Now that my oldest is 10 and the youngest is nearly five years old, I guess I have to stop blaming my weight on the kids. I’ve had the mindset that “I’m healthy, but …” and the “but” was the fact that I have many, many pounds to lose. Generally speaking, I am healthy. My blood pressure and cholesterol are low, my flexibility is great and I’m exceptionally strong. (In fact, I can leg-press more than 750 lbs.) But my weight has not decreased since I’ve had kids; on the contrary, it has increased year after year.

I know that I need to exercise, but my main hang-up has been time. Oh, and raising several children. Oh, and having a husband who’s working &/or out of town two weekends a month. Believe me, my list of excuses is lengthy.

The proverbial slap upside my head came this past weekend, however. I knew it would take something to rattle my cage before I got serious about needing to exercise. On one of the legs of my flight to San Francisco, I had to ask for a seatbelt extender. I tried scooting as far back against the chair as I could, sucking in my gut … I even tried buckling it as low as possible, like I did that one time I flew to a conference 6 mos prego with my second son. Nothing worked. I even debated not buckling it at all and just draping my sweater across my lap so the flight attendant wouldn’t notice. But, I finally broke down and asked. It ended up being no big deal, other than my complete loss of pride.

So, in the interest of not wanting to be the fat lady on the plane who can’t buckle her seatbelt, I’ve started taking an evening walk/jog. It hasn’t been quite a week yet, but I’m committed to doing it. I feel good, not only physically but feel good about myself afterward. It is kinda fun to challenge myself, and each day, I’ve done a little more than the day before.

I started out walking one mailbox and jogging to the next, repeatedly down and back up my street, which is about a 1/2 mile roundtrip. Then, I went to walking 1, jogging 2. Next, I walked 1-2 and jogged 3. Tonight, I made the trek to my parents’ house and back, which is 8/10 mi. total. I paused there for a drink of water and to say hi, but I didn’t stay long enough to get comfortable.

I am setting small, attainable goals for myself to challenge me and keep it interesting. I would like to be able to jog to my mom’s house, walk around the block with her, then walk/jog back home. Depending on our route, that could be about 2 mi.

The down side is that the only time I have to do this is in the evening, but I have a big, chunky flashlight that would double as a club, if need be, but he neighborhood is pretty quiet. I suppose I could get up extra-early in the morning to go out, but I’ve known myself for going on 35 years now, and history has not been an indicator of a successful early morning exercise routine.

I’m buckling up and ready for the ride!