This was totally my sister

[-]

Opening-Interest747@reddit

For me it was the dance workout with Barbie tape (complete with a young Jennifer Love Hewitt as one of the workout girls).

[-]

TooTallBrawl1919@reddit

My love for leg warmers started here! I had the ribbon dancing set!

[-]

itadapeezas@reddit

The ribbon was my favorite thing in the whole wide world. 😩😭

[-]

TinyDogGuy@reddit

My cousin (on air hockey table) and me, circa 1987(ish)

[-]

tannyduca@reddit

This is so cute! Also, I had that tape recorder. And that ribbon.

[-]

TinyDogGuy@reddit

Funny thing, until a year or two ago, that tape recorder was still at my parents house. My brother and I found it at Xmas.

Of course, I had to bring it back home with me…Clifford puffy sticker and all. Posted it here a while ago 😂

[-]

Pretend-Tea86@reddit

Oh my god yes. That ribbon was life.

[-]

Rude_Mulberry_1155@reddit

YES, if my local Y offered a ribbon class I would be there today!

[-]

CanThisBeEvery@reddit

Rhythm ‘n’ Ribbons, right?! My sister had the blue one and I had the purple one. They were soooo silky and I felt so ethereal!

[-]

azazel-13@reddit

Raise your hand if you choreographed a bad ass ribbon dance routine with a bestie back in the day.

[-]

ThatGhoulAva@reddit

Oh hell YES. From Madonna to Fine Young Cannibals, we were convinced we were hot shit twirling that ribbon.

I have no idea how my parents didn't go INSANE with us stomping all over my second floor bedroom.

[-]

Daphne-odora@reddit

I did too and I remember it ended up all knotted and unusable bc I was like 6 or 7

[-]

stefanica@reddit

Me too! I didn't know what I was doing, but it was so fun!

[-]

snarkerella@reddit

The ribbon was LIFE. I remember the cassette tapes and their theme song. Ugh, I remember too much from the 80s/90s. I actually may still have the tape in a box of old cassettes. *gulp*

[-]

TooTallBrawl1919@reddit

Yes! I was mad I didn’t have a boombox though. I hated having to pay the tape in our living room on the huge stereo set up.

[-]

Sorry to ask but what do leg warmers (besides look cool) even do while you're jazzercising or whatever? The only time in my life i ever used them was right after I gave birth and my body was going a bit haywire in the dead of winter and my ankles were cold haha

[-]

TooTallBrawl1919@reddit

As a tall woman they have allowed me to wear regular sized pants and leggings 🤣

[-]

starringdeltaburke@reddit

When I was a dancer they came in handy when the studio was cold but weren’t needed once you got your body and muscles warmed up.

[-]

External-Praline-451@reddit

Fame! kicked off my love for leg warmers, which I've supressed for a long time since those days...but I got some a couple of years ago and rock them with pride when it gets chilly.

[-]

Roy_G_Biv_87@reddit

My mom bribed me with the ribbon dance set to stay at preschool the full day instead of having a meltdown halfway through. It worked and my dance career was born ha ha ha

[-]

ClimbingUpTheWalls23@reddit

Same here!

[-]

Lil_Shorto@reddit

Not sure about this one.

[-]

Specialist_Action_85@reddit

Omg I hate that set. Or maybe it was a Mary Liu Retton set? Either way I distinctly remember pink sweatbands and weights😂

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

I remember my sister having the ribbon dancing wands and a ballet bar that tied onto the back of her bedroom door. Maybe there were dumbbells involved? Headbands and leg warmers were 1000% present

[-]

GloomyAsparagus7253@reddit

I got the ballet barre when I must have been 5 or 6 and had 0 idea what to do with it. But the head and wrist bands were worn out of the house a lot.

[-]

Ok-Astronomer-6318@reddit

Whoaaa…core memory unlocked

[-]

Fabulous-South-9551@reddit

Ok but does anyone remember Mousercise??

[-]

mommiecubed@reddit

I know the intent for this show was to get kids from sitting around, but it only was on at like 9 at night or 5 in the morning. I lived on the west coast and would watch eating a piece of toast waiting to go to the babysitters house.

