Seasons

Once upon a time (2 years ago) I was rock hard, awesomely ripped, fit. I did P90X, I ran for miles barefoot, I ate an almost pristinely healthy diet. I was not planning on having another baby. But I did. She is marvelous. Our life is fantastic and crazy all at once. And my not-so-ripped abs are very stretched out. Almost 9 months after her birth and I have lost all but 7 or 8 pounds, I'm back in my jeans (slightly tighter perhaps) and I look pretty good. My diet is healthy, but certainly not perfect. I have found other areas of wellness not known to me before, and I have let some lapse. I don't have time to work out heavily for 2 hours a day. I don't sleep enough to fuel that sort of thing (though I certainly wish so)! So what do I do? For a while I did nothing. But I also didn't heal, didn't feel good, didn't function well. Then I decided every day after dropping my boys off at their 2 different schools, I'd put my 2 year old in the stroller, strap the baby in a wrap and walk to a park- one that wasn't so nearby. Sometimes it was 1 mile, sometimes it was 3. Then I got even busier, and the weather got colder, and I gave up on that and did nothing again. (Nothing except for running around like a mad woman trying to keep all my plates in the air and spinning.) Today, this is my fitness regimen. I have an alarm set on my phone for 10:00. It tells me to do 25 twist lunges NOW! And I do. I picked a time when I would generally be home and doing things that could pause for 3 minutes, and I picked an exercise that was fairly total body and that didn't take any special equipment or clothing. I do 50 alternating lunges- so 25 on each side. I twist my torso in the direction of the forward leg, as far as is comfortable, then switch sides. It takes less than 3 minutes. Sometimes that is all I get in the way of purposeful exercise. Sometimes I hit the floor and do 25 pushups afterward. Sometimes I do ab flexes or belly dance moves or squats while I brush my teeth at night! What counts is doing SOMETHING. I don't have to be an athlete right now. I'll have time for that.... when I have time for that. :P- Someday when I'm not covered in tiny ones that want to either "help" me with everything or eat me alive. For now, I am covered in those mommy-eating helpers. I can't do a lot of organized exercise without driving us all mad. And that's okay. It's just a season.