Walk It Off

Tonight was a hard one.  Nick was at marching band rehearsal and I had the kids for the evening again.  Elizabeth was really fussy (I'll blame it on teething, because moms have a license to blame everything on teething) and I just couldn't calm her down.  Noah wanted juice, but we are out of juice.  As an alternative choice, he  decided that he wanted chocolate milk, but we are out of chocolate milk, too.  He also wanted to go to bed without a diaper on, but that's just not a good idea.  So he went to bed crying while Elizabeth cried in the next room over.  To make it all worse, I missed a significant portion of my favorite TV show tonight because I couldn't get the baby to calm down.  When Nick came home I was overwhelmed and just about at the end of my rope.  I handed him the baby and walked out of the house.  I just took a walk.  After my walk, I felt better.  My head was a little more clear, and my thoughts were a little more organized.  Walking it off helped me hit the "restart" button. 

Walking is just such a great activity on so many levels.  I find it helpful in clearing my head.  Just to get out of the house, get some fresh air and get my body in motion sometimes helps me to get a new perspective.  I can more easily take a deep breath and look at the bigger picture. 

In addition, walking burns calories, which is just never a bad thing in the life of a fat person.  Any small bit of exercise I can get is great, even if its just walking up and down my street.  (Which is exactly what I did this evening.) 

As a person who never really liked sports or exercising, walking is a very good alternative for me.  A person does not have to be an athlete or even very motivated to walk.  Its a very nice way to get your body moving without going to the gym.  It is for all of these reasons that I love to walk.  I especially like to walk with the kids in the stroller, because A, I am burning even more calories that way, and B, the fresh air and new sights and sounds are so good for them. 

So my advice to myself and to you this evening is to get out there and walk.  Walk around your neighborhood, a park, by the lake, the woods, even at the mall, just get up off your big butt and walk.  Know that my big butt and I will be doing the same.