Last week I visited my doctor for a physical, which included a check of my cholesterol levels. When I got the results back, my doc gave me an ultimatum:
Either start exercising, or go on cholesterol meds.
I’m only 35 years old, and while I don’t have insane crazy cholesterol levels, apparently my good cholesterol is too low. Combine that with my family’s history of heart disease, and I’m blazing fast down heart disease highway.
Yet strange as this sounds, like a lot of other people, the threat of future health problems just isn’t enough motivation for today. Exercise takes time and work, and heart disease is tomorrow’s problem, right?
If I’m actually going to start exercising on a daily basis, then I’m going to need some additional motivation, which I can find easily enough. All I need to do is look into my daughter’s beautiful hazel eyes, and I quickly realize there are many reasons to start exercising and take better care of myself.
Here’s the top five reasons I came up with for why I should start exercising more often:
- Exercising will give me more energy to play with Olivia.
Too often I feel tired, and won’t read another book to Olivia, or go and eat the pretend super she cooked for me using her play kitchen. Instead I’ll ask her to play by herself for a little while. If I exercised each day, it would increase my energy levels and stamina, so I wouldn’t have to tell her no simply because I have low energy and feel tired. - Exercising will give me more patience.
Because I’m not exercising, a lot of the time I don’t feel well. I get headaches. I’m worn out from work. I’m down from the stresses of life. So there are times when Olivia’s just being a 2-year-old, and I overreact from a lack of patience. If I would exercise, I’d start feeling better and would work off a lot of stress, leaving me with more patience to deal with Olivia. - Exercising will give me a better chance of meeting my grandchildren.
My doctor gave me an ultimatum for a reason. If I don’t change my lifestyle, there’s a great chance I’ll have a blocked artery someday. Which could mean having a heart attack, needing expensive and dangerous heart bypass surgery, or even dying. If I do nothing, there’s a great chance I might not meet my grandchildren. I could even leave Olivia fatherless before she’s even graduated from high school, and I don’t want any of that to happen. - Exercising will improve my marriage.
Shan and I aren’t in any danger of divorce, but like all couples, we have our ups and downs. Having more energy, stamina, and patience from exercising would benefit my marriage just as much as it would benefit my relationship with Olivia. And having a better marriage would benefit Olivia’s mental and emotional health. So by exercising, I can strengthen all my family relationships. - I’ll set a proper example for Olivia.
All the reasons why it’s important for me to exercise, are the same reasons it’ll be important for Olivia to exercise when she grows up. After all, she’s inherited the same family genes that lead to a higher rate of heart disease. If she grows up watching dad exercise, then I can hopefully teach her the importance of exercising, and instill that value in her so she can be a healthier adult someday.
So there you have my top five reasons why I should start exercising. And as a public promise to myself, to Shan, and to Olivia… I promise that I will start exercising!
Do you exercise? What other things do you do to improve yourself and your health because you have kids? Please share your comments below!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Jon, just found you on twitter (via baveo). Going to follow you. Anyway, I’ve just started to seriously exercise for the same reason. I found a cool site at http://www.gyminee.com that I am going to check out – should be helpful. Good luck! –Kris
@Kris – That site looks like it could be very helpful, so thanks for sharing it. I’m going to sign up and I’ll let everyone know how I like it in a few days. Also, thanks for following me on Twitter!
I had that talk with my Dr. within 5 months of getting a kegerator (beer on tap at home). Ended up selling it but I still haven’t made exercise a priority like I should. Thanks for the “tough love” reminder, Jon! Great post.
Corey’s last blog post..Why Superhero Worship is Beneficial
@Corey – Since I wrote the post, I’ve exercised a total of ZERO minutes.
My excuse yesterday was NFL playoffs and the fact it was Sunday. I absolutely need to exercise today though, if I stand any chance of making this a positive habit. Trust me, I wrote the post as my own personal “tough love” reminder too!
Now for your next post – 5 ways to find time to exercise between 2 kids, full-time jobs and full-time housework!
Tyler @ Building Camelot’s last blog post..Connect With Your Kids and Spouse With Table Topics
@Tyler – I know what you mean! I’m pinning my hopes on advice I got last year from a mentor. He told me that he recoups the time he invests in exercising, because he claims that when he exercises: he is more efficient and productive, fights with the wife less, and doesn’t waste as much time feeling tired or sick.
I guess it’s either that, or I have to give up 30 minutes of HDTV time each day!
Hey Jon – as you know I don’t follow your sister’s best practices and need excercise myself. My company just started a reimbursement for $800 a year for any fitness related activites.
So, I signed up for a personal trainer twice a week for the next 7 months. Figure if I have someone babysitting and pushing me it won’t hurt.
Good luck – maybe we can start a weight loss war w/ the family!? http://www.weightlosswars.com
David’s last blog post..What an Amazing event for my daugther!
I am also trying to exercise more, my wife is really good with exercising, so she is always trying to motivate me to exercise too. All the reasons you give for exercising are very good.
Not sure if you know FitandBusyDad Chris Lopez, he is a father of four and a personal trainer… he did a five article guest post series at the Dad Jam, which we called “Muscle Mondays” with lots of great ideas on how to find time to exercise and how to exercise efficiently at home. Check it out, you’ll find some useful tips there.
Vincent @ The Dad Jam’s last blog post..Money: How to Reduce the Cost of Kids: Part 2
Very good point – it’s the getting off my ass to get started is the hard part. I just picked up the latest Men’s Health Home magazine and it has some at-home exercises that I just might actually try. I can’t give up 30 minutes of TV…I don’t get that much to begin with!
Hope you had a great weekend.
Tyler @ Building Camelot’s last blog post..Connect With Your Kids and Spouse With Table Topics
Making time to exercise is the most difficult part. With work, home, and church commitments, there isn’t a whole lot of time left for exercising. But dads must make the time because it is important. In addition, we must model healthy eating habits for our families.
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@David – Wow, that’s awesome that you get reimbursed for a personal trainer. I bet my sis is jealous! I’m not sure if I want to start a weight loss war, since I really don’t need to lose much weight. I just need the cardio benefits. Besides, can you really imagine anyone in the family really being interested in that besides us?
@Vincent – Thanks for the tip about those guest blog posts. In case others are also interested, click here for the Muscle Mondays posts.
@Tyler & @Mocha – I know… I know… I know… lack of time is a big reason I haven’t been exercising either. Ultimately I just need to fall back on reason #3 that I listed in the post. I want to be around for Olivia as she grows up, and I want to be around to meet my grandkids someday.
Thanks for the comments everyone!
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