Getting In Shape

Trying to find a title for today's blog was tough. Yes, it's about getting in shape. But "Getting in Shape" sounds like something you choose to do this afternoon, or plan on doing next week. It sounds like an entry on your To-Do list, a task that gets checked off when it's completed.

The bad news for those trying to get in shape: you're never finished.

The good news? Well, if you're going to bother at all, you've got to make it a lot of fun. That's good news because many of us never even considered the possibility that diet and exercise could be remotely classed as "desirable" let alone "fun"!

Mrs. Schulenburg and I have just finished teaching and participating in two month long Fitness BootCamp classes. We're also still involved with our ongoing Fitness Kickboxing program.

We both lost weight. We both gained inches where we wanted to... and lost them where we wanted to as well.

Now... are we both "in shape"? Are we finished? Is it pie and ice cream time?

No. We have plenty of miles to travel to reach our long term goals. But our short term goals? Yes, we've reached them - and even surpassed them!

The short term goals may come as a surprise as they didn't necessarily involve scales and tape measures. Our short term goals were to change our lifestyle - a little - so that exercise and proper nutrition were the base line that we return to. In other words, when a particular program or class is finished, it's not bon-bons and the remote control. It's having fun with kickboxing, taking walks as the weather gets nicer and planning our next healthy meal.

Getting in shape IS a lifestyle change. It's a choice that we're making to live as healthy as we can. It doesn't mean that either of us are aiming to become rail thin models (ha!) but rather that we're more comfortable with the genes that we were dealt and happy with the choices we make about activities and food.

Our next Fitness BootCamp starts the first week of April. Come join us as we learn about nutrition, what to look for on food labels - what to look out for! - and enjoy three exercise classes per week that we go out of our way to make fun.

Yes. We have fun. You'll have fun. That's the only way we're going to make it something that you'll stick with for the rest of your life.