[Katana]

You could get one of those lights that straps onto your head to facilitate reading. And if your bike is magnetic you can increase the resistance by placing supermagnets on the bike's magnet. (Wear work gloves to avoid skin pinches if you do.)

I don't think I could convince the BF to get me one of those headlamps you speak of.

As for the bike, I'd actually prefer a little less tension than is currently on it, but no, it's not magnetic, it's pure cable tightened. The problem is I can't seem to reach a happy level of tension, it's either too much or not enough. I'd like a nice new treadmill is what I'd like. Lowest possible impact, and perfect for endurance cardio, which is essential when your only real goal is to lose mass and you're not being terribly specific about retaining lean mass. I want to lose some lean mass too, actually, to get down to a bare minimum of lean mass before I put it back on in a more female pattern.

Eventually I am going to need to get a gym membership, but I'd kinda like to do this stage of things at home if I can. I'd hate going to a gym looking like I do ATM.

I prefer the elliptical machine for low impact endurance cardio. I remember back when I had a gym membership it worked absolutely every part of my body, was great for toning and weight loss!