[-]

Boomgoesmybrain@reddit

Yep, I had the album with the little exercise instruction booklet :-D

[-]

vapre@reddit

Let’s do the bug-a-boo

Also the song about robbing Uncle Scrooge

[-]

Nisi-Marie@reddit

Get the money… we gotta get the money…..get the money….Uncle Scrooge’s money

But my favorite was Ducks Dance.

At some point elementary school we were allowed on a day to bring a tape of our favorite song, this was probably third grade maybe?

My parents did a good job of keeping me young for my age, so while people were bringing current artists, I waddled in with my fluorescent orange cassette tape. When the song started with the little splat sound effects at the beginning, the class started laughing. It didn’t get very far before the teacher turned the song off. I was awkwardly ignorant about what the issue was.

The fact that I brought a little kids music tape to play was yet another prime example of why I would never be one of the cool kids. Today, I’m totally OK with that and have listened to ducks dance on Apple Music.

[-]

Assignedrisk@reddit

Omg I watched this a lot! Loved the “Do you know?” section before the cool down!

[-]

PL_Stardust@reddit

I had the orange and white cassette tape. Core memory unlocked of doing those little arm windmills in allllll seriousness

[-]

AreaWoman1@reddit

My daycare had the Moucersize vinyl record and every day we'd do a little group "workout" which was really just a bunch of 4-6 year olds jumping around trying to follow along. It was a grand ol' time!

[-]

BeneficialCry3103@reddit

oh my goodness you just unlocked a memory for me...

I remember watching it in the mornings anywhere from 1985 to 1987, I think? I know that i couldn't have been older than 7 when it was one (1980)

[-]

Fabulous-South-9551@reddit

Yep!! Disney played it in the mornings and I remember watching it before school.

[-]

BeneficialCry3103@reddit

my sister and I would be doing the exercises.. goodness. and didnt they have one that featured Olivia Newton John?

I feel so old...

[-]

Fabulous-South-9551@reddit

I don’t think Olivia was on there but the instructor looked a lot like her!

[-]

FAC_73@reddit

Anyone else trace their life long eating disorder to this or similar products from the same time?

[-]

clandahlina_redux@reddit

Core memory unlocked. This is probably where my body image issues started. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[-]

Nipplasia2@reddit

Get in shape girl, you’ll love the feeling!!

[-]

Aaelfgifu@reddit

Yep. I was gifted this because mom thought I was too fat. Thanks for the body-image issues, mom!

[-]

Starfishsnail@reddit

This was literally my first foray into disorded territory

[-]

TobylovesPam@reddit

Me toooo

I was also dragged along to every one of her aerobics classes, Diet Centre weigh-ins and weight watchers meetings. Sigh.

[-]

littlemacaron@reddit

There needs to be a support group for Xennials who watched their mothers obsess over weight watchers points, make cleansing cabbage stew, and get mad when you stole her expensive diet desserts from the freezer.

I have terrible body issues that no amount of therapy has been able to undo. I attribute so much of it to my mother, the diets, and the negative self talk that I would hear.

[-]

Aaelfgifu@reddit

Sweatin to the Oldies and Slim Fast shakes!

[-]

Cloudy_Worker@reddit

I didn't so much "replace" meals with those, but just "added to" meals and/or snacks 😅

[-]

lavendergirl22@reddit

Omg me too!

[-]

stefanica@reddit

The neighbor lady with a kid my age would drag us to her aerobics class when it was her turn to watch us. Kindergarten, 1st grade. There was a little kid's play corner in the studio, but I would do the aerobics along with the group. 😂

[-]

Glittering-Ease3037@reddit

Same. Junior Jazzercise here 👋🏽

[-]

VenusDeMilhouz@reddit

Saaaaame. This is an Minnie’s Mousercise. Let’s form a support group.

[-]

Redflagpolesitter@reddit

I can hear that song in my head! Lol

[-]

cloudydays2021@reddit

This and when my grandma called me fat (I was six and was trying on my flower girl dress) is where my ED began

[-]

kristosnikos@reddit

When I was 10, I was wearing shorts and my grandmother told me my thighs were big. I was kind of chunky during my preteen years since my friggin body was gearing up for puberty.

Before and after that I’d always been kind of scrawny. Even if I hadn’t, it gave her no right. But my grandma was a bitch. Just a straight up judgmental, cold bitch.

Yeah I went on to develop bulimia and anorexia at 14. Not just from family remarks but the whole entire diet culture and heroin chic look of the 90’s. And in the 00’s those goddamn low rise jeans that came within millimeter of your cooch.

