Exercise: Do What You Can, But Just Do It

When I was speaking to my friend Nerissa a couple of days ago, the subject turned to exercise. Like me, Nerissa has two young daughters, but her youngest is two. When she heard about my Mommy Makeover, and my plans to take a couple of yoga classes every week, she told me to go easy on myself. "Just do what you can do," she said. And then she added: "It becomes a lot easier to take care of yourself after your youngest is two." This from the girl who's just been tapped to teach her dance exercise class. But she's right, I thought. Right now I can only do what I have the time and stamina for. So I've decided to take only one yoga class a week, on Saturday mornings. In between, I'm going to find a great video and try to do it a couple of more times a week. And I'm going to renew my effort to try to take walks with the girls, maybe before dinner as a way to wind down from the day, when it's not so hot outside.
I actually managed to read this month's Vogue before it was too old to be relevant, and the cover story was about Gwyneth Paltrow. I've always found her to be a little too cool and self-possessed to relate to, but after reading this article, I like her so much more. Not only does she sound like a fabulous mother (she didn't even have a nanny for the first year and a half of her daughter's life!), she said a lot of things that I could relate to. For instance, she will only allow herself to exercise when her babies are napping or in school. Otherwise, it feels too indulgent. That's exactly how I feel! That's why I can't go to a midmorning yoga class and leave my babies behind! She also said that now that she's over 30 with two kids, she has to work really hard at her body, and she has permanently gone up from a size 4 to a size 6. I love the fact that she had a healthy acceptance of her new body size. What a good role model!