I once had a next door neighbor who was quite a colorful woman, and that’s putting it nicely. She was in her eighties and still going strong due to her daily health regimen. She would walk every where she went and wouldn’t eat any foods that had sugar in them. Actually, she only ate sugar-free pumpkin pie, a recipe she had developed herself, and her skin was an alarming orange color as a result. She had many other bizarre habits and quirks but it would take me all day to write about them.<\/p>\n
One day as she was returning from her walk she spotted me in my yard and came up to have a chat. In the course of our conversation she made a statement that I found quite amusing, she said, “Boy everyone is sure getting fat these days. It’s really awful, I just don’t like it. I don’t like to look at them because I only like to look at beautiful things.” I inwardly chuckled and thought to myself, not me lady, the uglier the better. Don’t bring any beautiful things my way. It was a conversation I’ll not soon forget.<\/p>\n
Now here I am about a year after the birth of my last child and struggling to lose the last of the baby weight. I’m really trying to eat better, but chocolate calls to me like the sirens singing to Ulysses and sometimes when I pass by the bakery section I can hear the baked goods whispering, “Resistance is futile.” I have come to the conclusion that in order to combat my occasional (ok, frequent) indulgences I will have to start an exercise program, yikes!<\/p>\n
I have a good friend who just had a baby and is also trying to lose some baby weight so we made a pact that we would start exercising and lose the extra weight together. She is much more motivated than I am so this will be a good thing for me.<\/p>\n
Ok, first morning we are supposed to be going to aerobics at 7:30 am. My alarm clock wakes me up and I think, there is no way in heck I am getting up right now to go shake my fanny at the free aerobics class being held at the church. I call up my friend and using the sickest sounding voice I can conjure I say, “I had a really horrible night last night and I don’t think I can make it.”
\nTo which she replies, “GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED, YOU’RE GOING TO AEROBICS!”
\n“Oh fine!” I reply in a perfectly normal voice and hang up the phone.<\/p>\n
I am at my first aerobics class since college and there is not one well-toned, childless woman in sight. I am reminded of my neighbor’s desire to look only at beautiful things and realize she would not be happy here. I’m ok though, in fact I’m feeling a little bit better about myself now. Some of us are wearing shorts and large t-shirts while others are wearing tight spandex leggings (don’t try to picture it just keep reading) and t-shirts that are not large enough. One lady has the funkiest bed-head I’ve seen in a long time. There are also lots of children running around in princess or power ranger pjs.<\/p>\n
The class gets started and I say a quick prayer that I will not make a huge fool of myself, going up when everyone else is going down, or left when I’m supposed to be going right. After a few minutes I realize I’m fine and I try to make the most of my work out. It’s going to be a long road back to pre-pregnancy weight but I intend to get there one grapevine at a time.<\/p>\n
Help me out, what are techniques you use to stay motivated when exercising and eating right?<\/p>\n