How I Work-out

I always wondered how my Mom managed to keep slim all her life. I never saw her participate in any sports activities like my Dad. She doesn't go walking every morning. And, mind you, there are times she eats more than I do! All along I thought it was her metabolism and I hoped that I inherited it. Unfortunately, my metabolism has slowed down a bit and there are days I have to do some extra activities so I don't go beyond my weight limits.

I used to play badminton and tennis, but both are extreme sports for me now so I try to stick to my weekly malling regimen. My doctor thought I played bowling and burst into laughter when he realized that I meant mall-ing, the act of walking around the mall and window-shopping all day. He said I was his funniest patient. Due to some health restrictions I realized that the best way to keep slim is to be my wriggly self all day in different ways. Here's what I do:

1. Cooking - when I was still living with my Mom I did not have to do any chores at home, save for the occasional days I had to wash dishes. But now I turn into Cinderella at 6 in the evening when I have to prepare dinner for my boys. It takes me an hour or two to cook dinner depending on what dish I'm making. I rarely turn on the fan in the kitchen when cooking so I could sweat a bit. Cooking exercises both my arms and legs.

2. Dish Washing - may be strange for some, but I love washing dishes. I hate bringing out stuff to the sink, so Miguel does that for me. My kitchen is small so I have set-up different drying areas for pots and pans and that forces me to walk around. More exercise for my arms!

3. The Laundry - doing the laundry allows me to carry around the dirty clothes bin. I first roll it down the stairs (hehehe), sort the clothes into separate bins and then carry them to the laundry area and pop the clothes in the washing machine. They come out almost dry so hanging them gives me a chance to do some stretching.

4. Sweeping and Mopping - I don't usually do this, but my cleaning lady has been sick for more than a month now and I don't trust anyone else to come to the house to clean for me. I do this by area since I'm allergic to dust. Aside from a complete workout, the best thing about doing this is taking a long cold shower after.

And the best work-out for me...

5. Garden Weeding - I have a tiny garden and my Mom insisted I plant some grass on it. I thought it made sense since grass kinda helps cools down your house (versus pebbles!). My Mom's gardener has been MIA too for awhile now so I had to cut the grass myself too and do some weeding. I spent two hours in the garden the first time I did some weeding. I could barely get up and I was drenched with sweat (kinda like how my boys are sweaty after a run). I was really surprised but liked the workout since I was being productive at the same time. And that's when I discovered what my Mom's secret is at keeping slim. Weeding and gardening!