Doing the Stairs

Behold my latest and greatest gymnasium:

These are our rear stairs from the kitchen to the bonus room above the garage. You, too, probably have access to such an exercise facility!

If I was publicly honest about what I thought about a homeschooling mother of young ones exercising and losing weight amidst the roller coaster of having babies, I would say some sinfully negative and ungrateful statements and I'd cry, so instead I'll try to be positive and cheerful. (Or what Melancholic Me considers fake and ridiculous.)

My latest exercise endeavor is what my midwife* has been encouraging (cajoling, nagging, harassing) me to do for three pregnancies now: "DO THE STAIRS." (*No, I have no special announcements at this time!)

Going up and down the stairs has many benefits:

• It is free for those of us who have stairs in their homes (which is most of us here in the South).
• This "gym" is open 24/7.
• There is no commute to get there.
• No babysitting is required. For those of us with tots and babies around us all waking hours of the day, this is an important feature!
• It raises one's heart rate fast and effectively. If one became very good at walking up and down the stairs, one could start going faster and faster, even jogging.
• No exercise clothing is required. Usually I am wearing whatever outfit I'm wearing for the day, which means I can do this easily even in a lengthy skirt. Almost any shoes work for this exercise but, if I were wearing fancy high heels (cue: laughter from my friends who know me in person), this exercise can even be done barefoot.
• Fifteen minutes on the stairs burns between 100 and 150 calories (source, source, source), which is better than nothing. Unfortunately, exercise has many benefits, but serious calorie-reduction is not one of them.

The only downside of Doing the Stairs I can think of is that, if one fatigues and stumbles, one could fall down the stairs (which is why I hold on to the rail at all times).

I use my time on the stairs to put on an audio sermon on my iPhone, as those are often ten to fifteen minutes in length, keep me distracted, and kill two birds with one stone (strengthen my body and distract my mind from self-focus).

I find it very hard to exercise while caring for my 18-month-old. I believe that extended nursing and cosleeping have many benefits, but the honest truth is that it causes my babies to tolerate no other caregiver, not even really daddy, until about two years old. So, for nearly Joseph's entire short life, I've been trying to have daddy or the kids babysit him while I exercise and he just wails his heart out for the 30-45 minutes. I have tried every way of exercising I can think of that works with our homeschooling lifestyle and each way works one random time but not most of the time. By my Doing the Stairs, even if the baby is awake, he can play at the top of the stairs in the bonus/play room and he sees my face pop up every fifteen seconds or so. Yay!

My midwife has long recommended to me to Do the Stairs after each meal for ten to fifteen minutes. Exercising right at that time does wonders for lowering blood sugar, which is so useful for losing weight generally, keeping weight-gain moderate during pregnancy, lowering blood pressure, and fending off development of Type II diabetes.

Stepping away from my Positive and Cheerful presentation into The World of Reality, lately I've been managing to Do the Stairs once every couple of days, so I need lots of prayers and cheer leading (because apparently I have next to zero willpower) to work up to three times daily!

For most posts on this subject, see here, here, here, and innumerable other websites.