reclaiming my body.

it.is.TIME!

exercise is not my favourite.

i'd prefer to be whipping up a crafty concoction, reading on the couch or (full disclosure) eating chocolate.

but i am not 25 years old anymore. body does not bounce back. it just bounces.

and - i have been asked on several occasions in the past year if i am pregnant...one such inquirer- upon seeing my aghast face- quickly added "or just keeping the house?" yep. keeping the whole mansion here lady!

on any given day my attempts to exercise are entirely sabotaged by my children.

yoga? hey - let's launch ourselves off the couch and onto mumma's folded over body!

hooping? why don't we keep slamming our little selves against her and make the hoop stop twirling!

mini trampoline? thats mine! (*insert hysterical 2 year old meltdown*)

a walk in the stroller? sitting here's no fun - i'll howl, unbuckle, climb out and make her carry me the whole way home, while i continue to howl!

childcare at the gym?                                 NOFREAKINGWAYAREYOULEAVINGMEHERE. nice try!

 

slowly, i am creatively trying to find ways to work in fun ways to move my body while not strangling my children. it's not easy! i started going to a dance collective about a year ago. it was the start of what pulled me out of my ever deepening funk. a group of women - all ages and body shapes - meet each week with music and open minds...we dance, and move, and sometimes cry and sometimes it truly looks like a scene out of a lunatic asylum and we share 'feelings' at the end which sounds eye-rolling but is SO therapeutic. i love it, and my little ones come with me - and some weeks i dance with banjo on my hip the whole hour, but every time i'm glad i made the effort to go.

my other fun thing (it has to be fun, or i will never do it!) is hooping. i've wanted to learn hoop dancing for years but have never felt like my body was skilled/graceful/coordinated/*insert-other-excuse*...because i have never been athletic - and you could say i'm kinda clumsy! this time last year i couldn't even keep the hula hoop spinning around my waist...meanwhile ivy was rocking out all the little tricks with her sparkly rainbow hoop. so about 6 months ago i got myself a fancy hoop, started watching you tube tutorials (i like this guy, his tutes are easy to understand) and hooping for a few mins whenever i could. i'm still feeling awkward and nowhere near cool at it - but there is definite (slow but definite) progress happening. and woudn't you know it i've just recently made a new friend here who is an a.m.a.z.i.n.g hooper and fire twirler...so i'm gathering lots of inspiration and motivation!

i really want to find a way to do yoga too - another thing that has gone by the wayside since childbirth! i need it need it need it. still figuring out how to get some peaceful time to do this (aside from waking up at 5am which i cannot do. i tried it).

what inspires you to move it, move it? and do your little sweetones leave you be? please share!

so this it is. this is the year...this body has been on loan and neglected for too long...it's time to claim it back!

 

ps not pregnant.

Comments

[Jamie]

Emily,
At 210 pounds I was also asked if I were pregnant several times. Mortifying! 2 years, 70 pounds, 1500 miles and one marathon later, I feel soooooo much better. Reclaiming your body is the BEST thing you can do. I run at 4:30 in the morning because I have 2 boys and no other time. Just make it work.

[Kirsten]

Em, I'm wondering if you have a backpack? My kids loved riding up high when we went for walks when they were little. It also often put them to sleep.

[Betsy]

I used to go to the playground and let the kids play while I walked around and around and around the playground. At that time almost no one in our neighborhood went to the playground so we usually had it to ourselves now the neighborhood has changed and there is always someone there and since my kids were very reserved it wouldn't work with them. My kids also really hated the daycare at the gym so they wouldn't go without a big fight. Life changed when they were both in preschool-huge shift as I could usually workout 2 times a week. Life does change.

[Kelly McCaleb]

I want to go to your dance group SO bad. Interpretive dancing is like my favorite thing in the world. And do get to be free with other people who don't care? Heaven!

[Anne]

Oh, I SO hear you on this. I am still holding onto the my son's baby house (he was 10lb 4oz!!! BIG HOUSE) from over a year ago, and I finally walked into a gym today to inquire about rates. I am pretty sure I'm going to join and go at the crack of dawn, leaving my husband to deal with breakfast. HA. If I had to get up at 5:30 and try to exercise in my own house I don't think I could do it. There is something about getting in the car... I try to walk outside but we live in VT and I expect it to get to cold to push the kids for 1 hour +, and anyways...I just sort of miss my old gym days when I could just really, really push myself and listen to LOUD music with lots of swears and zone out.

[Tonya]

I'm completely with you - DISLIKE working out! If you have a Wii, Just Dance Kids is great for moving and it gets the kids involved! Best part, you don't feel like you're working out.

