What Stands Out For You At VF? (A History Thread)

[Nicole]

I think I must have started coming here in 1998. That was my most productive fitness year ever, basically cuz I was at home every day, all day and didn't have much else to do! Needless to say I read the forum often but didn't post too much, I was so intimidated by all you fitness buff's when I was getting my butt kicked by Susan Powter! My most memorable moments from VF past are:

1. Mandy Lee having her baby, and WWWendy having hers as well!

2. Waiting so eagerly for the pictures from the first Cathe trip to come in.

3. Actually being able to post along with all the fitness studs about my Cathe triumphs.

4. How supportive, caring and friendly everyone here is! Which is why I journey'ed (great spelling!) back after a hiatus from exercise and am once again trying to make it a regular part of my life.

You're all fabulous! And thank you so much to WWWendy for probably the most inspirational and informative sites on the internet.

[SharonNYC]

Originally posted by Lisa TV
The one that immediately comes to mind is Claire M's attending an "extra special" Las Vegas ashtanga class. Not everybody gets profanity directed at them when they visit another studio! ROFL!

Lisa TV

I love that one too Lisa -- Claire took one of her fellow students not only to the mat but also to tears. I bet that instructor is a bit more careful in her class titles now -- or at least I hope so.

[Sarah O.]

Originally posted by Clare*
Does any one else remember our Voodoo Princess?? Gosh, I can see her and her website in my mind, but I can't remember her name! I wonder what ever happened to her- she was doing so well, and then she just disappeared.

Clare, was the Voodoo princess Zevaluz (think that was how her name was spelled?) I remember her because I encountered her right after first coming to VF in 1997. I think there was a very heated thread about the Firm and the use of pictures as negative reinforcement? I remember leaping in and joining the fray and later realizing that I really did not want to be involved in a VF fight again.

Is that who you're thinking of? Or maybe I'm confusing her with someone else...I can't believe how long I've been visiting VF now!

[Renee D]

People have named just about all of mine, but I'll post them anyway:

1. Without a doubt, the anxious hours and days spent waiting for our NYC and DC VFers to check in after 9-11.

2. Lexie's and Lucas' births

3. The Butty Putty threads

4. When that Katrina check email bombed me, Rainy, Diane and Joan after we told her she was immature. (!)

5. P-Gate

6. The extreme excitement when Tough Tape, Firm Cardio, Firm Stength, Intense Moves and Interval Max (among others!) were released.

7. When the Tae Bo informercials came out and I told my BIL "Oh, those old things? I've been doing those for months!"

8. Rainy's disappearance due to carpal tunnel and her clandestine pencil-typed posts. (It was just like when someone who had laryngitis and isn't supposed to talk can't help from whispering!)

9. The Kari trip!

10. All of the discussions about "Going Commando" (and sharing my own "went commando in holey tights at the David Swenson workshop" humiliation.)

[Lianne]

Originally posted by SharonNYC


I love that one too Lisa -- Claire one of her fellow students not only to the mat but also to tears. I bet that instructor is a bit more careful in her class titles now -- or at least I hope so.

OOOH that is a classic! Claire brought me to tears with that one,too.

Lianne

[roz]

A kitty...finally! Can't wait to see the pics.

[Sarah O.]

I started coming in the spring of 1997, a few months before i got married. I remember my first thread was, "Why am I so hesitant to try the Firm?" The gist of it was that I was nervous about lifting weights (the dreaded, "will I bulk up?" syndrome). I got so many encouraging responses that I put aside my fear and started with the weights. Had a great run with the Firm.

There were lots of Boston-area VFers around that time (Jeannie Loo, Katie F, Michelle Spina, Denise B., ) and we got together a few times for video viewing parties. Great fun! Since then, I've been guilty of drifting in and out of VF and not participating as fully as I should.

I was a firewall orphan. Boo! As such, I missed most of paulagate. I wasn't familiar with most of the aliases but I did think that the picture of the woman who lost 100 pounds looked fishy. (Head pasted on top of body.)

I love the Yogini check-in. Adds a whole new dimension and excitement to VF for me.

VF T-shirts! I love mine.

[Vidiot]

I started reading the reviews more than two years ago. (Wow! Even longer than that, I think!) I never would have found Cathe, or Christi or any tapes beyond beginner if I hadn't found this place, simply because most stores just carry Kathy Smith, Crunch, Denise Austin. And although Kathy was great to start, I was starting to outgrow her when I found this site. Thank God I did, as it has inspired me to adopt a healthy lifestyle in so many ways.

Then I found the video exchange board, which I cannot live without. Only months, maybe even a year later did I enter the forum, simply because I was very wary of Internet interaction and had heard horror stories in the media. BUT I was so psyched to have people to talk about fitness videos with I couldn't resist! People who speak in familiar acronyms! Who else can understand the phrase, "I find CTX to be just as challenging as MIS" or "Should I buy PS or SH?"

From reading the posts on this thread, I must have missed the rocky "interim software" years of flaming, bite me, etc. I've found nothing but support here and haven't even had so much as a bad trade. I have a question: how did you get the rude flamers off the forum and what was Paulagate?

Wow. That was a novel!

[Jennifer R]

It's been a long time for me, too. I post less regularly now but am an almost-every day reader. I'm late on this thread because I spent the last two days flying from Hawaii-Los Angeles, delivering two people to San Diego, back to LA, then flying back to Hawaii. No sleep. What a workout!

Standouts:

--VF MADE me a vidiot!! I didn't even own a video when I found this site, although I had borrowed one--a FIRM but I forget which one--from the library. I couldn't find a gym or classes in my new location that made me happy and was looking for alternatives. Wow, did I find one!

--the VF "pledge drive". What an amazing experience.

--the "baby watch"

--the underground. I remember it went on for a long time but I forgets exactly how it worked--was it a remnant of an old forum that we resurrected when the new software went down, or what?? Clare, Susan P, Joni, Pilar--anybody remember?

--the Voodoo Princess; yes I do think it was the inimitable Zevaluz.

--Joni's "Cobwebs on my Barbell", an ode to slumping.

--the debut of Mistress S. and Butt-y Putty.

--wishing I could make at least ONE of the great VF road trips. I still intend to do it one day.

--the impostor scandal. How truly bizarre.

--what?? Nobody remembers Babes with Butts?? I am still, after all, High Priestess.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind. I hope this thread gets archived somewhere . . .

[Rainy L.]

Renee, I'd forgotten that e-mail bombing. That was scary to a neophyte like me. I was so frightened!

I like hearing from new-comers, and catching their enthusiasm. They always remind me of why I love to work out and why I love VF.

And how could I have forgotten that when I first started reading VF, I was AMAZED that people had actual aerobic steps IN THEIR HOMES! That seemed so bizarre to me. Of course, within three months, I posted a thread about why should I get a step, and a few weeks later found one (the only one in town, apparently) that a sport shoe store was using AS A PROP and talked them into selling it to me for 1/2 price. I remember my excitement as I posted about it, and your enthusiastic, encouraging replies.

(((((more hugs all around)))))