Car Exercise

I have found a love for exercise recently. I remember when I was younger, like up until I hit my 30's and had small children at home, I  enjoyed being fit and the process to stay that way. As the years went on, and our family grew, I couldn't find the time or energy to exercise. I had my moments. There were times I threw the kids in the stroller and walked the neighborhood, that is until I practically got attacked by stray dogs. After that experience  I quite walking the neighborhood.

Then I started exercising at home,  you know, all those exercise tapes? Well, that came to a halt too once I had another baby. I really needed my sleep more. When baby was asleep, mom went to bed to nap too, otherwise, mom would not get ANY sleep. Seemed I was a walking zombie for a number of years.

Once the kids were old enough for me to exercise again, I always found an excuse to get out of it. For example, when we were in Indiana I walked for a while, then it got too cold...brrrrrr!

Finally, when we moved to Louisiana, I found a group of ladies in the neighborhood that would walk most everyday; Monday through Friday...three to four miles in one hour. It was not only physically good for me, but mentally too. I got to know a lot of very nice ladies, got myself outside, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  We did this for several years, until age started catching up with us. Between a number of hospital stays, broken bones, gal bladder issues, etc, we ladies had to cool it a bit. 

Now that we moved to Kentucky, I have found another place to exercise. Our local YMCA is wonderful! During the week, I take two hours of Pilates, two water aerobic classes, two water walking classes, 30 minutes of Spinning and I swim four days a week. I feel GREAT! My metabolism has sped up, I have lost some L. B.'s, I sleep better, and I enjoy going. 

Today at Pilates, our instructor mentioned something that interested me. Starting January ONE, they are going to have a sign up for a New Year's Resolution. You have to commit to several things for two months. First, NO sugar drinks. Not a problem for me. Second, you must get in three fruits a day. Ok, no problem. Three...exercise an hour EVERY DAY. hmmmm problem....

Here is one problem with that last one. You see, the weekends I don't really do much exercising. Saturday, I can probably find an hour to exercise, but Sunday! Well that is a problem. For me, Sunday is the Lord's day. We don't shop, eat out, or nothing like that. It is a "Day of Rest." Not sure how I feel about actually exercising on Sunday. 

Another small problem I have is that the first of the year, we will be taking a loooooooooooooong trip to Idaho. Many hours in the car. I am not going to have the time to get our and walk around for an hour. So, what do I do? I Google searched "car exercise." Did you know there are numerous sites on this?

Traveling Mom is a really good site that talks about how you can use your filled water bottles as weights and how you can DO Head Shoulders Knees and toes for exercise. She has some other good hints for traveling with kids.

Ehow also has some good tips. Mostly isometric exercises like tightening your glutes (your BEhind),  thighs, abs (tummy), etc. I think I like this sight the best and will probably be doing these on the way to Idaho and back. While in Idaho, there won't be much of a problem, since we will be doing A LOT of walking....in the snow. Anyway, back to the car exercising. I don't think I am expected to do these all in one, one hour's time. I think I will probably be breaking it up; you know like ten minutes here and there. I know, too, I will be getting out of the car each time we stop to get gas and stretch....toe touches, leg stretches, etc. 

So, next time you find yourself in the car for awhile, you might want to try some Car Exercising.  Sounds like a lot of fun and something to pass the time.