How many times have you said this to yourself? How many times have you toured a gym, joined for 30 days. tested a class or two and decided "I don't have the time" or "I don't have the money."

Back in 1996 BC (before children) I used to spend hours at the gym. After work, on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I could do advanced boot camp with the best of them. Today, a walk around the block with a double stroller is about as strenuous as it gets. Time is the major factor here. If I'm not working, I'm with the kids. And when I'm not with the kids, I'm doing some errand for the household.

I think it is finally time for me to do something for myself. I miss those pilates classes and my lower abdomen clearly misses them even more! Yesterday, my friend Ben sent me a photo taken by the photographer at his August wedding. I had bought a new dress for the wedding at a shop on Martha's Vineyard, a lovely strapless silk number that was actually a little form fitting. The weekend of the wedding was hot and very humid. Control top hose were simply not possible.

I was dancing in the photo and therefore more relaxed than I would have been had I been standing in my best Lindsay Lohan paparazzi pose holding my breath and sucking in my belly as if my life depended on it. When I saw the photo I nearly gasped. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I was 4 months pregnant. I immediately fired off an email in response to my friend Ben explaining that despite how it looks in the photo, I am not, I repeat, NOT pregnant.

What is it about that little pouch we women have? The one that despite countless sit ups, or in my case of late, not a single sit up, just continues to hang on years after the babies have been born? Does the extra "baby fat" ever really go away? Of course, if I got my lazy arse to the gym once and a while and actually did a sit up or two or took a pilates class, perhaps that would change.

I think I might go check out a gym out tomorrow. One I used to belong to in 1999 BC. While I used to like the gym for it's workout equipment, now I really only care about one thing: They have child care.