Fitness as a hobby

B

bearcatfan

Cathlete
Some friends were in a discussion about hobbies and I said mine was exercise/fitness. Suddenly, in their eyes, I grew two heads. Aside from music, fitness is the one thing I do only for ME. My idea of heaven is finding a well-stocked exercise video/dvd section (or getting a Cathe shipment!). Then there is the inevitable explanation of the type of workouts I do, that I don't need to go to the Y, etc. I think maybe people have one impression of home workouts and until they see Cathe they don't realize how advanced they can be :).

Anyone else sometimes have to justify that fitness can be a fun hobby - or explain to the furnace repairman that, yes, both barbells and all the dumbbells are mine and not my husband's?

Rose
 
It's hard for some people to understand how much fun we have. I'm sure our maid assumes that all the weight equipment is my husband's. I love the feeling of systematically working each and every one of my muscles and taking each muscle group to the limit of what it can do. It feels great, and the stretches feel even better. I think my body craves the discipline, and my mind is never bored because of the constant variety. The best part, I suspect (I'm not consciously aware of it), is knowing that whatever else may be going on in my life that is out of my control, when it comes to working out I am the supreme master of my universe! Doncha think? :)
 
Lucky for me I have 2 sisters who are also "into Cathe". I at least can talk with them about our "hobby" On a brighter note, I gave my Mama a Leslie Sansone tape to rehabiltate her knee (surgery) and she really likes it. She is going to convert, I just know it.

Kim
 
I get a continual barrage of questions about how I am able to be in such great shape, and 99% of the time no one believes me when I tell them how . . . and no one believes me when I say how much I enjoy my workouts and the aqua classes I instruct. Just like almost no one believes me when I tell them that I haven't had a drink of alcohol in over 15 years (I'm a sober alcoholic) and I don't miss it one tiny bit. Fitness is more my "religion" than my hobby, so I guess I grew two heads a long time ago!

The whole culture is in a collective state of denial about the necessity of exercise to maintain good health and retard the corrosive effects of the aging process. And it's kind of amazing, given the concurrent pathological panic about getting / being obese. It seems most people will do anything - pills, crazy eating regimes, purges, surgery - to "lose weight" EXCEPT the one time tested method: regular exercise and regular healthy eating.

That's why I log onto this forum every day I can - fitness is a lonely business!

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
You said it!

Wow...great post. It's EXACTLY how I feel about working out. Something I do just for me and yes, it is a passionate hobby.
 
Aquajock...

You hit the nail on the head when it comes to people and their crazed desire to lose weight. People are spending literally billions of dollars for the magic potion...well, here it is:

Healthy Diet + Physical Exertion = FIT BODY

But people don't want to hear it. Why people torture themselves with starvation, stomach stapling, diet pills, bars, gadgets and such is simply beyond me. It's soooooo much easier and much more fun to embrace fitness and explore how wonderful it feels to move, sweat and push yourself to the limit.

This site is my first stop in the morning...no matter what. I am always so inspired.
 
Wow, what you said at the end of your message is so right, I am going to write that in my food diary. But it is true, when life is not so great, there is this one thing, exercise, which makes you feel you are achieving something, and no one can take that away from you.
Aren't fitness videos great ?

I had an experience recently in a travel agents, actually in July this year, my DH and I were booking a 4 night break in New York. This was to be our first holiday in 7 years, my parents were looking after our 3 children (I live in the UK), we had never been to America before, we had never been on a long haul flight before. I was so looking forward to the shopping, and sightseeing, and exercise video hunting. I happenned to mention to the girl serving us that I was looking forward to maybe bringing some exercise videos home with me, because America has such a vast choice. And this girl sniggered at me, and said,'Oh, is that like Jane Fonda, bouncing around in front of the TV ?'. And I thought, well, you may laugh, but when you've had 3 kids, and left with a roll of flab around the bottom of your stomach and a butt that blocks out the moon, then exercise videos might be your choice one day !
As it was, no-one told me what a fine city New York is, and I never had time to seek out exercise videos ! However, I fell in love with Sephora (I wish we had shops like that in the UK !) and I came back with a suitcase full of cosmetics much to my DH horror !

Anna
 
RE: Aquajock...

