Exercise

Sorry. I know it's a little early in the morning to start talking about such a subject. The very word elicits fear in the hearts of couch potatoes the world over. But, take courage. Facing those fears is the only way to grow... um... gain... um, I guess I really mean loose.

Not that you can't loose weight without exercise. Because you can. I did. I lost 97 lbs. without one leg lift. Truth be told, it's because I couldn't get my hiney up off the couch to lift my leg. (We won't mention that I found a way to get up to get to the kitchen.) Truly, exercise was just not an option for me at (mumble, mumble) pounds. Too much. Too hard. I started off just changing the number of calories that I ate every day and it worked.

Then one day I started to feel... sort of squishy. Ever make homemade bread dough? You know what I'm talking about then.

By this time I was down quite a bit and decided it was time for phase two of the plan to come in to action. But how do I do this?

When I was younger I enjoyed the luxury of a gym membership - and the luxury of large blocks of time in which to spend at the gym. I wasn't in denial here, I realized that these days were long gone.

I thought about getting up early in the morning to exercise. Then I hit the snooze button. Morning comes all too quickly in my house.

Taking walks around the neighborhood with all the kids in tow? I used to get a lot of use out of a double stroller when I had two little ones. With number 3 I added a front pack and kept going. Somewhere along the way though, those walks ended. It was SO much work just to get everyone ready to go on the walk. There were SO many stops on the way to look at this and that and then there was the crying, arguing, fighting and complaining. You know what I mean.

So I had to think of something totally new and different, because I am in a totally new and different place in my life.

I finally hit on a perfect solution for me. Now I exercise in the late afternoon, right before dinner. Using a variety of tapes (my favorites are Kathy Smith, Corey Everson, The Firm) that I already owned, I do floor and step aerobics along with some strength training every day.

We have an upstairs room that isn't used often, it's waiting for a remodel. My husband hauled a TV with a DVD/CD combo up there and I put it in the middle of the room, facing one side. On the other side of the room I put three old twin mattresses on the floor and brought out the hoppity hops, a small slide and rocking horses out too. It brings a whole new meaning to the words "home gym".

Just about every day, while you will find Sissy and I sweating to the oldies, the five other children are enjoying a hour or so of loud and physical play. We are all together and I don't have to wonder what so and so is doing. This way, we've been able to consistently exercise for weeks now.

It's really worked for us.