[-]

Peanut083@reddit

And shit like this is why I stomped on it really bloody quickly when family members felt the need to comment on how rapidly my younger son chubbed up at around 12 years of age. I was all “Yeah, he’s obviously about to start puberty. It’s not uncommon for kids to grow outwards in preparation to grow upwards”. He’s now nearly 15, is 6’2” and still growing. He’s a solid build, but a lot less chubby than he was a couple of years ago.

[-]

cloudydays2021@reddit

Not a parent but I’ve done the same regarding my nieces and nephews. Gotta break the pattern 💕

[-]

cloudydays2021@reddit

I’m sorry you dealt with the same kind of comments from someone who should’ve been loving you unconditionally. I get it.

[-]

Alone_Break7627@reddit

wow. I have/had a whole lot of issues, but an ED was never one. My mom was so skinny and she always (and I don't even think intentionally) has and still does mark our self-worth with our weight. I'm just a little bastard who felt good in her own skin. I've never bern thin, never been massively overweight, like I'm cool.

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

I’m sorry to hear that and hopefully my sharing of this didn’t stir up anything negative that was nearly tucked away.

Honest question. Was it specifically this, or do you think it might’ve manifested from something else eventually? I’ve seen EDs mentioned a few times here and I never considered that angle of its impact. So just curious if you think just that direction of popular culture and media during that time, would’ve brought it on eventually, or it just snowballed from Get in Shape, Girl, specifically?

It’s also absolutely ok if you’d rather not rehash it here.

[-]

cloudydays2021@reddit

Hey! No worries, I deal with things with dark humor like many of us Xennials 💓

I do think that Get In Shape Girl and my grandma’s comments set a foundation for body image and eating issues that likely would have surfaced at some point, given the pop culture era we were brought up in and influenced by.

I’ve luckily been able to conquer most of my ED issues and when I feel myself sliding into certain habits, I speak with my husband and therapist to get a hold of things again.

[-]

PlatypusFreckles@reddit

I had this set 😂

[-]

heatherwleffel@reddit

I remember getting this for Christmas after I started gaining weight.

[-]

MetsFan3117@reddit

I had this!!!

[-]

trustme1maDR@reddit

I really wanted these! I didn't want to exercise. Just...fashion!

[-]

Crayola_ROX@reddit

Sooo nobody's going to mention Stephanie Tanner on the cover lmao

[-]

New_Needleworker_473@reddit

Oh yes! I loved this crap!

[-]

DDrewit@reddit

A lot of time was spent laying on that mat

[-]

mperiolat@reddit

Funny - my sister got a set for Christmas and I ended up using it more than her. Strange.

[-]

Torpel_Knope@reddit

Oh man, I had blocked this out. But I’m pretty sure I had the set with the dumbbells.

[-]

iwilldefinitelynot@reddit

This is my daily internal catchphrase when I am either unmotivated and lazy feeling or proud (surprised!) of my physical capabilities.

[-]

Masshole205@reddit

We could use more of that today…so many fat little kids waddling around

[-]

TinyDogGuy@reddit

My cousin and I, showing off our “Get in Shape Girl” routine.

[-]

TinyDogGuy@reddit

[-]

liza9560@reddit

I still want this!

[-]

apolliana@reddit

I remember getting the ribbon one for Christmas at the extended family party and treating my entire extended family to a whole night of nonstop kid dance. Good times.

[-]

Wonderful_Traffic238@reddit

I had this!!!!

[-]

redhott1@reddit

I had the ribbon dancing set and a wall bar.

The bar wouldn't stay in the wall.

The ribbon dancing thing made a great weapon against my brother. That rubber ball could hit hard.

[-]

Psychological-Bee702@reddit

My mom taught aerobics back then!

[-]

ouryesterdays@reddit

That was me with Mousercize.

[-]

ethan__l2@reddit

The plastic dumbells filled with water.

[-]

Nope8000@reddit

Only people with a Thigh Master took their workout seriously lol

[-]

lachamuca@reddit

Or you could put sand in them! This was the set I had 🤣

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

Oh shit, deeper level of the memory unlocked!!

[-]

Armin_Tamzarian987@reddit

I had Mary Lou Retton's FunFit. I fucking loved it.

