How Long are you Really going to “Do That Thing?”

“How long are you really going to do THAT thing,” my mom asked me one day.

She was referring to something that I started 20 years ago, that I had no idea would lead me to where it has today. It was not a traditional job, it was not what I went to college for. It was difficult and made me grow in ways I didn’t know I could, and it was rewarding.

I was 38 years old. My youngest of 3 boys was 16 months old and I was still carrying around some of the 70+ pounds that I gained during my pregnancy. I never experienced morning sickness, (don’t hate me,) and I gained 80 pounds or so with each pregnancy. Last time around, I didn’t lose the weight. Oh well, right? I was told by others that that’s just what happens after you have babies, along with less energy, the aching joints, the tiredness.

We had friends who ordered an exercise VHS (google it if you don’t know.) They loved it and my husband Dave wanted to order it too.

Friends! First of all, we hadn’t ever ordered anything from a website! “You mean to tell me, you would order and pay shipping?” I agreed to look, though, because while I had resigned myself to my post-pregnant mom bod, Dave certainly could use some exercise and I was glad he was considering it! :) Secondly, we didn’t have $50 to spend on something like that. In my very supportive wife way, I told him…(sad but true..story) “There’s a street right outside the house, and it’s free to walk on it.” Did I mention this was at Christmas time, when money was tighter than usual anyway?

{Audience understands that from now on, when wife is mentioned it is underscored as “supportive.”}

My husband convinced me to look at the website and showed me that a couple we knew really well, were on the website with their before and after photos. I told him, “Well, you know, they have to have at least one real person on these sites….” But, I eventually gave in and ordered the exercise VHS and it would be “our Christmas present.” Oh boy…yay. What every mom carrying around excess baby weight wants from her husband for Christmas. Why not a box of paper plates or a toilet lid cover. But, I digress.

The box came in the mail, and even though I had planned to just wrap it up, I opened it first and took a look. It seemed legit. And, because I figured some exercise was better than none, I tried out the first VHS tape. Then, I wrapped it, put it under the tree.

After Christmas, we decided to take before pictures. There might have been an eye roll or two from one of us. The instructions said to do it. “Whatever,” I commented. I didn’t have any exercise clothes, so I put on a pair of Dave’s shorts and a tank top. I still have that picture somewhere. In a non-committal way, I started doing the workouts. I had never lifted any sort of weights, and during the first couple of months, I didn’t have to, because just lifting my arms was weight enough. I didn’t have a goal, I didn’t think it would change anything, but, (supportive wife) I didn’t want to waste the money that we had spent.

Let me tell you friends, that one decision 20 years ago, just a tiny step in a new direction, changed the trajectory of my life. I know it sounds cliche. But, in the 3-9 months that followed the start of that VHS exercise program, I changed my body composition, posture, mental health, creativity, confidence, bone density, energy and general outlook on life.

I felt so good, almost unstoppable. I got on the same website that I had been brave enough to order from, and started encouraging others in the company message boards, to stick with it…it would be worth it…don’t quit today.

I did that for years, during the boys’ nap times, on dial-up internet. I was not a trainer or nutritionist, I was just an active example and an encourager for that company’s customers for about 8 years, for free. It encouraged me to keep exercising because I’d get so excited when someone else would have a transformation because they didn’t give up on themselves.

I wore that VHS out and would have to rewind it by hand when it got stuck. Good times.

Years passed, and a harder exercise program came out. Same company, same trainer. Again, we couldn’t afford it. But, I kept wondering, “what if?” and then I’d talk myself out of it. Right before my birthday, one year, I finally said to a friend, “But why would a mom want to be in THAT kind of shape?” All she said was, “Why not?”

Yea. Why not me? It hurt my stomach a little to spend that much money on me. But, I knew for sure, I wasn’t going to waste a cent of it.

And that story is for another day.

But, how long ARE you going to do that thing? My answer was and still is, “I’m taking it across the goal line. And that line is still out in front of me.”

Thanks for joining me on this blog journey, friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with the next part of this story.

Anne Dovel