My husband and I had a party shortly after we moved into our new home. When my hubby would give tours they would end up by my workout room. He would have to tell them that all the weights were indeed "the wifes" and not his. He told me they would just stare at him dumbfounded and say "really? wow". I wondered why everyone was looking at me funny that night!;-)
We went to a company picnic for my hubby this summer. I overheard someone ask him "where did your wife get those arms?" my husbands reply was-"she works out alot with weights". Then I was asked to give a "speech" on my exercise routine. I think people were more surprised that I can find time to exercise being a busy Mom than that I actually exercise.
Sometimes I wish I could just get everyone I know who doesn't workout to just try to for 1 month and see how great they'd feel! :)
I'm so glad I found this site to come to and talk to others who truly understand my passion for fitness!!! Take care and stay healthy everyone! Susan
 
RE: Candori and all

A huge part of the problem, IMHO, is the pathetic media coverage and treatment of the issue of exercise.

Just yesterday I fired off a crabby e-mail to the reader representative of our local paper (which serves a significant urban, suburban and ex-urban market) titled "Media coverage of the obesity epidemic" in which I took them to task for covering everything about the epidemic except the one thing known to prevent obesity reliably: exercise. My main point was that most newspapers have a weekly food and restaurant section (not just column, mind you, but stand-alone section) BUT, if you're lucky, you may have one article per month about exercise, and then only in the most general terms. And then the self-same newspaper scratches its head and wonders why people are so fat. Kind of like how the media ignored the AIDS epidemic for so shamefully long, and then wondered why no one was talking about it; by the time the media started paying attention to it in a meaningful way, the epidemic had already raged out of control.

I also made the point that by NOT having ongoing coverage about exercise information and options, the media is complicit about keeping people ignorant about the necessity and the choices available for exercise.

As you can see, I'm in a bad mood about the subject {in no small part because I myself blew off my "hobby" last night and am bashing myself too! :)} but I've believed it for some time.

Never did get a response to my e-mail . . .

a-jock
 
RE: Candori and all

As I read this I am thinking how crazy it makes me to watch my husband shake his head with a tsk-tsk as I exercise. To me, exercise is a necessity. One that improves your health and overall well-being. Others think that I am crazy and at times selfish exercising 5 - 6 days a week. But I look at them and hope that one day they too will start. We as a society have become couch potatoes. Why are we obese??? Well... Stop laughing at me and pick up a dumbell or ride your bike!!! I understand that it is hard to get into the routine but I get sick of defending myself for my one "hobby". Anyone else feel this way??
Take care! Cathy
 
RE: Candori and all

There is also the horrendous focus that our country has on LOSING weight with absolutely no focus on MAINTAINING weight or a healthy lifestyle. Read the news on dieting and fitness and they pretty much all talk about losing weight but nobody talks about maintaining it! All of the scientific studies being done are about various drugs and methods to lose weight, but how many studies are done that teach us about maintaining weight? Not very many.
 
Reactions

I just converted my daughter's old bedroom into an exercise room. I have a treadmill, step, weights, videos, TV, mirrors, etc., and now I don't have to put things away when I'm done working out. I LOVE IT! My parents, aunts/uncles, sibling's family came over on Labor Day for a picnic, and wanted to see my daughter's new bedroom paint color (we moved her to the guest room and painted it LIME green - what a hoot). They looked into her old room to see what we are using it for, and now they all think I'm weird. I think they were shocked that I would have so many exercise things, and dedicate an entire room to them. They didn't say very much, because they didn't know what to say! To make it worse, my sister-in-law had just had gastric bypass surgery, and everyone thinks that's OK. (She's lost 35 of 250 pounds by the way, and still doesn't get up off of the couch....)

I figure my cleaning lady thinks I'm obsessed too, becaus she's been cleaning around the stuff for years, but she never mentions it.

I never talk about my working out to ANYONE, except my husband, because they just don't get it. People always comment that I'm so skinny, or I must starve myself to death. I don't even say anything anymore. I am 43, and I am more fit than I've ever been, because now I actually have a little bit of muscle on this ectomorphic body. It is very disappointing that most people aren't interested as soon as you mention that you regularly exercise. YES, the quest for fitness is VERY lonely.

I'm hoping that my 13 year old daughter is learning something, and strives to stay fit too! She doesn't think working out is weird, thank goodness.

Sandi
 
RE: Reactions

What really irritates me is that the media makes it seem like fitness is out of the reach of the average (overweight) American. And then the official fitness industry (the gyms which according to media are the way to go instead of videos) caters to the young, in-shape crowd at the exclusion of the real people. I've only liked one of the gyms I've belonged to. It was associated with a hospital so there were plenty of real people there. The other gyms were just meat markets. I never felt comfortable using the weights. I never could get on a treadmill or a stairmaster as a decent hour. But the media makes it seem like if you want to get into shape then you need to join a gym where "real" exercisers work out then the average overweight American shows up at the gym and feels very out of place and quits.

