Housework is Exercise, Right?

The last doctor's appointment that I went to carried the usual round of questions. When we got to the one where he asked, "How often in a week do you exercise?" I went off into the realm of Mommydom. I went through my usual routine and told him that I have a four-year-old son. I'm constantly moving and I never sit down unless it's that quiet time in the morning, the time just before my children's' bedtime, or after they are finally sleeping. In my bubble of a world that feels like exercise. I'm up and down the stairs (cardio), folding laundry, (Good for the arms, right?) and lifting and carrying hundreds of pounds of groceries into the car and then into the house every single month. (There has to be some body building in that too.) After a chuckle and a grin, he informed me that what I had was an "active lifestyle" but it wasn't exercise. I couldn't help but wonder if the man had ever kept up a house, had to prepare meals and rush to ready for company in a sweat. Mopping ain't for the faint of heart.

Whether I wanted to admit it or not, that wasn't helping to shed the pounds or build up muscle. I know the older we get the more we lose muscle mass, but living with a four-year-old son, I keep forgetting my 51 years. Most days I still believe I'm, at least, in my thirties. Silly me. So I started my exercise program this week. I was going to start with water aerobics, figuring that in a pool, no one can see you sweat, but the best laid plans can go awry. In this case, I'm glad they did.

The gym we belong to wouldn't allow my 13 year-old to go up on the gym floor without a parent, while I went on to water aerobics. My daughter was so disappointed that I changed my plans. We ran back home and I pulled on sweat pants and a T-shirt and we headed back to the gym. When we pulled into the parking lot, my daughter saw the women in the pool doing the water aerobics. "Mom, I think you would have been the youngest there." Turning my head I saw the sea of gray hair and cracked up. This was definitely a more mature program. In my naïve way, I hadn't considered that was even a possibility and it truly wouldn't have been any more exercise for me than my usual daily routine.

My daughter and I went into the gym armed with i-Pods and bottled water. For the next hour I proceeded to amaze myself as copious amounts of sweat that left my body. You would have thought that I was mostly made of water…oh yeah, that's right, we are. Anyway, after the hour I was spent, but oddly energized, and I haven't missed a day since. The minute I put in the ear buds, and the i-Pod starts playing; I'm lost in the music and the beat. I had no idea that this was something that I would actually enjoy. I almost can't wait to tell my doctor, but I'd still like to see him handle my mop and broom.