There Is More Than One Way To Exercise

There's a couple of things that have been going around in my head:

1.) Why more people haven't noticed that I've lost weight.
I realized yesterday that part of the reason people may have not noticed (I say "part" because see #2) is that I've been at this weight before. Been here. People noticed then, and got used to it. Then when I crept back up, went back down - same thing. So some people have made comments on me losing weight, but really I've just been getting to where I was. Makes sense. I was still wearing all the same clothes, they were just incredibly uncomfortable on me.

2.) My clothes do not fit as nicely as they did last time I was at this weight.
Specifically my pants. I think my pants were looser. I'm cursing myself for not taking measurements, but I truly feel like my belly parts are bigger than they were last time I was at this weight. I had pants that I could put on that I can not right now. So either some of my fat has migrated, OR I have a huge tumor brewing in my midsection. The hypochondriac in me leans to the second option, but realistically, I'm starting to get the midsection bulge that people get around my age. Sigh. It's frustrating. But it is also motivation to continue to lose more until I DO feel my pants sliding off my behind!

3.) There's more than one way to exercise.
This one is SUPER important to me. Like I said in another post - I'm not much of a gym person. But during the winter months (or hot summer months), it's sometimes hard to get outside. So I do my Walk Away the Pounds, or other similar workouts, in the house. I haven't been at the gym in a couple weeks. I don't really miss it. I like the equipment, but I don't like the extra time I need to carve out to go there, and the extra preparing I have to do. I like to wear my pajamas to workout at home. Less laundry. I workout in my socks. I hate shoes.

Yesterday I took my son to a lunch buffet. I ate reasonably, but not being able to accurately count the calories made me nervous. I needed to do a workout. But I also had other things I needed to do. I feel resentful (weird, I know), sometimes at the time it takes to keep oneself healthy. I reminded myself that good, hard, work is a natural, productive way to get some exercise in. That's what I decided to employ.

I rearranged my living room. I scrubbed walls, vacuumed carpets, tossed away junk, moved furniture. If I gave my home and hour of HARD WORK a couple times a week, I think I'd be happier in my home. I'd get things done. Not all workouts have to be in the gym (especially for those of us who don't like to go there). Simply being active around the home is good, too. Intentional movement. I worked up a sweat, used muscles, and got things done. Love it.

The few weeks that I made the gym a priority, my house went to shambles. I am going to remind myself to mix it up a bit and use the sidewalks for my walks, use my videos, use the gym if I want, but also use the simple things God put in front of us to keep our body healthy: work.


Twice this week I shoveled for a workout. Not only my sidewalk, but my neighbor's. It felt good.

My body likes intentional, productive work and play. My mind and spirit seem to, too. Sometimes I like a good workout in the gym, too. But it really did my spirit well to put time into my house. For me, that worked.