What do you other homeschool moms do for exercise? I've struggled with this for a long time but seem to be doing a little better now. For years, though, it just seemed like I was always too busy to exercise, or too tired, or had too many kids around. Consequently I gained weight every year and now I'm fighting to get it back off. Recently my girls & I started walking at an exercise path near us. We also swim whenever it's warm enough. I'm just curious how others of you fit exercise into our already busy schedules.
Lori

Hi Lori,
I LOVE the Leslie Sansone tapes - Walk Away the Pounds. She has a whole bunch of them. The first one has a 1 mile and 2 mile walk set to Christian music. I think the longest is 4 miles - I'm still working up to that one!
Any other ideas here?
Blessings,
Christine

I do my best to get up and do Denise Austin's exercise on Lifetime Channel at 7:00-7:30 AM ET. SHe has another one at 7:30 too but I find my time works best for the first one and it is lower key with lots of stretching. It gets my heartrate elevated and I feel like my morning goes better because I have done something. If at all possible I try to do something else later like walking or bike riding. I feel so much better when I will take just 30 min. and do something even if it is just light exercise. This is a constant struggle because so many things work at my time and I am usually tired in the afternoon and don't feel like exercising but when I do it is an immediate payoff.
Jody in FL

Ah, cable TV! It really has something for everyone, doesn't it!
Welcome Jodi!
Anyone else have any video tape or other ideas?
Christine

PS - I turned 50 today, so contiuing fitness is something near and dear to my heart. We've got to use it, or we'll lose it, ladies!

I like how Lori mentioned walking with the girls. Finding something to do "with" the kids is the only way I have time to do anything!! We've been going to the park a lot lately and they've skated around the walking circle while I walk. When we finish our walk, I get my arm muscles warmed up by pushing them on the swings! (Two for one workout!)

Thanks for getting my thinking going! I took the younger two to the park. They played on the stuff while I walked around the perimeter. We all had fun!

Who has some good exercise video recommendations? A friend lent me a few and the lady was too perky and bouncy ...

Blessings,
Christine

I like the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds DVD's. Her workouts are about the only ones I can do, since I'm uncoordinated. I cannot keep up with Denise Austin. I just can't do the moves correctly. My older brother got my sister and my shares of coordination (he's a great dancer).

Although I like the Walk Away the Pounds workouts, I don't exercise regularly. I don't like to exercise, and it really takes a lot to make myself do it. If I had to do it in order to keep off or lose weight, I'd have some incentive, but it's very difficult when I know I'll just lose more weight where I can't afford to lose it. I know I should exercise for good heart health, but that's often not enough to make me do it.

This morning for the first time I used my walkman and headphones with a scripture CD while exercising to WATP. I just muted the TV, watched the workout, and followed along while listening to scripture. That worked out really well, so I'll probably do that whenever I get up the energy to exercise. It's a lot better than listening to Leslie chat, especially since I've heard it all many times.

I sometimes like to get outdoors to walk or ride bikes, but I don't often do it. I get cold so easily, so I usually make the excuse that it's too cold. Then it gets too hot and humid. And of course, there's always the excuse that I don't have time. There is a wooded walking trail near my home, behind my subdivision. Work is being done to extend the trail, and it's going to come almost up to my backyard. Then it'll be very convenient. I think the trail is currently at least three miles long.

Hi alegnab,
I hear you about the exercising. But if the trail comes to your door, it's going to be a sure sign that you should step out on it!
I love Leslie, too. I laughed out loud when I heard you talk about being uncoordinated. That's me! A friend lent me some Denise Austin tapes and a I nearly hurt myself!
I have two TVs in the room. Silly, huh? But I watch the news on one while Leslie babbles on the other and I huff and puff.
Why is it such a battle to do something that has such benefit for our bodies and minds?
Christine

I just got a Walk Away the Pounds DVD. My girls & I tried it this morning and I love it! We did the 1-mile walk, which was plenty for me! Normally we walk on an exercise path and go about 1-1/2 miles, but the 1-mile workout was more work that our usual walk. I prefer walking outside, but I know it will be too hot for that pretty soon, so then the DVD will be great. We used it this morning because we had an 8:30 appointment so we didn't really have time for our full walk (which takes us an hour including driving to and from the park plus walking 30 minutes). So even tho' I prefer walking outside, the DVD will be a nice change of pace when we're short on time or the weather isn't good for being outdoors. I also got a Pilates DVD but I haven't tried that one yet. I watched a little bit of it, and right now I think I'd hurt myself just trying it, so I'm saving it for a while before I try it.

