The Rugrat Workout (a.k.a. housework with kids under foot)

I read an article today that changed the course of my day.  I planned to get up, get the kids fed, changed, and all bundled up to go to the gym.  Noah loves going to the gym and they always give me reports of how happy of a baby Gracelyn is when she is there.  As Noah was watching Elmo this morning (more on this to come in another post about kids and TV), I checked my e-mail and came across an article in medicalnewstoday.com about the amount of housework moms do and how it relates to obesity.  Hmmm.  It peaked my interest, and here is a quote:
 They found that on average, the amount of time women spent on domestic household chores fell from 25.7 hours a week in 1965 to 13.3 hours a week in 2010.
For women who worked outside the home, they performed 6.7 hours per week of housework in 2010 and burned 132 less calories doing it than compared to the year 1965.
Assuming these women did the same amount of housework each day, women used to burn approximately 857 calories each day in the 1960's and now they are burning 200 calories less a day.
This finding doesn't imply that women should be spending the majority of their time scrubbing the floors and vacuuming, however it does emphasize the importance of regular physical activity as a significant factor in overall health and weight control.
Ok, so I understand that a lot has changed since 1965, and that women's roles in the family may look different than they did years ago.  Women's rights is NOT the point of this conversation.  However, when it becomes a health issue, we need take a look and evaluate the situation.  I can only speak for myself, and will share a few thoughts about my current situation.  You have my permission to stop reading now if you don't feel like hearing me ramble about my life.  I won't be offended.

 So it turned out that today we did not go to the gym.  I realized how many things I had on my to-do-later list that I really needed to do now.  My house needed to be tended to and errands needed to be run, and that would have to suffice as a workout.  Kind of how life was before I started going to the gym (not to mention that the losing my baby weight process has halted since I rekindled my relationship with the gym...weird).

I started going to the gym again in January.  Since I've had kids, we didn't think it necessary to pay for a gym membership and childcare to go with it.  This doesn't mean I have been sedentary; I have found other ways to stay active.  In the past month, I have loved going to the gym, seeing friends, getting smoothies on occasion, having "me" time, and seeing Noah's eyes light up when he talks about the balls at the gym.  It has been a great experience, and I have felt back at "home" being in a gym on a regular basis.  And yes, I will continue going to the gym.  In fact, you will see me at Zumba in the morning unless one of the kids wakes up sick.

The reason for all this rambling is simply to say that being active is the goal, here.  Whether it means doing housework or going to Zumba, there is no one right way to be healthy.  Yes, there was a time in my life when I was an athlete and there may be a time when I reach that fitness level again.  But for right now, I am active, my kids are loved, and I am trying to hold life together.

But HE said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9)
Trying to keep a house clean with these 2 rugrats...now that is a workout for sure!