Saturday, January 24, 2009

Exercise - the new dirty word

I used to be in such good shape.  At one point in my life (probably 7 or 8 years ago), I was running, light weight-training, and doing yoga and kickboxing on a regular basis.  Back when I had a little thing called time.  And when I didn't have a little thing called Gabriel.  

I had to stop running right around the time I met Jav because I was starting to have really bad hip problems, mostly while I tried to sleep.  Then when we started trying to have a baby I dropped almost everything else thinking it may have been too strenuous (I kept up the yoga, but really toned it down).  So when I got pregnant, I was down to walking and light yoga.  I didn't do either of those until my last trimester.  I started walking the dogs again when Gabriel was three months old or so, and God did it feel good to move again.  

Since then, I have maintained a pretty good walking schedule, 3-4 times a week, and try to do yoga when I have time, which is very rare.  But walking really doesn't do anything for me anymore.  I think I've reached what they call a "plateau".  So, compared to how I used to feel, I now feel pretty flabby and lumpy.  I REALLY want to get back into shape, especially since we've decided to stop trying to have babies.  But once you get out of the habit and lose that discipline, it seems almost impossible to get it back.  

The only thing I can do early before Gabriel wakes up is yoga (probably because I don't have to change clothes; those Hindus thinking up an exercise you can do in your pajamas seem pretty genius to me.)   I keep trying to sneak in some weight training or crunches for my oh-so-sad belly, but I'm not consistent so it does no good.  I can't take a class or join the gym because a) we don't really have the money, and b) I've never really liked working out in front of others.  A former classmate on Facebook suggested Fit TV, since it's on 24/7 and you can DVR the shows you like and do them anytime.  A pretty good suggestion except that we have our DVR in our bedroom where there is absolutely no room to move around.  

But even as I type they all seem like pretty shabby excuses.  Here's the worst one:  I think I have one of those all or nothing personality types.  I either want to work out all the time, or never.  Right now never is winning.

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