Inspired by Elise’s blog from the other day, I thought I’d share my latest “be healthy” goal: exercise!
Of course, I was being glib when I titled this blog. (I was riffing off Elise’s title.) But at the same time, when it comes to physical activity, I’m basically a very lazy person. You know all those people who want to push their bodies to the limit? To test the extremes of human endurance? Yeah. Me neither. I’m not one of those folks. I don’t really know any of those folks. Frankly, I think they’re crazy.
However, having said that, I will admit this: I want to live a long life and apparently a healthy heart and waist smaller than 35 inches will help with that. (That waist thing is apparently a new indicator of healthy–big surprise right?) So at the beginning of this month, I decided I was going to exercise every day. I committed to doing fifteen minutes of stretching every morning and another 25 minutes of exercise later in the day five days a week.
I know August is a strange time to start a fitness program. I mean, don’t most people start in January? Or March, right before swimsuit season? But the way I saw it was this: If I can do this everyday, then by Thanksgiving exercising will be a habit. That would be huge for me! Exercise? A habit? So bizarre, I can’t even tell you. I bet, right now, Robyn DeHart is laughing her butt off.
But that’s my goal. I knew if I shared it with you, I’d be more committed to following through and I really do want to follow through. I want to be that goal-acccomplishing, confident person that is in the habit of exercise. Moreover, I want to be a good role model for my children. I want them to have those habits I never had. I was that kid in school. You know the one that’s picked last in sports because because she threw a softball and accidentally hit someone with it. Yeah. That was me. I have a natural aversion to any sport that involves moving quickly and gracefully, because I’m far more likely to trip awkwardly and knock over the entire team like dominoes. (And yet even I thought Bella from Twilight was too clumsy.) This is why I practice yoga. And not just any yoga either, Iyengar Yoga, which is like yoga for the elderly and lame. I’m not even joking.
The point is, I don’t want my kids to know that about me. Not because I’m embarrassed by it. (Hey, I’m not that dorky girl in school with the crush on the out athlete, so it does matter.) I don’t want them to know because I don’t want to pass my crap on to them. I have this vivid memory of my parents telling me, “It’s okay. Beierles aren’t good at sports.” (Beierle is my maiden name if you didn’t know.) I remember that moment as clearly as I remember all those others. Did it happen before or after the softball incident? Before or after the dominoes? I don’t know. I don’t know if it was my reason or my consolation.
But my kids, they have a shot at doing better than I did. Yes, they’re half Beierle, but they’re also half the Geek. Despite being a Geek, he had perfect vision, played tennis and basketball and was a champion skeet and shooter (or whatever the noun is for that.) Does that mean they’ll be athletes? Who knows. I just don’t want them thinking they can’t be. And, I want to be around to see them do whatever it is they do, whether it’s volleyball or tennis or yoga for the elderly and lame.
How about you? Do you exercise? If so, what do you do? I still have one goodie bag to giveaway from RWA conference, so let’s talk about exercise!
Emily McKay loves to cook, bake and play with her kids. When she’s not on deadline, she also gardens, composts, follows celebrity gossip, and practices yoga. When she is on deadline, she … well, she panics, and does all of those things with more nervous energy. She lives in central Texas with her husband, two kids, zen cat, and two dogs.
I don’t think Little Galen could ever be lazy. Some days I wish she’d be lazy, but I know that can change when she gets older. I hope that by setting a good example, as you’re doing, she’ll always be active.
Yes, I do work out. I go to a boot camp 3 days a week from 5-6 a.m. It’s the only time I can always make it. And most weeks I also run 3-5 miles on Tuesday and Thursday. It goes faster if you run or boot camp with friends.
Shana, I have to say that all your hard work pays off. You always look great. And, like you, I just hope I’m setting a good example, so that my kids will know it’s important to be active.
I walk 6 days a week. I’m hoping to extend my endurance.. include hills.. If you have really young children.. there’s bikes, roller skates, swimming lessons, gymnastics/tumbling.. Find what they enjoy and encourage it..
Yes. Encouraging what they love is so important. Both my kids love swimming, which is good, ’cause it’s great for safety too.
My husband and I are spending the summer in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina where we are taking hikes every day. When we return to Florida for the winter, we will continue that daily exercise with long walks around our neighborhood each morning peppered with treks around our local park.
I’m glad you’re on a mission to get your children moving. I am appalled at so many children I see today in that you cannot pry them away from their computers, games, TV, etc. They want to stay inside with the A/C and near snacks. When I was a kid, and the same for my own children, we were outside as soon as the sun was up and had to be lassoed to come inside in the evening. But, we were healthy and happy.
