I said MOVE!

I have a confession. I have not exercised since the middle of January.

 

It's been hot. I've been busy. I don't want to over do it. I'm pacing myself.

Sound familiar?

 

It's not that the residents of Fussy Farm are not physically active. I for one am always running around like a chicken with my head cut off (terrible expression but it does convey the right picture). Mr Fussy's keeps his slender figure thanks to his work. The Darlings get a reasonable amount of exercise at school and through after school sports. And it's not like The Fussy Eater needs to burn off extra calories since she barely eats.

 

But it's time I get my act together. And I'm not just talking about getting back on the mini-stepper or back into an exercise routine for myself (although I really must). I'm talking about getting more activity into our daily routine here at Fussy Farm.

 

We've all read the tips such as,

• Park far from the shop entrance so that you have to walk more,
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator, and
• Ride your bike to school/work instead of the bus.

Yeah right.

• When I get to the shops I have no time to waste hoofing it across the car park,
• I can't recall the last time I saw a set of stairs (it's bloody flat here), and 
• We live 10km from school on a busy road with steep edges.

So all those opportunities for extra activity are out for me. But are there other opportunities I am over looking? It was time to sit down with pen and paper and think about the possibilities.

• Can we walk to the school bus stop instead of taking the car?
• Can we park in one spot in town and walk to all the shops without moving the car each time?
• Can we go for a short walk around the block (or in our case around the dam) after dinner?

To my surprise it wasn't so hard to think of extra physical activities as I thought it would be. By just walking to the front gate to catch the school bus it will add 2km of activity to our routine (4km for me!). And I actually like the idea of an evening stroll after dinner rather than rushing into the bedtime routine.

Even though I feel like we are always active, we aren't necessarily benefiting from our activity. The most important benefit, however, of changing my mindset and moving more is that it gives me more quality time with the Darlings and Mr Fussy.

What extra activities have you worked into your normal routine?