Part Third is about EXERCISE. First, I will put in a disclaimer. I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, therapist, personal trainer, professional athlete, or anything of the like; therefore, nothing I say is intended to substitute for the professional advice of any of the above. I am simply going to encourage you with what I have found works for me.
I am not an athlete. My high school basketball and softball coach could tell you that, even if it has been *ahem* I-won't-say-how-many years. Even when I was much younger--right out of college--it took me nearly a year of running every weekday morning to work up to running a mile without stopping and without nearly collapsing for want of air. I wasn't overweight, either. I have just never been very good at physical exercise. In fact, for a long time, I didn't do much at all. However, in the past few years, I have come to discover how much I need exercise for my health, and not just for trying to stay slim, either, though that is also something for which I strive.
In Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Marmee tells Meg that "want of exercise robs them [women] of cheerfulness." I have found that when I exercise, I am more cheerful and feel better physically and mentally. The context of the above quote is that Meg has been in the nursery with her twins and not doing anything else, thinking that this was her duty. She is tired, cranky, and upset, and her relationship with her husband is strained. Those of us with children understand that. We want to be there for our children, to take care of them, spend time with them, train them. Sometimes we forget our responsibility to our husbands and ourselves. This is not to say that we should be selfish, putting ourselves above our family, but to say that there is a time and place for everything and all focus on the children to the exclusion of all else will rob us of energy and a rich relationship with our husbands (and teach our children that they are the center of the universe, a very unhealthy attitude).
So here are some suggestions. I am a morning person, as my non-morning person friends and family will tell you, so I get up before the family is up to exercise. I don't do a lot, but I do enough to make me awake and alert. I sometimes walk around my neighborhood. I sometimes use an exercise video. Choose one to your taste. I like Billy Blanks Tae Bo; it works cardio and muscles with punches, kicks, squats, lunges, and the like, depending on the version you use. I also do a little yoga for stretching and strength. I am not a yoga expert by any means. I use one that was introduced to me by a family member: Baron Baptiste Core Power; not too difficult and lots of good stretching.
If you can't do that, work exercise into your day. When you take your kids to the park, don't sit on a bench; play with them, swing them, climb with them. Park far out from the grocery store so you have to walk a ways to get into it. Let the kids play outside while you rake leaves (in the autumn, of course) or shovel snow (in the winter, of course, if you live in a colder climate or even this year in the Southeast). If you have stairs, walk up and down them frequently during the day. The strangest thing I've ever done was to do squats every time my daughter spelled a word correctly. When I worked in an office, I would go to the bottom level of our building and walk around the elevator banks for half an hour at lunch time. I sat at a desk most of the day, so the walking felt good. If you are like me and your muscles get tight, stretch while you are standing at a counter or reading something. Do some jumping jacks or sit-ups while watching TV (although I contend if you have time to watch TV, you have time to exercise); if you have it, walk on a treadmill or some other machine while you watch TV.
Even if you don't necessarily need to lose weight (I will never advocate for looking like a stick figure), exercise is necessary for a healthy body. I believe you will feel much better physically and mentally if you do. Healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy spirits.
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