The Jane Fonda Workout

It’s Monday so it’s our day off. In one week we officially open. I’m ready for this. Not nervous at all about the critics coming this week. I am confident in the strength of the play…in its essential worth. It’s about something. It moves people, makes them think. Can’t wait to have my family see it.

Today I had lunch with Julie LaFond, the woman who ran my Workout business for many years. We got to know each other so well over time, spent so much time together both on the job and off, that when we got together today it felt like we’d just seen each other a short time ago. Ever had that experience with someone you’ve known really well? You just drop back into sync like there’s been no in between-time. I commented on it to her and she admitted she felt the same.

Still, we had lots to catch up on…happy things and sad.

It snowed today so I had to carry Tulea everywhere. God forbid she should get her freshly groomed paws frost bit!

I misspelled a word at the end of yesterday’s blog: I wrote “illicit” instead of “elicit.” Several watchful friends picked up on it. Illicit means unlawful or dishonest. Elicit means to bring forth.

I am now going to watch a video I just got made by the Jane Fonda Center at Emory School of Medicine to be viewed by teens in clinic waiting rooms. Its part of a series we’ve done. This one is about helping teens handle their sexual feelings and behaviors in healthy, positive ways.

See you next time.

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30 Comments

  1. I’m so glad you are doing this. Have enjoyed keeping up with your daily activities through your blog and Tweets. Keep it up.
    Be well.

  2. Thank you for all the work you and your center does at Emory!

  3. Jane,

    I have waited YEARS to share this little ditty with you. lol

    I purchased your Jane Fonda’s Low Impact vhs video. At the time I wasn’t the whale that I am now, and decided if senior citizens could do it so could I.

    Jane, I put in the tape, stood on my mat and you and I were BONDING. I was keeping up and feeling really proud of myself. My out of shape body was getting a wee bit weary but I was hanging in there with you.

    But then you broke my heart when you said-LET’S BEGIN! I hit pause and pulled the tape out. lol

    I STILL have the tape, and it’s STILL paused where I stopped it! lol

    I keep threatening to try it again, but I haven’t. lol

    Love and admire your works and I am enjoying your dogs adventures. She is just too cute!

    Thank You for reading my ramblings.

    Rave

  4. The video for teens sound like both a challenge and joy to be a part of. Good on you for taking on a project like this.

  5. I wish more teens like me turned to you instead of some of these “idols” of today. You know exactly how to talk to us about any topic. Sure, there are things we don’t want to hear, but have to face, and secretly want to talk about and get advice on. You are one of a kind…from a teenagers point of view.
    =)

    Kelsey.

  6. Hi Jane,
    Your workouts were amazing. I LOVE your “Total Body Sculpting” workout. I learned how to lift weights properly before I ever set foot in the gym. Even when I eventually, joined a gym I still worked out with you at home on my off days.

    I started with the VHS and now have the DVD but haven’t worked out in almost a year. (Amazing how skinny a guy gets when he stops lifting weights! Though, I suppose most people gain weight, so I’m lucky.) Anyway, just wanted to tell you that workout means a lot to me and made me less lonely, having you as a personal trainer.

  7. Keep believing in yourself, and we will keep believing in you!

  8. Jane..(my oh my, who would have ever thought that I would actually be “tweeting”.. you. I too actually bought the record (and still have it) of your workout, I like the other gal started and stopped. Now at 54..I really need a good workout, but do the gym daily, (must look like a picture of health inside..but the outside has yet to catch up…lol) Thank you for sharing bits of your daily life with those of us who have followed your career for many years, I just about had my “big-one” the other day when I got an answer back from you re: your adorable dog. Looking forward to your opening and best wishes to you always!

  9. Kudos to you, Jane for creating a series on sexuality for teens. I feel like there’s not enough discussion about this subject, and in the last several years there’s been such an emphasis on abstinence that it seems as though a thorough approach to teen sexual health has been put on the back burner. While I am no longer in my teen years, I appreciate all the work you’ve done to improve life for young women.

    I applaud your dedication!

