Saturday, July 6, 2013

Let's get moving!

While I was taking physiology, I was all over campus, going up stairs and moving every day.  It wasn't necessarily a "workout" but I was moving more than I have been since class got over, and I definitely moved more while taking the class than I had in the months previous.

My professor's doctorate was in exercise physiology, so he often would explain how the body works during exercise ... and what happens when we don't.

Two key points:  It only takes 2-1/2 months of inactivity to lose toning that took you years to achieve.  And the only good stress our bodies experience is exercise, which can help you deal with other stress better.  I'm not going to get into the mechanics of either of these, just know they're true.  ha!

When I learned those things, I started deliberately taking the stairs every time I went to school.  And I tried to move more with the kids.  I jogged through the grocery store with a friend's 3-year-old until it freaked him out.  (My kids were at home.)  I still wasn't "working out" but I was moving more.

A couple of facebook friends have been really encouraging with their posts and messages to me over the years.  One runs stairs during the summer.  So I started looking for stairs ... and I found them at the high school track, where there are bleachers!  I've been wanting to go but haven't been able to make it work ... until today.

Today, I loaded up the kids and went to the track.  We ALL went around twice (baby in the stroller) -- 1-1/2 times, then I ran the bleachers while the kids were playing.  Then we finished cooling down by finishing that second lap and out to the van.

I can't even tell you how great I feel.  I am sore, for sure, and I had a hard time not throwing up right after (so I sat on the bleachers next to a garbage can, lol, catching my breath at the same time).  But I feel like I can accomplish something now.

It's hard being obese and having people judge your worth as a person based on your dress size.  It's hard to be fat and shop in the fat lady section of the store.  It's hard to jog through a grocery store, getting looks from strangers.  It's hard to hear people saying that obesity should be outlawed and less socially acceptable than smoking. (For the record, it IS less socially acceptable than smoking. People don't generally mock smokers, but if they see someone fat, the whale comments and "jokes" start right up.)

I can do hard things.  It's hard being in school with a family.  It's hard to maintain a 4.0.  It's hard to understand physiology.  And math.  And write papers.  And spend time with my husband and children and nurse my baby.  And it's hard to do all of this and still feed my emotional needs, too.   But I'm doing it.

I have been having dreams of running -- with joy -- for years.  Being so heavy, however, I never felt like I could.  And made a lot of excuses why I couldn't get started.  I'm done with excuses.

So I am going to choose my hard.  It's hard to make the time to work out.  It's hard to run intervals around the track.  It's hard to run those bleachers.  It's hard to lift weights and eat healthier and get rid of the junk in the house.  It's hard to load up the kids and make the time for me.  But I'm doing it anyway.  Because this hard is easier emotionally than the obese hard.  It just is.

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