How to avoid becoming a gym bunny.
With the first Monday of December came the first authentic post-winter exercise… yes we know, rather lazy to only get the touche into action now. But you see, when your days are filled with words, web and wonder, there’s little time for sweat. And when the year moves at three times the speed of light it’s also difficult to keep up with the changing seasons.
Talking of seasons, this must s…
urely be hunting season for the gyms…. preying on vulnerable fatties all hoping to shed their skin before the year end holiday which is in approximately 15 days. It’s too late for summer quick-fixes darl, you should’a thought about that in about September aka Spring. But Sista (this is for the gels) it’s never too late to make sensible, long term changes to your life, just don’t expect the scale to go down magically – in fact stay away from the scale as much as possible. It’s evil. Use it at weekly or by-weekly intervals only.
If you’ve left it too late, we’d say the best thing you can do today is to just LURVE yourself as you are. Right now. Look at your curves, your lines, your flow, your orange peel, your stretch marks, your c-section scar, your flab, your flavour…. and think about how unique, sexy and curvaceous you are. Then walk it babes, live it, breathe it and be it. It’s amazing what positive thinking around your body image can do. Let’s not be caught up in the skinny girl bulldust spewed out by western media – we’re African women and we don’t need to subscribe to what other people tell us looks good. But there’s nothing wrong with being slim either… we are each one of a kind. (PS: We’re horrified to see our Minky fading away into skinny mode – what happened to our curvy babe?)
Well I nearly became a gym-bunny last week – gotta admit when i realised my summer-bunny deadline was about to expire on me I got desperate and arrived in the ‘Gym Zone’ where i realised the only way for me to save my flab was to join a gym as fast as possible. Got the boy interested or rather convinced that we needed saving and by only the most expensive of evangelicals. And then I went shopping and spent my gym subscription on a fabulous summer dress. Doh!
So now what… broke, fat and listless. Year end fatigue. Year end blues. What to do? And then I remembered the wonderful Zoo Lake walk. Now it’s not just any walk, the Zoo Lake Walk has it’s appeal in the yet to be proven fact that one lap of the lake is the equivalent of one kilometre. Which means that if you do three laps, you have done 3kms… brilliant. The Zoo Lake walk rocks.
But the best part about the Zoo Lake walk is all the interesting people you see while you do it. Middle aged white woman reading her book in the sunset, college going black dude reading his book at the water, Madala street sleeper drinking from the water fountain, families feeding swans, friends having a quick sundown braai, Dad walking the teenage girls and the dogs, Gogo getting her exercise, the two dronkie white tramps stumbling on their way… the boxer sprinting through the park, the soccer player sweating at the brow… It’s like being in the opening scene to a movie. All you need is a soundtrack, which brings us to the final part of this article, for the first time ever I walked with my iPod, now i finally understand the hype.
Walking or jogging with your ipod or Mp3 player changes the entire exercise regime from pain to pleasure… Lauryn Hill sings the blues on lap one, Jamiroquai keeps up the pace on lap two and Snoop Dog tells you his name on lap three, making you want to do another. Somehow exercise just doesnt feel as cruciatingly boring when you’re listening to your favourite songs, maybe it’s because you can’t hear yourself wheezing, maybe it’s because you forget what you’re doing and get caught up in the bassline, maybe it’s because we all need a little soulful exercise in our lives.
We give it our vote. Come on, get out there and get walking, and don’t forget your music.
Check out some pics of Zoo Lake on Footprint. Nice Site but it’s more for hiking although if you look for strolls you’re sure to find lots more Zoo Lake’ish places. Pic from Footprint.co.za.
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