Have you done your weight bearing today?

People, people, people, I had a major revelation just weeks ago and it couldn't have come at a better time. I almost gave up. I almost lay down, closed my eyes and succumb to the myth that after 35 you might as well hang up your running shoes. You are running for nothing. I almost believed the radio ad that's been spouting about how after that age you can spend an hour at the gym and will only maintain your weight. Shoot I only have an hour and can barely get that in. I never was very good at treading water and didn't want to start now.

What am I rattling on about? Well about two months ago, back in April I had procrastinated. I had a girl's beach weekend planned in May and as usual waited until the last minute to start really getting serious. I had put on about 10 pounds over the winter (my personal insulation). Usually this never bothered me cause I knew I could just run it off-right?

Well after about three weeks of just running, the scale had not budged. I had run religiously everyday and the weight just taunted me as it settled in for the ride around my midsection and my bootie areas - yes they had multiplied. Well with less than 3 weeks left until the beach trip I wasn't ready to throw in the beach towel yet, so I began going to the gym after dropping my son at school in the mornings.

I started hitting the weight training hard like I know I need to do. I was so determined I was back lifting like I'd done in college. I actually started having people in the gym ask if I was training for something. "Yeah I'm training not to be fat," I replied.

Now I'm the only case study, but the pounds fell off. I was right where I wanted to be within a two week period of time. So, my deduction is what? Weight training is the bestest most awesomest thing you can do to maintain and lose your weight. Not only that, but it cures the sag if you know what I mean.

Happy lifting!

Working through an injury isn't easy

As a recent post revealed I have an injury and it has persisted far longer than my training schedule wants to allow. I couldn't figure it out at first, I mean what I actually did to it. There was no moment of snapping ligaments or tearing tendons--no shrieks of pain to signify any one event that caused this workout menace. But after a relunctant visit to the doctor, I suspect the culprit is what my mother has coined as my "Jack Johnson" problem.

"Who is Jack Johnson?" you ask. Well he was a boxer in the early 1900s who changed the sport for black fighters and became the first black heavy weight champion. What does that have to do with me and my injury. Well, I guess along with being a great fighter, he also was a man bent on doing it all and all on his own. So, whenever I refuse help, or try to do what most women would rather let the men in their lives do--the heavy lifting, Mardie likes to leave "Jack Johnson" ringing in my ears.

Oh yeah, so the injury, well on Memorial Day I woke early in the morning and by 10 am I had dug up a plot of grass; gone to Wal-Mart where I bought sand, pavers and a new grill for the occasion; laid said sand and pavers and set up the grill. There was a lot of sod left from my endeavor and on this past Monday I finally got around to trying to dispose of it.

I scooped the rock infested sod into a garbage can and I dragged, heaved and hoed that pile from the backyard to the front. Stopping several times to regroup I kept thinking, "Man I'm getting a really good workout."

The yard waste disposal truck came round and the man walked to the garbage can, removed the lid and made a feeble attempt at moving the garbage can. Watching from my office window and unbeknownst to said man I saw him look around in disbelief wave his hands dismissing the heap and drive off leaving me with the task of disposing it myself.

I tugged and dragged it even further to the wooded area across from our house and grunted through lifting it to dump it. I felt pretty empowered and thought, "What a very little weak man. Little ole me, I was able to do it by myself."

I proceeded to jog a mile, and go through a complete weight workout ala Tiki Barber. Well, about 3 in the afternoon is when it all came down on me. As I sat at my computer working I began to feel this nagging pain in my back, neck and arm. After about 10 minutes I couldn't sit up straight and eventually took four ibuprofen and hit the sheets to try and sleep it off. It has been a full week now and I still can't sleep through the night without pain or sit in one position without pain. I guess I showed that litle yard waste guy. He may have wimped out on the job, but at least he's not having a MRI tomorrow and I'm sure he's sleeping just fine even though little ole me showed him.

