If we find ourselves without the older two on a Saturday night, we might window shop at the mall, rent a Redbox movie, and pick up a box of See's chocolates, handpicking our favorite pieces to fill the tiny box. That box of See's right there is my husband's idea of a perfect date night. Despite eating whole grains, lean proteins and pretty much mentally counting calories in his head all week when he eats, he has a certain weakness for chocolate. He loves to buy a little box and then eat a piece every morning with his coffee until the box is gone. We don't do this very often, maybe once every few months. It's a true treat.
The guy has nothing to worry about in the health department. He's lost 40 lbs in about 3.5 years by regularly making good food choices and by exercising. He packs his cooler full of fruit, hard-boiled eggs and cans of tuna every day for work. It helps that he's standing on his feet, climbing ladders and lugging a 50 lb tool bag around his waist all day. He comes home after his long day and crazy-long commute completely wiped out...but sometimes he STILL goes to the gym!
And me? I work in an office of women. I sit at my desk in front of my computer screen all day. I eat two out of three meals right here too. I might get up out of my chair occassionally, to deliver paperwork to accounting, get my lunch out of the breakroom fridge or to use the restroom. But fitness is not happening during my 8 hours.
So, I should be exercising when I get home. Really, I should, but I'm not. I teach a two-hour tumbling class once a week, stretching, lifting kids, doing cartwheels, etc. I break a sweat but that's not enough, 2 measly hours once a week.
When I get home after picking up the kids every day, it's nearing 5pm. I get them all washed up, help my husband prepare dinner, we eat, we assist with homework and reading, laundry washing/drying/folding/putting away, kitchen & bathroom cleaning, playing with the baby and we hit the sack shortly after that. Sometimes I work on Etsy orders (tracing, ironing, cutting, etc) after everyone else is in bed. My husband is up at 4am and I'm up just after 5am to start my day, which is pretty well jam-packed. Nobody would ever tag me as lazy. I don't exercise but I'm never just "sitting around".
I know that if I told my husband that I wanted to go for a walk after dinner, he'd be more than happy to take care of the kids. He's probably want us all to go for a walk together. He
But in truth, most of the time I just don't FEEL like exercising.
I know that it's good for me, I know that it's going to be that much harder to get the weight off if I don't exercise, I know that once I start exercising I'll have more energy and will therefore want to exercise more...I know, I know...it's just getting that kick in the backside to get me going. I'll admit it, I have a bad attitude.
I've already started the first part of getting on the right track with more healthfull eating. I'm packing my lunches every day for work instead of resorting to fast food. I'm bringing small snacks that I put together at home. I have Lean Cuisine in the freezer in case I don't have food at home to bring. At home, we already eat pretty lean because my husband does most of the cooking. If we want burgers, we make them with ground turkey at home and I eat the patty without a bun. I keep my portions small and don't go back in for seconds. If I want juice, I pour a large glass of water and add just a splash of juice to it for flavor. I have cut back on my bread intake (that is hard!!). Instead of going to peanut butter on toast as my first choice for breakfast, I look at having a bowl of oatmeal with apple instead. Dessert is only occassional, like a small bowl of low-fat vanilla ice cream with banana slices and walnuts or maybe a piece of chocolate from the See's candy box from date night.
Okay, so food is just tpart of the battle and I need to get over my resistence to exercise. I need to stop making excuses and just do it. My husband will be done with school at the end of the week and will be home every night now. The baby is getting older and my husband can learn how to put him to bed instead of just me. My family can get along just fine without me for an hour while I put on my MP3 and hit the pavement.
This is my testimony, right here, to make that change in myself. To start a regular exercise routine and really, anything I do will be an improvement over what I'm doing now (which is nothing!).
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