Get Movin’

QUICK NEWSFLASH UPDATE: Calling all moms…today is the launch of Focus on the Family’s Wednesday webcasts just for moms. Today’s guest is our Hearts at Home’s own Jill Savage. Check it out here.

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Thanks to those of you who carved out time to leave a comment on Monday’s post. So many moms (and grandmas) among us are searching for ideas to reward character rather than physical or mental skill. We may revisit this topic in the future!

I wish I had 150 of the prizes to give to each of you who commented, but alas….only two. Those winners of the two Family Enrichment Tool Kits are:

Ashley; Timestamp March 29, 2010 at 8:24 am and

Sherry B.; Timestamp March 29, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Ladies, send your home address to me at [email protected] right away!

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Hello Weight Loss Wednesday sisters! Can’t wait to hear how your weeks went. But first, let’s talk about the dreaded “E” word.

Yep.

Exercise.

I have to be honest with you. I have a love-hate relationship with exercise. I hate to run. I hate to sweat. I hate to exert force to lift weights. I can’t stand spandex and I absolutely loathe the atmosphere and the smell of gyms. I know, I know…it sounds as if I have a hate-hate relationship with exercise. So let me tell you the ONLY thing I love about exercise.

The way I feel when I am done.

I feel clear-headed. I feel younger. I feel as if I can meet life’s challenges with renewed energy. And I feel totally tired, yet strangely refreshed.

But, I still start off hating it EVERY DAY!!!!!!!

When I first began my weight loss journey, I was in such dire shape that I could hardly walk a city block. My knee harbored constant pain from a torn meniscus. Just bending and straightening it made tears well up in my eyes. I remember crying at night and praying to God, begging Him to take away my pain. I also had a bad case of bursitis in my opposite heel that was also agonizing. I promised God that if He’d just make the pain go away, I would start to exercise and lose my excess weight.

Alas, the persistent pain remained. And it was all my fault. My mother-in-love often tells her kids and grandkids “You are the sum of your choices” a quote from someone famous in the past. Whom, I’m not exactly sure. Well, it was true for me. The sum of my choices added up to one big overweight and out-of-shape mommy mess.

Medical tests and MRI’s showed that my torn meniscus was not healing on its own. And the doctors said it would probably never heal as long as I sported too much weight on my small frame. (I am 5 foot 5, have a small frame with tiny wrists and a size 4 wedding band and yet I weighed nearly 250 pounds!!!!) My doctor isn’t quick to pop a pill for every ailment, but he saw no other way out of my severe discomfort as long as I remained obese. So I was prescribed pain meds for my knee. I took the script home, but didn’t fill it. I didn’t want a pill to mask my pain and prevent me from getting to the root of my issue.

So I had no choice. I had to start to lose weight and attempt to exercise while in pain. Our local hospital has a rehab center (where I was going for physical therapy on my knee) that is clean, professional and full of great equipment. It does not at all have an atmosphere of a regular gym with raunchy music, scantily-clad co-eds and mid-life crisis-ers trying to pick each other up (yuck!!) It is a place where sweet senior citizens try to recover from a stoke or regular folks attempt to rehabilitate after an injury. I found out that this rehab center also sold year memberships—at a very low cost—to the public.(And, they have flat screen TVs on the treadmills and ellipticals. That is a plus to this live-in-the-country-with-only-bunny-ears-on-my-non-cable-TV-gal. I could exercise AND watch FOX news channel. Yippee!!)

So, I signed on the dotted line. I got my doctor’s permission. (Required by the rehab center since I was so obese. That was embarrassing) I donned a pair of BIG sweats (the ones Pat Robertson held up during my 700 Club interview) and hopped….er….um…carefully climbed on the elliptical machine. I began to operate it at a steady pace and went as long as my little heart could stand it. When the sweat beaded up on my brow and I thought my heart would surely pound out of my chest, I stopped. I looked down at the timer on the elliptical.

I had exercised a full 2 ½ mintues.

Ugh!!!! I wanted to quit. I wanted to cry. I wanted to eat an entire bag of Chips Ahoy Coconut Cookies. I knew I was too far gone; destined to be forever fat.

But people, in my mind I saw the sweet faces of my children and the concerned eyes of my wonderful, loving and accepting husband. (He never once made a crack, let alone a comment, about my weight. He tells me now that he was concerned for my health, but he never made me feel unattractive. He is a gem!!!) As I thought of them, I knew I didn’t want to leave this earth due to my choices and render them motherless.

