And I don’t mean the kind of moving that involves packing cardboard boxes.  I mean the kind of moving that means my heart is beating, my lungs are filled with oxygen, and I can actually feel my blood pumping.  MOVING!

Over the past seven months as I have recuperated, I have done a lot of sitting - indoors.  I didn’t even realize how much I missed just being outside!  Of course it helps that it’s absolutely gorgeous out right now - sunshine in the 70’s - but MAN!  I find myself grinning and laughing the whole time that I’m out, the whole time that I am moving and feeling so freakin’ ALIVE!  It’s amazing!!!!

Obviously, I went out on my bike again.  Hubby’s at work but Kevin, my son told me he’d cancel his band practice if I wanted to go for a bike ride with just him alone.  Seeing as his band is like the most important thing in his life right now, I figured I’d take him up on it if he wanted to go that badly!  We rode north on the trail to a park about 2.5 miles from here and then rode around the park for a while and came back home, a ride that clocked about 6 miles.

It was fun!  Kevin is such a hoot, he always makes me laugh.  We planned on the way home, what we were going to eat for dinner and how many calories our selections would be.  This is as new for him as it is for me and it’s really cool to see him embracing the whole concept and watching his progress.

He said to me today, “I wish I had known about this stuff when I was like ten years old.”  Immediately I spoke up and said, “I’m sorry!”  See, I feel totally guilty that one of my children is overweight.  I always swore that even though *I* was fat since the age of nine, I was going to ensure that my kids were NOT.  Yet, back in 2001, Kevin was hit by a car.  He spent four months in a cast from hip to toe and by the time he got truly back on his feet, he had gained weight - enough that it didn’t just burn off like I hoped it would.

Today Kevin immediately responded to my apology with, “No!  I wasn’t blaming you!  I’m just saying it would have been cool to know all this stuff about the math, you know the difference between intake and burning, way back then so I never would have gotten so heavy in the first place.”

Well, it’s cool that he doesn’t blame me - but I do.  Well, to some degree anyway.  After all, though I am an intelligent woman, I honestly did not “get” the whole math thing either.  I never knew before two months ago, that a person has to burn 3500 calories more than they eat to lose one pound.  Never knew it, never got it.  I couldn’t have possibly taught my son something that I didn’t know or understand myself.

But it was my job to watch his food intake.  And it’s not like I didn’t know how he should be eating!  I just felt sorry for him - AND - I was so grateful that I didn’t lose him, that I pretty much gave him whatever he wanted during that period of time.  The months slipped by and suddenly Kevin was heavy.  It seemed to happen that fast.

I tried to help him lose the weight - watched his portions and limited snacks and had him out in the living room doing exercise tapes with me!  But I never stuck to my OWN diet / exercise long, so I didn’t model a commitment for my son back then.  And so he stayed heavy.

Now he’s 15, is about 5′4″ tall and weighs 202 lbs.  A few weeks back when he started weighing in and learning about calories, he started at 206 - so he’s made a little progress.  He spends a lot of time at his friends’ houses though, and says that’s where he blows his calorie count.  He admits to having no willpower when his friends are munching down on yummy stuff.  “I should come home to eat,” he said, “I eat healthy at home now.”

At least I feel good about that!

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