Disclosure: I received a gift in exchange for writing this post.
Since I hurt my foot a few months ago, I hate to admit it, but I put on a bit of weight – which is especially frustrating after steadily losing weight in the first six months of the year. I went from walking several miles a day on the pre-school run to having difficulty just moving around the house. Trips up and down the stairs, in particular, were agonisingly painful and I took to carrying around a bag of everything I might need during the day so I wouldn’t have to go back upstairs to get anything.
Unfortunately I have long term damage to my foot, which seems to have been aggravated by the injury (whatever I did) back in June. I’m being referred to physio for further investigation and treatment after my x-ray revealed sclerosis along the top of my foot, so I’m just waiting for that appointment right now.
In the meantime, it will be a great help to get exercising and shift some of this weight again. The heavier I am, the worse my foot will get, faster. Not only that but getting moving will make me feel better too – it’s been incredibly frustrating to be so immobile.
Over the past three months my foot has been improving steadily and I can now walk several miles in one go, but it aches a lot by the end of the day, as well as the days following. So, we have been looking into exercise that is easier on my foot. There isn’t just my foot to consider either – the weather is worsening, the nights will be drawing in, and we wanted something that I could do in the evenings & weekends, whatever the state of the outdoors!
I’ve always enjoyed swimming, so we’ve got ourselves registered with our local leisure centres and have started swimming as a family at the weekends. The plan is that James and I will be spending some evenings going swimming while the girls are being looked after, and doing a mixture of lengths and an Aquatone class. The pool will take the weight off my foot whilst allowing me to burn some calories – and all under cover so it doesn’t matter if it is chucking it down outside.
Birmingham runs a Be Active scheme for local residents, so we will be able to do a lot of our swimming free of charge, which is great as otherwise the costs could really add up. They also offer gym time as part of the scheme, and various classes – so when my foot gets stronger I will be looking into those too. All we’ll be paying is travel and locker costs – it’s definitely a very affordable way to get exercising whatever the weather, and so hopefully my weight will continue to go back down, and my foot will carry on improving. Our first Be Active swim is this Friday, and will hopefully be at least once a week from now on, plus family swims at the weekend.
Legal & General have published an article with other ideas for staying active whatever the weather, so that is definitely worth a read if you are looking for other ideas to keep active this Autumn. As my foot carries on improving I’ll be doing more exercise at home too, including on our Wii Fit, which I love using. I’m determined that the weather isn’t going to stop me!
