OK – considering that the bug doing the rounds around the world at the moment is not a nice one, in a strange way it is doing me a little bit of a favour.
I am not an exercise person – never have been. I did it in school, because I had to, but since then, whenever I saw exercise I would cross the road to avoid it.
Although in an Oxymoronic kind of way – I like to cycle, swim, walk, hike, I’ve taken a few fencing lessons in the past, and ballroom dancing classes – the weird thing is, I don’t think of them as exercise, I just think of them as something I like to do. When it comes to running however, or those gym aerobic workouts – that is my idea of hell! I did a stint at a gym some years ago, to try and reduce my weight at the time from a right old heifer, but that didn’t last.
I am, however, like millions of people around the world at the moment, stuck at home, and whilst lucky enough to still be working – I am bored. There is only so much of crafting, piano playing and language learning I can do. In my bored desperation, I have taken to exercising. Lunges, jumping-jacks, press-ups, crunches, and few other things which to be honest I can’t even name – let alone do. Either way, I have taken to doing some exercise – I’m not religious with it, not by any stretch of the imagination; but for someone who hasn’t done that kind of exercise in well over 2 decades and then some, this is a huge – I was going to say achievement – but I think surprise, is more of an apt word for what’s happening at the moment.
The fact is, that not having to travel to the office, however, short that journey might have been is saving me so much time, that I’m managing to squeeze in time not only for my hobbies and chores, but also for some other new things – more about that later. There was also as small voice in the back of my head telling me to be ‘careful’. I’ve struggled with weight and food all my life. Last few months I’ve managed to get myself into a routine of sorts, and whilst I wasn’t losing weight, I was maintaining it without gaining it. But, I became hugely conscious of the lack of walking the lockdown has forced upon me. I used to walk home as much as possible after work, or just potter around the west-end. The other consideration has been the distance to the fridge from my sofa. Putting these two elements together I did begin to worry that I would balloon during lockdown. For that reason I’ve been forcing myself to walk around the flat and do those little exercise. So far they’re paying off. 1 month into being stuck at home and I haven’t gained an extra pound.
Long may it continue – or however long this lockdown lasts.
Hate To Exercise 