So, here is my humble message to Mr. and Mrs. America, who have watched with interest (and perhaps a bit of skepticism), the barrage of infomercials about the world's best exercise product. If you think you will lose dozens of pounds of unwanted baggage, you won't. It will come much quicker if you bypass the Girl Scout cookies that you bought this month from your neighbor's daughter. Also Ð if you don't think that the $50 offered is worth the price of a slim and trim waistline, try the regular walking program and contracting your abs every time you walk under a door jam. Chances are you may perform hundreds of contraction a day, and after a few weeks, you will notice a change in the tonus of your waist. Or, you can look at the barrage on TV and wonder why you haven't joined in the abdominal revolution. Perhaps you should buy now before a new piece of equipment comes along with more spokespersons telling us how it can improve our health.

Any piece of exercise equipment will help in improving some aspect of posture, strength, and tone. However, with a bit of observation, we will learn that not one machine can do it all. Sometimes not using machines may be the best way to achieve success, as the crutch that enslaves us may have been lifted, and we are free to go about our own best method of achieving our goals. As the selection of channels to advertise these products increases, our powers of observation will be called upon to be ever keener. I hope that we can develop our powers of decision-making as much as we may need to develop our waistline.