So I  kept going. I strolled over to the treadmill. I slowly walked on it until my knee hurt so badly I wanted to cry.

Yep.  You guessed it. I only lasted 4 minutes. At a pace of about 2 miles an hour. That means it would have taken me a half hour to walk a mile. Not exactly record breaking speed.

Tuckered out and tired, I decided to stop the aerobics and switch to weight training. I sloppily used a machine or two, trying to appear that I knew what I was doing. I did not. One of the sweet workers at the center showed me how to properly use two machines; one that worked your arms (gotta get rid of that teacher flab—you know, the stuff that jiggles on your upper arms when you write on a chalkboard) and one that worked your legs. I used those machines for about 5 minutes each.

Then, my workout was over. In a grand total of about 18 minutes.

Not a workout to write home about. But it was a start. And, I felt I had passed a HUGE hurdle when it was over.

After that first day, I continued to go to the workout center as often as I could fit it in. Sometimes I went 6 times a week. Sometimes I went 3. Always I tried to do one of two things:

Go further than the day before: (meaning, if I had gone for 15 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 miles an hour, the next day I went for 16 minutes, covering a longer distance.)

Or, go faster than the day before: (meaning, if I had gone for 15 minutes on the treadmill at 2.5 miles per hour, the next day I went for 15 minutes again, but at 2.6 miles per hour.)

Baby steps. But they added up. After losing the weight (106 pounds) in those 10 ½ months, I had worked up to walking 2 to 2 ½ miles at a speed of 3.5 miles per hour. (At that pace, I was now covering a mile in just over 17 minutes, not a half hour like when I first began. God had allowed me to cut my time nearly in half!)

Eventually, I even began to run.

Okay trot.

The point is, start small and take baby steps. It works!

It helped me to keep in mind this verse:

“..but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31

Finally, if you get nothing else out of this long winded post, get this:

Do SOMETHING. ANYTHING. It matters. The next day, do the same thing, or do a little more. If you do not give up and add time or distance (or weights) a little at a time, you too can learn to have a love/hate relationship with exercise. In fact, I will admit to you that you could even say that I am now addicted to my daily workout.

And I never thought it was possible to be addicted to anything other than chocolate, chips, cheese and ice cream.

Glory to God!!!!

*Now your turn…How do you work exercise into your busy day? Or what excuses do you have for not moving more? What do you think would be some baby step goals for you when it comes to exercise? Leave us a comment on any of these topic and also tell us how your week went.

Movin’ it blessings,

40 Comments

  1. I need to keep movin, and agree, the only part of exercise I like is when it is done! I’ve been working out since January, preparing for my first 5K. I used freecycle.org to get a free treadmill in January. Then, I started walking for 20 minutes. Then I started to walk 5 min and jog as long as I could…about 2 minutes. Then I tried walk 5, jog 5 and it was the longest 5 minutes ever. Soon, I could do the walk 5, jog 5 with regular breathing. By week 4, I could jog 10 minutes, then the next week 20 min. Soon I was outside jogging as far as I could, and yes, I was able to do it for 30 minutes. VERY slowly, but it was a 30 minute jog, and my breathing was regular. I did do the 5K after working up to jogging slowly for 45 minutes, and it felt hard, but great. I’ve decided to go to a fast walk instead, as it is easier on my body. I added counting calories last week, since would you believe I gained 5 pounds training (pretty much ate anything I wanted, thats a no no). God will help all of you who are working so hard!! I admire each and every one of you for your work outs.

  2. I left my first comment on your Weight Loss Wednesday site, and then I read this article on Get Movin. I so totally can relate to your words and my heart went out to so many of the lady’s that left comments. Today is the first time I have read your thoughts and words, and I am going to continue to, as a daily encouragement to my new exercise and healthy eating life style. I too, because I am so overweight (need to lose 240 lbs.) found it hard to start exercising. I have knee, hip, low back, and foot problems with daily pain. I also have had Multiple Sclerosis for 24 years. But, God has showed me that I can Get Movin’, even with all of these “thorns”. And, like you, I come out of the exercise regimen feeling tired, but yet refreshed with a new outlook! Your words and all the bloggers words are so encouraging to me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are all sisters in Christ and need to help one another and share our burdens.
    I am a new Weight Loss Wednesday member!

