Why Should a Woman Exercise! Or Why Doesn’t S
Image: A woman opening her water bottle between sets at the gym; pink T-shirt and leggings (representative image) — Shixart1985, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
he?
- You signed up for a gym membership but you don’t go.
- Summer is about to come knocking.
- Our old clothes don’t fit any more.
- We’re bored of sitting at home; isn’t it time to do something for ourselves?
- If my friend does it, why shouldn’t I?
- My health problems have started to show up little by little; my cholesterol has gone up.
- Did my husband just look at that fit woman in those sexy, cool clothes?
- There are even those who say all of these apply to them.
My story, too, began with the first item.
Why Should a Woman Exercise
I realised that, in the 2.5 years since I signed up, I had gone maybe 30 times in total, or maybe not even that. How do you explain living two minutes’ walk away and still not going? Laziness, or “lack of time”? After all, going to meet friends or shopping at the mall never fell by the wayside. Because sipping coffee in a coffee shop is more tempting and sweeter. This is the starting point of my story: “lack of time”.
Now, however, I still do all the outings I mentioned and keep up with the housework. I spend quality time with my daughter and take coffee breaks. Even though my husband doesn’t understand it and says, “What do you get out of going and drinking coffee on your own? There’s coffee at home too,” it is my favourite way of spending time. And what I am about to tell you is also the story of how I manage to make time for sport at least 4 days a week.
The background to my story
First, let me tell you a little about myself. My husband, whom I love dearly and am in love with, and my daughter, who is my life and my everything and whom I wouldn’t trade for the world. Our daughter will turn two in April 2016. Our little girl, who brightens our lives and fills them just as much, is active and loves going out, just like her mum.
My husband is always a balanced, serious gentleman who loves details and goes over everything with a fine-tooth comb (and who can sometimes annoy me with his critical side). Of course, my husband, who has been my biggest source of motivation in becoming as fit as I am today, has a separate and special place in my story. But I don’t think I am entirely to blame either. Because, my dear, in the first year, naturally, you want to spend all your time with your spouse and go out a lot. Then the second year passes with pregnancy and everything that comes with being a new mother. Of course, I could have started right after giving birth, but I was breastfeeding.
The decision to start
Then, after a while, when my husband started showing me fit women on Instagram and saying, “I guess you’ll never be like this,” I said that’s it. Is that something you say to a proud, determined lioness of a woman like me? I’m starting right away. I must give my husband his due for his support, in particular; at the start, he was the one who completed my motivation. So welcome to the “Diary of a Fit Mum”, a mum who makes time for her husband and daughter (which is the most important part anyway; the secret to a happy marriage is giving your spouse quality time) and also goes to her workouts.