Channeling My Inner Athlete

I’ve always been active and considered myself athletic. With two older brothers looking out for me–both athletes and both several years older than me–I could throw a football in a perfect spiral and sink a layup in basketball before I was in fourth grade (i.e. before most of the boys my age), and I swam competitively from age 9 to age 13. I never believed there was anything physical I couldn’t do, and do well. Okay, except for skiing and that’s only because it hurt (my knees turn in when my feet are straight, making it painful to ski for any length of time). My fall from fitness had nothing to do with being unable to exercise and be active and everything to do with just not moving my body.

It became abundantly clear to me a few years ago that I needed to stop with the excuses and start moving. Last year, from spring to late fall, Mr. W and I decided to try to walk every day (at least, when the weather cooperated) for at least an hour. If we weren’t able to walk outside, I generally tried to do some sort of physical workout indoors, though I confess the word that best described those workouts was sporadic.

As part of my goal to lose weight and become more fit this year, I’ve committed to being active every day. In order to track our activity, I created a chart using Post-It flip-chart graph paper and taped it to the wall in a prominent place (using painter’s tape!). The chart is divided into 7 weeks, and each week is divided into days. Mr. W and I write our activities on the chart in brightly colored markers. It’s very satisfying to watch the chart fill up!
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