[-]

scully3968@reddit

I'm pretty sure I got this from Santa at my father's corporate Christmas party one year. I wonder what was going through the minds of whoever invented this: "Yes, gotta get them started on aerobics young! How else will they stay trim enough to find a husband?"

[-]

AmIYourNeighbor@reddit

Is that Jodie Sweetin (Stephanie Tanner from Full House)?

[-]

justlovespeacocks@reddit

And I think that's Selena Gomez behind her. 🥹

[-]

Sebastian_dudette@reddit

Selena Gomez is way too young for this. She's like a decade younger than Jodie Sweetin.

[-]

shmelse@reddit

lol love that you got downvoted in this sub - we are living in denial here. Selena Gomez is not our contemporary, friends; she was born in 1992!

[-]

justlovespeacocks@reddit

Ah.. well, she looks just like her then.

[-]

mycatlovesprimus@reddit

Gotta be. Dates and ages seen right.

[-]

StarFaerie@reddit

Knees are not supposed to bend that way.

[-]

Economy_General8943@reddit

Omggggg memory unlocked!! I had the wrist bands and the ribbon dancer wand!!

[-]

CaliAv8rix@reddit

This and

[-]

donutseason@reddit

Just found my Jane Fonda aerobics VHS. Breaking out the VCR and leg warmers this weekend

[-]

_hi_plains_drifter_@reddit

I remember having that pink mat.

[-]

free-toe-pie@reddit

My sister had this. It’s so odd that diet culture was pushed on children back then.

[-]

Glittering_Tea5502@reddit

I got that for Christmas when I was 5.

[-]

SignificantBoot7180@reddit

Me too. I never did the exercises, but i loved the leg warmers and sweatbands.

[-]

Glittering_Tea5502@reddit

Same. I also love the weighted bracelets.

[-]

Professional_Milk783@reddit

I remember the commercial song. Imagine how that would play nowadays. 😃

[-]

ListeningForAnswers@reddit

🎶Get in shape, girl!

🎶You’ll love the feeling!

🎶Get in shape, girl!

🎶It’s so appealing!

[-]

imjustpeachy2020@reddit

Pump and run, twist and twirl! That’s you, showing the world what you can do!

Except I had the ballet bar, which never got mounted in a way I could use it. So I had nothing to show.

[-]

Maebnus@reddit

I had the Feet Beat set. Blue sweatbands, pink rubbery ankle weights, and a jump rope. I assume it’s something I either asked for or my mom thought I would think it fun. She did years of Body by Jane workouts, so I probably tried to join her at one time or another.

[-]

JanetandRita@reddit

I watched my moms Jane Fonda workout tapes and thought life would be filled with leg warmers

[-]

Jets237@reddit

We were more of a mousercise house

[-]

nvmls@reddit

I had the ribbon one, it was a fun toy but I never listened to the work out cassette.

[-]

BijouWilliams@reddit

I liked my Strawberry Shortcake fitness recording better because it was an LP instead of a tape and if I played it at 78 RPM I wouldn't be so tired afterwards

[-]

MLAheading@reddit

I’m also 1978 and Strawberry Shortcake was > everything.

And it still is.

[-]

Northern_Lights_2@reddit

Thanks, now I have a song I haven’t thought about in 35 years stuck in my head.

[-]

imatumahimatumah@reddit

Get in shape,girl!! You’ll love the feelin!!

[-]

Northern_Lights_2@reddit

Haha, not young me dancing to that song and wearing my swimsuit with tights and leg warmers.

[-]

catplumtree@reddit

You’re telling me y’all had kid workouts and weren’t forced to do Dancin’ Grannies with your grandmother? Fancy.

[-]

superchandra@reddit

She was the one in the middle

[-]

daaaaamntam@reddit

I had this. Was fat until 17.

[-]

Issie_Bear@reddit

We used to have the pink mat. I had no idea where it came from, but we used it to slide down the stairs. We only used it when the parents weren’t home for obvious reasons.

[-]

library_wench@reddit

Oh, memories! I can still sing this song.

And I wasn’t a big Barbie girl by any means…but I had the Great Shape Barbie.

https://en.barbiepedia.com/barbie/great-shape-barbie-doll-7025.html

[-]

SirGothamHatt@reddit

I had Dance Workout with Barbie instead

And I got the Denise Austin fitness tree in middle school

[-]

Tiny_Palpitation_798@reddit

Ooh I loved this! This is probably what started my lifetime love of fitness.

