Fit Mommy Friday: The Indoor Active Life

encouraging each other
to care well
for the bodies God has given us

My personal goal is to regain strength after a debilitating illness so that I can live a healthy, active life with my family.

Your goal may be to lose weight, look better, feel better, or run a marathon.  Whatever it is, please feel free to join Fit Mommy any time, no matter what your current level of fitness is.  You can check in using the comments at the bottom of this post.

When it’s too cold or icy to spend time outside, we need to find ways to build exercise into our lives.  I’ve successfully figured out a way to get my steps and to be active while inside, and they’re tied in to other useful activities like homeschooling, spring cleaning, and organ playing.  Here’s how I did it last week:

Record my fitness accomplishments each day…Not quite.

Do my eye exercises 5x a week …No.  As I mentioned last week, relaxing the muscles around my eyes works miracles.  However, it’s so hard to find these muscles and to control them!  This week I’ll try to do the exercises as well as work on relaxing those muscles.

Go for a daily walk and take at least 6000 steps a day … No.  Our world is now covered with a thick layer of ice, and currently more freezing rain is pattering on our skylight.  I only walked outside once this week.  The rest of the time I was inside and I got my fresh air by opening the windows.  Running back and forth from one studying child to another gets me steps, though, especially when stairs are involved.  Since it’s also a good mini-break for the kids to run back and forth to me, we’re working on a balance.  Here are my steps for the week:  ???, 7200, 5900, 7000, 4900, 8200.

Do my physio exercises daily … I did them completely once and partially several times.  I also continued spring cleaning, and discovered once again how much exercise housework involves.  It’s the kind of exercise that accomplishes two goals at once (three if you clean alongside the children) and I like multitasking.  However, the organized exercises are also necessary to keep muscle growth balanced.

Now, don’t laugh, but this past month I’ve also added another exercise, in solidarity with the kids.  We now all (except for Miss 9) do scales and similar exercises on the organ.  It helps organ playing skills, obviously, but for me it’s also a physical workout.  At first I couldn’t do these exercises two days in a row.  Now I often can, if I go slowly.  I’m hoping that these lower-arm strengthening exericises will help me accomplish my dream of playing all of Bach’s Eight Little Preludes and Fugues perfectly.  In any case, they may make it possible for me to knit and crochet again, and even to open the new coffee pot  my husband just bought me.  Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Learn T-Tapp… I am now comfortable with the basic stance.   I’m reading Teresa Tapp’s Fit and Fabulous about the eating plan (very sensible), and looked at the different measurements T-Tappers are encouraged to take.  Since my goal is not to lose weight, I am not planning to measure myself.  My goal is to become strong and healthy, and from what I’ve been reading, T-Tapp may accomplish that on many levels.  Currently I’m learning the Primary Back Stretch from the book; if it accomplishes even half of the health benefits it is supposed to, it will become a regular part of my life.

Avoid sugar five days a week … No.  We had company and celebrations and ate black forest cake, crepes (cooked by Miss 14, Miss 11, and their friends), elderberry-raspberry crumble, peanut butter balls, and dark, dark chocolate.  All gluten-free, of course.

Eat lots of vegetables, including fresh ones, and yoghurt … Yes.  We enjoyed a lot of fruits and vegetables most days.  We’re taking a bit of a break from the Pantry Challenge and enjoying fresh kiwis, apples, and salad rather than mostly frozen and canned fruits and vegetables.    And yoghurt production is in full force again.  The kids are very happy about that.

Relax daily…Yes, most days.  The most relaxing part of my life these days is reading aloud to the kids.  It’s a joy for all of us and educational to boot.

Have fun with the kids, including active fun… We read aloud and did some spring cleaning together.  The kids played outside on the ice, but I did  not.

How about you? Did you exercise, eat well, and relax happily this week? Let’s encourage each other to care well for the bodies God has given us. Please link up your health and fitness post in the comments below, and don`t forget to link back here from your post. Then enjoy visiting and encouraging other Fit Mommies just like you.

Note:  Fit Mommy Friday is the Health and Fitness Check-In column of The Christian Home Carnival.