'll look into those sandals. I've been looking at clipped shoes with recessed cleats and there's one by Garneau that's more conducive to walking. They're just so expensive!!! I understand the concept of clipped shoes but the clumsiness in my far outweighs any benefits of power. I already bike at a solid clip (14+MPH avg on hills for extended rides) so I'm not really looking for the power. I know it helps in the long run. If I decide to pick up racing, I'll adjust my gear. For the time being, it's just for health reasons and endurance building. I've got a few pairs of shoes I can use that have firmer soles. I think that will help with the numbness. I tend to do one long ride per week because of farm equipment and general commuting traffic. My shorter rides are about 10 miles and the sneakers are fine for that.