New Fitness Blog: Getting Healthy For Good

By Laurie Marshall

You know that commercial that has the guy driving along with a Suck-o-Meter in his passenger seat, reminding him how much it sucks to try to quit smoking? A friend of mine mentioned today that dieting needs to adopt one of those little contraptions, and I agree whole-heartedly.

We all know that the resolution that is made at the beginning of a new year (or the day after our birthday, or on a random Sunday night twelve or fifteen times a year…) is made with Conviction. We decide that This Is It! We will watch our fat intake! We will exercise more! We will drink more water! We will remove Doritos and Ben & Jerry’s from our weekly shopping list!

But we also know that the reason we make that resolution over and over and over again is because life happens. Life, with a capital L. Our attempts to make a menu plan and eat at home more often gets derailed by the kids’ ball schedule. The plan to hit the park for a walk three times a week goes down the toilet with the disposable wipes when three kids trade off flu germs for a month.

So, when I decided This is It! for me this year, I made a point of telling everyone I know that I’m making an effort to get healthy. I’m not just talking about it – I’m writing about it. And I’m not just sharing the good stuff, I’m sharing all the failures and screw ups too.

This year I’m turning 45. I have an eighteen-year-old about to graduate from high school (we’re still hopeful…) and a 5-year-old who will go to kindergarten this fall. I want to do more than just lose some weight – I want to be HEALTHY. I want to be able to sit on the floor amidst a pile of Legos for twenty minutes and be able to get up to make lunch without having to walk hunched over for five more minutes until my hips loosen up. I want to be able to play basketball in the driveway without my blood pressure escalating faster than paparazzi outside Lady Gaga’s hair salon. I plan to be around a long time, but my body needs to be in the shape to carry me along that journey. Right now, it’s not.

I’m looking forward to sharing my journey with the readers of Motherlode, and want to hear from you about what kinds of things you find challenging, or tips you might have for making time for healthy choices. I’m going to write about what I’m doing and how it’s working (or not!), and hope to inspire you to join me if you want to, or to encourage the rest of us if you’re already doing great. This blog will be about us, for us – welcome to Getting Healthy For Good.

Look for Laurie’s fitness tips and updates every other Friday on nwaMotherlode in Mom Blogs. Send questions or input to her at mamas@nwaMotherlode.com. Or click on the word “comment” below and share your thoughts right now!