What Comes Easy for You?

There was this exchange between my daughters last week over the handiwork left in the bathroom by my youngest daughter, JC. She had gathered her sisters for a viewing.

"Look! I pooped a J!"

Her sister K was both impressed and jealous. "I've never pooped a K!"

"Have you ever pooped an M?" I heard JC ask Mc, to which Mc answered truthfully, that no, she had not.

And then K yelled at me in the kitchen. "Mom? Have you ever pooped a K?" Maybe, she thought it was possible.

"Nope." I answered. "Not everyone can poop their initials. Some people can only poop in punctuation marks--periods, commas, apostrophes, semi colons if they're lucky."

"I pooped a J!" JC said again, more thrilled with herself.

And that was all Mc could take. "Well," she said smugly, "J poops are easy!"

Now, if you think I'm only bringing this up because I want to include this fantastic poop story in my post, yes, you're right. But I'm going to try my darnedest for a smooth segue into a fitness topic.

So here goes.

When it comes to staying on track with fitness we need at least one or two activities that come easy. When I say easy, I don't necessarily mean that the activity isn't strenuous or that we come by it naturally (although you might).

What I mean by easy is something that you can slip into your day without too much effort, and perhaps, most important, doesn't include any mental hurdles that could talk you out of that workout.

Here's what I mean: when my life feels more hectic than normal or if fatigue is turning my brain to fudge, I have to look for ways to unload or simplify.

Because I need physical activity to reduce stress, eliminating a workout entirely is a bad idea. But sometimes sticking to my regularly scheduled workout program can end up being stress inducing if certain priorities feel like they're getting shoved or deadlines are looming.

This might cause some people to drop their fitness regimen completely if they feel squeezed at both ends by work and family obligations. This is the classic: Mom stops taking care of herself to take care of everyone else.

To take care of ourselves and hold it all together we have to find a way to be flexible with our fitness routine. During these busy peaks we can maintain our fitness by doing what comes easy.

For me, what comes easy is running. I know, that no matter how busy my life gets I can carve out at least 20 minutes for a run. Yoga is my other easy. I have a friend who's easy is swimming. She's been swimming most her life, so the activity is second nature. This is not my easy because I have to drive to a pool, get wet, get dry, get home. Don't get me wrong. I love swimming when I'm done. But it's not my easy. Another person's easy might be a group fitness class where you can let someone else tell you what to do. Maybe your easy is a weight training circuit, 10 minutes with a jump rope or Wii Fit.

Normally I love a good variety--at the moment I'm juggling running, Cross Fit, tennis, and yoga (next post will be about my fitness ADHD) but when the family calendar fills up, when I'm feeling squeezed by time, when I'm mentally and physically fatigued I dial back and do what's easy.

What's your easy? Can you poop your first initial? No fair if your name is Ingrid, Isabelle or Isola.

The Childhood Obesity Solution

I'm wondering if Mama Sweat readers noticed what I noticed while reading the latest news on childhood obesity. From USA Today, the article says:

"After reviewing more than a dozen studies, the panel concluded that obese children who participated in moderate to high-intensity weight-management programs (frequently with their parents) for 25 or more hours over a six-month period often had improvements in their weight."

To me, the most important part of this sentence is the parenthetical phrase: frequently with their parents. This is the golden ticket.

Doctors and counselors and nutritionists can preach the benefits of healthy body weight and fitness, but how meaningful is it without mom and/or dad as a role model? I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a child to eat healthy and exercise if the parents aren't themselves eating healthy and exercising. How can we expect these kids to succeed?

I'm glad researchers are making news with their findings on childhood obesity, but I hope the parent-child connection can come out of the parenthesis and into the lead. Let's take some of the pressure off the kids and make healthy living a family affair.

I know Mama Sweat readers are already mentoring their own children in healthy living, just by virtue of being active themselves. That means you are part of the solution. When a problem is so big and pervasive we're all tempted to feel like we're not doing enough and to want to do more, but remember the power of one.

And beyond being a positive role model for our own children I'm fairly certain that in the process of raising fit kids we may unknowingly set an example for other parents. I believe good living is contagious. And I'm all in favor of spreading fitness germs.

