That's Fit

I used to run. I trained for a marathon and crossed the finish line several years ago. I'm trying to get back on the wagon. Running can't really involve my little girl the way other activities do: the playground, short hikes, walks with the stroller, jumping on a trampoline and dancing around the house are much easier ways of getting moving while caring for my 3-year-old. I have a jogging stroller, but have used it for jogging only a few times. It fills in as the rugged wheels we need for traversing grass fields and trails, but usually at a much slower pace. The truth is, my kid weighs me down, literally, more than she motivates me.

That's about to change. At least I hope so. And I'm hoping See Mommy Run can help. A group of women setting an example for their kids, and doing something for themselves, at the same time. Beautiful.

I've written about walking kids to school as a slam-dunk for a parent to to get daily exercise. But why stop at school?

I realize it's not practical to walk everywhere and some of us don't live in neighborhoods within walking distance of various errands or activities. If this is you, I recommend taking stock of those errands or activities. I'm willing to bet there's at least one or two you could give up in favor of walking or biking around the neighborhood with your kid(s).

If you live in a neighborhood like mine, you can walk to your kid's school, the park, the rec center, the library, a cafe for lunch, even the doctor or dentist. This is what I do. Incorporating walking into your day has myriad benefits; a bunch of short, brisk walks add up to countless calories burned. For example, yesterday I walked my daughter to her first ballet class at the rec center, rode the stationary bike while she danced, and then walked home. Today, I walked downtown for lunch with my daughter, then walked to her preschool a couple of blocks away and then back home. Both days I logged more than 30 minutes of continuous exercise. Bonus strength training for pushing a stroller, too!

Fitting exercise in when you are a parent can be challenging enough. When you are a parent on vacation, you can almost forget it. Unless a trip to an amusement park, as they are called, happens to be on your itinerary.

I should have worn a pedometer when we went to Sea World in San Diego last week. Even without measuring, though, I'm pretty sure we cleared at least five miles. We're talking brisk. No strolling. Not even close. With a show schedule and a 3-year-old, you simply cannot be leisurely. Remember, though, if you want to count a walk in this kind of park a workout, you must bypass the junk food around every bend.

Of course, I'll need a vacation from my vacation when I return home. The good news is that going to the gym will feel like one.

Well, not really. But you can get the body that comes from riding waves with a big bonus: your kid might like watching while you do. Who knows? Maybe they'd even join you.

Surf Stronger is a workout video series that incorporates surf video and stars two-time runner-up World Champion surfer, Serena Brooke. Talk about inspiration!

For me, this workout would be a bit melancholy, as I still miss surfing my native Southern California waves as a Northern Virginia transplant. I'm no Serena, not even close. But longboarding at San Onofre with my dad are memories I hold dear. Watching the waves from my basement is something I never thought possible. I love the idea nonetheless, especially with cooler months approaching faster than a pipeline off the North Shore coast.

My daughter has surpassed 30 pounds. And it's a good thing, because if it weren't for her whining to be carried, I wouldn't be getting any strength training in these days. As for aerobics, walking to and from the rec center twice a week for my kid's swim classes has been my only so-called workout recently.

These waning days of summer are always tough, right? The heat. The kids' boredom. The heat. The vacations. The needing a vacation from your vacation. The heat. I'm more apt to end up toasting cold brews with neighbors outside at 5 o' clock than working in any sort of workout this time of year.

I think the best thing I can do at this point is start plotting my fall schedule to get back on the wagon. And it will be easier, don't you think? We dread September in so many ways. End of summer. End of fun. Back to school. Back to schedules. But I think we need to get back to schedules. There's a reason we have them. They force us to do the things we need to do. Like working in the workouts. You with me?

We're almost set for soccer to start in September. The Sweetie Pie is signed up, birth certificate faxed, volunteer coach appointed (my husband) and the hunt for tiny shin guards is about to commence. Shin guards. For a 3-year-old.

