Work It Out: Why I Exercise Even Though I Hate It.

I know I love to pontificate about the importance of healthy living.  Eating clean, hydrating, using essential oils, opting for alternative and integrative medical approaches…you name it.  However, I need to come clean…..I hate working out. 

I don’t hate it in a way that makes me completely avoidant to it, and I have always led a somewhat active lifestyle.  I grew up during a time when people walked everywhere. I rode my bike, and played outdoors. Screens had yet to take over our lives. I know…I’m ancient.  I just simply have never been the type to enjoy long runs, buy a gym membership, or pray at the Temple of Fitness.

I did not grow up with athletically minded parents.  As a matter of fact, my mother turned down offers for me to join the track and volleyball teams in middle school because she didn’t think it was “feminine” to have a toned physique. She also had a ton of crazy Cuban Old Wives’ Tales including one that said jogging could damage your uterus and make you infertile.  So…I rode my bike and took swimming lessons, but that was pretty much it.

Over the years people have asked what I do to stay in shape, and I’ve honestly never really had a good answer.  I’ve always been naturally thin, and built muscle tone very easily.  Genetics, I guess.  That all sounds great and perhaps enviable, but I grew up not wanting to wear  skirts or shorts because I was so self conscious of having thin legs. 

I grew up in a culture and amongst cultures that found thicker to be better…and therefore I was dubbed “Chicken Legs” by one too many of my classmates.  I went through puberty and still looked like a 12 year old boy, so the jokes made me feel terrible.  I ate plenty of cheeseburgers, never dieted, never worked out, never had an eating disorder….but I was accused of plenty.  Skinny shaming is a thing, people!

So, what was a girl to do?  I ate. A lot.  I drank weight gain shakes after every meal.  I dipped my cookies in half and half and used it in place of milk for my cereal too.  I wanted curves.  I wanted to “fill in”.  I also avoided physical exercise for fear that it would make me lose weight. I was already thin and toned, why the hell would I want to sweat to get skinnier??  I had no idea of the repercussions of this gluttonous sedentary lifestyle I was leading.

It’s not until I had graduated college and started modeling that I decided I needed to do something physical.  And it wasn’t because I wanted to get Kate Moss skinny.  Oh hell no.  To her I would’ve said…”Darlin’ there are A LOT of things that taste better than skinny feels.  Like an avocado double bacon cheeseburger, for one!”……It was because I had a rude awakening, healthwise. 

My father, who was also naturally very thin, had started having heart issues related to high cholesterol.  His arteries were clogging and no amount of healthy eating and pharmaceuticals were helping. He had one angioplasty after another.  I thought skinny people couldn’t suffer from this. I was wrong.

I started researching the matter (surprise surprise) and found that high cholesterol levels could be genetic and very much due in part to lack of exercise.  I knew that it would be far too easy for me to have the same fate, if I didn’t start adding some sort of physical activity to my lifestyle. 

I also remembered that the first year I had my cholesterol levels checked was the year after I came home from studying abroad in Salzburg, Austria.  The year I spent eating schnitzel, goulash, steaks fried in butter…..and loads of pastries.  I had perfect levels.  It wasn’t the food….and perhaps I dodged the genetic bullet….but I know I spent every day of my year in Europe hiking, walking, and riding my flea market find bike.  It was the most physically active I had been my entire life.

Since I was living out of my suitcase and traveling every two months between Europe, Asia, and the US for modeling contracts, I knew that I would need to find something I could do that was easy and that I could stick to.  Joining gyms was out of the question….I HATE gyms and joining for 2-3 months just didn’t make sense to me anyways.  So I went to Home Depot and bought a length of rope for $2, melted the ends with a lighter so they wouldn’t unravel….et voila!….homemade jumprope.  Why this archaic way of obtaining a jumprope?  No Amazon at the time….and I didn’t want to spend $20 on a pro rope from Big 7. Cheap bastard that I am.

This rope traveled to Milan, Miami, New York, LA, Taipei, Cabo San Lucas, the Bahamas, Seoul, Hong Kong, Paris, Osaka, and Tokyo with me.  Absolute jet setter that thing was.  I would jump rope in my hotel rooms, apartments, or in the hallways and courtyards of such.  And I got pretty damned good at it.  I had no idea that it was one exercise that tones almost every muscle in your body…but I knew it was great for cardio!  So…when I started getting booked for Nike, Adidas, and Brooks I realized that, hey….this workout was making me look pretty fit….regardless of how many Big Macs and fries I was eating at the time…..(a lot).

I stuck to jumping rope for years.  Later I bought a 15 Minute Workout DVD which targeted glutes, abs, legs, and arms and did that for a while.  That’s actually how I got back into shape after having both of my kids.  15 minutes of basic workouts every day.  Still no gym and god forbid a personal trainer!  My rope went on hiatus for a while at that time. Jumping rope post partum is pretty much impossible….all you mamas know what I’m talking about.  Don’t even get me started on trampolines!  Or sneezing.

When I moved back to LA about 6 years ago I took up Crossfit for a couple of years.  Loved my coaches and the group of women I worked out with.  They motivated me to keep coming back and I found that I was actually really good at it.  I beat records without trying and felt strong and healthy.  

My career in the fine arts of wall balls, burpees, and kettlebell swings ended abruptly though when I landed wrong while trying a higher than usual boxjump.  Felt something snap loudly in my back and I fell unable to get up.  Dragged myself to a chiropractor, and thankfully had not permanently injured anything….but my back’s never been the same since.

I had all but given up working out after that. Stuck to doing crunches and lunges at home when I could be bothered to do them.  Then I met my boyfriend….who loves a good sprint and workout….and he was sure as hell not going to let me get away with being a couch potato. 

So, for the past almost year and a half I’ve been working out pretty much every day with him.  We work out at a park doing anything from sprints to workouts we find on YouTube and Pinterest.  My body pretty much always retains its shape, so that hasn’t changed much, but I do feel healthier.  I know my heart is happier, and well….now I know a lot about telomeres. Google it.  I love how he pushes me and leads by example.  I also love how we can sit and eat ice cream stuffed doughnuts and put cheese on everything….because LIFE. 

Depriving yourself of the good stuff is not how to live it.  Finding balance is.

So….now I guess I can pontificate about how important living an active lifestyle is…..because I’m finally really living one.  I love that my daughter comes with me when she’s off school and watches me work out.  Sometimes she joins in…and her long 11 year old legs can pretty much beat me in a sprint.  She is learning how important it is to be active, and that feminine can be toned, fit, curvy, and sometimes even ripped.

So…..if you’re not a fitness freak, that’s ok.  I wasn’t either. Still am not.  Just find something you love to do that keeps you active.  Find someone you love to do it with.  It doesn’t matter if your body looks great on the outside….if you’re not feeding it activity…then the insides are going to suffer. Trust me.  And….it’s never too late to start. 🙂

header photo by Sasint

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