Mom, you’re flappin’ your bingo wings!” Little did I know, when my teenage son said that, that he was talking about that lovely bit of wiggly flab on the back of each arm.
Bingo wings? Me?
I took a good look in the mirror and started thinking about the last time I did any real upper-body exercise. Did carrying groceries count? Marginally. How about hauling that stuffed laundry basket up and down the stairs every day? I could claim brownie points, I suppose, but it sure wasn’t causing me to develop Michelle Obama arms. (How hard must the First Lady work out to have those fabulous arms? I’m impressed. If I had arms like that, I’d wear short sleeves every day.)
Sadly, neither of my “activities” was enough to banish the flabby flesh with the funny name.
And then my doctor recommended a bone-density test, and the results came back showing that, while I wasn’t a candidate for osteoporosis, my numbers could be a bit better. So in addition to my regular walking, I decided it was time to add a few hand weights to my exercise plan to pump up my upper-body strength and give those bones a workout, too.
That’s me in the photo, sans makeup and doing a little dumbbell action. (There’s something about lifting weights that makes the good old chin fat seem to just pop out, making for a brutally honest — but not terribly flattering — photo! Next goal: lose the chin fat. I have a feeling that will come with more weight loss. I’m not sure there are many “chin” exercises I can do — except that well-known push-away-from-the-table exercise, which will result in less chewing…)
No, I didn’t start seriously pumping iron. I just started doing exercises with light hand weights, bought at Target, while I watched TV. Heck, if I was going to sit on my couch while watching “Ellen,” why not get up and do some stretches, maybe march in place a little bit, and use some hand weights while being entertained? (And Ellen loves to dance around the studio at the beginning of the show — more motivation!)
In her book, “Small Changes, Big Results,” registered dietitian Ellie Krieger talks about making exercise a lifestyle. “Think about it,” she says. “You spend only a small portion of time actually exercising. Even if you work out for an hour a day, the other 23 hours a day are spent working, eating, sleeping and performing all the other activities of daily life.”
By becoming more active during those 23 hours, you increase your fitness level and improve health without even thinking about it, she adds.
That got me thinking about a trip we took to Yosemite National Park over the holidays last year. While my husband and son were skiing, I took long walks through the Yosemite Valley, enjoying the solitude, the chance to get away from parenting responsibilities, and enjoy the magnificent view.
Did it feel like I was exercising? Not really. In fact, I didn’t even think about “working out” the whole time I was there. But I ended up walking miles each day, and feeling healthy — and tired in a good way — at the end of each day.
That’s the approach I want to take to upper-body strength, too. Of course, with hand weights, I can’t exactly tell myself I’m not exercising. But I want to incorporate it into my day in a way that makes it part of something fun — like watching the women of “The View” argue about who-knows-what.
OK, it’s that time. The monthly weigh-in. Apparently slow and steady wins the race!
Weigh-in #1: 147.0 (my starting weight)
Weigh-in #2: 144.6 (lost 2.4 pounds total)
Weigh-in #3: 139.0 (lost 8 pounds total)
Weigh-in #4: 135.6 (lost 11.4 pounds total)
The weight isn’t peeling off at light speed. But it’s coming off at a rate that allows me to go out to dinner with my family now and then, have a piece of chocolate (not a huge bar!) when a craving hits and not feel like I’m starving myself.
This is a plan I can live with: Moderate increases in exercise. Moderate changes in my eating habits. And hey, I’m down 11.4 pounds of fat that I plan to never see again!
Kathy Sena is a freelance journalist specializing in family-health issues. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Woman’s Day and many other publications. Visit her parenting blog, Parent Talk Today, at www.parenttalktoday.com.
