Get out there!

31 Day Challenge - Day 5
To start at the beginning of the series click here!

My eating habits are horrible. I have admitted that. I am trying to work on that aspect of getting healthy.  Another side of the health coin is exercise. UGH!

That's another one of those buzz words that can cause shortness of breath, panic attacks, and groans. And that's only thinking about it!  I can give you any excuse imaginable not to exercise:

I don't have the right clothes.
I don't have the time.
I don't have a gym membership.
I'm not in good enough shape to do that.
I don't know what to do or how to do it.
Need anymore? Let's face those head on, shall we?

You may not have the most recent fashion trends in the workout clothes department, but seriously, are you going to a fashion show or are you going to get healthy?  You have clothes.  Put on your jeans or sweatpants or even a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.  Now you are dressed for the day. And if your day includes exercise, your are ready for it.

If I have the time, you have the time.  Put down the game you are playing on your phone or iPad. Disconnect from the Wii or Xbox.  15 minutes is all it takes. 30 is wonderful. A full hour from your day - a true blessing indeed. You have time.

I don't have a gym membership either. I'm not going to get one at this point in my life.  I have had memberships in the past and I may again in the future.  There are sidewalks and hiking trails all around where I live - FREE.  I even have four square feet in my living room that I can use to do my sit-ups and work out with a fun Wii program.  Don't need a membership to a fancy gym with weight machines I have no idea how to use.

I will admit I'm not in peak physical shape.  But I can walk. I can get out of bed. I can move my arms and legs.  If any of the previous statements apply to you, you can exercise.  Maybe you start with Richard Simmons' workouts. Maybe you start by walking to the mailbox at the end of the drive instead of picking up your mail when you drive past.  The idea of exercise is to get in better shape.  You can't get healthy and then start exercising.  It just doesn't work that way.

ASK! No one ever became a professional anything (athlete, writer, actor,) straight from the womb.  I have yet to meet anyone who did things perfectly the first time they tried a new activity.  Even learning to walk, we all fell down. Lots. I don't know a single person who never made a mistake once they got their high school diploma or even their college or masters degree. We learn from our mistakes.  We learn everyday.  I, at the age of 40+ years, am learning how to get my body healthy one day at a time.  I'm not talking about running a marathon or even a 5K.  I just want to encourge you to start moving.  You can walk - do that. You can only move your arms - do that.

I am carving time out of my day of housework, homeschooling, chauffering my guys to their activities, and family time to make some "me time".  I am dragging my boys and my butt to the local park which has a 1/3 mile walking track.  That track is not even level! It has slope to it!  It is not a perfect circle or even an oval - there are 90* corners I have to manuver around.  I am going to dress in my blue capris pants and a comfy, not tight, t-shirt and my two year old tennis shoes. And I am going to walk, not even run or jog, walk 2 miles.  Yep, six laps around the same loop.  I can see my boys playing the whole way around.  They have been warned I am not to be stopped unless there is a lot of blood, a broken bone, or someone is unconscience.

Yes, I still take karate classes a couple times a week, but this is what I need to do for me, for my heart, my health, and for my family.  So carve our your own time.  Let's do this!