Experimenting with watercolour pencils. Fun!
I don’t exercise enough. There, I’ve said it. It has been reverberating through my head for a while. Especially when lycra clad mothers drop off their children at school, clutching their water bottles, before setting off around the lanes.
I’m more of a swimming gal than a runner, although I could spend all day walking. The obvious option is to take some time out of my week to swim, but I am yet to set enough time aside. So many excuses.
In the meantime, I have a solution. It does not involve leaving the house, so it is not reliant on perfect weather or child care scheduling. After I drop the children off, I spin.
Waiting to ply
No, I’m not talking about that kind of spinning, although I do grab moments of the day to refine my skill. I’m still very much a beginner and loving it. I can’t really count it as exercise.
Nor am I talking about that kind of spinning. We have low ceilings in our cottage, which rules out spinning poi inside. I only practise it on beautiful sunny days in the middle of the garden. There again, I am very much a beginner.
I’m talking about hoop spinning. My sister introduced this to me a year ago. I loved hula hoops when I was little and was pretty good at it. I tried my daughter’s hoop and failed absolutely to keep it spinning more than once. I wrote my spinning days off.
Curiosity drove me to do a bit of research. I found I needed a grown-up version. This is weighted and bigger. As soon as I tried it, I was hooked again. From the start I could keep it spinning and spinning.
Sorry no action shot.
I now set 15 minutes aside, once I have dropped the children off in the morning. If I feel like it, then I go on for longer. I have a DVD, but usually I put the radio on. Other times I listen and watch the birds in the garden. It is a great time for thinking or just meditating. One step along the path to taking care of me. Body and mind. The time goes by surprisingly quickly. It’s my time!
I’m not suggesting that this rules out the need for more exercise. It really isn’t enough. I still have it on my list to set up a regular swimming session. I still walk the children to school when the schedule allows me. The real advantage of the hoop is that I am yet to find an excuse not to do my 15 minutes (hoop) spinning in the morning. Its part of the routine. I have no excuse. Yet.
I’m joining in Maureen’s Taking care of Mama time again this week. Last week’s journey into gaining more time and cutting stress, is working. Yeh! Meal planning is back. I’ve blu-tacked it to the inside of the cupboard door along with a shopping list and a pen. I have started putting my control manual together. Morning and evening schedules are in place. Stress is less and I have more time. I’m working on some crafty goodness, so watch this space. In the meantime, checkout Maureen‘s for more ideas.
What a cheerful fun exercise idea…I love it :0)
I need to try the menus idea.
Oh it is fun. It did feel like I was back in the playground at first. It brought back memories of competing to see how long I could keep going. Or how many hoops. Being a grown-up cuts out the competitive element and I can just enjoy it.
With meal planning, it is sooooo much easier knowing what I am going to cook, having the ingredients in place and not having “what’s for supper?” repeatedly asked. The last part alone is a sanity saver. Cuts down on wastage, as I can beat the “best before dates”, too. Last time, I found that it took a few weeks before I got into the swing of it. Its worth a trial run at least.
Oh my gosh, Cheryl. I’ve been thinking about the fact that I need to excercise, which I hate, all month. This looks doable. Where do you find a hula-hoop for adults?
I think I got mine through Amazon UK. There are plenty of online places that sell them, as well as specialized sports and circus/performance shops. When you buy, make sure you get the right size for your height. A good shop should have a size guide.
I love that it fits in with my timetable, rather than me fitting in with someone else’s schedule. Making it very doable and fun!
I Love hoola hooping! When we got the Wii, the kids were amazed I could do it for so long. And yes, I think it does count as exercise. it’s a lot of cardio and hip coordination going on there!
good for you for carving out your part of the day.
I was really surprised at how it does get the heart going. Pretty sure that 15 mins a day, on its own, is not enough, but at least I do it every day! In the realms of better than nothing.
I LOVE it!!! I’ve been doing DVD’s here at home…started last month with Jillian Michaels “30 day shred”…the key for me is to make exercise fun…we even bought a Wii, (which when it’s -30 like today, I LOVED working out indoors)! We have a lady in the area who teaches hooping…I’m trying to get her to do a mama/child hooping class…I hope it happens! Oh, and I’m totally investing in some poi for this spring…one of my dream goals!
Thanks for joining in!
xo maureen
I think it is all down to routine and no room for excuses. I love the idea of a hooping class for all. That sounds so much fun! Yet again, wishing I lived in your area, although I’m envying your outside temperature. Brrr!
Oooooh, I just loved to hula hoop as a girl. Maybe I should try it again (I don’t exercise enough…)
Definitely worth revisiting hula hooping if you loved it when you were younger. Its good fun and doing you good!
Good for you! I’ve been trying to exercise by walking around the farm lately, but somedays it’s just too cold (or busy). I like the idea of hula hooping (tho’ it usually makes my sides hurt – guess I need to work through it). Cute pics.
Its doing my soul some good, as well. If nothing else, I can cross something of my list as done, in my day. 🙂
what a lovely way to spend some time!
this sounds like fun, thank you for the tip about an adult hoop i never would have guessed there was such a thing…
When I failed to spin my daughter’s hoop, it did not occur to me that it was obviously the wrong size. I just thought that I had lost the ability. The adult size hoops make a huge difference. I was spinning straight away. Ego intact!