But, hey, it's a chance to get out in the back yard, run around and practice kicking goals into a mini goal sent by Gramma and Grampa as a Father's Day gift. It made for a great goal-kicking contest at her birthday party. Great way to wear down nine kids.

We also watch the bigger kids on the field down the street, and attempt to mimic their moves at the park. For my husband and I, it's more of a mental workout than anything. Getting into a toddler's head in an attempt to figure out the best way to convey the rules of a sport and work as a team. My husband's definitely got his work cut out for him as coach. I figure it's also a chance to start building the habit of exercise in our child. Every Saturday morning, we'll have soccer. Every Saturday morning, we'll have soccer.

I signed my daughter and I up for yoga class this summer. She's been doing the upward and downward dog poses since she was about 18 months, so I figure she's ready. And so am I, after practicing very sporadically throughout the 15 years since I took my first Hatha class in college.

At first, yoga for a 3-year-old might seem silly. Efforts to get my daughter to hold any pose for more than 5 seconds, let alone something specific that requires following instruction from a teacher, can be futile at best. My daughter has definitely hit a stage during which focused activity has become necessity to get through the day. Discipline has become more of an issue. But I'm hoping the novelty of the yoga class will play big. And listening to a stranger is always easier than listening to Mommy or Daddy.

But we might get more than that. Experts suggest yoga for kids can increase self-esteem and body awareness in a noncompetitive way and can even help children who suffer from hyperactivity disorder.

Last week I wrote about my goal to drop six sticky pounds. And a reader asked why, suggesting the scale is not the sole determinant of good health. This is certainly true. But my experience is this: Weight gain begets weight gain and pretty soon you can find yourself heavier than your heart valves, vanity and wardrobe are comfortable with. And I believe vanity, within reason, is an important part of our emotional health. Maybe not as important as clear arteries or wellness in general, but important nonetheless.

Here's some perspective: I'm essentially near the top of what's considered a healthy weight for my stature. That means I have no leeway for vacations or Thanksgiving or GNO. I like leeway. And I like nipping things in the bud before they're a problem. Or before I can't squeeze into my bathing suit to join my daughter in swim class. That's my strategy, and it's worked for me so far.

I think it can work for any parent struggling to keep tabs on their health and find time to exercise. It's all about staying on top of things as much as possible because none of us has room for big problems in our lives. It's about being reasonable. Losing six pounds is a whole lot easier than losing 60. Sixty pounds is a lot. Trust me. I just pushed that amount around in a double stroller yesterday as a way of getting a workout in while babysitting my daughter's best friend before my in-laws arrived in town.

Moderation is my motto. And most of the time it works for me when it comes to food, exercise and maintaining weight. But since I stopped nursing my daughter a year ago, six pounds have slowly crept onto my frame and they seem to be sticking more than in the past. I guess it's because I'm now 36. And I'm a mother. And I have an evening glass of wine to wind down more often than when I was childless.

So, am I stuck with these six pounds? Probably not. If I want to do the extra work it will apparently take to get them off. Clearly, I can't cut a few calories here and there for a couple weeks and do my usual two or three workouts a week plus walking, mowing the yard, etc. and watch the scale go down. It's going to take more. Ugh.

So, my goal after I get back from celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary with a weekend in NYC and consuming Tapas and Italian aplenty is to do just that. Wish me luck.

Last weekend, my family had a wonderful workout together on a local trail thanks to our jogging stroller. We contemplated breaking out the bicycle trailer, but opted for pushing something with wheels rather than pedaling.

Looks like we're going to have to stick to indoor workouts this weekend with heat and humidity off the charts. But it remains a goal of mine to put some more miles on our bicycle trailer this summer. Kids can kick back and enjoy the breeze as you cruise to your heart's content. They even have "windows" to look out of. And they keep them safe should you crash or tumble somewhere along your route.