[Cage Free Family]

Ugh. I know exactly what you mean. I know all of those examples personally too. I have even snuck out the door with the lie that I was just going out to clean up dog dirt so that I could slip away. Trouble is that only works once when they realized that you are not in fact anywhere near the yard or a shovel. :-p

I'm still holding onto 20 lbs from baby number #3 who was born two years ago. I'm also still nursing at night (ugh. I know.) and feel so dang used up most of the time. The only thing that I have found to consistently work with all three kids is to walk. I stick the littlest in a backpack and I just walk. Luckily we live in the forest, so no one can pass judgement on me when I keep walking despite the whining, complaining, wailing, demands for food and general kid meltdown mayhem. ;-)

xoxo All the best in your venture

[Karen]

Just sharing a youtube video of Spiral that I thought was very inspiring!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OieV55-MoPc&feature=related

[Shayna Proctor]

I loved this post. I feel like I have no excuse because I don't have kids, but I have the hardest time making time to exercise and move my body. I think 2012 is my year. I'll make it work.

[Misty Murphy]

I love reading your blog. It makes me feel like I have a mommy soul mate. I can tell you love your kids dearly but living daily life is exhausting. I am so right there with you. Even on this whole exercise thing! I hope you find something that works. I put my laptop in front of the treadmill, pull up netflix and watch something I just can't bear to turn off. Keeps me walking and walking and walking. I only get interrupted about 50 times for snacks, spill clean up, fights, bathroom assistance and...

[Pia]

i turn the radio loud and dance with the kids. that's funny.
otherwise i carry my baby backpack for long walks.
when all my littles are sleeping i climb on the big garden trampoline and use it until i'm totally ready.
more workout i couldnt get. for the moment it´ s enough.

[Georgia]

When my kids were little, i used to dance along with wiggle videos. I then moved up to doing exercise videos while they were napping during the day,. But we also didn't have a car, so i had to walk everywhere with the double stroller....not that any of that was particularly effective as i was pretty fat for many years. For me, it reqiures my favourite music to really get me into it. Even just sticking my ipod on and dancing/ cleaning. But i do love a good power walk / running session at the gym if I can crank MY music. Goodluck Em, I'm trying to get back into it too....I'm 20 lbs heavier than i was last Jan and i KNOW how much work is involved to loose it having spent a whole year already doing iy.

[Renee]

Wow, so sorry that someone even asked you if you were pregnant... I won't even dare ask most women since I don't want to embarass myself or them, for sure. I surely know what you mean about weight and a certain age... I'm 34 and it's not so easy to lose the weight like I used to. After we going through two years of over 200+ showings of trying to sell our house with no luck and my husband living and working out of state, I gained 35 pounds from depression, so now I have finally decided not to let my sadness or food control me. I now do Jillian Michaels wii workout around 6:30... sometimes I may get 10-20 minutes done at the most, but after 3 weeks, I am so proud to say I have lost 4 pounds.... you don't need to spend a lot of time, but you do need to try to do something more physical for ay least 10 minutes a day, sometimes it's running 10 laps on the wii and 100 crunches... it doesn't seem like much, but it's obviously working for me... along with less snacking. We are also making more homemade foods....no prepackaged snacks/foods... I even made homemade almond joy candies and my daughters rock at baking,too so we get lots of homemade goodies that we can snack on and also alter the recipe and cut down on the sugar,etc. You just have to start slowly and haveyour intention set and go and even on the days you don't feel like to do it... DO IT! You will regret not doing it,trust me... you can't give up, you can do it! Maybe we should start our own support group here to motivate each other. :) Congrats to those who have lost weight and congrats to those who are starting their new journey... I wish you all the best and the strength to continue fighting for the person you want to be! :) Oh yeah I don't know if anyone has the kinect, but I've heard there's this adventure game that is real good for exercising and fun and that it brings your heart rate up more than running, so maybe people could take turns with this game with their kids so that the whole family is getting physical activity and maybe it could be a little competitive,too. :)

[Tami]

The part about the asylum made me laugh

I get up at 430am to get my execrise in, I am addicted to it, I am slowly learning to eat better...who knew there were so many calorie in cupcakes!!!

Yoga download.com has free 20 minute podcasts so maybe you can start there

[Erika Martin]

I'm looking to reclaim this year, too. I've always been fascinated by hooping and would love to try it one day.

[Amy]

Also looking to reclaim. By others standards, I probably don't look bad, but I battle diabetes, and so I need to keep the weight off completely if I want to avoid the insulin shots and medication. My 10 month old is getting bigger, and in the past few months, so am I. I just turned 40 last week, and this is not how I want to enter this decade.

My monkeys also sabotage my efforts at exercise, and I'm already up at 5:45 to get up and out the door to work in the morning, and I'm just not getting up at 4 to work out.

