Exercise

I want to let you in on a little secret...i really don't like exercise! I don't enjoy the pain, the difficulty breathing, the heart racing, the sore muscles, the gross sweaty feeling that comes with it. I just don't like it, never really have. But i know there is an importance to it. So i am trying to exercise more. Despite my dislike for it, i have a lot of baby weight to loose. Look at me, there is no doubt about it. So i have been trying hard to be more active. I got a PS3 game called EA Games Active 2, that comes with a heart monitor and movement tracking bands. It was MY choice for my Christmas present this year. I started using it this week. And my kids LOVE doing it with me. We have had fun in the living room exercising together.

This morning though Felicity asked me a question that took me a minute to digest. She simply said: "mom is this for loosing weight?" The question itself wasn't the issue, it was wondering how to respond. I have read articles about the view young girls could develop when constantly seeing mom trying to loose weight. And while that is a primary goal for me, it isnt the only reason i am doing this. So i told her that it isn't about loosing weight, it is about being healthy, which exercising helps you be. Loosing weight is just an extra benefit.

I have thought a lot about that today. I have always tried to keep my daughters from focusing on weight or their appearance in a bad way. They are all beautiful and healthy, and i don't ever want them to feel like they are any different than that. I thought today about why i want to be more involved with exercising. So here are some of my reasons:

To be healthy myself
To decrease my BMI/weight
To maintain a more active life
To help my heart stay fit
Because i want to finish a 5K this year and i need to increase my endurance to do that
To help my kids think exercise is fun... Not for weight loss, but for activity.

So it isn't just about weight loss for me, but that is and will be a wonderful bonus. I do intend to loose weight, i hope to loose a lot of weight, but mostly i hope to make my heart more healthy, and increase my endurance and activity level. I want to play with my kids more.

By the way. Did you know how much fun Wii Fit can be together as a family. We have had so much fun with that one as well. And we are able to laugh all together at each other doing it, without the fighting. Exercise can be fun, and hopefully my body and mind can get in line with that so that i can enjoy it.

As of now, i am thinking of a 5K on March 29th at OUHSC.

With kids like this, why wouldn't you want to be more healthy.