Weight Loss- the Active Part

I really, really don't like the word Exercise.

Why?

Because in my head, I start to imagine a gym. Sweaty people. Loud breathing. (Keep in mind this is coming from someone who has only stepped into a gym a handful of times in college).

I totally get that for a lot of people, the gym is a great place for them. They love getting sweaty, they love the adrenaline rush.

I do not. And I'm not embarrassed by it anymore. Maybe at some point I will crave that, but right now I do not.

With both of my kids, when they were newborns, I found myself sitting. A lot. To nurse them, to feed them, to play with them, basically to do anything with them that didn't require them in a carrier. Sitting = sedentary = not burning calories. Top that off with the bad eating habits I had developed, and voila- you have someone with an obese BMI.

Me. My weight was high enough that my body mass index was in the bright red section- the obese section. I used to laugh it off- come on, look at me, I might be overweight, but I'm not obese! I kind of got sick of having to laugh it off. I wasn't comfortable in jeans, didn't like how I looked in any of my clothes, and it occurred to me: maybe it's one thing to feel this way in my 40's, my 50's...but I'm in my 20's and I feel like this? When is it going to get better? Is it? Or am I destined to be obese my whole life?

I made changes in my eating habits, and I started walking Scout up in the quarry behind our house. I'm talking a steep, uphill climb onto several levels of a stone quarry. It kicked my butt then, and it still does! But here's the beauty of it... it does not feel like exercise to me at all. I enjoy every minute of it. I think, that's the secret- to find a way to be active that you enjoy and is easily accessible to you. I've always loved walking outdoors, but I never realized that I could use it to change my life.

My other "active" tip? I make it a point to not sit on the couch until the end of the day, after the kids are in bed. Now that both of my kids walk and run- they're not sitting, so why should I? I'm doing housework, chasing them around, cooking, changing diapers, playing on the playground, etc. Pretty much anything except sitting. I even prop my laptop on the washer (which is in the kitchen) and write emails standing up. It might sound really silly. It does to me, almost. But I can tell you, with certainty, it's made all the difference.

Just. Be. Active. In any way that you can. It doesn't have to be in-the-gym-sweatiness, but it can. It's different for every person. I also had to Really Want It. I talk about that in my next post.