Chicago Tranters: Winter Exercise

The time has come that I dread. While I love winter for the warm cozy homes providing crackling fires along with hot soup and hot chocolate to warm up the body, being home bound day in and day out for months on end makes for limited exercise options, especially when blessed with 2 little ones.

I LOVE getting outside everyday. It is more than just exercise for me to load the girls in the double jogger and head out for a run/walk. Since I became a stay at home mom over 2 years ago, I have heavily relied on my time with the outdoors. I love breaking a sweat, hearing the rhythm of my heart pumping and breath escaping. I love going through neighborhoods, admiring the houses as they pass and showing Emily new things in nature that we read about in her books. It's like a field trip outing every day that we can count on, and it always ends at the playground...win win for both of us. Being outside has been therapy for my soul and has broken up my day from the monotony that comes with being home bound the rest of the waking hours of each day as I to tend the little ones.

So, you can imagine how I get a little depressed after just a few weeks of indoor exercise. The past 2 winters I have clung tight to my INSANITY workout videos, and have truly been grateful for having them. Emily has loved them since she was just a few months old, and still does. For the past year, she has done them with me, and knows the moves. So it really is something she looks forward to, mostly because I'm up bouncing around with her as we both wiggle our bodies. But, like anything, too much of a good thing, gets old and boring after a while. It was nice to have Devin's school gym to go to 1 or 2 times a week, when he got home. I could run on the treadmill and lift weights. So that is what I did the past 2 winters.

This winter is different, as I am living with my in laws. I still have my trusty INSANITY and have done it several times, but I knew quickly after moving here I would need another exercise option. I thought about getting a temporary membership to a gym, but quickly scratched that idea as I learned that the closest gym only has certain hours of the day where daycare is provided, and daycare costs extra. No thank you. So we looked on KSL.com (local site much like craigslist) and found a very reasonably priced treadmill. So we bought it! I'm REALLY thankful that we found one, and that I can actually continue to run regularly through the winter! YAY! We have taken over my in law's basement! Each of my girls has their own room, as do I. There is a huge bonus room equipped with a big screen TV, ping pong table and pool table. This is where I do INSANITY. I put my laptop on the ping pong table and go at it. My little side kick is always next to me motivating me to "Dig Deeper!"

They also have a little nintendo/play room with toys and a small TV. This is where the treadmill is, and it's so nice to have Emily play with the toys while I get my run in. It has worked out nicely to plan my workouts around Claire's first nap of the day. Emily can tolerate the duration of my workouts, but it tends to bore Claire pretty quickly.