In the last 5 years I have gone from my main activity being channel surfing, to a fitness trainer and it all started with ONE hobby. If I can YOU CAN....
Get ACTIVE!!! The easiest way to do this is to think about something that seems FUN to you. Maybe something you always wanted to try? Or learn to do.
Girls, I can tell you there is nothing more empowering than learning self defense or a martial art. At Christmas I will earn my black belt in Shotokan Karate. I will be 46. Shotokan is a great form of karate because there are no tournaments or hard sparring, so you can take it up at any age or fitness level. If you are in the Baltimore area, and want to know where I study, message me, $25 per YEAR. Inexpensive, a great way to be active, and you learn how to defend yourself, should the need ever arise.
Live near the water? How about a water sport? Paddleboarding, kayaking, surfing, body boarding, fishing, shell collecting, metal detecting, beach volley ball etc. (that is my and my 10 yr old below)
Inland? check out geocaching ( your kids will LOVE it) river tubing, hiking, biking, ropes courses, archery, shooting, golf, horse riding.
https://www.geocaching.com/
Dont like outside? Yoga, dancing, bowling, exercise groups.
Find something, or remember the things you loved most as a kid. Start with one thing, the list will grow.
My life before kids was work, playing pool and pinball, tv and movies.....that is how I started to get unhealthy. It went downhill from there. After kids I ate, slept, watched tv and was a parent. My health really went downhill at that point. I know, after kids, it gets hard, your life is not your own for a decade, but YOU have time for 1 thing for you. YOU CAN MAKE TIME for one thing. My girls are 10 and 14 now, so they dont need constant supervision, so it affords me some time to go and do things. My awesome job, also affords me time to go and do things when I want.
I know when you are a busy parent, you can have very little energy. When you haven't been active it is hard to get active. Just find something small and fun to start with, you will gain strength and endurance along the way and you will be able to do more and WANT to do more. You wont be a 24/7 parent forever, and having something, some TIME, carved out for you will add life to your years, and make you happier all round.
My current hobby list started with one thing. Swimming. From there it became, swimming, karate, horse riding, paddleboarding, indo boarding, exercising. I do these things multiple times each week. On the "when i get a chance to" I like to body board, geocache, do ropes courses, river tubing, play Bunco and other board games.
It didnt happen all at once. Find just ONE thing. For me it was swimming. At the time I hated to sweat, and knew that swimming was low impact. So I started swimming through a parks and rec program. I got better, faster, stronger until I could swim a mile in the hour I swam. Then could swim it in 52 minutes, then 45 minutes. My best time ever was 38 minutes. It all came from being curious about what i could do, and finding something that worked for me.
FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR YOU!!! It will add life to you years, and years to your life. Having hobbies will pad the empty nest when it happens. It will give you a bigger social circle, it will engage your mind and keep your brain younger, and if your hobby is active, it will make you stronger and healthier.
We have a local swim area with a fun slide near us. There is a fellow who must be about 70. Every day at 2pm he walks to the pool, then spends an hour climbing the 30 steps to the top of the slide, and sliding down. This is his hobby and exercise, every day, all summer. Find YOUR VERSION OF FUN and do that!!
( yes that is THE slide in the picture)
If I can do this ( I was 40, fat, and at the time had a 9 and 5 yr olds) YOU CAN DO THIS. From there I added karate WITH my kids, we did it together....after that, there was no stopping me, as my health improved, my energy went up, and now I am a force of nature! YOU CAN BE TOO!!!
If you need any help, you are always welcome to message me. I have a fitness community on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/fighththefluff you can message me there any time.
