couch potato-itis
posted June 24, 2004 at 03:53 pm

I've never been an overly athletic girl by any stretch of the imagination: being small and painfully thin growing up (not that I'm Ms. Chunky these days) made me so self-conscious about my body that I concentrated on mental pursuits more than physical ones. This did wonders for my intellect, but not much for my body confidence and overall fitness.

So, while it's not surprising that I've never exercised much to begin with anyway, now that I work from home, I don't even get the limited cardio benefits of running frantically around a large office in two-inch heels while stress flushes my face.

My penchant for being an indoor girl is being fed heartily as well. There are only a few reasons why I absolutely must leave home: tanning salon, hair salon, nail salon. I can have every other need fulfilled by delivery (and I do mean every other need, though I'm looking for a new delivery boy for one particular service, hehe).

But as I sit in my chair near the open window every day, the sun shining in has me thinking perhaps I should consider adding a new activity to my life that will get me out of here more often. I just can't figure out what that would look like for me.

If I still had Sasha here, I could be walking her every day over to the nearby dog park. (I've seen people walking their cats on a leash, and heaven knows Stella herself has a little weight problem that more exercise might mitigate, but somehow, I don't think she's up to this type of trauma.)

I could just walk alone. It's a nice quiet neighborhood, but I'm also mindful of my safety, and I doubt I could run fast enough to get away from an attacker.

I could rollerblade - but my history with wheels dictates that they be balanced equally along both sides of my feet, not in a single line beneath. And I don't want scrapes from falling flat on my face.

There's the pool right outside my balcony - a laptop and wireless router make for work that can go with me, but I don't think sitting by the pool counts as exercise. And I've never really been that fond of having my head under water either.

There's a little fitness room here - and a free personal trainer on site, so that might be an option. But then I'm still stuck in a room with windows, rather than being outdoors.

So I'm thinking maybe a bicycle. Ideal for building up my skinny legs, high enough up off the ground, fast enough for quick getaways (if I'm good at it) - and there are bike trails near here too.

Now, this apparently is not a cheap activity to contemplate, nor does it seem simple. Plano Cycling offers a lot of choices, and maybe that's too many in my case. I'm just exploring the idea, so I'm not yet at the point where I want helmets and special shorts and fancy shoes that lock into the pedals (my ex used to ride bikes, and when he showed me those foot contraptions, my reaction was "Oh, hell no! Never!"). I just want a pleasant activity that will make me feel like I'm not a total athletic misfit when I'm done for the day.

Geez, self-improvement shouldn't be this overwhelming - it's no wonder people resist it so much.