So, for now, I play a lot of Wii tennis with my 7 year old and we pretend like we're really on the court...throwing ourselves around, grunting when we hit the ball, etc. Sometimes, I'll pay my 10 year old to sit with the baby and play while I sneak in 30 minutes on the treadmill. Sometimes we set him up with his toys in front of us while she and I rock out to Just Dance 3 on the Wii, which IS a workout. It's not how I'd like to be doing it, but it's what's available to me right now, and so it's what we do.

Best of luck to you! I look forward to following your journey!

http://amysreallife.wordpress.com

[ira lee]

awww, bless your heart. it sucks i know!! good luck trying to organize time. when you master that, you share with the rest of us!!!

[Kimberley]

We dance. I used to do rock & roll dancing, before my first was born and again before my 2nd. I haven't returned to it, but I love to dance so I put some music on and dance with my babies. We dance however we feel the music I'm playing dictates.
I recently tried hula hooping for the first time, believing I wouldn't be able to do it. I could, and I was even good at it! Kept the hoop going for 1 minute the first time I ever did it. I stopped because my son fell over and wanted a cuddle. I wish I'd believed in myself enough to try it years ago!

[Lis]

Well, I only have one child ... but she also managed to "know" when I had gotten up early and was in my yoga room ...

My knees have been bothering me for the past year ... thought I might have early arthritis so went to the doctor. Nope, fine. Then my friend, who comes to my yoga class and is a massage therapist gave me a massage and was all "er ... um ... how much stretching do you do?" Apparently my muscles are shrink wrapped to my bones and what I thought was arthritis is just muscles neglected after years of being tended to! Unfortunately the only way I can fit my yoga practice in is to get up early ... that said, I try to slip poses into my day when my girl is playing. And she has learned that when the door to mommy's yoga room is closed, she not to bother me unless it is urgent. She will knock, come in, give me a kiss and then happily go back to playing in her room. So perhaps, over time you can "train" your kiddos to know this chunk of time is mommy's for exercise? All I know is once I realized the damage I am doing to my body by not exercising, I got committed real fast! (I'm much older than you though ... so the effects of neglect become amplified after 40 ... just a little "warning" from one in shock over it all!)

And you've made me feel braver about trying hooping as I have been hopeless at it! xo

[Sherri P eh]

Ha Em, this makes me laugh! I love when you say you're not 25 anymore! Me neither! Or 35. Or 45! I figure the only reason people don't ask me if I'm pregnant is that they know I'm probably too old to be!
I don't know what the answer is. My kids are at school all day, so I don't have that excuse. But if it's not your thing (and its not mine!) exercise is difficult!
I have a DVD I got awhile back which is to get kids moving, and I thought Gaby and I could do it. While she's the athlete I am not, she was never interested in the DVD. Perhaps I should send it your way and see if yours might be more inclined than mine were!
You're taking brave first steps and I wish you fun and success!! Keep us posted! XO

[Kate]

I feel your pain. Walking for exercise while pushing a double stroller with howling kids in it and one child strapped to your body is NOT fun and really defeats the whole purpose of exercise as a time to clear your head. Oh the looks I used to get.

I had to do the 5:30am route. It sucks but it was the only thing that worked for me to have ME time. I swim and you have to get up early anyway to do masters swim.

Now my kids are in school (it will happen...I promise) and I swim at 7:30 instead of 5:30. So even though it's hard and it sucks to get up before the chickens, consider it maybe for a short time while your kids are little.

[Maria]

You need your "me" time. It's OK if they pitch a fit at the gym. Leave them and go, IF you feel comfortable with the people in charge. They will not be traumatized, they will be fine. My son used to scream bloody murder when I dropped him off at the babysitters. It was SO hard to leave him. I'd be so upset, and call when I got to work I'd call and the babysitter would say, "oh, he stopped crying about 2 seconds after you left and is playing nicely."
DON'T dance with him on your hip. Let him get used to the fact that Mommy is going to do something for a few minutes that doesn't involve him. Easier said than done? YES! But oh, so worth it. They will still love their Mommy, I promise. :)

[alice]

I really need to move my body too ! I like going on bike rides. And me too people ask me whether i'm pregnant. I don't like that either, unless it helps me to go first at checkout when grocery shopping ! LOL

[kristen Van Dyke]

I hear ya with the yoga - I always have a 2 y.o. clinging to some part of my body when I try to do it. I have to get up at 6 and put a video on right away if I want to get a half hour in without interruption.

What about bike rides??

[kate]

right there with ya sister! 3 kids took away my balance... found my groove again and after 7 years... we had baby #4... bodies don't 'bounce back' at 35 either! oh my... so i'm back finding my groove and yoga is where my heart is at.. but it's hard to be at that kind of peace when chaos is unfolding around you... let me know if you find a way! i'm going to check out your hooping... sounds fun..