Safety and maneuverability were big factors I considered when reviewing options for carting kids along on bikes. I grew up riding in the seats that attach to the bike, usually behind the rider. And they still exist, although they are much improved. There's also a seat that attaches to the front. And there are several trailers that have their own wheels and attach to the back of the bike. There are pros and cons to all of them. In the end, the trailers seemed the safest to me.

Here's a look at some of the options:

I don't like school buses. It's mainly because of the lack of seat belts. But I also wonder why, in an age of childhood obesity becoming too common and people of all ages not getting enough exercise, parents don't walk their kids to school more often when it's a reasonable distance from home. Certainly, time is a factor for many who are struggling to get on the road in order to make it on time to work. But for the rest who don't have to work for money or work from home, this is a big opportunity to develop good habits.

My neighbors and I were just talking the other day about raising kids who are physically fit and finding ways to fit exercise into their lives. One of them said, "All I care is that they learn to make a habit of moving around for 30 minutes a day for the rest of their lives."

I actually timed out the walk to and from the local elementary school a while back. My kid is just short of 3 years old, so we've got some time before this is an issue. Still, I was curious. Low and behold, it's 30 minutes, round-trip.

Of course another neighbor pointed out the social aspect of the bus and how they would miss out on going to school with all their friends. I've been thinking about it. And I've been getting this image in my mind of a big parade of kids, parents in tow, walking down the street to school with their hearts pumping. It could happen.

Mommy and Daddy can't decide what we want to do today. Haul the jogging stroller to a hiking trail along the Potomac River? Hook up the bicycle trailer and head out on the Washington and Old Dominion trail?

Either way, stuff with wheels will make a good workout in the nice weather possible with our toddler. Some might think it's crazy to have three strollers, as we do. But once your kid weighs more than 30 pounds, putting them in a body carrier just doesn't work. We've put plenty of miles on the jogging stroller, and not all of them jogging. Trekking over grass, mud and stone is nearly impossible without one. Certainly, an urban or suburban walk around town serves as a wonderful workout with a conventional stroller, too. We just love being among more trees, water and wildlife. And the jogging stroller makes it possible.

As for the bicycle trailer, that was last year's Father's Day gift before we spent a family weekend vacation in Chincoteague and rode rented bikes around the nearby Assateague Island. Our daughter loved cruising along, looking out the plastic windows, safe from the mosquitoes that seemed to be hatching faster than you could say no DEET please. The really cool thing is that mosquitoes couldn't make a swift landing on our skin with the breeze whisking past as we peddled.

My point is that stuff with wheels have been a crucial element for our active family activities that have been well worth the investment. You don't need to spend a lot, either. Both the jogging stroller and bicycle trailer were purchased at Target for a little more and a little less than $100, respectively.

My husband, a baseball editor for a national newspaper, taught our daughter how to say "pitching mound" when she was about 18 months old. We are lucky to have a field down the street. We drive by it every time we go somewhere in the car and every time we do, our daughter yells "pitching mound!" with gleeful delight.

We've now started making treks on foot down to the field on a semi-regular basis. And our little girl, now almost three, is learning about the rest of the landscape covered with red dirt and grass and framed by two dugouts. She isn't skilled enough to hit yet. Not even off of a tee. But boy do we run those bases. Over and over. And we jump on them. And we cheer at home plate.

By the time we've walked there and back and run the bases a few times, I figure we got more exercise than most players do during a whole game. And it certainly didn't take nine innings to do it. Quick and easy workout, and the kid's exhausted. Perfect!

I'm so happy to be back to incorporating outdoor workouts into my routine, sporadic as it may be. It's been almost three years since I moved from the West Coast to the East Coast and I still don't have winter workout gear in my wardrobe. So I tend to wait around for April to go for any lengthy walks or jogs outside.

But that would be so normal.

The other day, I actually did sprints, played hide and seek and pretended to be Dora the Explorer in a field of tall grass down the street from our house. Of course, I wasn't alone. This was my daughter's idea of a grand time. And it turned out to be a pretty darn good workout, too.

No trails, stroller, trails, or special gear needed. Just an empty meadow and our imaginations.