The Exercise Habit--A Habit for Mom

You can see that I worked on this habit last year here. My friend and I did pretty well. I think we managed to keep walking together for about 3-4 months before our lives took over and it no longer worked.

I still have the goal of getting into shape. Last year's summer hike up a mountain really drove home the point of how out of shape I've allowed myself to become. (As if the weight isn't enough. Sigh.) I also have a strong history on my mother's side of diabetes. Which is pretty much a bummer of a disease and one to be avoided if at all possible.

I once owned a treadmill. Sold it to my neighbor. LOL I tried to like walking on it, I really did. I would listen to music. I watched TV. I varied the pace. It still bored me to tears. Five minutes into it I'd be thinking, "Oh darn! How much longer do I have to do this???" I love to walk, just not on a treadmill. (Does anyone else have a problem walking in a straight line? I didn't realize that I did until I walked on a treadmill. I kept having to adjust to account for the width of the belt.) Walking outside is the best. However, I live on a main rode which means I have to drive to the only real place around here to walk. Guess what that is? A 1/3 mile circle track. Yep, more boredom. The interesting places, and ones where you don't have to worry about being kidnapped from, are a 20 minute ride away. Then I would have to plan around the weather. You can see where that was going...

Ok. So. Next idea. Workout at home with exercise DVD's. I have VHS tapes too. Like Richard Simmons. LOL Hey, don't knock it! It really works for some people. I also have Pilates, Salsa Cardio and Walk Away the Pounds. This for me is one step up from the boredom of walking on a treadmill or in circles. My problem with it is that I can't exercise first thing in the morning like that. I need warm up time. The King and I were trying to get up together at about 6am to exercise together, but I would do about 20 minutes and try to head back to bed. I wasn't motivated to do it in the evenings either. Don't I sound like a big baby?

I know what you're thinking. Excuses, excuses. Well, yes, but it was all part of my challenge. They keep saying you have to find what works for you.

I did! I joined a gym. AND I'm taking group classes. What's weird is that I would mainly classify myself as an introvert. However, the classes are motivating for me. Go figure. I've done Zumba, Dance Fusion, Muscle Pump and I even tried a Hip Hop class! They all work for me. Well, except the Hip Hop stuff but that was mainly because the teacher didn't know her two new dances so there was no sweating that went on. I sweat easily so that should tell ya why it didn't work. I also tried a spin class. Which was a lesson in pain. Not in the legs. In the butt. Who knew there are little bony areas under all that fat that will hurt for 3 days straight after sitting on a little tiny, black cycle seat??? The instructor told me that you eventually get used to it. I'm thinking there are a lot more fun things that don't require that much getting used to. Sheesh!!! Anyway, I've been going about 2-3 times a week. Some are 9:30am classes and some are in the evenings. I have a place to go that stays warm and is pretty much always open. The boys have a daycare room to watch some TV in. (They are the big kids in there. All the other kids are toddlers and it's so funny to see them in there with all the little ones.) And best of all? It doesn't bore me to tears!!!

I know a bunch of health gurus are telling people that there are all kinds of stuff you can do without joining a gym. There's walking, dvds, soup can workouts (not eating them-lifting them), playing with your kids, etc. Somehow, I just don't think that's cutting it for a lot of people out there. We need more motivation. We need to see other people doing what we're doing. People more coordinated, people less coordinated. People skinnier, people not skinnier. So, if you're like me and need group effort, a gym is a good place to be. One bonus is that I know several other people that go there. Sometimes they are even in a class with me. Bonus!!! Plus, it makes me accountable. If they don't see me at a class that I'm normally at, they ask me if I'm ok.

Current exercise habit begun on January 29th. Six weeks and counting...