The next key for me to getting healthy was exercise.
I've been athletic my whole life. I grew up playing sports with all the neighborhood boys. Started playing competitive soccer when I was 12. And played soccer in highschool. I didn't start running just for the sake of running until I was 22. I had never consistently run for exercise until I decided I was going to run a marathon. Go big or go home.
And then I had four babies. And only exercised intermittently during and between each pregnancy.
After my fourth baby, I finally felt motivated to lose all the baby weight and get in good shape.
A few factors played into my decision on what type of exercise to do. The only time I have to exercise right now is when my kids are awake. A few of my kids don't sleep well, so getting up early is out of the question.
Running outside with kids in a stroller seems like a sin to me. Running is my sacred time. My alone time. My "I can do this really hard thing called being a mother" pump up time. Pushing kids in a stroller fetching thrown sippy cups and passing out goldfish just seems wrong.
Running on the treadmill wasn't an option either for fear something would get thrown at me by a child while running resulting in treadmill burn on my face.
I also wanted something that required no equipment. Cause if momm'a lifting weights, the kids want to lift weights too.
So I decided to do Insanity. If you haven't heard of Insanity, it's basically interval training. But it's 3 minutes of high, intense exercise, and then a 30 second "rest" (you never really get to rest), then another 3 minutes of high, intense exercise. When they say it's insanity, they aren't kiddin'. It's hard. Harder than any form of exercise I've ever done in my life. More painful than even the last mile of the marathon I ran.
It hurts. It's hard. It's intense. It's insane.
But.
It got me in the BEST shape of my entire life. It literally changed the shape of my body. Gave me muscle in places I've never had muscle before. Toned. Burned fat.
The pain was worth it. Because I have truly never felt better. Ever. I'm in better shape and stronger than ever.
That's how I got healthy and lost weight. Not running. The comment I usually get is "you've been running a lot haven't you." Nope. Just did insanity.
It doesn't have to be insanity. But I think interval training is amazing for the body.
Smart exercise. Not hours and hours of exercise.
Even after I got to the size I felt healthy at, I continued to do insanity. I did it for about a year.
I now do Focus T-25 5 days a week for exercise. Because it's only 25 minutes. And I'm just trying to maintain. Not lose weight.
I run on Saturdays when my husband can watch kids. Because running is good for my soul. And I like to listen to music while I run. (Check out my running playlist here)
Sometimes I just run 4 to 7 miles (depending on how much energy/time I have). Other times, I do an interval treadmill workout. You can check that out here.
I never thought I was an exercise to a DVD kind of person. But I love these. And the kids have learned mom can't talk while doing these. I literally can't talk. I've nearly puked on several occasions.
I'm particular about the DVD I do, however. I tried Jillian Michaels 30 day shred as well as P-90X but didn't care for either of them. Shaun T's my guy. Motivating but not annoying.
At some point I'd like to do more weight training, it's just not in the cards right now.
To read Part 4 of "Getting Healthy" click here.
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