I need a NuStep.

Yep. I need a NuStep T5xr. Or I could get by with a Monark 837e. But a T5xr, as you can see from the photo, has both pedals for leg exercise and moving handgrips for exercising my upper body. The Monark, as with most recumbent exercycles, just exercises the legs.

So why am I blogging about this. Well, I'm super morbidly obese - I top the scales at 570 pounds (and this IS an improvement from six years ago when I weighed in at 630 pounds) and I need aerobic exercise to complement my weight-training. Over the last six years I've gotten my eating under control and am happy with a 1,600 calorie per day low-carb diet, but my weight loss has plateaued. Unfortunately, during the process, my joints have deteriorated to the point where a walking/jogging program is out of the question. That pretty much leaves swimming or some form of exercycling or elliptical trainer. And I've had several infections on my legs - to the point where the scarring leaves swim aerobics instructors say 'Not in MY pool!'

No problem, there's always deals on exercise bikes and whatnot, yes? No. Of the bikes and ellipticals out there, only two, the T5xr and the 837e, are rated for my weight. Most top out at 275 pounds - MAX! (Here's irony, to get massive weight loss, do aerobic exercise but to use most available pieces of equipment one already has to have gotten down to 250-275 pounds!)

Of course, the two machines I CAN use are both in the $2,500+ range - the Monark 837e runs $2,500 including shipping and the NuStep T5xr runs $5,500 plus shipping. (Who knew than adding a rotating seat and upper-body-workout arms was worth an additional $3,000???)

Yes, I've already checked out my local gyms - no go, they don't see the need for such specialized equipment. Yes, I've already asked Disability, they say that they'd LOVE to see me get one - but it's an 'elective' and not covered. Yes, I've asked numerous charitable organizations - they're not interested - they'd rather spend money on other programs.

So I'm setting up this blog to ask for donations. I'm setting up a ChipIn donations link, but if you'd like to get some form of 'value' in return, I'm also suggesting you could buy a BeBook, Amazon Kindle 2 or Amazon Kindle DX through my associate's pages. You'd get a nice e-ink ebook reader and I'd get between $22 and $45 in 'referral fees'. I'll post links to those associate's pages in future posts.