  3. Hi Karen, you are so right about just getting moving.. my mom is a diabetic she is a scant 4′ 11″.. do to they say osteoporosis,and she weighs 180 pounds.. because of her weight her knees hurt her to walk and get up from chairs and because of carrying this weight I think it compresses her spine to cause her height shrinkage..also makes her diabetes worse so I have tried to tell her to do what you have done.. just get MOVIN. you need to decide to do the physical instead of the sedate…if you need potatoes downstairs get them yourself instead of asking a child…if you want the mail .. walk out and get it..my dad is 78 and still digs in the ground .. climbs on roofs for my uncle to clear off snow.. and prunes his own fruit trees.. my mom needs to be out there digging in the ground as well.. working a garden.. pulling weeds.. planting flours.. making your own meals.. kneading dough.. all of these things get you moving….
    It may be easy for me to say because I am one who would rather work up a sweat by manuring out a stall then doing laundry…I like the feel of my forehead perspiring because I know I am strenghtening a muscle that needs it.. I like to go and work with my guys …but it can be a joy for all of you.. you just have to start as you said with baby steps.. good luck and keep up the great work..

  4. I’ve been reading the Prov31 Woman site for a while. But, it was just yesterday that I found this site. I also struggle w/food & exercise, and have all of my life. I finalluy lost down to about 5lbs above my goal weight. But, now I am going back up the scale a few lbs at a time. I’ve done this soooo many times before. You’d think that when I finally got so far down, I wouldn’t dare start back into my old habits!! But, I have and I desperately need the encouragement to not fall all the way back into my old self! I feel so ashamed knowing the sacrifice I have to make to eating right & exercising is nothing compared to the sacrifice our Lord gave for me! I hope I can receive from this site so that I can give back to others the hope I hear in some of your posts!

  5. thanks so much for this blog! this is an issue i have been struggling with a lot this year and i want to be a part of your Weightloss Wednesdays so I can later become a success story, too. count me in!

  6. I found this site yesterday and was led to it again today. Today it made me cry. Your story was so close to mine I thought dear Jesus I can’t believe it! It’s my heart that is exposed through this lovely person. I am so thankful to be able to hear all these ladies responding to God, responding to guidance. Thank you, thank you. Please pray for me. I need to get a plan started that will work for me. Thank you again.

  7. I am encouraged hearing all of your stories. I have been getting Proverbs 31 for a good while now, and I love it, but I haven’t seen much about food. I am a food addict, and food and weight have controlled most of my life. I was a compulsive overeater who ended up with 211 pounds on a very small 5’2″ frame. I became a compulsive overeater and compulsive dieter who gained and lost and gained and lost. Once I lost the weight, I decided I would never “be fat” again and became anorexic and bulimic. At one point i almost died of starvation at 77 pounds. For the last many years though, I have maintained a “normal weight” for my height, still being active in my compulsive overeating and purging. I now worry about the health concerns due to chronic anorexia and bulimia. I plead with God to release me from the bondage of food. Oftentimes I think I would rather be addicted to something I could lock up and do without for the rest of my life like alcohol or ilicit drugs. Food is my cross and the burden is heavy. I used to overeat emotionally and food was my comfort. It doesn’t comfort me anymore. Most of the time I don’t enjoy it at all. Exercise helps me, and I pray and listen to things that will feed me spiritually when I exercise, but I am not able to break the binge/purge/starve cycle. Please, please pray that God will deliver me from this as I have finally learned what it means not just to love Jesus, but to be wholeheartedly “IN LOVE” with Jesus. I know His will for me is not this painful life. I know I can’t serve him this way, but I believe his plan for me includes helping others that have walked down this road. I can see this being one big huge testimony to God’s power and graciousness, but I keep waiting for the deliverance. Beth Moore says she believes God doesn’t deliver us immediately, but in little pieces, out of His desire to have us come to really know and depend on Him. I am at my wit’s end, and life is stressful and money is tight, but I want to be around to see my kids grow up, and I want to serve God, and I want to help give other girls and women what I did not have growing up, self image and worth. I grew up physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, and spiritually starved. I always hated who I was because I was always reminded that I was nothing. Now ladies, we all know that is Satan and his lies that have replayed my entire life in my head, like hitting the continuous play button on your ipod. It plays night and day and day and night. But I know God does have a plan for me and that plan is NOT to harm me but to give me hope and a future. I need your prayers and fellowship to learn to give it all to the one I love, God. I always tend instead to give God part of it and hold something back for myself, i.e. Okay God, I’ll simply nourish my body with healthful food today, but I want to be the one to decide what I weigh. I’ll do it your way if I can stay skinny. That doesn’t work, and that’s where I really need your prayers.

