Oy, those holiday breaks

'I fucking HATE DEB. I mean it. My back is KILLING ME. I cannot bend. We better do some serious stretching and stomach work or I won't be making it past tomorrow.'

Madeline

And what, you may ask did tomorrow bring? No Madeline, that's what. And, where was she? Crippled by an overload of exercise, burnt out by Burn It Up? Maybe, but the solution lay in her day trip to the Korean Spa in Teaneck. Yes, dear reader, whilst some of us were stretching and kvetching with the best of them Madeline could be found here 

Holiday Interruptus

Yes, it's that time of year, school's out the kids are home, Christmas Eve, Channukah and other interruptions to the sanctity of the stretch and kvetch schedule. I live in mortal fear of dropping my stretchy kvetchy ball if I take a break and it would be very easy to stop until the new year when our four inmates are all back on schedule. However, what little triumphs that have been made would be undone and so I soldier on. I wrest the remote, which is welded to my son's hand, from him, seize control of the tv, banish the family from the living room and set up the torturemeister Jen and her dastardly pilates. It won't be the zen experience of our usual morning session but it's something. My rule to my family members is they are welcome to join in but they cannot be mere spectators. No takers yet, we'll see what happens as we get through the week.

Genesis - in the beginning there were 4 unfit women

So, you think it would be good if you could lose some weight, gain some energy and generally take better care of yourself. Then, reality sets in and consolation in the form of a nice glass of wine, a good movie with a box of chocolates or just inertia is the reality. 

Well, we found the same thing going on for us. Four women in our 40's, in various levels of employ, with assorted children and other domestic accoutrements and not a health success story between us. 

Yes, there are the gyms to join, boot camps to kick start you, weight watchers to support you but, where are the $s to cover this, where is the time to attend to this, where is the will to continue?

And so, we use what we have, a living room, a tv set, assorted videos and DVDs from various moments of good intent and we started. We made a commitment to each other, 9.30am Monday to Friday for up to one hour of exercise. To begin with it didn't matter what so much as the fact that we do it. And, we have! As there are four of us we can count on at least two people showing every morning. 

And really that's all you need. It hasn't cost us a penny, we have kept going for nearly 6 weeks now. We are all getting results although they do vary, some of us are slimmer some of us are more toned, some of us have more energy and, the few lucky ones have a combination of the above. 

Here's the secret to success - 

1. make a group of 4 people who live close enough it isn't a big deal to get together, make sure you can all work to the same timetable. Your best meeting time might be 6am or 8pm. You know what will work for you so put the word out and see who else it will work for. 
2. Choose people whose company you enjoy. They don't need to be your best friends but they should be friends enough that you can all bitch and moan in comfort. 
   
3. See what exercise tapes and DVDs you can dig up. I mentioned what I was doing to a number of friends and closets full of unused exercise tapes descended on me.
4. Just start, we use a mixture of regular workout and pilates because that's what we have and we vary it according to our mood.
5. Within the group you can all work to your own goals. There's a lot of support but there doesn't need to be any competition

This is what I get from our morning stretch and kvetch. 

1. A time I know I will be doing something good for me. 
2. Greater flexibility - I am disproportionately proud of being able to touch my head to my legs now. I cannot imagine how this is a useful skill but, it is a newly acquired one. 
   
3. A better night's sleep, not perfect but a lot better than it was.
4. The ability to climb stairs without my knees protesting. Pathetic for my age but there's arthritis for you!
5. The merest hint of toning, my butt now has a less intimate relationship with the backs of my knees.
6. A desire to expand this self-help into other areas of my life.
7. I think I have more energy, hard to tell but I don't feel perpetually exhausted so I must.