Today was a “wear as many layers as you can and still function” kind of day. I had 4 layers on while heading to Home Depot with our family well layered, hatted and mittened.
We got handles for the cabinets (yeah!)
Thank you for bulk hardware Home Depot!
and then headed to the mall to use gift cards for Elam and me.
I was busying trying on workout clothes, bending over to make sure you couldn’t see my underware (a common problem we all have at the Y) and getting frustrated they’d make pants you can see through when you bend over. Don’t they know that when we work out we bend?!
I was also frustrated that I had deicided to try on clothes on a day I had a turtleneck, vest and hoodie under my bulky coat. I also had shin-high thick wool socks so any short workout pants made me look like a Hobbit. Seriously. Who shops when they are wearing so many layers!
Then I was stripped down about to try on another pair of pants, taking them off the hanger when I realized they were 3 sizes bigger than the hanger had indicated. FAIL.
So I did what any responsible shopping woman does: calls her husband. He had taken the kids to the putting green in the store. He refused to help me.
I had to put on the minimum and tromp through the store.
Working out is hard work: there is the actual work out, but that’s just half of it.
They will tell you this at the Y or anywhere, but really how much we sweat is less important than what we EAT! Rats. I’d rather just eat whatever I want and then work out really hard or even twice a day.
I have read this phrase lately: eat to perform. What does that mean? Am I trying to fit into Nike’s small size? (If so, I have failed miserably…) Am I trying to display my greatness in class by not falling or spraining another ankle? What does that mean when I’m not chasing an Olympic record?
I think it means I eat what I need to. I eat healthy, full, normal foods that look like they should when they come out of the ground, or their parent or the butcher. Whole Foods.
We also don’t eat out much. We do this mainly because we are cheap and it’s an easy way to save money. But it’s also easier to know what you’re eating when you’ve cooked it. From scratch.
Working out is also hard because you have to plan on working out and then you have to stick to it. For me, it means having a friend pick up Elam at preschool on Monday mornings so I (and Brian often) can go to class at 9:30 at the Y. It’s such a great way to start my week and some of my favorite Y friends are always there. Or it means texting a friend when you’re going to be late so you have a step with black risers that stick better than the purple ones.
It means 1. having healthy, appropriate, peanut-free snacks for my kids in the pantry 2. having time to pack them healthy, appropriate snacks for when I’m burning off steam. They end up being there about 2 hours and after breakfast around 6:30/7:00 they are hungry by 10:00!
It means I have to have the right clothes to work out in: like ones you can’t see what color underware I picked that day. It means Brian and I have stinky clothes unless we use our Tide with Frebreeze detergent. It means I shop at Target for $9.99 shirts for Brian when the TIde doesn’t work. Or for me, at TJ Maxx b/c most stuff there I can get for under $15-20 and look like I paid more…
It means we drive down to the Y most days, leaving in plenty of time to park, get the kids to Kids Club and sometimes for me to have extra time to talk with friends, stretch or run a bit to warm up for class.
I am not lying: some days I am stressed out when we head out the door and when we return. Sometimes the workout is the easy part. But for 90 blessed minutes, no one is touching me. No one is asking me to do anything for them, they are pushing me to do it for me. No one is bothering me while I shower.
And it’s worth it.
I notice the benefits when I have to haul kids up a steep hill plus their snow boards. When I have to haul groceries alone, which is pretty much all the time. Even when I am using the drill to attach hardware to the cabinets:)
Lately I’ve been asked “get to know you questions” like “What do you love to do?” I always say sweat. It’s cathartic, healthy and I admit, I work out hard enough to be able to eat a few slices of my homemade bread that just came out of the oven or french fries when Elam doesn’t finish his.
Brian and I were lifting the boys like this the other night to work on our triceps. Bonding with the kids and a sweat: WIN WIN!