Our Baby Steps To A Healtheir Life: Exercise

When I was pregnant, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  And I HATED it.  I had to check my blood sugar 7 times a day. I had to be obsessed with what food I was eating in order to keep my sugar levels in check.  It was the hardest 4 months of my life. and I never want to do it again. Even though it goes away in most women postpartum, the chance you will have it later in life goes up tremendously.  With my very large family history with diabetes, I knew I would have to take control of my health if I wanted to keep diabetes at bay in the future.  Exercise is the #1 way for me to do that.

When we lived in Colorado, staying in shape was easy.  We had mountains at our disposal anytime we wanted to get out and hike or bike.  The weather was always beautiful. I mean, Colorado has 300 sunny days per year!  I was also a big fan of cardio-kickboxing and went to class three times a week and was blessed with a job in the mountains so I was able to hike several times a week there as well.  We were in great shape.

Then we moved to Missouri.  You would think living in the country, we would still be in pretty good shape. But the truth is, it is very hard.  We live on a dirt road and unless you want a face full of dust, you can't bike or run in the neighborhood. We live far from any kickboxing class. There are no bike trails nearby and the gym is not very convenient either. We just stopped exercising altogether.  Six years and two kids later, our bodies are showing and feeling it. That isn't the example we want to set for our children.

So, the other change we are making here at our house is to make sure we get some sort of exercise each day as a family.  The truth is, if we make the effort, there are ways to stay active. Now that the weather is nice, we get out every night after dinner for a walk.  Our neighbors have a terrific driveway that makes for a terrific long walk.  The entire family goes, even the dogs.  Mia mostly runs and jumps the whole way which is great for burning off that end-of-day energy.  And for the days we are stuck inside, all I have to say is THANK GOODNESS FOR Wii!

Getting back in shape is a big priority for me.In February, I began a Couch to 5K program.  There is a great iPhone app called Ease into 5K that is great for us non-runners who never ran in their whole life.  When I started out, I couldn't run 45 seconds before dying. But that is what is great about the program. Major baby steps. Now I am running 2 miles consistently. It is amazing! In late March I ran my first 5K.  Even though I wasn't able to run the entire thing, I still felt great finishing the race in the time I did. Now I continue to train for the next 5K with my goal being to finish in 30 minutes.

So even though it will take a bigger effort than we are used to, these are the baby steps we are taking to get more exercise.  I want my kids growing up in an environment that incorporates physical activity in our daily lives.  In today's world, it is very important to instill those behaviors early in order to prevent diabetic couch potatoes in the future.