My Fitness Story... - Margie

Hello, it's Thursday so that means My Fitness Story is back! This week, I'm delighted to welcome a contribution from Margie. She is the owner of a fabulous website called Greeting Cards on Time. Margie decided to embark on a fitness programme in order to keep up with her family. Her story is a familiar one told by many mothers. I think, like Margie, that it's a myth that becoming a mother keeps you busy and fit! Over now to Margie to tell her story which she has entitled: 

Keeping up with the Kids (or not…)

Fitness is a relative word – I would say I have never been that fit. Compulsory games lessons at school were a nightmare.  I was goalie in lacrosse; in netball, we used to pretend a contact lens had fallen out to suspend play; for tennis lessons, the teacher left me and a small select handful of others hitting a ball against a wire net.  Ghastly and not a way to instil any love of fitness in me.  However, there was a suppressed fitty spark in me wanting to get out…..

Post school and before children, I did get into aerobics for a while – good fun halcyon days when I wore size 10 (which is now probably size 0).  But aerobics and size 10 went with the arrival of husband, dog and children in that order. 

Children, oh how I love them, but they did little for my fitness levels – once they were mobile, walks were impossibly slow.  Then, for several years, we walked the same pace.  However, I realised last year there was a problem when I had to tell not one but two of the girls to slow down so I could keep up.  There wasn’t a train to catch, nor a bus (only one a week round here), but they were off, across that field like the dogs getting back for feed-time.  With me puffing along behind.  I really had to do something.

Time to take action – but what? I am FULL of excuses - Hate running (it makes my knees hurt); hate tennis (my racquet is designed not to hit the ball, anyway it’s out of the ark); not sure of horse riding (where are the brakes?); love skiing (didn’t go this year).  Then KERCHING! The sun came out when a new gym opened without membership fees .  It gave the first session free, then pay as you go, soooo if it was not my thing, I could go and get fit someplace else – a chance to take that longed for action with no financial risk.

I began to go once a week.  I thought Pilates might be a gentle start – huh, well I found muscles where I didn’t know I had any from Pil-a-tes.  Gentle movements? – phah – small, yes; gentle, no.  But it really made me feel good, so I timetabled it into my week.

Then along came 2011.  New Year = resolutions.  Mine this year was to go exercising at least twice per week.  So far so good….. And I’m absolutely loving it.  Yep, it’s hard sometimes to muster the energy to go, but I have done it all year so far and, to me, it’s much easier to keep that record than to break it and then attempt to return to the original resolution.

My middle daughter (20 – just ran a marathon, saints preserve me!) came to a session with me last week. Beforehand, she was smirking about going to Pilates with a whole bunch of middle aged ladies.  Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not really competitive, just very competitive.  And I do not want to get left behind by my gorgeous girls on things I think I should be able to do.  OK I was a bit economical with the truth, but we went to ‘Bootcamp Circuits’ – the only other participant was a 22 year old.  Ahah, Jo was puffing like a billy goat!  And a newfound respect for the aged parent, I feel!

The result of this fitness?  I definitely feel better for it, though my weight has stayed largely the same.  My muscles are much stronger, meaning fewer aches and pains, and I sit better.  I can slip back into a rather special pair of trousers.  I have more energy and focus (that’s also partly because I am now doing a job I really enjoy – my greetings card business). I have abandoned my osteopath because, lovely as she is, I don’t need her, despite still sitting in front of a computer most days. So I’m saving so much money I feel a pair of shoes would be a good reward.  Yep, my trainers need replacing!!!

Thanks to Margie for telling her story so engagingly today. Again, the changes to Margie's life have not been huge and yet, for some small lifestyle changes, she feels so much better and is even finding that staying fit is saving her money!

Feel free to share experiences, as always, in the comments below. My guest posters really do appreciate the messages of support they get from readers.

If you would like to share your fitness story, then please contact me on Twitter or email me on the address on the About Me page. Posts can be partly or fully anonymous, or if you are happy to be named, I will link back to your blog. All contributions are really appreciated so do get in touch, even if you feel yours is not a worthwhile story. If it's a personal experience, it is. And I mean that even if you have failed at something, because it is still YOUR fitness story and you learned from it. If you want to read previous posts in this series, click on the My Fitness Story... tab above and they are all linked on that page.

Thanks for supporting My Fitness Story... and do come back for another guest post next week.