Getting “in shape” is all relevant. It depends on what kind of shape you are in in the first place. And my shape is getting rounder by the day. So I’m not in good shape.
First of all I don’t really care that I am a size 12. I am in midlife, have given birth to 4 kids and sit at a computer all day working. I won’t ever be a size 8 or probably even a 10 again. I don’t care. I have no one to impress and just care about being healthy… and I know it is not healthy to lead a sedentary life, which I hate to admit is happening.
Yes, I am writing about the boring and all too many times written about – weight loss, but not really. I just want to be in better shape. I won’t get much smaller, but I refuse to get larger. I am acquiring a spare tire around my middle that is quite depressing and I know it’s from sitting at this computer so much. There is no movement happening!!
Today I had a hard time finding clothes to wear when I went out to the DUMP!!! Now that is bad.
My excuses are these: I don’t have a yard of my own and I used to work constantly in the gardens, digging and expanding and weeding – all that. I have no incentive to do that now. It’s not my yard and I am just doing it for someone else. And who knows how long I’ll even live here. There is no future in it, if you know what I mean, and you might not, but anyway….
Same thing with the house. It’s not mine so I take care of it, but don’t spend time wondering how I could make it cuter or nicer. Again, there is no point. Those are the two big changes in my life and because of them, I have to concentrate elsewhere and it happens to be working online. So I sit from 3 or 4 AM until at least 3 PM with a few breaks in between to let the cats in ..and out…and in… and out…AND I do laundry and dishes etc. to make myself move.
I’ve had excuses all summer for not going walking in this beautiful area. We’ve had one of the hottest summers in recent northeast history, the besides that, when I have walked, the horse flies have been so horrendous that I wished I had just stayed home. Also, there are ignorant people on my road let their dogs run out and bark at me when I walk. So I’ve gone walking very little.
Today I got a brilliant idea. My rental is a ranch, but there is a cellar with a straight flight of stairs going down to it. I am going to use those stairs to get into better shape.
I am going to set the timer for an hour and when it goes off I will walk up and down my stairs for 3 minutes. (I checked to see how long I could do it and 3 minutes is a good starting point – I told you I was out of shape!)
Then I will set the timer again and do it again. All day I will do that and it’s got to help some! Three minutes every hour? Who can’t spare that. No excuses!!!
In 18 minutes I’m going for a walk.
Check out this funny postcard by my friend Tom aka Swiss:
New England's Narrow Road 
newlifefitnessstudios
Way to use your resources! Things like running in place, lunges, squats, and planks also don’t require much space or equipment
Good luck!
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sharon Lovejoy
OUCH! this is too familiar. Yesterday my skinny girlfriend Lynn told me to give up bread. “I CAN’T,”I shrieked, “it is like soul food to me, the scent, the taste, the act of kneading it.”
So, I’m A SIZE 12 too. Guess I have to love it and live with it.
Keep climbing those stairs,
Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island
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seashellsbymillhill
At my age I’m not giving anything up haha!
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Pingback: My Brilliant Idea For Getting In Shape « New England's Narrow Road | How to Get In Shape
Swisstoons
Hey, Pam! Thank you for spotlighting my cartoon! There was a period, long before stairclimbers, when I actually did what you are thinking about doing; climbing actual stairs. This was many years ago. As I recall I was up to about 1000 reps from the basement to the kitchen to the basement to the kitchen and so on. (Yes, I throw myself into whatever I am doin) It finally occurred to me that all that exercise…while doing me some good…was hell on the stairs and on the linoleum. I went back to jumping rope….which is also terrific workout when you can do it for half and hour or 45 minutes at a stretch. There is something very physically satisfying about working the quads. Put some music on and give it a try.
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seashellsbymillhill
My stairs are wood, worn wood, so I’m not worried about them. And I don’t jump … I won’t go into details, but I just don’t..haha! You are obviously in much better shape than I am… in 10 minutes I’d be dead, never mind 30! I love your cartoon, it reminds me what NOT to buy at the store… !
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