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Wouldn’t it be great
if we could lose weight as easily as we lose the television remote in
the couch cushions? Or the car in the parking lot?
They say it is a lifestyle change and that dieting isn’t the answer.
To me lifestyle change means going from a night owl to a morning lark
or a meat eater to a vegetarian. Now that Halloween is over, its time
to consider a lifestyle change and get fit for the holidays Rio
Ranchoans. We don’t want to feel too guilty when we pack on the pounds
with all the delicious baked goods once the holidays roll around.
With all of the different places to exercise, the different types of
exercise, where does one begin? Pilates? Whenever I see that word I
think pirates. Everyday I would pass by a billboard for a local gym on
NM 528. It so eloquently stated “Your last excuse just went back to
school”. Clever line I will admit; it made me think maybe I really did
have time now to join a gym. But I just kept driving by it everyday.
Now they’ve replaced it with another billboard so I don’t have to feel
guilty.
It has been quite awhile since I first stepped foot in a gym, health
club or aerobics class. In 1983, I started a health kick that would
last for a decade until the birth of my first child. In hind sight, it
does sound backward to stop exercising once the baby arrives. But as
anyone who has been there knows; who feels like exercising with a
newborn? The reality is first time mothers and newborns don’t like to
exercise.
Remember the days when you were in your prime, slim and could lose
three pounds in a day by simply skipping one dinner? You were young
and single and went to health clubs to meet people not exercise, at
least that was the deal in the 80s. I never met anyone at a health
club. Maybe it was because I didn’t go in full make-up with big
sprayed hair wearing a color coordinated ensemble. I was the quick in
- quick out exerciser in order to get home in time to watch
Thirtysomething on the couch with a glass of wine.
I had a client in California who hired me to help promote her exotic
exercise dance classes. She first wanted me to take a class so I would
fully understand the concept. The typical attire was shorts, a low cut
shirt and high heels. High heels for exercising? Well, it all made
sense when she hit me with the zinger; the dances were to be done
around a pole hung from the ceiling. Oh yeah, just what I always
wanted; to learn how to fling myself upside down while in an inverted
cannonball position spinning counter clockwise on a stripper’s pole to
Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” No, thank you.
She tried to convince me the floor exercises were more conventional.
“Do these with your husband” she insisted. Do these with my husband?
The closest I had ever come to exercising with my husband was asking
him to hold my fuzzy slippered feet while I tried to do a sit up.
Usually it was more like “get me a glass of water and change the
channel.”
Its time to get yourself in shape for the holidays. Its time to get
the house decorated and dust off the family’s favorite recipes or seek
out a few new skinny ones. My dad owned a bakery and has the best
recipe for cheesecake. Is there a skinny substitute for butter, sugar
and cream cheese? Wait. Stop. I need to stay focused on my new healthy
lifestyle.
I am foregoing the gym for now as I stick to good old fashioned
walking my neighborhood with a plastic grocery bag, paper towels with
my dog pulling me up the hills. C’mon Andy, let’s go.
Quote of the Week: “Just think of all those women on the Titanic who
said, "No, thank you," to dessert that night. And for what!” -Erma
Bombeck
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