It works

OK, I admit that I am extremely conscious of my body image.
The key word here is ‘conscious’, not body image.

I am 42, nah not yet, still 41 and I have three kids.. so technically it is not a biggie how biggie I look!
There in lies the problem. The conscious part of me knows that after three kids, if you aren’t willing to do some serious exercise and do some serious calorie counting, your body will look exactly how it should..
I hate to use my children as an excuse for my inability to take care of my body.
And the last time I actually exercised was in 1983. I was in the 7th std, still earning a lot of eggs for English and maths ( few eggs for Hindi too) and my mother made me join the YMCA run badminton training. The coach was a professional badminton player. The idea was to get him to teach me playing badminton  and his superior training coupled  with my genetic lineage ( my grandfather, uncles, aunts, mother, sisters were all very good badminton players) should  help me win few school level games progressing to state level and an extra 10 marks for SSLC.
There is an old English saying, you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink.
The coach made me run around the basketball court for 30 minutes ( I stopped whenever he was not looking), make me do all sorts of stretching and exercises that supposed to make me very agile and fly across the court in a most graceful manner, like a ballerina, but with a racquet in my hand..and all that really happened was I run to left, the birdie would land on my right..and it went on. everyone loved to play against me, for me as an opponent guaranteed them a victory !
The only thing I actually wanted to learn was how to scoop the birdie from the floor with my racquet. After playing for three months, I still didn’t learn to do that !
And the only consolation, I was going to YMCA for training..and there were plenty of good looking guys!

Every year my children’s grandmother asks what I want for Christmas and every year I ask for the same
“Washboard abs”
she won’t buy me a gym membership because she knows me too well and buy me Amazon credit instead. ( between the choice of sweating in the gym and laying down in my bed and reading the latest book..she knows what I will pick)

I don’t diet, actually I can’t diet. I love food way too much. The only thing I don’t do is to take second serve. How much ever I like the food, I never take a second serve. I love kettle cooked chips, especially salt and vinegar chips. I also bake cakes and muffins daily and eat them too.

I dream of going for jogging each morning and it is one of those dreams that continues to stay as a dream. I would love to go for swimming, but the local pool isn’t heated ( yes I am a spoiled whatchamacallit)
After hearing me crib about how unfit I am and how much I really want a washboard abs for the umpteenth time, a friend suggested, why don’t you do skipping?

I wouldn’t say it was a Eurekka moment..it was one of those moments that make you consider giving it a go..
Baby used to do the heart foundation run skipping for health program in Canada and so we had a skipping rope at home.
The first day, I managed to skip the rope 3 times before quitting..( and the fact that I was trying to skip wearing my slippers further prolonged my misery)
I wore trainers ( Yaya’s. I never needed to wear trainers until now) the second day and managed to skip the rope 10 times, stopping every few minutes to catch my breath and and to threaten my children with bodily harm for laughing at me.
I can do it continuously for 5 minutes now ( and yesterday I completed 3 weeks).. but my legs and abs are getting toned..I can see the difference. It works.
Knowing me, this regime will last hopefully till the summer is over and will start again next year just before summer..and in between you will hear the usual cribbing and I still want a washboard abs.
Oh,, as for doing the squats, it lasted a week before I  quit !
 

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