WATER AEROBICS

I WENT TO WATER AEROBICS BY MYSELF!!

Meanwhile, you are sitting in your lazy boy all, "So, what!? Does she want a gold star or something?"

Well, if you must ask, yes, I do want a gold star! I want ALLLLL the gold stars!

Water aerobics was never something I thought I'd ever want to do.  I hated my body, and, as a result, the idea of donning a bathing suit for the general public to view was something I'd rather not do ... EVER!

However, knee problems ensued, and every single doctor I spoke with told me that swimming would my best form of exercise for my body.

Cue the Wearing a Bathing Suit in Public anxiety.

Turns out ... it's not so bad. There are people that look better than me in a suit, and those that look far worse.  The point is, we are all different shapes and sizes, and it just really doesn't matter. I am making a commitment to being healthy, and what I look like in a bathing suit shouldn't factor.

A friend and I decided, back in October, that we would go together to water aerobics.  Having that friend there with me somehow made it all easier.  And I remembered, once I got back into the water, that I LOVE the water. You couldn't keep me out of the water as a kid! I LOVED it then. So, naturally, I would rediscover my love for it now. 

However, I didn't go to water aerobics unless my friend went to water aerobics, and her schedule is much busier than mine with two kids, both of whom are in sports and other activities. I could find an excuse for every time she couldn't go.

And how were those excuses helping me?  They weren't.

Over Christmas Break, we started back up again (after a December hiatus), and I realized that if this was going to be of any benefit at all, I needed to step up my game.  I needed to commit to at least four days a week at the pool. 

Yesterday, I texted my friend and told her I was packing my swim bag and would be at the pool later on that day.  She replied that she wouldn't make it due to her son's basketball game. I could have said, Oh, okay. Well, I could just sit and read a book, but I'd promised myself I'd step up my game. And so I went. And it was fun!  And I worked out hard!  So hard, in fact, that this evening, every single thing on my body aches!

But I did it, and that is one day less of hardened arteries and one day more toward keeping my heart healthy. 

I don't care what size I am any more. I care that I do not suffer a heart attack or a stroke.

So, I will continue to go to water aerobics with my friend ... or by myself, if need be.  I am doing this to feel better, to live healthier, and to be kinder to myself.

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