I’ve never been particularly good about exercising. Before I had Logan, I had never really needed to. I naturally had a very good metabolism and could pretty much eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight. How would it be, right? Unfortunately, pregnancy changed things a bit and I no longer have the luxury of eating a pound of chocolate without consequence. Logan is almost four years old and I still fight with the baby pouch almost daily. I know exercising would help, but as a single parent, who has time to exercise, right? My to-do list is a mile long and isn’t getting any shorter, so squeezing in time to exercise seems nearly impossible most days. It probably doesn’t help that I pretty much despise the entire thought of exercising all together. So I’ve had to get a little creative in my form of exercise lately.
It is finally starting to warm up here in Utah which means Logan wants to be running around outside almost constantly. He’d probably live under the swing set if I’d let him. Lately, he really loves to race back and forth across the yard, so I figured, what better way to get some exercise than to kick off the heels and run right along with him! If I give him a good enough head start I can actually get a good run in while I’m catching up to him. He loves the challenge and I get to burn off some calories while listening to him giggle ahead of me. Nothing makes exercise more worth it than hearing that precious little laugh. I get some quality time with my baby and I get to work off some of that chocolate at the same time. Maybe exercising isn’t so bad after all!
Plan some activities with your kids that require a little extra walking this summer. Taking a stroll around the zoo hardly feels like exercise, but it can be much more entertaining for your kids than simply walking around the neighborhood. Try taking them for a hike while it’s nice outside. It gets them out in nature, you get to spend lots of quality time with them, and it gives you that little bit of exercise you need at the end of the day. Exercising doesn’t have to be a chore, in fact, it can actually be kind of fun, you just have to know how to do it!