"Extra" workout

With the crappy weather and my complete lack of initiative/desire to get out of bed any earlier than I absolutely have to, I have discontinued outdoor activities and now flail myself in my living room attempting to follow superfit models on exercise DVDs. I have two that I switch between. Cindy Crawford's workout is an old one that I used to have on VHS and then bought the DVD because it is a KICK-BUTT workout; I am always sore the next day. The other is another tough workout, The Firm: Cardio. That one I still can't make it through the whole hour workout! Although, I haven't been at it very long (consecutively) and I haven't really wanted to spend an hour working out. You wonder why I wouldn't want to exercise for an hour? Hmmmm, I'll get to that in a minute....

Most of my friends who diligently exercise do so at a gym. And, those who have child(ren) have a child care offered at their gym. Although the equipment at ND is awesome, it just doesn't have some of the same amenities for family workouts. Nope, you can't bring your kids with you. So, I've had to either go when Travis can watch the kids (usually those are the hours that all I can think about is sitting in my favorite chair, or curling up in a warm bed with a book!), or I have to exercise at home in my living room. Hence the DVD.

So, an hour? Ha! It doesn't seem like very much time. I am able to (mostly) get through the 40 minute workout, and my minimum that I "count" is 30 minutes. So, you may wonder why those extra 20 minutes seem unfathomable to me.

And, so I ask you, have you ever tried to do crunches on your living room floor with a one- or two-year-old around? The minute you lay down on your back, they have an automatic radar that shouts: "Mom's on the ground. LET'S PLAY!" And they run over to you and proceed to put their head on yours, or sit on your stomach, or just crawl all over you. They think it's their time to "help" you workout. Now, I'm all for resistance training, but this kind of work out is rediculous. Even worse is when you inadvertenly kick your child in the head because just the moment you flail your leg out they decided they needed to be on the other side of the room. Oh, and try using hand weights! The minute you set them down, they make a beeline for them and try to pick them up. Have you ever seen a toddler pick up dumbells? It's hilarous if you aren't worried about them dropping and breaking a toe (their toe or yours) or putting a dent/hole in your floor. Thankfully I found some 1 lb weights a while back which still make me cringe when they drop them on the floor (there are quite a few dents), but at least I'm not worried quite so much about the physical damage they'll do.

One other problem with working out in your living room with little kids around: expect a 40 minute workout to take at least 50 minutes. You will have diapers to change, water bottles to fill, dumbells to chase down, toys to move out of the way every few minutes so you don't trip on them during the workout, and various other interruptions:
"Maaaa-uuuhmmm, I need more milk on my cereal!
"Maaaaahhhh-maaaahhhh, I spilled my milk!
"Mom? I can't find any underware!"

So, I guess the upside is that you get a little extra "help" with your workout, and at least you can feel good knowing you set an excellent example of how important and routine exercise should be in life. Besides, nothing makes me laugh more (out of humor, exasperation, delirium) than to have my girls dogpile on me just as I'm getting ready for my second set of tummy work... maybe that's why I've still got such a pouch!