My Jogging Partner

My bundled-up jogging partner this morning:

For the 78th time since giving birth to John, I'm trying to rally myself to commit to a consistent exercise regime. I thought that having a bit of public accountability via this blog might help me with the effort this time. I'm not trying to become a beauty queen or an athlete--hardly!--I just want to be healthier. I recently got some numbers back from a doctor's appointment and they weren't great. My cholesterol is a bit high (although that is normal for nursing mothers), my blood sugar numbers are high (probably because of my vice of constant eating of sweets), and, while my weight is reasonable, my BMI is at the upper cusp of "normal" and my body fat percentage is unhealthy. (In fact, to my horror, according to the American Council on Exercise guidelines, my body fat percentage is obese.)

I think it is important to decrease my fat, increase my muscle mass, lower my sugars, and improve my cardiovascular health. Some general fitness--even walking a couple of miles daily--is so much better for pregnant women and greatly cuts down on C-sections. As I hope to go through more pregnancies, if it is God's will, I want to avoid getting more and more unhealthy with each one as I pack on more fat and become more sedentary.

So, those are my reasons to start exercising consistently. Now, let me have some fun and list the reasons why I hate it and don't want to do so! I have brainstormed how I can build an exercise routine within the duties of my vocation and it's tough, as every mother knows. I have to create a routine that I can do without any assistance from Chris because of the travel demands of his job. I would much prefer to jog inside on my treadmill, but I cannot figure out how to do that while monitoring John safely and his naps are far too unpredictable for me to jog while he's asleep (he might wake four times during a 1-2 hour nap, if you get the picture). Those who know me will know that I'm not interested in using a fitness center and putting John in the center's daycare. After much thinking, I am left with the only viable option being to jog outdoors with John in his jogging stroller.

Reasons Why I Hate Jogging Outdoors (in no particular order):

1. I am a wimp about bad weather (i.e., too cold, too hot, windy, rainy).

2. The treadmill encourages me to maintain a rapid heart rate, but when outdoors by myself I repeatedly slip into walking slowly instead of jogging briskly.

3. I am embarrassed to exercise in front of other people (the sin of pride).

4. Now I have to buy some cold-weather exercise clothing (sweat pants and such) because all my exercise clothing is for my temperature-controlled home.

5. The streets beyond our neighborhood are dangerous and unfit for pedestrians, so I am limited to staying within my neighborhood, which is boring. Also the streets in the neighborhood are hilly (including one we call "cardiac hill"), which is more difficult. To get beyond the neighborhood for a change of scenery means hauling John and the stroller somewhere in the van, which is a hassle.

6. I'd much rather pass the time jogging while watching television indoors than in the dull silence and same scenery of my neighborhood.

7. Exercising means I have to change my whole routine of getting ready (showered, dressed, hair, makeup) and either do things twice or forgo getting pretty first thing in the morning or some combination of the two. Whatever I do, it will be a hassle.

8. Oh, I know I have more reasons than this. I thought of more than this list while jogging this morning! Maybe I'll edit this post and add in more as I remember them.

I did succeed in jog-walking briskly probably 2-2.5 miles this morning. Afterward I did some stretches and sit-ups. Apparently John has never watched me do sit-ups because he found Mama to be absolutely hilarious. He would laugh at me, then fling his body onto mine (while I was doing the sit-ups) like he was a World Wide Wrestler. Then if I stopped doing sit-ups, he'd start crouching up and down in excitement, asking me to do them again, just so that he could jump on me again . . . . I'll admit, it did make doing sit-ups more fun!

Would any other moms out there like to contribute their creative reasons for why they hate exercise and it is too inconvenient? We can all have a whine fest together!

EDIT: I see now that what I really need is a Hawaii Chair to help me exercise while sitting down.