I try to get my kids out of the house and into nature as often as possible. I joke that we live out in the boondocks, but the blessing there is that we have some land around our house and don’t get a lot of traffic on our street. So we can spend a lot of time outside … when the weather is great, we spend hours with the kids in the yard and me on the porch. Fresh air is so important!
I started the “Couch to 5K” running program at the start of June. It builds you up over 9 weeks to run 30 minutes. I completed Run 2 of week 9 today – running for 30 minutes. I feel good, although I had a couple of weeks off for Nationals and then family holiday, so it’s a struggle to get back into the routine. I run with my dog, so she’s been getting fit with me. On the days I don’t run I try and take the dog for a walk. Will have to get up earlier once the kids go back to school.
Nicki, good for you! That sounds like a great challenge! Wow!
My DS gets lots of physical exercise at school, daycare and camp, but it can be a challenge to get him off the sofa in the evenings and weekends. I can certainly tell the difference when he has been inside too long – he has a lot of energy and needs to be active. My husband and I try to model “good behaviour” by cycling to work most days between April and October and we ski as a family in the winter. Making sure everyone gets outside is relatively easy in the summer months, but much harder during the winter. Hard to push my kid out the door, when I don’t want to go out either.
I think the trick is trying a number of activities to find out which ones are the favourites and making time to do them regularly. This is as important for adults as for kids. Organizing an outdoor activity for the whole family at least once a month seems to work for us too.
Good for you for bicycling to work! That’s great — both for you and for the planet. An outdoor activity for the whole family once a month is a great idea. Maybe we can institute that here at the McKay house!
Ha! Love the riff. =) We should make it a PBK special: “I want my kids to; I don’t want my kids to…”
Okay, I admit it. I’ve always wanted to be a runner. =) Thing is, I’ve never had enough energy for it. But this eating healthier thing has not only inspired me to reach for that goal again, it’s also given me TONS more energy (and when I say tons, I mean *tons*). So right now, my goal is to exercise at least an hour a day (with an off day every fifth day), with the intention of starting something similar to the Couch-to-5k program in a couple of weeks. I’m hoping to be running an hour by the New Year. That would be AMAZING, especially considering that I’ve always had doubts on whether I could do it.
As for the kids, we’re doing a special yoga DVD for kids, and SuperGirl loves it. I wish it was more like your yoga, though, lol.
I walk on a treadmill while I write, so that helps a lot! I want to do other things, though, like Zumba (which I love when I get around to it), and yoga. I loved that, too. I just have to make the time to go to the gym. I have home tapes, but I don’t do them. Sigh!!!
I totally thought I was going to do Zumba when we bought the Wii. I got the game. I tried it. Numerous times. Finally my daughter told me I needed to stop. “You’re doing it wrong,” she said, with a confused expresssion on her face. Maybe it wouldn’t have been bad, but I was still in the training mode!
I’m sorry I missed this post when it posted – I’ve been on vacation!
I suck at consistent exercise and when I became a mom it got worse. I used to go to Curves, which I love (and no haters, it is not only for old ladies!) and I knew I was getting a great workout, but then we got the girls and well, Curves doesn’t offer childcare. Other gyms are so expensive for the family package so we bought a used treadmill a couple of months ago and I love that. My new goal is start getting up early to get my walking done before the girls get up.
I always wanted to try Curves … but, like you said, they don’t to child care! I’ve been a member of a gym for a couple of years now, but this time I’m trying to do it at home. I’m tired of using “I couldn’t get to the gym today” as my excuse.
I try and stay active generally as a good example for the (6) kids we have, so I walk, do yoga (from a DVD, no idea what kind!) and Jillian Michaels’ Shred. These are easier things to do because I can mostly do them at home! But I’ve found a new and fun way to exercise. The four oldest children play waterpolo, and I’ve started playing socially with the three oldest. I’m normally the oldest player in the pool (only by 20 years or so!) but it’s so much fun. In the car on the way home, we all buzz about the game, and when we get home, sit around the kitchen table and bore the husband with our war stories. I am slowly improving (they are all better players than me). Of course, to play waterpolo, you need to be swimming fit. So a couple of times a week when they have their practices, I hop into the pool and swim rather than gasbagging with the other parents poolside. And when I have to drop son #1 to his 0700 hockey practice, I head into work and swim at the pool nearby before starting my work day.
I’m trying to encourage them to have regular exercise as a habit. Modelling the behaviour is a little harder!
Hi Emily, even i was like you as a kid who would be the easiest target in every dodge ball game(i used to get selected only for that).My daughter is better as she loves to play group sports.
Fitness is an altogether different ballgame as for me as a parent, it will involve all-physical fitness (healthy eating as important as exercising) and mental fitness.
I have a quote stuck on my refrigerator,”eat if it grows on a plant, don’t, if it is made in a plant.”