For the record, though, I have not taken off the week entirely from my workout. There wasn't anything wrong with my legs, so I still ran everyday and did my crunches. To be sure, don't aggrevate or go against doctor's orders with any injury but don't let it set you back to the point of ceasing all motion. It is hard to get and stay motivated when you have been limited by injury. Know your body and only do as much as you can without causing further harm.

Running on the beach--this is the life

Took the family to the beach this Good Friday and while I sat there basking in the sun and watching the kiddos, it hit me. I could be running up and down the beach to get in some good moving.

The uneven, soft sand works great for core building while you run too. I know, many of you don't want to run while you're at the beach, and I certainly didn't have it in my mind to do so. But, how can I miss an opportunity? I ran up the beach one way and noticed all the cool shells as I passed making a mental note to grab them on the way back.

Sure enough, I ran pausing ever so often to collect those small treasures for my little girl.

I only ran for about 10 minutes, but the smell of the water, cool breeze off the ocean along with the sun caressing my skin--absolutely exhilarating and well worth it.

Get it in whenever and wherever until you don't even give it a second thought.

Let off some steam

O.k. so how many of us find ourselves angry sometimes? Not mad enough to really let go, but just fed up enough that you wanted, no, needed to let off a little bit of steam?

Know what? A little mean is good enough to power you through a nice brisk walk, a short run or a few sets on the weight bench. Your heartbeat is already racing so before you reach your boiling point, cut the offender some slack and head for the hills or drop and give me 20. Your heart will start to speed up but your mind will begin to calm down. This works much the same as counting to ten real slow but this time it's ten minutes.
As I rounded the corner tonight with my blonde braids loose and blowing behind me, a family of deer fled the scene. I probably looked more like a fierce lion on the attack than a harmless surburban dweller running laps. I found out tonight as I circled my dark block alone that I was only mad enough for four rounds. After that I was content. So this was a four-round anger management session. A bonus was that my cool-down jog shed a few slices of pepperoni pizza I had for dinner.

So, the next time you find yourself in a funk or just needing to take the edge off, don't resort to words or irrational behavior. Use your lungs instead to breathe in and out some night air and your energy to burn a few calories leaking over the edge of your plate.

Working out with your kids makes it fun

Looking at one of the fan photos posted to Get Moving Mom's fan page reminded me about the best way to get in a workout and be a great parent. Work out with your kids.

This is possible at every age. When they are infants, I mean you plop 'em, then you prop 'em in a front carrier and get moving. The added weight gives you a better workout and the babies love it. They get to be close to mom and go for the ride of their lives.

When they get older, they are able to get on the floor and crunch or climb on your back while you struggle through push-ups. Yesterday on our jog back from the bus stop, my five-year old daughter said, "Mommy. Carry me on your back while you run." At first, I looked at her cross-eyed then I thought about the great bun burner and went for it. I made it huffing and puffing to our mail box and slowly squatted to allow her to dismount and proceeded to fall out on the ground from exhaustion. It was fabulous. As soon as I hit the concrete my butt tightened like it used to after running the 400 meter dash. YES!

When you feel it like that, you know it's on. Yeah, you'll feel it in the morning, but it's not a good workout unless you break those muscles down. If you finish a workout and you can breathe normal, your legs and arms are barely misted and not shaking threatening to buckle under you--well in my opinion you haven't even had a workout.

My other favorite thing to do is to meet my kids outside and try to beat them at whatever it is they are doing. Everything they do usually involves running, jumping, spinning and throwing. The older they get the harder this gets, but that's the idea. Your kids will have a great time as they go from getting whipped by you to the day when they are whooping you. I used to leave them all in my dust and toy with their emotions as they grappled for me during our games. Now my thirteen-year old can beat me running and he is loving it--me, not so much. I'm not looking forward to the day I can no longer wrestle him to the ground and pin him easily. He is though and that makes it fun!

Microwave Squats

These are just what they sound like. They are short bursts of squats, or any movement for that matter set to the timer on your microwave. The next time you nuke something, use that time to zap some calories as well.

Whenever I put in my tea or popcorn, or if I'm just warming something in the microwave, I run down the timer with some basic moves. I visit the microwave at least four to five times a day so this takes advantage of otherwise unused time.