    Best,
    Amanda

  10. Thank you for being part of making videos for teens on time appropriate subjects. In my mind it is a legacy of which you should be proud. In today’s busy world it seems like we have neglected our youth. Hat’s off to you!!!!

  11. Dear Jane,

    You’ve inspired me to be one of your “followers” when I saw you on The View talking about your blogging and tweeting. I’m so impressed that you’ve embraced this medium. You’ve long been a queen at exploring all forms of media, which I think is more connected to you wanting to explore all forms of communication.

    There is a wonderful thread in your writing that reflects on friendship and humbleness. I’ve found these two values deeply important, especially as we get older!

    Thank you for bringing your vulnerability and your spirit here!

    Warm regards,
    Grace

  12. Hi Jane. I am in the middle of reading your autobiography, really by default (i was desperate for a book and it was the only one i could find that i hadnt read in my sisters bookcase!)To say that i am amazed by you is an understatement. I am a firm believer that everything comes to you for a reason, and you have managed to inspire me through your book. Before i read the book, i have to admit that i was one of the people you mention who only really knew of you because of your workout videos (the legwarmers stand out the most in my memory!)but i found myself flicking through the TCM tv channel last night looking for movies that you had acted in! after reading your book, i realise that i am blessed beyond belief with the family i was born into and the life i was born into. not that i am without guilt (i am the daughter of a white tobacco farmer from zimbabwe, and we are, as a result, caught up in the whole political land distribution thing now.) but what i can say is that reading books about people like you, it makes me realise how cushioned my life was, and how i was so so sure when i was growing up that my life and the way we lead our lives here was the correct way, and the best way. as i get older (grand age of 32)and as our little life crumbled around us 10 years ago along with our farm, i can see that there is so much more to life and so many ways to live it, never mind the way people think in my country. i have opened up and managed to move past my bitterness, knowing that life changes and you need to change with it,roll with the punches, or become like so many other people and just slowly die. i now live in zambia and about to have my first child. my parents still struggle in zimbabwe trying to make sense of it all, but all in all, we are a very stable, happy and together family. i am so grateful for that, as my early childhood obviously prepared me for the hardships ahead. anyway, i dont want to sound like i am telling you my life story, God knows noone needs to be burdened with someone elses life story, but i just wanted you to know that i admire you, and i think you are a fantastic actress (last movie was monster in law, which i want to watch again now that i know you better). i think what moved me the most about your story was your openness about bulimia. i was a lucky one. i had my insecurities about my body, but never went that far. but i do have friends who had eating disorders at the boarding school i went to . makes you wonder how many other friends of mine were in the depths of despair and managed to hide it as well as you, and i was not able to help them because of it. i know that if i have a daughter, that is one of my biggest worries for her. but i guess the trick is to just live in the present and tackle these problems if and when they arise.

    have a great day!

    Yours, Tamryn

  13. I enjoy your blog and hope you keep it up also….Just a side note; my son-in-law graduated from Emory School of Medicine. My daughter was working at Emory Hosp. as RN and they met while he was doing his residency…a very good school and a very good hospital!

  14. I, like so many others, fervently wish that you would continue with a positive attitude about the up and coming Jane Fonda Work Out DVD. Several of us who watch the View, and read your Blog are excited by the prospect, hopefully in the not too distant future. I am 63, and feel a continuing strength from your interview with Barbara Walters in which you were so candid about past experiences with abuse. I have connected to some reflective feelings since I heard that interview and many things have changed in my out look in the past week…….I too would like to think of my “third” act as being much more of a healing experience for myself and my daughter and grandaughters. I have decided to become a person again, rather than the old dog lover in the room that can be ignored, talked over, interrupted and dismissed. My flesh and blood all 5 of them from ages 44 to 20 need to experience a Third Act. I shall began to concentrate on a revolution, resolution, and reverence for my own needs. “Come on Puppy, let’s make em sit up and take notice…….63 is just the beginning of a new act, the Third act and the lights have flashed and are starting to dim…….action”. I could go for a Jane Fonda STRETCH! (my Shihtzu Pumpkin is on the bed beside me wagging her tail to Tulea of course, her real name is Sir Tristan’s Lady Iseult. I must find pictures, this is my first blog answer and only 4 twitter rambles so far……)

