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Fairly Odd Mother

Frantically waving my magic wand to make wishes come true.

Friday, October 01, 2010

The Fickle Exerciser


I've fallen off the wagon.

For a while this spring, I was running a few times a week and doing The Shred again. I felt pretty damn good about myself.

And then life fell apart for a while in late spring and lay in a crumpled heap until we started to pick up the pieces in late July. Unlike many, I do not exercise when stress levels get too high: I curl up into a ball and weep.

August was better emotionally but a whirlwind of travel and house guests, though I did manage to eek out a few runs and a bike ride. Those runs were exhilarating and amazing while up in the New Hampshire mountains.

I ran a 5k in September. Yes, ran the whole thing, albeit s-l-o-w-l-y. But that is the extent of any formal "exercise" I got.

Now it is October 1. My clothes are a bit tighter but not obscenely so. I feel like doing sit ups, but part of me thinks, "why?"

I have been a short-term exerciser for as long as I can remember. Sometimes "short term" lasts a year, sometimes it lasts a week. But it has never, ever been as routine as brushing my teeth.

I read Bill's post "How Badly Do You Want It?" and came up short. Oh sure, I'd love to look like a marathon runner, or maybe even just a really fit version of myself. But how early am I willing to get up? Am I willing to give up my time working in the morning, or evening, for this? Do I try to fit in a half hour of exercise while the kids are reading or coloring or scattering Legos across my living room?

How badly do I want it?

How badly do you want it? Do you make the time for exercise? How?

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9 Comments:

Blogger Shannon said...

I'm in the same boat. Running has been the only consistent exercise I've done lately. I don't like to run on the treadmill and I keep thinking about what I'm going to do in winter. I usually run at night and its too dark now. I have no motivation to do anything else so we'll see.

6:24 AM  
Blogger Krystan said...

I feel the same. I ran for two weeks recently with my dd every morning. Then I had one bad night at work and we stopped. I think you're right, I just don't care enough. I lost some weight, just from not having time to eat dinner at work, but I'd love to have muscles! I'd love to be in cardio-shape so I don't get out of breath walking up the stairs. But I fit into all my clothes, summer's over, and the motivation just isn't there. Or the time. I think the key for me will be finding something I can do at home with the kids. If they come drag me out of bed, it's better than relying on my own self-discipline!

8:01 AM  
Blogger Amelia Sprout said...

Two months of allergies, colds, and stress have done a number on me, and I am not exercising again. I am like you, I never keep it up for very long. The weather changes, we go on vacation, it just doesn't stick.
I am trying, to give myself permission to not be perfect. I want it, badly, but I am not perfect. I am human. Life is not going to always allow for the same things. I chose a life with a little drama and a lot of change, and that means that I need to get over what happened in the past and move forward.
Not sure what I'm going to do about the snow yet though... there is so much snow...

8:04 AM  
Blogger Suburb Sierra said...

I exercise when I can. Sometimes that is 4 times a week, sometimes that is 4 times a month. But no matter what, I remind myself it is 4 times more than I was doing 5 years ago and that keeps me motivated to do it when I can...there are too many other things that keep us moving during the day to stress over scheduled exercise. They'll be time for that when the kids go to college. We're gonna look fabulous in our 60s...LOL!

9:13 PM  
Anonymous chemomama said...

I keep promising that now that my breast cancer surgeries are pretty much over, I'm going to start exercising again (on my lunch hour). We'll see how that goes. I end up working through lunch most days!

9:54 PM  
Anonymous Chicky Chicky Baby said...

I fell off the wagon and then I was too lazy to get out of the way so it ran over me. Twice.

When you figure out how to get back on, please let me know.

2:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'll be honest and say that I haven't exercised much since I began homeschooling (last october.) I told myself that I would start again once my son was back in school but, well, it still hasn't happened.
My problem is that the only thing that tends to motivate me is if I belong to a nice, posh health club. Yeah. That's so not in the budget. So now I walk... but that's about all.
I need something that will help motivate me (in a positive way.)

6:14 PM  
Blogger Mrs. Q. said...

Well, I finally went to the gym after a four-week-end-of-summer-start-of-school-first-headcold-of-the-season hiatus. And I pushed myself a leeetle too hard to make up some lost ground. Too many leg presses and pull ups and now I can barely go up the stairs or take off my bra. sigh. I think I would be much better off if I strive for a little more consistency. Maybe I should try a sticker rewards system. Works with the kids. :>)

8:18 PM  
Blogger Patois42 said...

Yes, do tell when you're back on the wagon. You can be my inspiration.

9:30 AM  

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