3

"Is the maximum number of hours per day one should spend sitting."

Yesterday was finally the day. It had been over 6 months since I'd stepped foot in there and frankly I felt a little embarrassed. What is it I'm talking about?

The gym.

Before I became a mother, I was a very faithful gym goer. It was very unusual for me to miss more than three days a week. I worked full time in real estate administration and as soon as the clock struck 4:30 I was out the door and on my way to the gym. Mondays were my favorite day and I looked forward to it and actually got excited when I thought of my step class later that day. I loved it and it loved me (okay, it probably didn't love me...).

Then May 2008 came and with it Evan Daniel, the light of my life. I officially became a stay.at.home.mom and loved it. I still made my way to the gym on a regular basis or did my workouts to videos at home. Then earlier this year something changed. I'm not sure what but the gym started to become the last thing on my mind and so did eating healthy. Before I knew it 6 months had passed since the last time I stepped foot into my step aerobics class and the scary thing was, I didn't care. I had absolutely no motivated to get myself there or even think about eating the right foods.

As the months went on, I started to notice my pants getting a little snug and more frightening, my wedding band was starting to put a choke hold on my finger. Now anyone in their right mind would have thought that those two clues would have awoken me from my anti-workout/anti-eating right fog but nope. Nothing was going to snap me out of it, so I thought.

Last week, I was still walking along eating whatever sweet thing that came my way when it finally hit me. I was getting fat. Plain and simple. I'm not quite sure how it happened really, my epiphany not how I got fat, we all know how that happened. But I was so relived. I had prayed over this situation many times and I believe the Lord gave me the light I needed in order to see what it was I was doing to myself. So last Thursday I started the day fresh and ate a healthy breakfast. Then lunch, then dinner and it felt great. Friday followed the same pattern as did Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Then yesterday, finally, I did what I hadn't done in over 6 long months. I went to the gym. One of the first people I saw was a gal who had been taking my step aerobics class with me for many years and I was embarrassed for her to see me. We had our first children within months of each other and there she was all fit and trim. I avoided her because I didn't want her to see me the way I was. Heavy. Not that I could avoid her forever, after all, we were going to the same step class in less than five minutes.

I told myself that my usual spot up front was off limits. I didn't want to be in front of everyone looking all tired and out of breath. And more importantly I just didn't want anyone to see me. So instead I planted myself and my step towards the back of the class and I sat down with my Shape magazine. As I was flipping through the pages I came across what the title of this post is. Three. And below it was a small paragraph that read: Is the maximum number of hours per day one should spend sitting. It stung when I read that. I had allowed myself to become a couch potato. If the magazine was right (and it probably is) I took the hours of probably 3 other people including myself EVERYDAY.

Ick!

So right there I realized that I needed to get my body moving more during the day before I make my trip to the gym. So that's what I'm going to do. Aside from eating better and working out, I'm going to go for more walks with Evan, do more housework on a daily basis that requires being up and busy and other activities that will keep me on my feet more hours a day than I do sitting and doing nothing. I don't think that's too much of a challenge and I'm actually excited about it.

After my step class last night, the instructor came over to me and said hello and that she was glad to see me back. She asked how Evan was and even clapped her hands and said 'Yay!' when I said I was finally back. That made me feel good. People actually noticed my absence and it made me feel good to know that my fitness means something to someone else. I owe it to myself and my family to be in the best shape I can be and I'm going to go for it.

I haven't stepped on a scale and frankly I'm afraid to. I'm thinking I'll take up that beast in a month or so. I don't want to know the exact damage I've done so hopefully after I've lost a few pounds I'll be brave enough to see the actual number and accept it and then move on past it.

Man, this feels so freeing. I had so missed my state of mind of working out and eating well. I had lost it but the Lord finally helped me see it again. He knew my desire to get myself back into shape and He lead me to the point to where I had no other way to go than down hill (or up hill if you think of the scale!). I'm so thankful for a God who cares about me, even my desires to make it to the gym again.