  15. Dear Jane,

    I am in the middle of reading your autobiography at the moment, by default, as i was desperate for a book and it was the only one in my sisters bookcase i hadnt read. I just wanted to say that that proves everything in life happens and comes into your life for a reason.I am finding the book impossible to put down, and just want to tell you how much i admire you and all you have been through. I am lucky enough in my life to have had a very stable upbringing, warm loving family and very privaleged life so far. i was brought up to have confidence, to feel my choices were always my choices and i know now that although i thought at the time it was the same for everyone, with the confidence of youth, i realise how wrong i was and that there are so many people in the world from all walks of life with issues about themselves, no matter how rich or poor they are. reading about people like you, who i have to admit to you, i just remember you from your workout videos and your legwarmers(i always thought they were the funniest thing from the 80’s)now i feel like flicking through the TCM movie channel on tv to look for movies you have acted in. I think you are very brave, and a strong strong woman. just to tell you a bit about myself, i am a daughter of a white tobacco farmer from zimbabwe, and in the past 10 years our lives have been turned upside down because of the political land redistribution programme. but when we were first attacked, i was bitter and resentful that my way of life had to change. that was the beginning of my own spiritual awakening, so to speak. the entire episode had the opposite effect on me (and a lot of white zimbabweans) that the president of our country wanted. he was hoping to segregate the whites and blacks even more, (which did happen, it just depended on the people involved) but for a lot of us, it brought us closer together and helped us to understand one another more. i feel more zimbabwean and one with the people of the country than i did before! it just goes to show, when you have strong people, they may be brow beaten and abused, but their spirit just keeps living on. I love my country and its people, and i am forever hopeful something will change for the better. i am now living in zambia, married to a farmer and expecting our first child in may. the last point i would like to talk about is that i was most touched by your openness about your eating disorder. i had numerous friends at boarding school who where anorexic/bulimic etc. and it was such a foreign thing to me. all i remember is that one girl just loved to have her back massaged, and i was always willing to do that for her. but she was like a small bird, just bones in her back, and i found it difficult to find any muscle to actually massage. but she obviously ached and needed the touch. now, i am happy to say, she has recovered and is a very confident, happy healthy woman. she had a man who helped her. but your story made me realise that there were probably a lot more girls in my school who i thought i knew and who managed to hide their disorders from everyone. it makes me sad, but determined that if i am blessed with a daughter, i will do everything in my power to give her the love, support and confidence that i obviously was lucky enought to receive from my parents to let her know that i love her unconditionally. i know that my husband will as well.

    thank you for your book, and have a great day!

    Regards, Tamryn

  16. Enjoying your blog. You’re a very good writer. On ASK JANE, you mentioned your forties were hard for you, but you really started enjoying life after you turned 60. I found this heartening since I’ll be 60 this June. Thanks for the encouragement

  17. You are one of my heros. I have followed and defended you since shaking your hand in a broadway theater when your father played “Clarence Darrow”. and yes, parts of Ga. are a 3rd world country…am now in NM-a docent at MRM and planning for the world peace conference May 29-31(please come)Also Taos summer of Love-thoughout the warm days.(easy ridin to all)

    Prickly relationships with daughters are a gift-It means We are all strong, independent women.

    Keep doing what’s in your heart and don’t give up the good fight. K

  18. I read a recent NEW YORKER review of your new play with great interest. Five and one-half years ago, my sister began having strange neurological symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with ALS by three different and excellent neurologists. Quite by “accident” she landed in St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, IL, where a brilliant general practitioner decided to give her immuno-globulin treatment over a period of six days. Where other doctors had pronounced “no treatment”, this young man refused to accept the judgements of the experts. It took a couple of months for the IVIG treatment to make a difference. Within three months, she gave away her wheelchair. Today, although she has lost a good deal of the use of her hands and walks with an unsteady gait, she is very much alive. There is no definitive diagnosis for her condition, and she still has IVIG infusions on a regular basis. She does not, however, have ALS. Fortunately, we live in St. Louis where there is an excellent neurological staff at Barnes-Jewish Hospital who continue monitoring and treatment.

