What's Really Going to Happen If MTs Don't Exercise?

New Years Resolutions have been popping up all over the place. Some resolutioners already admitting to a backslide or two on those resolutions. I've always thought exercise should be topping my list of resolutions. Unfortunately, I really like to eat and don't have any active sports or hobbies that I pursue. Every time a new year shows up and I say to myself, "I'm going to start exercising and lose weight," I end up just picking up a potato chip and drinking from my pop. It's like the resolution part gets derailed before it's had time to settle in and become a goal.

The thing that drives me completely nuts about the whole exercising thing is that I honestly believe that healthy eating, exercise, and sports are GREAT things. No, not just good. I said GREAT! Healthy eating provides fuel, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Exercise provides strong muscles and bones, energy, stamina, and a sense of well being. Sports, now that's just plain fun exercise, socializing, and an awesome tan. Of course, on a Jack and Jill type team, there's always the benefit of having some fast-moving eye candy to watch. Why do you think I really went to all my brother's baseball games during school? Sure, I cheered for him. He's my brother and I think he's awesome and fabulous and can do no wrong! How's that for loyalty? Hehe. I was also there to watch the boys.

But, watching sports and playing sports are just two totally different animals. It's like a leopard and a house cat. The only exercise in watching sports is the short walk from the car to the bleachers. Not a whole lot of benefit in it except to the person or team you're rooting for. Have you noticed I haven't mentioned watching televised sports? The only ones I watch are the Olympics and occasionally a gymnastics or ice skating event. I'm sure that would change if I had a man in my house who enjoyed watching sports on tv, but for just me? No thanks.

A little background in my own health adventures is probably called for here. I love food. Momma never had trouble getting little Renae to choke down the veggies, squash, ice cream, pizza, pasta, chocolate cake, strawberries, bananas, etc. There was that time I sat for four hours at the dinner table trying to eat a 3 inch piece of liver, but other than that and that escargot I was offered once, getting me to eat was never a problem. Healthy or not healthy didn't matter to me.

So, all this lovely food made for a mildly chubby little Renae. Momma, once again being the clever lady she was, insisted on summer swimming lessons and swimming pool passes, school sports, and boys and girls club activities. There was even a summer camp and several years at NYSP. That's National Youth Sports Program. Summer camp, NYSP, and swimming every day all day kept all that wonderful food from getting too friendly with my tummy and thighs. I was strong, solid, and could do anything.

I played every sport that came my way and pined for the sports that weren't available because of money or facilities. No, it didn't mean I was any good at them. Shoot, I was probably the least athletic kid in my school. Even one of my very good friends, who had the same wide width from shoulders to ankles could run faster than me. Never could do that. But, I loved the feeling of being involved, being on the move, the occasional sport where I could excel like swimming or volleyball. Dang, I had a beautiful swim stroke, I could float a ball just barely above the net and make it wobble at the opposing team like it couldn't make up it's mind who it wanted to humiliate. It just makes me smile to remember that.

A car accident when I was 16 injured my low back. We all pretty much ignored it for years. It came back to haunt me later.

I had a friend that lived at the bottom of a long, steep hill. Trust me, walking that hill several times a day in both directions definitely had a very beneficial effect on my food-loving anatomy. I've never been skinny. Just solid to solid and slightly chunky. Heck, I don't even have a slender to my history. Just solid. Do you know, I'd give my weight in gold to be solid now?

There's only one time as an adult that I've been a healthy, strong weight. I was 18 and worked at a bakery throwing 50 pounds of this and that and running for 8 to 14 hours a day. Trust me, you burn calories and build massive amounts of muscle doing that! It's my all-you-can-eat weight loss plan. I ate cake and cookies, bread, pie, donuts, glaze, icing. I could not get enough calories into me!

Well, then I had to go and get a sit-down job, two pregnancies, and another sit-down job, a couple of standing-but-in-one-place jobs, and a sit-down-drive-then-work-like-a-beast-for-15-minutes job. Whew! During all of this time, basically 22 years of employment history, not one sport, exercise program, healthy eating, or anything more energetic than the occasional weekend helping a friend move.

In that 22 years, why have I not done anything about the weight that has been steadily attaching itself to me? The honest answer? I'm LAZY! There. I said it. Dang, that hurt. No one wants to admit that the last 22 years have been a series of years and years of wasted opportunities to be healthy. It's not that I don't want to. But, I like watching tv, being on the computer, and sitting. Do you know why I enjoy those sedentary activities so much? Because moving HURTS! My back has 3 herniated discs from that car accident, my left side is a list of injuries that never quite go away.

What I need to decide is this. Is the fact that sitting at the computer all day every day is going to allow the weight that I have managed to fight for all those years to move in and get comfy? Or, am I going to make a real decision to get off my butt and get some kind of activity so that I can keep on fighting that weight like I've been doing for all these years? I know I'm not giving up food. Fahgettahboutit! I know I'm going to hurt. Those are givens and facts. I can't do a lot of things that I wouldn't have blinked twice about when I was younger. But, what can I do?

Swimming? Join a gym? Walk? At least not for a while. Volleyball? That's only during certain times of the year. Skating? If I fell, I wouldn't move for a month. Get some workout videos and just bounce around my tiny living room? Wait, knee, back, and ankle. No bouncing.

Do you see what I'm dealing with? I weigh more right this minute that I did at my heaviest 2nd pregnancy weight. I've got injuries that limit some common activities. I'm inherently lazy. And, I love food!

It's like this weirdly personal and personally universal problem that only the select few ever figure out. I would seriously doubt that as an MT or an MT in training that weight wouldn't be an issue. We've got so much time sitting and the presence or constant availability of food. If I'm having these issues now, what's going to happen in a year? Two years? Five? Ten? Twenty-Five? If something doesn't change very soon and I mean NOW, I can actually see myself being forklifted through the huge hole in my house they had to make when I finally pass away. Sooner than later, if I let it get that bad.

This is serious people! If you're not active, get active! If you're not at least thinking about this! Start! We've got one of the few professions where early obesity, muscle loss, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, cardiac problems, circulatory issues, gastric issues and OMG! PALE SKIN! ACNE! are almost guaranteed. Unless you have some very generous genetic abnormalities, (Ummm...Gifts) that you have most selfishly not shared with the rest of us... You Mutant!... Then we are not in a position to ignore the health warnings of a sedentary life. Hell, you don't even have to walk from the parking lot to an office to get exercise! It's just down the hall from your very own personal fridge, bathroom, bed, television, etc. If you have really nice friends and family, you may never leave the house on your own two feet again! AAAAAHHHHH!

Have I scared you into thinking about diet and exercise yet? I think I scared myself!

Apparently, from the pictures, I've decided to look into swimming as a low-impact enjoyable activity. Not great for building muscle (which I really miss) but great cardiovascular exercise. Not to mention, I really am a great swimmer and miss it immensely. Now, it's just a matter of bundling up and getting to the pool.