Every day since school started up again I have been pulling myself back back onto the exercise wagon, which I fell off . . . . last March sometime. Sad to admit, but true.
I did a pretty good job exercising last year, but then mid-March things got busy and pretty stressful with the kids for awhile, and I cut out non-essential and not-very-fun things. I must admit, this included exercise.
The older I get, the more I accept that regular exercise needs to be a part of my life. I am especially motivated when I go to the gym and hear the 75 year old women talking to each other about their exercise routines. We go to a gym with a preponderance of senior citizens and families with young kids. I am usually in the weight room or classes with men and women many decades older than me. Today in the locker room of the gym I overheard two women in their mid-70s talk about how they exercise every day because they want to retain their flexibility and strength as they age so they can stay active. These same women had just finished a Zumba class with me, and they wiggled their hips admirably. They also talked about their travel plans for the year - lots of far flung and awesome places I want to visit when I am their age. I want to be just as active as them when I am 75. For that matter, I have great examples in my own family. My parents exercise as frequently, and my Grandma Palmer has always (until some very recent health problems) walked every day and attended aerobics a few times a week!
This motivation helps me overcome the significant obstacle that I don't really enjoy exercising. I mean, I love the endorphin high afterward, and I am always glad I did it. I like the way I feel when I regularly exercise, and I know it gives me a boost physically and emotionally. But, I don't necessarily look forward to exercising. I have friends who absolutely must exercise every day or they go stir-crazy. That is not me. I would go stir crazy if I didn't have a good book sitting on my nightstand or any dark chocolate in the house.
If I made a list ranking all the things I do in a week, obviously things like reading a good book alone or with a kid, going on a date with Dan, or talking to a friend or my family on the phone would be high on the list. On the other hand, exercise would rank above toilet cleaning and spider killing, but below weeding, laundry folding, doing the dishes, and even bill paying. But, exercise I must.
This is how I get myself to the gym every day right now. At some point in the morning I throw on my exercise clothes. Then, after getting the last of the kids off to his or her respective bus or school, I don't allow myself to go home until I go to the gym. Then I tell myself that I "only" have to go in and do the Treadclimber machine or the weight circuit, so I can be out of there and on my way to do errands lickety-split. But once I start, my competitive side pushes me to do both the aerobic and the weights or to go to one of the exercise classes. The classes are good for me because the peer pressure makes me push myself way beyond what I really feel like doing. It's really embarrassing to allow the little old ladies show me up in the total body conditioning class!
The kids have been back in school for five days, and so far I've worked out five days. Yay for me!
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