Hey everyone, I just had my second son 4 months ago and I'm still trying to get back to my pre-baby weight. I only have 14 to go and I have lost the majority of my weight with diet alone, but now I've plateaued and need to exercise. Anyway, doesn anyone own a treadmill? I'm considering buying one, but confused about how to go about it, I don't want to spend too much money. Is it worth it? I have a gym membership, but with my our busy schedules it seems I never find time to go. We also have a 2 year old. I feel like if I get a treadmill I can go workout anytime and not have to worry about my appearance, being away from home, etc. Any advice?

This is just my opinion.

If you're currently doing a lot of walking and you want a treadmill for convenience, I think that's a GREAT idea. If you aren't currently doing much exercise and you think spending a lot of money and finding a place to keep it will motivate you - it might not and it might become the most expensive clothes hangar EVER.

Do you enjoy the treadmill at the gym? If you haven't had a chance to use it much, that might be your first step. Make sure you don't find it boring or tedious. If you enjoy it at the gym, you'll probably enjoy it enough at home to use it regularly. I love mine, but only if I have my mp3 player handy. Without good music, I go nuts after about 5 minutes, lol.

Something else to consider is that you'll have to make sure the children are safely tucked away when you use it. If your 2 year old sneaks up behind you and tries to climb on, it could be tragic. I have a small dog, so I put a baby gate in the doorway when I'm on the treadmill so she can't get hurt. If you think you may find yourself in that situation, a gym membership may be better, especially if they offer child care.

Oh, a treadmill when you are a mom to young kids is worth TRIPLE the money. Yes, you have to watch little ones, but you're never going to have your back to them, just make sure they are in front of you with a good puzzle or mega blocks and the blocks wagon to play with and you'll be all set. Or if you really want to, put in a kiddie video and do your thing and your kids won't even notice you. I get up now before my girls wake up and do my workout at 6 or 6:30 am. For you, they probably still get up pretty early, so your time might be after you put them to bed. But it has been a lifesaver for me; I really don't want to put my kids in a gym daycare and expose them to even more germs than they get at school already.

I would watch some of the HSN shows when they are doing treadmills. It would give you a good overview and their prices are pretty good and include free delivery.

Thanks for the advice girls. Hrbabe-thank you, you helped me make my decision. My husband goes to work at 3 in the morning and doesn't get home until 10am so I think it'd be ideal for me to get up about 5 before they get up and put the baby monitor on so I can hear them. I also don't want to put the kids in the daycare at the gym, if they were a little older I would, but they're only 2 years and 4 months. I'm going to Sears on Tuesday to look, thanks!!

I second the HSN!
They have good sales sometimes-I got $100 off my gazelle, AND they let you break it up into 4 or 5 payments on big items like those....they have a great website, too.
AND the mp3 player. I use the treadmill at the gym and they keep their speakers on tuned to an fm station, but the commercials and lack of choice-being able to set it up in front of the tv will also help break up the boredom of just staring off into space for a half hour or more.
It is great to have something at home when you don't have (or don't want) the sitter option. With cold weather coming up and two little ones, it's hard to even go walking outdoors!

Quick questions for those that own treadmills.

How hard is it to assemble one if you were to have one shipped by HSN or somewhere else? How many pieces does it usually come in? I'm hoping that the base (running surface) comes all together and you need to attach the posts leading to the control panel and then attach and hook up the wiring on the control panel. Is it this simple or is it much more complicated than I'm hoping?

I would like to buy one myself and my biggest fear is not using it but having the thing sitting in pieces in a room somewhere because I can't get the thing together right.

My piece of advice: if you buy, buy it used. Tons of people sell theirs after they become 'clothing rods' for a while.

You can probably save half the price of a new one just by doing so...and it's already assembled.

I love my treadmill. We have a TV and DVD player in our exercise room for when we use the treadmill. It's great. DH likes to watch UFC fights and I check out DVD's from the library (usually old episodes of Sex and the City). I've also watched movies during my long runs.

If you like the treadmill, I highly recommend it. A decent used one is about $200-$400. That's the price of one year at the gym.

Emily

I don't have a treadmill at home, but I did buy my Gazelle from HSN, and I cannot imagine there being any more pieces to put together than THAT thing. There was literally about 200 pieces with all the nuts, screws, swivels, etc, and when I opened it, I was flabbergasted. But the instructions were very easy to understand, and HSN has a technical support line to call if you have any difficulty. I never needed it, and I got it put together by myself in about 2 hours, 1 of which was spent taking apart what I did backwards and redoing the correct way. Yes, it was a pain in the butt, but it's totally possible to do something like that on your own even if you're not exactly mechanically inclined. Besides, unless you do buy a used one, you are going to end up having to lug it home and put it together anyway, whether you buy it from sears or walmart or wherever. A little suggestion-wherever you decide to get one, if you're worried about the assembly, offer a neighbor, friend, etc a case of beer or something to help

I was a lucky recipient of a super nice treadmill off of freecycle. My dh tinkered with the motor and it has been running great the last year or so. I love that I have the option to do it at home. It's such a pain to get to the gym with children (even without!)-- I can run, shower and be done in no time. I would definitely recommend getting one!

Try EBay. I bought a barely used treadmill for $400 on EBay. You can limit your search to your area only or within a certain driving range. It worked out well. I was able to pick it up assembled and with relative ease. I love it!