    Because we have such a large and scattered family, we started a blog to keep folk updated about my sister’s condition. The blog proved to be of so much interest that it has turned into more of a family newsletter: http://www.sueboaz.blogspot.com

    We hope to make it to New York to see your performance. I have been a fan of yours for decades and think “Klute” is one of your more outstanding performances. Your MY LIFE SO FAR is a fascinating account of one complex and interesting woman on her road to wholeness. I look forward to keeping up with your activities and accomplishments going forward.

    Thank you for your blog.

    Sincerely, Rose F. Holt

  19. Hi Jane –
    The Best to you. It was a pleasure meeting u roughly a year + ago.

  20. Iam enjoying your news,you are very interesting an da fine person ….thank you so much….

  21. Thank you for the video for teens.

  22. Yes I have had that experience of dropping back into sync like there is no in between time and it feels great!
    i always say “No time nor distance can separate what is in your heart.
    Hope you had a well deserved day off. I know Tulea
    was happy to have her mommy to herself, and appreciates all the pampering. I do the same for my Angel.
    Cant thank you enough for this blog, charities etc. You do realize how Deeply it has, and continues to touch our lives. I look forward to every entry.

    Roseann
    Roseann

  23. Hi Jane…..Hello from DownUnder….it’s so great to see you blogging….I would be in the queue to se 33 Variations if I was in NY. Saw you on The View which alerted me to your first show on B’way and your blog.
    Intend on going through the blog to learn how the show evolved etc.
    We met at a Hilton lunch a few years ago when you were here in Brisbane promoting your book. My company, The Courier-Mail newspaper sponsored the event.
    Been a fan ever since Tall Story.
    Good luck …happy blogging…Poppy Masselos

  24. Dear Ms. Fonda,

    I saw your play on Feb. 9th and loved it. I brought the producer of Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, Michael Frazier, on Feb. 24th and he mentioned to me he saw your first show on Broadway. We both loved 33 Variations and I caught things the second time that I didn’t catch the first time. It was ensemble acting at it’s best!

    Now, about your workout. I remember in 1982 at North Texas State University, every night at 7:30pm they offered The Jane Fonda Workout in the cafetieria for anyone who wanted to do it. It was a great way to meet people and keep in shape. I think I memorize the entire workout by the end of one month.

    Break a leg on your opening. It’s a great show so enjoy the ride and welcome back to Broadway.

    Pete

  25. Ms. Fonda,
    what about a Wii game that uses the Fitness Board based on your workout? chicks my age (say, 50!!) would totally dig it!!

  26. Jane… I would kill for your step aerobics work out tapes on DVD. I have had a VHS copy of the Jane Fonda’s Step Aerobics & Abdominal Workout since 1992!!!
    Why are they not on DVD??

    Hugs and kisses… love you to bits.

  27. i checked out the Jane Fonda Center at Emory School of Medicine on your site and the first thing i thought was what a wonderful thing you’ve conceived of and then, wouldn’t it be nice to have programs like this for boys too? bravo for making a difference.

  28. Love you Jane! You inspire me to keep reinventing myself, can’t wait to see what you do in your eighties and nineties!!

  29. My body was at it’s best when I worked out at the Jane Fonda studio on Maiden Lane in San Francisco in the eighties. I was sad when it closed down. I have admired you and glad that you are now back acting.

  30. This is my first visit to your blog site, Jane.
    I grew up watching you and my mom workout together, and soon I started to join her. Although not a huge fan of video workouts – they are so helpful when I don’t want to leave my house for the gym.

    I can say now that I enjoy them very much – and that you are, by far, the best video workout trainer – EVER.

    When I saw you on film – I was equally impressed. I can’t imagine the difficulty you had being a beautiful, talented woman in hollywood during those times.

    Kudos, Jane.

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