I don't enjoy exercise, either. What got me motivated was that my cholesterol is too high and my doctor wants to put me on medication for it. I don't want to go there! So he gave me 3 months to try to diet and exercise and bring it down that way. So that gives me great motivation to get out there everyday and walk or swim or whatever. It's also a lot more fun for me when my girls go with me. My youngest (almost 12) walks with me and we talk the whole time. It's great! My oldest walks on her own and then meets us at the end, but it's still a nice time to spend with her and starts our mornings off on a positive note. I think when we don't enjoy exercising just for the sake of exercise, we have to find something that will motivate us and focus on that.
Lori

I wish I had had my cholesterol tested before I made a diet change in January of 2004. I had exercised and exercised to get weight off in 2003, but I only lost about ten pounds and couldn't lose more, no matter how much I exercised or how much I cut back on food. By summer, I gave up trying to lose weight and stopped exercising. By Christmas, I hit my highest weight ever. I was rather desperate and prayed that the Lord would lead me to a good way to lose weight. Then I found Dr. McDougall's website . I read some on there and was intrigued. I searched the local library for his books and found several. I checked them out and read them all. By the time I was halfway through the first one, I knew it was the answer to my prayers. I went on it and easily lost weight, even with only exercising occasionally. I started at 149 pounds, and by June I was 121. Dh and I then had our blood taken for new life insurance, and my results were great. My total cholesterol was 153 and my triglycerides were 81. My results were so great that the insurance company gave me their highest rating -- super preferred. The insurance agent was very surprised, and he said that the insurance company much think I'm in "fantastic health." I don't think he had ever seen that rating for a 40yo woman. Because my rating was so good, my insurance ended up costing half of what the agent told us to expect. Dh hadn't changed his diet any, and his blood test results were awful. He had high cholesterol and sky-high triglycerides. His insurance costs us about 40% more than what the agent told us to expect. Considering that I ate almost the same as dh, I'm sure my results wouldn't have been nearly as good if I had not changed my diet.

I am able to eat a lot of food and not gain weight, because I mostly just eat whole plant foods with no added oils. I'm 5' 5-1/2", and my weight stays between 115-121, depending on whether I exercise and how much fatty food I eat. I eat nuts/seeds every day (even though that isn't recommended on the McDougall program), because I need the fats.

Not only have I lost the excess weight permanently and most likely lowered my cholesterol and triglycerides greatly, I've also improved my overall health. Cancer and diabetes run very strongly in my family. Both of my grandfathers and my mom died of cancer, siblings of my mom have had cancer, my mom and her grandmother had diabetes, and several of my mom's siblings and some of my cousins on both sides of my family have diabetes. My grandfather had heart disease and had five-bypass surgery. I used to worry that I would come down with cancer. My mom had cancer twice, and the first time was in her early forties. In the past two years, I have read many books on nutrition and diseases, and I've been greatly relieved by what I've read. I now know a lot about how foods affect our bodies and how plant foods prevent cancer. I've learned a lot about phytochemicals, which are only in plants, and their role in cancer prevention. I no longer worry about getting cancer. I know it's still possible to get cancer, but I also know my chances of getting it are lessened by my diet.

Plants contain no cholesterol, so if you cut out or greatly reduce the consumption of animal products, you will decrease your cholesterol (however, there are some people who manufacture too much cholesterol). Here are stories from real people who used to have high cholesterol: Mary Duffield , Lars P. Lidberg , Joseph Wysoki , Joyce Shank , and Dan Curtin . There are more I could link, but I'll stop here. Read over the titles of the stories from the Star McDougallers , and you'll see some interesting ones.

If your library doesn't have any books by Dr. John McDougall, see if it has any by Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Dean Ornish, or Dr. Joel Fuhrman. They all advocate a plant-based diet (not necessarily vegan or vegetarian) for good health.

I've had other benefits from changing my diet. I started getting acne by the time I was 12yo. I never outgrew it. My face used to glisten from the oil by two hours after washing it. After following the McDougall program for a few months, my acne and the glistening went away. The fats I had been consuming were coming out on my face, so after getting the fats out of my diet and the excess off my body, there wasn't excess fat to come out through my skin. I now stay acne-free, unless I pig out on fatty junk (which I do once in a while). Another benefit I have had has to do with a female thing, so I won't post it here. But if you want to know about that, email me at alegnab@hotmail.com .

Hi,

I think anything as a family that you can work in before school begins or during the school day is great! My husband and I get up at 5:00 during the week before he goes to work. While he is bike riding, I'm working out on the total gym. Even if we are not together "exercising", my husband says it helps motivate him knowing I'm working out too. Or he works out on the total gym then I do my workout while he is getting ready for work. Then I make us breakfast and we have time together to talk or have a couples time devotion. It really starts the day off right. After he leaves I get our kids up and we start school around 7:30. Then we take a much needed oxygen break in the outdoors around 9:00. The kids ride their bikes while I walk/jog for 20-30 minutes. It not only is great exercise for us but it gives us a boost to continue getting our school done. My husband works in retail so when he gets a day off during the week our "P.E" is playing basketball with the kids. We are really trying to do more with the kids in exercise because they are not going to do it if we don't.