[-]

toomuchtv987@reddit

I had the ribbon one and I’m pretty sure that’s where my terrible relationship with diet culture and body image started. 🤣

[-]

well_shit_oh_no@reddit

I didn't have this set but I distinctly remember a set of child-sized pink and purple ankle weights I did have. Oof.

[-]

gottarespondtothis@reddit

Oh god. So did I.

[-]

BijouWilliams@reddit

I had the ankle weights one too :)

[-]

ClimbingUpTheWalls23@reddit

Oh man, I think I had some of those ankle weights too.

[-]

jambr380@reddit

I hope she at least graduated to Buns of Steel

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

I know we had a Thigh Master, but I think it was my mom’s. There was a Nordictrack for awhile and always seemed like some new stationary bike was rotating through the garage. We ended up with the oldest most analogue one lol.

[-]

jambr380@reddit

My mom went through a number of crazy exercise machines, too.

But Buns of Steel/Legs of Steel/Abs of Steel were VHS videos that my older sister was obsessed with. I think they featured Tamilee Webb

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

I just remembered my favorite one - it was some nylon rope and pulley system that you hooked up to the back of a door and did something with? I never saw it not in a tangled mess or correctly installed for use. It became my favorite because it was the perfect length to use in my room, to hang sheets to make a bedroom fort/tent thing

[-]

Legal_Scientist5509@reddit

Ohmygersh! I had this ball and ribbon and a tape with the routine. I never thought about the body image component.

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

Me neither (as a guy). I always thought it was a good initiative to encourage fitness at a younger age. Where most things active were geared towards myself and my friends, this was one of the 1st things I remember being active and exclusive for girls.

[-]

Conscious_Home_4253@reddit

The pink bar that attached the door with a belt. We really grew up in the best of times.

[-]

Huli_Blue_Eyes@reddit

1) I had legit blocked this out (looooved the ribbon) and 2) is that Stephanie Tanner??

[-]

Fabulous-South-9551@reddit

It’s not Stephanie tanner. I know this because I was obsessed with her and even met her at a mall appearance she did and got her autograph

[-]

AmIYourNeighbor@reddit

I’m good friends with her from childhood, and I think that is her.

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

Ask her then

[-]

AmIYourNeighbor@reddit

I was going to. I just checked and she deleted her messenger, as well as her personal Facebook. Only her fan page is left.

[-]

Fabulous-South-9551@reddit

This product came out in 1986. Jodie would have been 4.

[-]

Frequent_Alfalfa_347@reddit

Judging by these comments, this company made bank off a piece of ribbon tied to a stick.

Yup, i had it, too. And loved it!

[-]

mycatlovesprimus@reddit

Is that one on the left the middle sister from full house?

[-]

AmIYourNeighbor@reddit

I believe it is

[-]

odoylessister@reddit

I had the ballet bar, it never stayed up.

[-]

Alternative-Light514@reddit (OP)

Haha, I’d see hers haphazardly strapped to different doors around the house, for her to try and see if one location was optimal, but they were all bad so it went back where it started

[-]

pilates_mama@reddit

Body image, we never stood a chance 😅🥲😅

[-]

cBurger4Life@reddit

Your username though 😅

[-]

pilates_mama@reddit

Oh i know lol i was indoctrinated early i guess 🥲 i actually joined Reddit through the baby subs when pregnant having no clue how reddit worked or that i may eventually come to post in other places haha

[-]

suspiciousyeti@reddit

My parents started me on Mickey’s Mousercize.

[-]

Shanntuckymuffin@reddit

The tape that launched a thousand eating disorders

[-]

discreet1@reddit

I was literally telling someone about this yesterday. I had the ribbons. You just popped the tape in and did figure 8s with the ribbon for 20 mins to a chirpy voice.

[-]

LC_9Lives@reddit

And they wondered how I had an eating disorder by my 10th birthday.

[-]

boesisboes@reddit

This is still my esthetic.

[-]

sarabridge78@reddit

My aunt and older sister used to go to Jazzercise classes 3 times a week. This was when I was in grade school, and she (12 years older) had just graduated from college and was living with my aunt and uncle in Chicago. I asked herwhatshewore to it, hoping against hope it was not outfits like this. It was.

[-]