Staying Healthy

After a great (not perfect!) weekend, my son crashed the very next day (Monday) and I crashed with him. The lesson in it:  I found I need to stay the course to stay healthy - spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically.  I have had a hard time keeping up with my gym time in the summer. We want to get together with friends while their kids are out of school, and LJ's health somehow always takes a down turn during the heat. I have gotten better about spending time with God each day in the mornings, although there are still days I miss.  I find it is critical to my health to do these things.  I had gone 5 days without going to the gym until today.  It was 5 days too long. Why can't I work out at home, you ask?  Her name is EW. She is 2 years old. EW needs her own blog to share her antics. It is probably a mental thing for me, but when my other option is doing it by myself and getting a shower to boot, working out at home doesn't have the same appeal.  I could walk around the block with the kids, but we barely make it a mile, and we go so slow, I feel jipped. And no shower. I like to feel clean at least every other day.

 

I made it to the gym today, and mentally I feel so much better! There is a down side to it.  We do less of other things, like getting together with friends who have kids who take afternoon naps. Or we miss the $1 summer movie. Or we miss a homeschool group get together. I try to work around these things, but I find if I skip too many days, I mentally do not do as well. I have to boost my serotonin. I already look forward to Thursday. And Saturday.

As mothers, we drown. We drown in the everyday, the errands, the kids play dates or activities, the laundry, the house...half the year, birthdays sneak up on me (thank goodness for Target and Amazon Prime!)!  After my 3rd child, and lots and lots and lots of stress, I decided to do something for me.  You know that whole concept of compounding interest? I did that with weight with each child. Because the first 3 kids were so close together, I just added whatever was left from the last child to the new pregnancy weight gain. Most of the time, the weight didn't bother me. If you know me, my life goal has never been to be skinny. My mom was a baton twirled/cheerleader type. I was never going to live up to that, not when I was built like my dad's side of the family. Again, if you know me, I am not really the "Ra, Ra, Ra" type unless you count me rooting for my Auburn Tigers (football starts in a month!).  I probably have self image issues somewhere, but overall, I don't focus on my appearance much. Enough to take care of myself, but no drive to be the elusive "perfect."  God gave me other issues to wrestle with. But I digress.  I was feeling very tired (which has been a lifelong struggle) and knew if I wanted to reach 40 without diabetes or heart issues, I should lose some of the weight. Did I mention the stress? Yes, so the gym would probably help with that too. I met with a trainer, met with a nutritionist, lost some weight, got in a routine, and.....got pregnant.  I have been going for 4 or 5 years now. I still gained plenty of weight with EW.  It took me a very long time to lose the baby weight because she had food allergies while I was nursing, which restricted my diet significantly (of course, she couldn't be allergic to something that would help me like sugar).  Now, I have been doing it so long, I am addicted. I notice when my stress increases, I crave going to the gym. I hate exercise. So many days, I can feel the fatigue in my limbs.  I feel like I am going to pass out before, during, and after working out.  But my brain loves the serotonin boost. After awhile, I feel awake and energized and optimistic about life.  That gets pretty addictive. I will say, what I told my husband for years, no one is ever going to exercise or lose weight unless THAT PERSON wants it. Every well-meaning encouragement, every subtle comment about eating dessert....none of it will ever motivate someone to change their exercise or eating habits. I had to want it.  I had to want it so bad, I was willing to work my life around it. God gave me the grace to want it, the funds to temporarily have a trainer and visit a nutritionist to get me started, and the grace to stay committed. I haven't lost weight in 9 months, I have probably gained weight, but it isn't about a number for me. I feel physically strong and mentally healthy.  Did I mention that uninterrupted shower I get too?  And childcare for my 2 year old (aka wild child) for $40 per month?  Win-win-win-win!


Who knew 4 kids would turn me into a gym rat??