  8. I am encouraged by this. I should lose about 20 pounds. I have a stationary bike, but i simply do not use it. It sounds like if I did a little riding every day and then a little more and a little more, my weight would come off. I need to pray, be motivated and take the time to JUST DO IT! Thank you so much. I needed this.

  9. Thanks for the encouragement- this 75 yr old grandmother-greatgrandmother needs to exercise to keep her body younger to keep up with whatever the Lord has for me to do.

  10. Ok today is the day. I plan to go downstairs and utilze the treadmill. Wipe off the dust and start my walk. Next I will wipe the dust of the weight machine and use it. Your story of one little step at a time gives me hope. It is truly a matter of getting started and do alittle each day. Wish me luck!!!

  11. I am on my weight loss journey right now. I have been for a year now. When I started I had 110lbs to lose. I have lost 30 in a year. I work out 3-4 days a week doing vigorous 30 minute cardio sessions and vigorous 30 minute weight training sessions. My battle continues to be food. I basically work out right now to eat what I want. But, I am still 70 lbs overweight and desperate to find that “switch” in me that will get me back on a better eating track so I can dropthe rest of the weight. This is my first time to your blog…I look forward to returning… :)

  12. Good Morning! This is my first time on this sight but I feel that I am meant to be here. I want to have it all: exercise, health and weight loss. I have lost over 100 pounds but feel that I am struggling not to regain and I still have 40 pounds to lose. I think the hardest thing for me is to overcome my lack of desire to exercise. Because of being morbidly obese for so many years my knees both need to be replaced. Isn’t that a good excuse to not exercise? I use to, but not anymore. If I can lose more weight I know that the pain will lessen. Just this morning I was in prayer asking for self discipline and self control and then I came across this website and found the Bible verse Isaiah 40:31. My desire to be strong and free can help me tolerate the pain that will be involved.
    I have been asking many to pray for my self discipline this last month and now putting this down in print is making me feel committed to this. Thank you to God for bringing me here today and thank you to you for having this available to me.

  13. Thank you for this website. This is my first time and I know God has led me here. In my quiet time with the Lord I confessed that I know that some of my biggest sins are lack of self control and self discipline with diet and exercise as well as other areas in my life but that I need BIG help in those areas; and here I am! I want to commit to this and with God’s help and the support of this blog, I believe I can do this. I overeat when I am in physical pain which is most of the time. I get severe migraines that are disabling and because of one of the types I get (hemiplegic; kind of like a stroke) I’m unable to take most common pain meds. I was cleared to go on oxycontin as a daily regimen, but because of its side effects, use it only as a rescue instead of going to the hospital. I also have fibromyalgia and other health issues. On the occasions I do exercise, I like to mall walk early in the morning and I always am thanking God for how good I feel afterwards. I am easily discouraged and sidetracked but am looking forward to a fresh start. May God Bless you for doing this blog!

  14. Karen, I am so ashamed because my heart Dr’s wants me to walk 20 minutes a day 3 times a week. So how hard is that? You would think impossible because i have as yet to start. I go this Friday for a series of test on my heart to see how I’m progressing.

  15. This is the first time I’ve been to your blog. I feel like God led me here. I really needed to read your story. I just turned the big 5-0 & weigh more than I ever have in my life. I have been battling the bulge all of my life….adding 10-20 lbs every year. In my early forties, I thought I had gained control by finding an exercise I loved….spinning. Then a tragedy occured…our beautiful 17 year old son, Andy was killed suddenly in a car accident in 2004. I felt like my life was over…I have been fighting depression since then and food was my comfort. Needless to say, exercise took the back burner. I was just trying to survive another day & keep the rest of my family going. Another son, Chad who was very close to Andy, came out with a severe drug problem, soon after Andy’s death. Not wanting to lose another son, I have stood by his side, trying to help him through this terrible battle. God has definitely been helping us. Chad is now clean for over a year and a half…however he struggles every single day of his life. It does break my heart, but I pray for God’s help every day…sometimes every hour or every minute….whatever it takes….. I just started back at the gym about a month ago and am working with a trainer to get myself going again. I’m also working on the food addiction. It is a struggle, but with God’s help, I know I can do it. Thanks for doing this blog, Karen. I know it will be great support for me.

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