Long contemplative post ahead. You have been warned!
So I talked about my "homemade" workouts a couple of posts ago, like strenuous housework, moving furniture, etc. The motivation behind these workouts is multifold, but can be summed up in four words: I hate organized exercise.
To wit:
Took a weightlifting class my freshman year in college. Apathetic to it. Passed with a B-.
Went running with a roommate frequently during my junior year. Only worth it for the stories she told.
Went on walks frequently with Mat while we lived in Sacramento. This was mostly to relieve my sheer boredom, as we had one car and I had no job. This is also where my computer/internet addiction formed as a way of passing time.
After Annika was born, I couldn't find the time anymore. Self-made routines of sit-ups, leg lifts, and other equipment-less exercises didn't cut it--they were boring. Yoga DVD--also boring. Other exercise tapes--couldn't keep up.
The point of the last paragraph? I'm a freak who gives things up if they stir up my apathetic tendencies. I have *strong* apathetic tendencies. (I'm also noticing that I'll do really mind-numbing exercise as long as I have someone to exercise with.)
I think I could do walking--in fact, I did for a while about eighteen months ago. I had a good friend to walk with (hi Anna!) and we talked about anything and everything. Unfortunately for me, I'm content with a low level of activity and Anna was more motivated than I was and actually started running. I couldn't keep up, so I quit (sorry Anna!). And it's too dang hot around here to just take a walk anytime I can get the kids organized enough to get out the door. I think I could do a treadmill, if we had the funds or space. Ideally, I could read and walk on the treadmill at the same time--bliss!
The point of all *that* was to explain my current exercise plan. In the American Heart Association's health booklet (don't ask me where we got it--it randomly appeared on our bookshelves a couple of moves back), they suggest doing simple things to incorporate more movement into our lives--parking further away from the store door, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, making multiple trips to take things from one room to another in the house. They called these pseudo-workouts "planned inefficiency."
Planned inefficiency works really well with the voluntary simplicity movement I've been looking into lately. My investigation started because we're on a limited budget right now, so I'm doing as much by hand as possible and I wanted to learn more about what I can do by hand. I've also been feeling like we have too much *stuff*. Much like Hermione in Harry Potter, if I run into a problem, the library is the first place I look for solutions. To my surprise, in searching to do more things by hand and to lose some of the "things" that are taking up space, I ran across a few books on the voluntary simplicity movement. The essence of the movement is choosing to consume less. (This does NOT mean voluntary poverty. Just conscious use of our resources, including the time, energy, and money it requires to maintain our stuff.)
The results so far? I make bread--no mixer, no bread machine. I stir it by hand--great workout for the upper arms--and I knead it, which can be a full upper-body workout if I'm in the right mood. Planned inefficiency exercise, simpler lifestyle because I'm not consuming electricity or space with a large bread maker. (Confession: I wasn't all that good at making bread with the bread maker anyway.)
In keeping with the voluntary simplicity movement, but also because it's cheaper to consume less electricity and fuel, we've been riding the available public transportation when possible and I combine all my errands into one gigantic run. When I bring the children with me, the errand running turns into exercise--an exercise in patience as well as restraining them from killing each other or whining excessively. Most of the time they're remarkably well-behaved, but they have about a 1.5 hour limit and then they're *done.* It's hard to get all the grocery shopping and banking and going to Target for other household necessities done in that amount of time. Planned inefficiency (parking far away from the store doors) and voluntary simplicity (doing it all in one run to conserve fuel), hand-in-hand again.
I'm also trying to consume less TV, and helping the children to consume less too. I don't think there's anything wrong in watching educational programs--just in the amount that we've been watching it. So the kids are down to two hours a day, spread throughout the day as rewards for doing chores and being obedient, and I'm determined to stick to my three shows (Life, NCIS, The Office). Well, I might add The Mentalist to that--it looks smart. My other bargain with myself is that I have to do something while I'm watching TV--sew or some other craft.
My greatest time consumer is the computer. No, I take it back. It's the internet. I check my email and my Facebook account a zillion times a day. I need to get over that. Twice a day is more than enough. It's a very difficult habit to break. I'm an information-gatherer and there is so much information to gather! Besides, if I break the habit now, I'll have more time in my day for the activities I prefer--reading real books, for one--and more time in the future to do things like have a garden and can my own produce and fun things like that. (I really, REALLY want to be a grown up with my own house so I can do these things and have my food storage and not have to worry about it anymore!)