For a full one to seven minutes I go full blast with it.

Example workout one:

• Put in tea and set timer for 2:00 minutes.
• High knee jumping jacks for the first minute
• Deep squats for the last minute. (kick right leg out to the side and bend both knees. Sit into the squat like sitting in a chair with arms flexed in like a curl.
• Return to standing position and repeat movement with left leg leading.

Example workout two:

• Put in a popcorn bag and press timer (these range from 2:30 to 3:00 minutes)
• Run high knees for the first minute
• Deep squats for the second minute
• Bring it home with scissor kicks (crossing one leg in front of the other and then switching feet quickly. Arms should cross out in front of you).

Example workout three:

• Put in meat to defrost (about 6-7 minutes for one pound of meat)
• Run high knees for 1 minute
• Frog jump for 30 seconds
• Run high knees for 1 minute
• Military run for 30 seconds (hands on floor, alternate legs pulling knees to chest, keep butt low)
• Run high knees for 1 minute
• Deep squats for 1 minute
• Run (jog) for the last couple minutes

Another Great Snow Workout

Today I decided to take a walk in our weird winter wonderland. It was actually amazing to see southerners navigating the snow covered streets. I was a little leary of walking too close to the street because of this, so I convinced my husband to walk in the uneven snow banks and the neglected sidewalks of our neighborhood.

It proved to be yet another way to get some moving in. The fact that we had no idea when the snow might crack beneath us and that we were walking working to keep our regular balanced gait, really worked our core and legs. I also concentrated on sucking in my gut and breathing in my nose out of my mouth. Twisting slightly at the waist is something else you can add as well as wrist weights (this will incorporate the arms).

Walking on this uneven ground with unpredictable dips and bumps work very similar to the new $100 Reebok and Sketcher shape up shoes. So save some money and use what just happened to fall out of the sky.

For runners, mimicking Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV is also a great workout. Put on your snow boots and go running in the snow. Lift your knees with each stride and feel the burn baby!

"Run, Mom, Run!"

This journey we are beginning to get you moving mommy is going to take some change of thought and action. The nuggets I plan to give you are meant to become a part of you. Eventually without thought you will find yourself moving any way and every way you can.

One day my mom started to laugh at me as we made our way back to my van from a Wal-mart shopping spree. As was my custom, I had parked the van a good piece away from the door. I had just beat her to the van when she yelled out, "O.k. Edith Bunker." I didn't know what she meant at first cause if anyone has seen the show "All in the Family" you'd know that being called Edith Bunker isn't exactly a compliment.

When she made it to the van I asked her what she meant and she said, "You run everywhere. You've never noticed that? Don't you remember how Edith Bunker ran everywhere?"

I started to laugh and it made me start to take note. I truly do run everywhere. I run from the house to the van, from the van to the house. I run from the van to the store and I run from the store to the van. I run to the door of the schools and to the door of restaurants. If I forget something I run back into the house. I run up the stairs at home, I run down the stairs at home. Stairs - this is an incline which adds a boost to this activity. Running with high knees really burns the butt (we'll talk more about the real stairmaster in another post). But you get the point that I run everywhere.

Without thought, I break out into a sprint, light jog or trot depending on how the knees are doing that day. But, I very seldom walk any short distances.

I was a sprinter in high school and college. I've tried to run miles like people my age do, but I just don't have the endurance to get a long enough run in to make a difference. These short bursts act just like they did for me in track practice those years ago. It's like doing a 10x100's workout over the course of the day.

The time you spend walking all of these places, you could make into a short burst of calorie burning activity that adds up by the end of the day.

Today, for instance, I ran to my sons' busstop with my little yappy dog in tow. I always send them out ahead of me while I put on my shoes so that I have to run to catch up to them.

While waiting for the bus I gave my dog to one of my sons and began to run back and forth down the street where we were standing. By the time the bus came I had gotten in a quick 10-minute workout for the morning.

So, my peeps, the lesson today is don't walk, somber, lob or shuffle to your destination.

"Run mom run!"