Don’t we all wish we were the lady in the picture above? We really do want it all; writer of awesome books, wonderful parent, caring spouse, clean house, shiny car, and a rockin’ bod! But there never seems to be enough hours in the day for all these things to get accomplished. Crazy as it sounds, your least favorite activity is usually the one to get cut—for me, that’s exercise. I don’t know what it is about exercising that I hate so much. Maybe it’s the fact that I loathe sweating. I know I feel better after doing it, but I still don’t ever want to do it. But I’m realizing, with the more I age and the more I sit and don’t move, that exercise is a necessity, especially for writers!
My whole world seems to be sitting. Let’s take a look at how much I truly sit during the day (and I advise you do the same!)
-Wake up, get dressed, get ready, get out the door.
– Sit in car on way to grandma’s to drop the little one off.
– Sit in car on way to work.
– Sit at work for 8 hours + doing computer work, book work, homework, etc. only getting up to make lunch and go to the bathroom.
– Sit in car on way back to grandma’s to get little one.
– Sit in car on way home.
– Make dinner, play with little one which may or may not involve sitting, pick up a bit, get little one ready for bed.
– Sit and eat dinner.
– Sit by little one’s bed and read her bedtime stories.
– Change into pajamas, get ready for bed.
– Sit in bed and journal.
– Sit in bed and catch up on favorite shows or read for about 2 hours.
– lay down and go to sleep at about 10 or 1030pm.
See how much sitting a writer can do in one day!? Sometimes I end the day looking at my pedometer and realize I haven’t even taken 2k steps that day. That can’t be healthy! That’s why we need to take special care to never cut exercise out of our day. The trick is to find something you actually enjoy doing. Even if you hate exercise like me, there are a few things out there you’ll like, I know it! If I can find a few, so can you. Here’s what works for me:
I wake up with about an hour and half to do what I need to do before I leave for work. The little one is still sleeping so that gives me time to brew some coffee and exercise. I like to start off with some morning yoga. I do a few rounds of sun salutation and feel all loosey-goosey after.
Afterwards, I like to do about 50 deep squats, because my butt and thighs are the only part of my body I have a real issue with. (Not because I care what anyone else thinks. My beloved would love me no matter what and with age I care less what other people in the world think of my looks, but because I like to look in the mirror and be proud of myself. That doesn’t mean skinny. That just means I’m happy with me.)
With these two simple exercises that take about ten to fifteen minutes total to complete, I feel my heart rate pumping enough and feel my muscles loosen. I know at night I don’t want to do anything but relax. I may add another session of yoga and squats before bed some nights, but not usually, and I’m okay with that. I don’t want to try to look perfect or anything. I just want to be healthy in a world where I mostly sit to work.
How do you squeeze in your daily exercise and what are your favorite exercises to do? I’m always looking for new ones I would enjoy, so please share in the section below!
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