Exercise is Not A Bad Word!

I've been writing a lot lately about eating too much, but that does not mean I have given up my healthy lifestyle. The truth is, as much as I love to eat, I also love to exercise. I've been quite busy strength training to build muscle, riding my elliptical, doing step aerobics and I'm even back to running twice a week. I love the energy I get when I exercise. I also love the freedom of going into a zone where no obnoxious children can follow. One of my basic problems is I don't often know the meaning of moderation. Much the same way I think, "If one ice cream cone is good, two must be better!" I tend to think "If running 3 miles is good, running 6 miles is much better!". The truth of the matter is that I love to run. I would run every day if my body allowed it. This is also why even though I am overeating, I have only gained 10 pounds and not 50.

Exercise is a fundamental human experience. We were made to move. When I watch the olympics and see the wonderful things a trained human body can do, I am truly amazed. When I see men and women gymnasts flying through the air with their steel muscles flexed, when they land perfectly, I want to shout and clap. Hard work and determination are the building blocks of such success.

Vigorous exercise also breeds injury, and I am the Injury Queen! I like to push myself so hard that ribs pop out, hip ligaments tear and toenails turn pretty colors(Hey, purple is pretty no matter what my kids think!). I was at my favorite chiropractor recently(John Smith in Ellisville if you're wondering) and I was telling his staff that 2014 is the year I start taking it easy. "I'm going to be really careful and not injure myself." They were still laughing when I left the office. So today when Dr. Smith was popping my kneecap back into place(I popped that out running six miles on Saturday) we had a nice chuckle. He told me my body is weird. And when I said, "I know it's weird. Everything about me is weird." He smiled and nodded. "I meant to say unique." But that's how it is with me. There's nothing run-of-the-mill about Margaret. For me, normal is a bad word!

People who are chronically inactive cannot possibly understand the importance of exercise. All they know is that moving too fast makes their lungs ache. I remembering running around as a kid and really enjoying it. Tag, hide-and-seek, Red Rover....it was fun to get outside and move. What happens to us as adults that we become so enamored of our couches that we forget our youthful exuberance? I am nearly 40 years old and there is nothing I enjoy more than exploring nature. Last weekend our family went out to our favorite place, Cuivre River State Park, and hiked down to the spring. We sat in a creek bed and found fossils and threw rocks into the water. There was a moment where I lay back on the rocks and stared up at the sky. The sycamore trees were swaying as a turkey vulture circled overhead. The gentle breeze reminded me how lucky I am to be alive. I can't possibly experience that sitting inside my house.

Exercise is like a savings account for your body. You start saving by moving 20 minutes a day, and pretty soon, you have a whole bank account of good health to draw from. So on that day you feel like hiking up and down the St. Louis riverfront, you actually have the energy to do it. Saving takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. But the one thing about saving that you must know is that you have to start somewhere. Believe me, I work for an investment firm and their entire philosophy revolves around planning for your future.

What do you see in your future? Is exercise a bad word to you? If you are content with the rut between the couch and the refrigerator, great! Thank goodness we have the freedom in this country to live the way we choose. But if you feel a growing discontent with your energy-deprived existence, consider some kind of physical activity. Life is too precious and too short to spend it wishing you could live another way. As I said to a friend at work today, "When I was 300+ pounds I used to dream at night that I could run and not get tired. Now, I run for the sheer bliss of it. It is my dream come true."

What is your dream?