Bag Lady

Silly me. I thought finding a time for me and my three daughters to take simultaneous tennis lessons was complicated. No. Not compared to getting all of us to said lessons.

Getting all of us to the gym, which meant leaving the house before 9 a.m., required not only the gear for the lesson, but also the gear to go straight to school afterward. I realized the night before I might have bitten off more than I could chew, so I set off to pack up everyone's "gym bag."

I got to thinking of the days before children when I was a perpetual triathlete in training. Packing up the night before was required to make getting to and from workouts and my job as smoothly as possible. There was the swim bag ready to go for the 5:30 a.m. masters swim class that also contained everything necessary to dress for work. I'm not sure if it was the collapse of "big hair" or my triathlete training that made me do away with any and all hair appliances except for a hair dryer. I only forgot to pack shoes once or twice.

But I also had to pack a bag for the after-work workout, either the run kit or bike kit, which would also require getting bike, bike shoes and helmet in the trunk. Then I had my heart rate monitor, water bottles, hydration of choice, and a snack if I wanted to survive it all. My trunk became a traveling transition area.

So I thought back fondly to this challenge of trying to remember it all as I packed a bag for each of my three daughters, making sure they each had underpants and a pair of shoes. In my diligence I almost forgot the diaper bag, but managed to make sure The Boy had everything he needed for the morning too.

Even though I had prepared the night before, getting all four kids in the car on time proved to be a challenge (i.e. everyone had a meltdown before backing out of the driveway over some petty issue) and I got to my court a few minutes late.

Without my own damn gym bag.

I managed. I borrowed a racquet. I did not have dry clothes to change in afterward. I smelled all the way home. But my kids had everything they needed.

Well, almost everything. Their tennis coach said to me as I picked up the girls after their lesson.

"Don't forget to bring their water bottles next time."

Addendum 1/12/10: We made it to our tennis lessons this morning without any fits (bribed with cookies) and I got to my court with 5 minutes to spare and with my gym bag and extra water bottles. I did not, however, book an appointment for The Boy, so I had to beg him into the childcare center. I'm convinced I will never be able to pull it all together, ever.

An Ace for Family Fitness

One of the things that irks me as a mom is standing around twiddling my thumbs while my kids take lessons. Before I allow myself to sound too self-centered to watch in amazement as my children learn new skills and master their God-given talents, let me say that I do enjoy watching them practice/play--just not for the whole lesson.

I get ancy. I'm not a good twiddler.

Plus, if most or all my kids are busy in a physical activity then -- score! -- free time for me to move too!

During past dance, ice skating and gymnastic lessons I have gone for walks or runs when weather permits. At the dance studio I commandeered an empty studio to do yoga. Last summer's t-ball, soccer and tennis camps were situated right next to a track. How could I not run?

Now, in these sub-zero temps I can't very well take The Boy for a quick jog while his sisters get their groove on.

What to do? Twiddle for an hour in the smells-like-dirty-socks gymnasium?

Not this mom.

"Wouldn't it be fun to take tennis lessons girls?" I asked vigorously nodding my head.

(To further press my case I bought them each their own tiny running skirt for Christmas that, naturally, works well for tennis.)

"And you can wear your new skirt! SO cute!"

Those of you who know I'm not good at the ball sports may wonder: Why tennis?

Simple deduction. Of all the things on our short list of lessons they would take or could take, and agree on, tennis emerged as something I could do with them.

This sounds a lot easier on paper than it actually is. Not. I had to sign up my three daughters in a tennis class that only takes four, during a time slot when I could take a tennis lesson too. And then, because The Boy is under age one, I also have to think ahead so I can book him space in the infant room in the childcare center. Can't very well swing a racquet with a baby on my hip. Well, I could, but my serve would suffer.

Fortunately the logistics all worked out, except that I'm in a Tennis II class instead of the more suitable Tennis I. Let's hope I don't piss off too many tennis ladies.

Our lessons begin tomorrow morning and I am excited to start the year off with something out of my comfort zone and out of my typical sweat routine. I am also thrilled at learning along with my children, even if it means (or, perhaps, because) they watch mommy struggle. Best of all I can look across the court, put two fingers to my eyes and point them back in their direction, so they know I'm watching them.