Our Love-Hate relationship with exercise


Are we the only ones struggling to stay in shape? It seems like ever since we hit the mid-30s, exercising has become more of an aggression to our body than anything else. There was a time when we were in excellent shape. Crossfit, obstacle races, circuit training, weight lifting, you name it, we did it. It was very gratifying. The more we worked out, the better we felt both physically and mentally.
 


Now that we’re 37ish, things have changed. For one, we have injuries pretty much everywhere on our bodies. You know how we use to tease old people for having a bad back or faulty hip, karma’s a bitch. You need proof? Here goes…



Karine

I haven’t walked normally in years. According to my doctor, a life’s worth of working out is already starting to show long lasting effects like tears and arthritis. Due to pain, I’ve been walking with a swag making people think I’ve got some kind of attitude problem like I’m from the hood. FYI, Ottawa has no hood and even if it did, I don’t have the vocabulary to pull it off. I’m physically incapable of slacking off on proper grammar.

I recently found out that I sprained my butt. That’s right! I sprained my glutes and I have no idea how I did it. It’s not like I got up from bed one day and BAM, there went my butt. That just adds to a sprain to both ankles and a bad shoulder. This brings me to wonder what I’m going to look like when I’m 60 years old? I mean, right now, I hurt myself vacuuming the house. What’s it going to be later? I’ll break a hip having sex?

So, of course, without the ability to work out as much as I used to, I’m gaining weight. And the more I gain weight, the harder it is to work out. It’s a vicious cycle. I mean, I could watch what I eat but…you know…that would suck. I could also stop drinking alcohol. That would probably help. It did help in the past. I once stopped drinking for 4 months and lost 20 pounds. But those were the longest 4 months of my life. As much I would love to lose 20 pounds, I have too little patience to deal with life without a glass of wine once and while.





Guik

I’ve been an active person for over 10 years. But…I’ve hurt my back recently (I think my body is trying to tell me something). It’s a constant battle! I work out = I have injuries; I don’t = I feel like crap. I’ve been going to the chiropractor for over a month. Earlier last week, he told me to take a break from working out completely for at least a week. My first reaction was “define completely”. He knew he wouldn’t convince me to stop completely (nice try Dr. Rob!). His answer was “at least stop the circuit training since there is a lot of high impact movements”.  Then I said “Can I still run?” He suggested that I bike instead. OK, we’re getting somewhere here. I’ve been biking since for 4 days straight but couldn’t go today. Guess what? I felt so bad about it that I started running up and down the stairs. I’m addicted! Being active doesn’t mean going to the gym everyday or lifting weights. There are other options: hiking in the park, walking the dog, outdoor activities, sports and many more. Trust me, it gets addictive. Once you get into it, you can’t stop or if you do, you feel like crap. 

Every year in January, I reflect on a new activity I should undertake…. Like swimming. They say it’s good for you since it’s low impact and it’s a great cardio exercise. That could be a good compromise. But do I really want to get out in the cold, change into a swimsuit, go into a swimming pool and go back out in the cold? That sounds like soooo much work. See where I am going with this? I love working out and I’m definitely addicted but it has to be convenient and easy. You have to learn to know yourself and find what works best for you. I can already hear all your excuses “I don’t have time”, “I have kids”, “I have butt sprain”. If it isn’t a priority for you, you’ll never take the time to exercise, you won’t rearrange your schedule and you certainly won’t seek professional help to adapt the exercises. Find what motivates you. My motivation? I workout because I loooooooooove eating. I enjoy food so much, it’s crazy. Oh, and I also enjoy my wine. I feel like I’m diverting, we’ll save this topic for another blog.




Karine & Guik
😘💕

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