I am Leslie and I am a martial artist (among other things). One of the many observations, perhaps some of which I should keep to myself, but probably won't since the older I get, the less others' opinions of me matter, is that we (meaning women, but also adults in general) are in trouble. By trouble, I mean that we are far too inactive and unhealthy. And when I say "we", I include myself in this too. I struggle every single day with being active and after some of the days I have at work, the last thing I want is to go to the gym or the dojo.
I also struggle with not letting my weight creep up, mainly 'cause I ain't a skinny person and according to most BMI charts, I am not where I should be. I'm not fat, exactly, and I am much more pleased with my body now than I was even in my twenties. I am solid. Hobbit-solid. My cousin believes that somehow we must be descended from hobbitses, and the older I get, the more inclined I am to subscribe to this view.
I guess my opinion, as mentioned above, is that I see SO many people my age and younger who can't climb the stairs to the second floor of the building where I work. That's kinda scary. Some people park as close as they can to the building in the employee parking and will not walk more than 50 feet from here to there. I am not trying to be superior when I comment on this. There was a time in the not so distance future when I did not park far away and took short-cuts when I could. Despite having been fairly active for most of my life, I had a wake-up call when my cousin (the hobbit one) lost an amazing amount of weight and became an "adult onset athlete". She has a 2nd degree black belt in tae kwon do and has completed a half marathon, as well as the bike leg of a triathlon relay. It's not like she has a huge amount of time on her hands, as she is a nurse educator and a teenage daughter. While I have made some accomplishments of my own, I look at her and think, "Man, I have NO excuses for not being more active and looking at my long-term future!" I have no kids, though I admit to having a busy work schedule, so I use my cousin as the example to which others can strive if they have impossible jobs AND kids, especially since having one or the other is often a detriment to a regular active lifestyle.
So anyway, I am starting this blog (even if no one but me ever reads it) as a means to encourage myself and others to keep on finding ways to be active and to take charge of our health. Since martial arts is what I do and I am a woman, I think "Kicking <fill in the blank here--a bad habit, for example> like a Woman" describes exactly how I wish to live toward my goals. Woman must be strong, despite how we may grow up thinking of ourselves as weaker. Honestly, if I always thought that way, I never would have taken up martial arts. When we pair up to do drills in my class, for instance, there is only one other woman black belt (who is also my hero...more about her in another post!) and the odds are often against us pairing up together. I have to, NOT equal my male counterparts, but I have to use MY strength to the best of my ability. I must say that I have some really awesome men to work out with too--they haven't complained about being paired up with "a girl" (ahem, woman).
To begin, my regular activities are as follows: martial arts (2-3 days a week), strength training (2 days/week), and run/walking (2-3 days/week). I also log my activities on our employee network to earn "wellness points" and the Blue Cross Blue Shield website for the same reason. I am getting ready for a 5K on Thanksgiving (probably a mix of walking and running) and another 5K in early December. I'm training for a black belt in Okinawan weapons also. The strength training, especially upper body, helps me in karate, particularly with those dratted pushups! I stay plenty busy, but would still like to do some biking and maybe even some hiking.
So here's to getting and staying active!
