I'm My Favorite: Exercise and Mom Guilt

When I lost 50 pounds starting back in 2009 I did it in two stages. Starting in January, I lost the first 25 pounds with diet alone. In September 2009 I started going to the YMCA and doing group exercise classes three to five times a week. By October 2010 I had lost another 25 pounds. I loved exercise for the first time in my life. More surprising than that was the fact that I really enjoyed getting to know the other women who I was exercising with each night. It wasn’t long before my Facebook feed was full of the new friends I met at the gym.

If you’ve been following along my blog for a while you know that exercise has been my struggle the past few years. I’ve gained back most of the 25 pounds I lost from exercising. Not surprisingly I gained it back when I stopped exercising.

I was so stuck in the mindset that I had to lose the weight the way I did before – by going to the gym to do group exercise classes. How many times had I tried and failed at diet and exercise? Why would I want to put myself through that again by trying something new when I knew what had actually worked for me in the past?

I’ve been frustrated because when I have found the determination to make it back to the gym I have really enjoyed it and wondered why I had stayed away so long. But before I knew it, it would be months again between the times I would work out.

I finally realized the reason why. It’s my kids’ fault.

I’m kidding of course. What I mean is my life has changed since September 2009. Then my kids were ages 4 and 6. There were no after school activities. Leaving the house in the evening for two hours wasn’t a big deal. Luckily my kids enjoyed going to child watch and my husband was super supportive of me working out. Now my kids are 10 and 11. We are gone most evenings for several hours for dance and Scouts plus homework. The logistics are just not realistic to be at the gym for two hours, five nights a week.

If I were to leave for two hours in the evening now I would have an extreme case of Mom/Wife Guilt. I would never see my kids or my husband. Jim would have to be at two places at once. It’s just not realistic.

So I finally had an a-ha moment. I don’t have to lose this weight by doing it how I did before. There is an easier way.

I’ve mentioned that I’ve been doing Facebook challenge groups the past few months. More specifically they are Beachbody groups that I found through my old Zumba instructor that I’ve kept in touch with all these years. Part of the deal for being in the groups is making a commitment to drink their Shakeology supplement and workout using one of their DVDs (think P90X or Insanity). So I purchased the 21 Day Fix program which came with exercise DVDs. They are perfect for me. They’re only 30 minutes long and they have a person you can follow along for a modified workout which is key for my out of shape body.

Yesterday I did the Total Body Cardio Fix. It was not easy. I had to pause the DVD a few times and I only did the modified version of the exercises but I DID IT!

After the first set my legs (figuratively) turned to Jell-O and I started to question if I could finish but I just kept going. After I was done with the workout and had to go upstairs my legs wanted to give out but I was proud that they were able to work hard enough to get me through that workout.

Here's a lovely video of me post-workout. Keeping it real here folks - no makeup, plenty of sweat. (the video cuts out at the end - sorry)

A word of warning. If it’s been a long time since you’ve worked out be sure to do a lot of stretching before and after. Your thighs will thank me!

Tomorrow is Monday and marks the day many of us use as our “start date” to get back on the healthy wagon. I will be doing just that tomorrow. I hope you will join me!