Anyway, the two desires (to exercise and to live simply) combine well. Living simply means putting more work into some areas of my life (if I make bread every day, how long will it be before my arms look like a bodybuilder's? I don't think I have room in my freezer for that much bread) and simply enjoying the rest of it. To get a better overview of the whole idea, I'm reading Georgene Lockwood's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Simple Living. She also wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Organized, a book that changed my organizational habits for the better. For better bread baking, I have Beth Hensperger's Beth's Basic Breads book--it's detailed enough that I get a good idea of what I'm doing the first time around, and has enough variety that I don't get bored. Mat said the recipe I'm currently using has produced the best bread yet (White Mountain Bread, pg. 39), so we're gonna stick with that for a while. I also learned Monday that I can only multitask two baking items--three puts me over the edge into "Oops! I guess it's done now!" breadmaking, resulting in...*ahem*...a very dark crust.
So here's today's question, plucked deep from amidst my ramblings: Is it really better to work smarter, or is there more benefit to working harder?
7 comments:
I think the answer to your question is, it depends. Ha ha! How's that for vague? Seriously, though, this was a great and thought-provoking post. I am SO with you on the not enjoying a high level of exercise. I don't remember the last time I really worked out (unless you count Dance Dance Revolution). I think I could do better if I had a treadmill (and a place to put it). I'm also with you on the internet addiction. It's such a fun, seductive time killer sometimes (despite also being very educational and useful at other times). I totally see the need to simplify in our culture--it's something I struggle with and try to incorporate into our lives too. I've been wanting to try the bus sometime (when the weather gets cooler) but have been too chicken with the kids! I'd like to get a bike with a kid trailer on the back for quick trips to the grocery store (very close by) or around the neighborhood. Ok, I'm going to stop typing now before this comment turns into its own post (sorry)!
I have to tell you that the only thing I have found (other than running/walking down the river path with Cam before his mission - which is a little impossible now) that I can stand is my treadmill. I used to have a rowing machine, and I loved that. Except it was loud. But I really did love it. I record what I want to watch on TV, and then watch it in the early morning on the treadmill. Tight budget makes that hard - except that Costco is carrying some Nordic Track machines that are great. Anyway, that's when I watch TV, and it takes the pain of the exercise away. I also have a primitive elliptical I got from Sears - no motor. Just me. Hard, but worth it. So that's MY life. Planning inefficiency is just about as stressful to me as planning efficiency is. It's the "planning," you know?
P.S. I love my breadmaker. :) I just let it do all of the mixing and kneading, then I shape the dough into bread or rolls myself (lazy!) and bake them in the oven. I've never had good luck with baking it right in the breadmaker.
I love your idea of living simply and totally understand your dilemma of excercise (which by the way, I never got to the running, just jogging and I haven't done it in ages!) What about a pedometer? Walk so many steps in a day to be healthier? This would measure the amount of inefficiency you have planned in the day. I have always wanted to instill the "hard work" ethic in my children. I think there are times in your life when you just have to suck it up up and work hard. If you are already used to it, then life won't get you down in the dumps when things are hard.Like when rearing young children. but that takes working smart as well.But when you work hard AND work smart it is all the better. Well, that's my theory anyway.
I like the answers to this post so far. :) I think it definitely takes a mix and the exact mix depends on your priorities. For example, this year, I have really come to enjoy working out--so that has become a priority for me. I have to get up and do it in the early morning hours, though because otherwise, it's too hot. (I used my MIL's elliptical while we were on vacation--and I'm telling you--that's the way to go!) :) There are a lot of other things I could spend time on instead of exercising, like making bread, but I would rather spend a couple dollars on bread each week and get my walking/running in each morning instead.
I certainly identify with the internet addiction, though. That's something I have gradually simplified in my life--and it's still not as simple as I'd like! I like to feel connected to the world...but how much more connected would I be by having my neighbor come over to chat instead of reading blogs, e-mail, etc. a million times a day?
This was definitely a great post and a good reminder for me to make sure that I'm choosing what to spend my time on--instead of resorting to the least demanding path.
I think that working smarter should not preclude working harder. If one is working smarter then one has opened up time to accomplish more.
Bread making is a wonderful thing to do, saves you money and gives you a feeling of accomplishment. When you make it without the bread maker then you are doing something that relieves stress!!!!!! Punch, punch, punch.
Keep up the good work and go take a walk!!!!
Post a Comment