Along that same line, it seems like all of the healthy recipes that are the news or talk shows are totally beyond the reach of a busy person who isn't a gourmet cook. Oprah had Dean Ornish on a few months ago and they showed some recipes that I could never even think about making. So the average person watches that and thinks that they can never eat healthy because they don't have the time and money. Speaking of which though my food bill has doubled since I started eating healthy. I'm sure that there are people on very fixed income who can't afford to eat lots of fruits and vegetables.
 
RE: Boy, do I agree!

You know what I thought was absolutely unbelievable? A few months ago when that invention first known as "IT" came out - the human transportor scooter looking thing - the media was raving how wonderful and cool it was. And then in the next breath lamenting over the obesity of Americans. DUH! HELLO! If people start riding around on "IT", giving them an excuse to stop walking altogether, then they're going to get even more obese! This point was never mentioned when discussing "IT". I realize "IT" is an incredibly wonderful invention for people with handicaps but I just know once it's available to the masses people will snap it up and lose the one last bit of movement some of them see. They'll be using "IT" to get from the couch to the frig.

OK enough of my ranting! :)

Lorrie
 
susanz & Aquajock

You are my soul-mates! I could have written your posts. Fitness IS my hobby. And checking this website to read what my fitness buddies are up to is part of it! I especially appreciate the level headed advice from people like aquajock and others!


Take time to enjoy those who matter most to you & do all things in moderation :)
 
I have noticed that "we" (as in society at large, school, media, etc.) are somehow transmitting silent messages to our kids about exercise, i.e. who exercises, who lifts weights, and what types of bodies to associate with different genders.

My kids have only ever seen me exercise regularly at home, never my husband. They know all the weights are mine and I can lift them where my husband struggles to do so (20 pounders). And yet, when they play with their Barbies and Kens and groovy girls, teddies, etc, it is the Kens who lift the heavy weights, never the Barbies. Hello?!?!?!?!?!?

When their friends come round to play and see me doing Step Works or PS legs and abs (we have small university family housing house) they stare at me in amazement, mouths open, jaws dropped. They ask me "why are you doing that?" "Is that fun?" "Do you like to do that?" but always with that kind of "why the hell is she doing that, my Mum doesn't......" expression and tone. I always tell them I am doing it because I love it, it makes me feel great and it's so good for me, to reinforce the positive message of exercise as an adult (once we have stopped running around the playground several times a day), that it seems they are not getting anywhere else. It is these little people who assume the weights are my husbands' and they have asked me with wonder and admiration in their voices, "wow! does Martha's Daddy really lift all these?" NO HE DOESN'T, I DO!!!!!! Always sends them into shock!

I am truly pleased to see, however, that my girls look forward to gym at school, and in the face of the growing national trend to squeeze out gym classes and cut back on recess in order to fulfill curriculum requirements, my daughters' school has this year managed to ensure that each girl gets not just one, but two and three gym hours per week. This message, the topic of Annette's rabid and necessary diatribes to her local press --we all second her on this-- just has to hit home with kids real early, especially with girls who are targeted with so many messages to conform thir bodies to Hollywood stereotypes.

Well, it is an on-going battle, and we all do what we can, right?

I wonder if Cathe has ever thought about participating in promoting this message in schools? She may do as her own boys grow and she gets to experience for herself society's stagnant attitudes towards exercise.

Off to work now, see you ladies and keep up the fight!

Clare (in rabid solidarity with Annette...)
 
You have a maid? You are the mistress of your universe. I'm jealous!Seriosly, I agree. Working out gives you a sense of power and control. I am 47 and dread every year of turning a year older and becoming less attractive. Working out definitely helps.
 
Here's the equation -- if more people could make the connection, the better off they would be:

Exercising makes you eat better.
Eating right makes you exercise better.

A match made in heaven!

Patricia (a true Libran!)
 
Hi Patricia,

I love your little saying, please would you mind if I wrote that in my food diary (which also doubles up as my exercise diary)?
Exercising does make you eat better, because you don't want to undo the good work you have done.

Great to meet you - I am new and I LOVE this forum, I have never felt so inspired !

Many thanks
Anna
 
Clare's mentioning of gym classes made me think that maybe one reason why most people can't imagine how exercise could be "fun" is that they had bad experiences in gym classes and that's what they equate physical activity with. I personally would never consider my previous gym classes as "fun" (except for some in college).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top