Fit life

We are finally getting our "winter".

I wish it snowed like this on Christmas. We had a brown Christmas.

There is something so magical about snow. Even though, I'm more of a summer person,

I do think I would miss the snow if I moved to a warmer climate.

Just thought I'd share that...

Today, mom and I went to the gym and I helped her try the elliptical machine for the first time EVER.

She is very unsteady on her feet on flat ground, so this cumbersome odd machine

was very intimidating to her. But I convinced her to try it.

She did it for all of 1 minute. No joke.

She was sweating and huffing and puffing and said, "I just can't do this anymore. My legs burn!"

Haha..

I said, "Well, mom, the burn is what you want. It means it's doing something good."

Muscle burn is a form of pain. But as long as the pain is not a sharp pain, as long as it is a burning sensation, it's ok. It's actually what you want to feel. Yes, it's uncomfortable, but getting into shape is not coming for free.

She is clearly not used to any sort of cardio-based activity. And I really want her to start doing something that gets her heart rate up a little. I worry about her. She is overweight and in her 70's. This lady has led

a sedentary lifestyle for far too long. But it's never too late. I don't care

if I have to beg and push and plead with her to sweat and work every day, I will until she does it consistently on her own.

She has this mentality that if she is up a lot doing laundry or putzing in her apartment, that counts toward her "exercising". WRONG! I want to see her sweat. I want her muscles to burn.

But she's not used to that feeling so she doesn't like it. Working out IS work. It isn't supposed to be easy. It's supposed to be a little hard. That is why it's not called lounging out.

Anyway, I got her to agree to try to increase by a minute each time she goes. That's good enough for me. You have to start somewhere.

I get a huge muscle burn and sweat going by doing things like walking lunges. I hold a 25lb weight plate in each hand and I do walking lunges around the track. It's an incredible exercise for getting your heart rate up and feeling a super burn in your legs. It's HARD WORK, but I like the feeling I get from it. I want my mom to learn to love the burn too. Because that is what is going to help her drop the weight and start living a fit life.