Lost and Found…

 © William Rix

Once upon a time I used to exercise on a very regular basis.  I was not particularly into aerobics, pump classes, cycle classes, lycra or leg warmers.  I did for a time give squash a try but if I attempted that now, I’d keel straight over.  I preferred more leisurely exercise, a brisk walk while taking in some of the coastal views our State is renowned for…….of course by brisk I  mean brisk, otherwise what would be the point, but if you like to work up a sweat without looking like that’s what you’re doing, then walking fits the bill perfectly.

However since having children I have noticed that my will to exercise has very definitely been eradicated.  I was aware that it was happening but I was defenceless to stop it.  Attempts were made and sporadic walks were had, but diluted down through 5 years that doesn’t amount to much.  I had, for want of a better expression, just ‘let myself go’, and I was having huge difficulty remembering where I had put my old yin and yang.  Filed somewhere under The Past Is Hazy and You’re Just Lazy.  I’m sure I heard myself telling anyone who was sorry enough to be listening that I was going to get back into it any day now, it was all just a simple matter of some gigantic cosmic shift to get me going but in all honesty the only thing shifting was my position on the lounge.  I had well and truly lost my Mojo and just didn’t know where to find it.

My excuse list was surely more exhaustive than the exercise I was trying to do and it went something a little like this:

1. it’s too windy

2. it’s too hot

3. it’s too cold

4. I’m too exhausted

5. I’m completely exhausted

6. it’s too dark

7. The flies, the flies

8. I’m afraid I’ll aggravate the sore back that my 2^nd born child left me with

9. I’m exhausted

10. A screaming child in a pram is embarrassing because it’s entirely my fault

11. The baby blues have sucked me in and it’s impossible, in fact everything is impossible

12. I can’t now I have to cook dinner

13. I’ve got nothing to wear

14. There’s no one to mind the kids

15. I don’t have time and by the way did I mention that I’m totally exhausted

16. My children scream with anxiety if I ever try to leave the house so I’d just rather not

17. I have a pain somewhere

18. I just can’t

So again this year I made another resolution and 5 months later to my total surprise, I have actually started to walk instead of talk.  I have ditched the list of excuses and post the hottest summer on record, have started to exercise in the relative cool of autumn and love it.  My iPod is fully loaded and the coastal views are as inspiring as ever.   I’m finally heading in a more Northerly direction and one foot in front of the other I feel like I’m getting my old self back.

I’m not completely prepared to bin my excuse list though because my sister-in-law recently mentioned the words ‘boot camp’ to me and I was horrified, “you mean for the kids” I said expectantly only to see her nodding in the negative.  It’s a while off, with baby number 2 due in a few months for her, but who knows, maybe if I can keep up the walking, by then I might actually be fit enough to make it through a boot camp, body pump, body attack, body combat, boxercise, ab blast and maybe even a Zumba session, albeit it without lycra and/or leg warmers.

If it so happens though that leg warmers are your thing, then a little Eric Pyrdz Call on Me, might be right up your alley!