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5:30 A.M. I hear a faint little "Ma Ma". I can't believe a child is awake. Well she is only sort of awake. Jane grabs her blanket and toddles out to the living room. She lies down on the couch, flips around a few times, and falls back to sleep. Okay, I am somewhat awake, do I go back to sleep or exercise. My body yells "Come on, you can sleep for forty-five more minutes." My brain authoritatively declares, "You will always be obese if you do not get off your posterior and exercise. This will probably be the only time during the day that you will be able to do so."
I decide to listen to my reasonable logical self. Of course, I haven't really figured out if I should be cheating myself out of precious sleep for the sake of exercise. There are some nights that I sleep only slightly more than I exercise.
Exercising in the morning is a chore. First, I had to take the dog out. I thought if the dog decides it is time to be active, she'll be active all over my carpet. Then I had to find gym shoes. It's winter in Chicago, I know where my boots are, but my gym shoes haven't seen the outdoors in awhile. Okay, I found the gym shoes. I can just exercise in my pajamas because I am wearing sweats and a nightshirt. Oops, no bra. I better get some kind of support; otherwise, this could be a painful experience.
Water? It's important to stay hydrated. Grab a bottle of water. All these video tapes tell you to drink water when you exercise, but they never give you a chance to do so. What else needs to be done. Coffee table needs to be moved. Moving the coffee table also means moving the dog bones, books, and toys that have accumulated under that table. Okay, I'm dressed, I have water, and I have cleared a space, now I am ready to start.
Wait a second, where did the videotape go? I can find the 10 minute walk and the four mile walk tape, but where is the two mile walk tape? This is not good. I could walk 10 minutes in my sleep, and there's no way I am attempting four miles. It's not in the rewinder. I don't see it with the other exercise tapes. Oh no, I am going to have to go through all the tapes. We own every Disney tape and every Disney promotional tape. This can take forever. I still don't see it. Wait, there's some tapes over on another shelf. There it is.
Okay, now I am ready. Didn't I just do twenty minutes of exercise? Time for Walk Aerobics. This is aerobics for the klutzy. All you have to do is walk, sidestep, kick, and kneel lifts. My brain says "You can do this. It's simple. It's fun." It's only six a.m. I can talk myself into believing this torture is fun. As I sidestep toward the couch, my body whines, "Please, please lay back down or go stand in the shower. Stop the movement." At this point my mind conjures up an angelic Pluto urging me to keep exercising and a devilish Pluto prompting me to stop. (We watch too many Disney films in my house). I squash the devilish Pluto between my thumb and forefinger, and continue exercising. I wonder what battles I will have to fight tomorrow morning.
January 31, 2001 |
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