MAKE IT A FAMILY AFFAIR!

When I was a young girl, I was pretty skinny, not too skinny, though.

That's me...2nd from the right in blue shorts and white Keds Tennis shoes. I was about ten in this picture. We were at a friends birthday party.

That's me with a parrot on my right shoulder, with my dad and two younger sisters. As you can see, none of us were very big. We were pretty active. All of us girls danced. I was also a cheerleader in Jr high, and my sisters danced with the band. I probably would have danced with our band...that is if they had had such a thing at my high school. Instead, I swam in high school for a year.

In college, I was on dance teams and majored in dance, so I stayed in pretty good shape. 

My wedding dress was about a size 2.

About five years after we were married, we were FINALLY blessed with our first bundle of joy. We were so excited...so excited that we even fought over who was going to change the diaper. Ya...lol.

I really didn't gain too much weight, under the limit they recommend  But boy was that weight EVER hard to get rid of.  I was told that since I was in such good shape and I was nursing it shouldn't be that hard. 

WRONG!

With each of my precious little ones, the weight kept piling on and on.  After our last child (# four). I decided to go to weight watchers. I was pretty successful. The only thing was...my body had changed...A LOT!!! I was not size two, but I was a size 5. I really wanted that size two, but was told NOT to loose anymore. What had happened?

From that time to now, my weight has fluctuated up and down many times.  Sometimes it was medical issues, but most of the time it was diet and lack of exercise. I never really got HUGE, but it was hard to stay down. 

In 2006, I got down again, but was told not to loose anymore. A couple years later, we had been in Louisiana for a few years, and yep you guessed it, the weight came back on. I was walking about three to four miles (in one hour) in the mornings...Monday through Friday, but that good food, well, you don't have to eat much for that weight to pile back on.

And pile on it did. Here is one of my few "fat" pictures. 

So, you might be asking why am I blogging about this...well, it is because I think I have found out my problem. Since we moved this past summer, I have been going to the gym...almost everyday. The weight is coming off little by little. I haven't really changed what I eat as much as what I do. I have learned that as I get older my metabolism has gotten slower, and, sorry to say, walking ain't gonna cut it! 

I started out just going to the active older adult class. Yep, I'm over 50 now, so I can go to the "older" adult classes. I also went to Pilates. After awhile I cut out the older adult aerobic class. I really was not getting much out of it at all. Instead, I continued to go to the older adult water aerobics, and after the class I would swim. At first I was so out of shape that doing 5 laps was killing me. I stayed with it, though, and got up to 20! That was in addition to  water aerobics twice a week, water walking twice a week, Pilates twice a week, and a once a week spinning class.

I soon noticed that when I get up in the mornings, I have so much more energy. Before I hated getting out of bed...I had to drag myself out, but now, I hop out of bed, stretch, eat breakfast and off to the gym. Not only do I feel the added energy, I can tell my metabolism is so much higher. I don't really feel like eating as much. 

Since the first of the year, I haven't been swimming much. I HATE the cold, and it has really been cold lately. Our gym has started a new TRX training class and I've been doing that once a week, in addition to the Pilates twice a week, Yoga three times a week, and ZumbaTone. This week it is suppose to get warmer, so I will probably be doing some swimming. I really feel that is where I have lost a lot of my weight, and revved up my metabolism.

Anyway...I share this with you because I know I am not the only one having weight issues. I see some of these ladies in my classes, particularly in the pool, that are very overweight...like need to loose 100 or more lbs. They have told me that since they have hit the gym, they feel so much better, and their medical issues seem to be disappearing, including their blood pressure and blood sugar. I hate to say it, but in addition to what we put into our bodies, it is also keeping our bodies active. Seems like the older I get, the more I have to move my body. 

I know in this day and age, it is really hard to find the time to exercise. It is my hope that we all try to find that time to move more. If you have work and family, well, then get your family to move with you. After all, if you get them to eat right and start moving, then the whole family will have a healthier body. Many of us don't exercise at all, so just one hour a day six days a week is all most of us need to stay healthy. So, get the whole family involved and make it a FAMILY AFFAIR!